And sometimes the bear gets you.
Is that a saying?
I think it is.
Regardless, I think it's apropos in light of the recording session last night.
I got down to the studio around 8:30, and settled on the song Fallout Grace as the primary target for the night. Dave and I started out in our usual manner, with me singing through the tune 3 or 4 times to warm up.
Right off the bat, I had a feeling things weren't going to go my way. I was hitting all the notes okay, but there was something a little off about everything I tried.
And additionally, I figured out that Fallout is a much harder song to sing than I thought it was. It goes from a whisper at the beginning to nearly shouting at the end, and I was having trouble getting the quieter parts to sound good.
We tried a bunch of things, from singing closer to the microphone, to singing without a "P" screen (used to keep a singer's "p's" from popping), to changing the monitoring in my headphones. All to no avail.
Nothing was working.
I was frustrated.
We tried another tune, but at that point it was already getting a bit too late to start something new.
So we tinkered with some background vocals and mults, and called it a night without really getting anything down.
Now intellectually, I knew I would have at least one of these nights while I was cutting vocals. There are just too many factors that can adversely affect the singing voice and the level of scrutinization on vocal tracks is incredibly high.
So... that's life.
I'll head back in Sunday with a fresh approach and probably a hangover.
Sometimes you get the beer...
jbg
Friday, April 29, 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Like a Rolling Stone(.com)
Here's an interesting page that came to my attention yesterday.
Pretty cool. I'm not completely sure how it happened, but I think it was through our CD Baby page.
They have a digital distribution which sends music out to various online merchants, one of which was Rhapsody, which I believe is partnered with Rollingstone.com. In the next few months we'll likely also become part of the sprawling nexus of musical commerce that is iTunes.
So we got that going for us. Which is nice.
This kind of stuff makes me think our strategy of using our EP as an advance for our full-length album is going to pay off. By the time we get the album done and pressed and out, we will have used the EP to set up a pretty good distribution apparatus and to make good media contacts. So in the event that we don't find a label interested in working with us, we'll be able to solicit press and get the music into people's hands (and iPods) pretty quickly.
Revisiting the EP is interesting. Actually, listening to any of one's past recordings is always interesting.
The Burn Rome Burn EP is the first recording I've been a part of that has aged well for me. When I listen to it now, a year-plus after the fact, it still sounds pretty good to me. Not without its problems, but overall it's a really good snapshot of where we were as a band at the time it was recorded.
There a good energy to it, a certain focus and deliberateness that has been lacking in my past projects. Hopefully, it'll wind up being the first of many recordings by BRB that withstand the test of time.
jbg
Pretty cool. I'm not completely sure how it happened, but I think it was through our CD Baby page.
They have a digital distribution which sends music out to various online merchants, one of which was Rhapsody, which I believe is partnered with Rollingstone.com. In the next few months we'll likely also become part of the sprawling nexus of musical commerce that is iTunes.
So we got that going for us. Which is nice.
This kind of stuff makes me think our strategy of using our EP as an advance for our full-length album is going to pay off. By the time we get the album done and pressed and out, we will have used the EP to set up a pretty good distribution apparatus and to make good media contacts. So in the event that we don't find a label interested in working with us, we'll be able to solicit press and get the music into people's hands (and iPods) pretty quickly.
Revisiting the EP is interesting. Actually, listening to any of one's past recordings is always interesting.
The Burn Rome Burn EP is the first recording I've been a part of that has aged well for me. When I listen to it now, a year-plus after the fact, it still sounds pretty good to me. Not without its problems, but overall it's a really good snapshot of where we were as a band at the time it was recorded.
There a good energy to it, a certain focus and deliberateness that has been lacking in my past projects. Hopefully, it'll wind up being the first of many recordings by BRB that withstand the test of time.
jbg
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Coffee = good
It's a pretty good day, in spite of the fact that I got 4 hours of sleep and feel like I fell down a flight of stairs because, well, yesterday I fell down a flight of stairs.
Not good times. No broken bones, luckily, but some pretty bruised arms and hands.
Anyway, my mood is buoyed by the fact that I got to have breakfast this morning with my friend Pete, who was in town for a few days.
Incidentally, Pete's biweekly restaurant review in the NY Times can be found here.
Although it was early (6:45 am!) and far too brief, it was good to see Pete. We ate at the newly transplanted Al's Grill in Oak Park, a staple of our high school years. After that, I got a chance to ride the Green Line into the Loop, which is a much more interesting ride than the Red Line and brings back childhood memories of Thanksgiving morning.
Good times.
My mood is also up because of a great rehearsal last night. We are busting our asses to get our album done and not playing out much, so we've been kicking around some new material, specifically a tune called Canary. I wrote it after listening to nothing but Wilco for about a month, so I didn't think it would be a good BRB tune... but everyone really seems to love it.
We've played it live twice, at Double Door and House of Blues, but last night we got down to some serious work on it and the result was a pretty kick ass arrangement. The key was that we spent the entire rehearsal on one tune. Trying subtle changes, throwing out ideas... it was pretty cool, and I hope it is the future all of all things BRB.
Canary is about how everybody's got a relationship that was kind of a sacrifice and a test, like sending a canary down a mine shaft. In print, the lyrics seem a bit too... obvious, but they work really well with the overall vibe of the song, which is almost that of a nursery rhyme. And a bunch of the songs I've written lately have this same type of almost Orphean imagery... which I find to be a pretty compelling story.
CANARY Went down the open hole Into the dark black coal And even if you're there for years Every spring I'll shed your tears Don't look back it's no remedy A sweeter song won't set you free And even though your eyes may bleed No blinding light will let you see No blinding light will let you see Chorus: If you love it, let it breathe If it breathes, it'll let you love But if that mockingbird don't sing Just go on and pull off its wings You were once the golden prize So it should come as no surprise That you're still on my mind And I think the night is falling So you sit in your broken cage Until your feathered voice gives way You didn't give your life in vain 'Cause you made me so happy I'm so happy Chorus Bridge: And I see the yellow streaked with black And you're like a train upon my tracks So don't come round here looking for sympathy 'Cause we've all got a bird like you Yeah we've all been a bird like you Chorus X2
jbg
Not good times. No broken bones, luckily, but some pretty bruised arms and hands.
Anyway, my mood is buoyed by the fact that I got to have breakfast this morning with my friend Pete, who was in town for a few days.
Incidentally, Pete's biweekly restaurant review in the NY Times can be found here.
Although it was early (6:45 am!) and far too brief, it was good to see Pete. We ate at the newly transplanted Al's Grill in Oak Park, a staple of our high school years. After that, I got a chance to ride the Green Line into the Loop, which is a much more interesting ride than the Red Line and brings back childhood memories of Thanksgiving morning.
Good times.
My mood is also up because of a great rehearsal last night. We are busting our asses to get our album done and not playing out much, so we've been kicking around some new material, specifically a tune called Canary. I wrote it after listening to nothing but Wilco for about a month, so I didn't think it would be a good BRB tune... but everyone really seems to love it.
We've played it live twice, at Double Door and House of Blues, but last night we got down to some serious work on it and the result was a pretty kick ass arrangement. The key was that we spent the entire rehearsal on one tune. Trying subtle changes, throwing out ideas... it was pretty cool, and I hope it is the future all of all things BRB.
Canary is about how everybody's got a relationship that was kind of a sacrifice and a test, like sending a canary down a mine shaft. In print, the lyrics seem a bit too... obvious, but they work really well with the overall vibe of the song, which is almost that of a nursery rhyme. And a bunch of the songs I've written lately have this same type of almost Orphean imagery... which I find to be a pretty compelling story.
CANARY Went down the open hole Into the dark black coal And even if you're there for years Every spring I'll shed your tears Don't look back it's no remedy A sweeter song won't set you free And even though your eyes may bleed No blinding light will let you see No blinding light will let you see Chorus: If you love it, let it breathe If it breathes, it'll let you love But if that mockingbird don't sing Just go on and pull off its wings You were once the golden prize So it should come as no surprise That you're still on my mind And I think the night is falling So you sit in your broken cage Until your feathered voice gives way You didn't give your life in vain 'Cause you made me so happy I'm so happy Chorus Bridge: And I see the yellow streaked with black And you're like a train upon my tracks So don't come round here looking for sympathy 'Cause we've all got a bird like you Yeah we've all been a bird like you Chorus X2
jbg
Monday, April 25, 2005
Is there a draft in here?
As far as good weekends for the football obsessed, few can compare to the two day circus that is the NFL Draft.
For me, there are two levels of entertainment to this spectacle. The first is the pure volume of cool football highlights you get to see. The second is watching ESPN (try to) put together over 15 hours of live television on the fly.
Over the years, I've even come to appreciate the freak of nature that is Mel Kiper Jr. Can he be annoying? Yes. But as far as providing information and analysis across the entire draft, he's a monster. I mean, he'll have his initial board for the 2006 draft out this week.
Just sick. I hope he at least goes home and washes his hair.
I didn't get to watch much of the draft live this year. I was teaching all day Saturday, and sleeping/recording a good portion of the day Sunday. However, thanks to my friend Mark, the miracle of the interweb, and a somewhat slow day at work, I feel up to date on the Bears' prospects.
It seems to me that the Bears did a pretty good job of addressing their needs with talented quality selections. The most glamorous and immediately important pick for most teams is (obviously) the first round pick. This pick becomes more important when 1) a team's first round pick is the number 4 overall pick, and 2) there are talented players available at the very positions at which the team has needs.
For the Bears, I felt this was a really hard pick to screw up. They needed help at RB and WR, and there were 3 great RBs and 2 great WRs in the draft. So sitting at fourth, they were guaranteed a talented player at a position of need. And the player they got, running back Cedric Benson, was the best man for the job. Of the three RB prospects, he was the most productive, consistent, and healthy. He ran for 5500 yards and scored over 80 TDs as a four year starter for a Big 12 program.
I think he also ran for something like 8000 yards in high school. So at every level, this guy has been spectacularly productive. To boot, he and Thomas Jones are good foils for each other. I wasn't too high on Thomas Jones after last year, but I think he'll make a great back-up/change of pace guy for Benson.
Of course, Suzy Kolber (who is not hot, Finn), she of I-want-to-kiss-you-Joe-Nameth fame, conducted one of the worst interviews I've ever seen with Benson right after he was drafted. Instead of asking something like "How does it feel to be drafted by the Chicago Bears, given their history of great running backs?" she asks him the grand existential question "Who is Cedric Benson?"
I don't blame him for getting pissed off. This isn't the Oprah Show. Overall, great choice by the Bears.
The WR in the second round seems like a solid choice too. Fast guy who played for a big college program. Another dimension for the offense. And Kyle Orton in the 4th round, while not really a need pick, is a great value pick. He comes from a pro-style program and should flourish under Ron Turner. Of course, I hope he doesn't take a snap over the next three years, but still. He could have been a second round pick, easily.
Taken as a whole, this has been one of the strongest offseasons in recent memory for the Bears. After finishing last in offense last season, they've added the following pieces: 1. New, proven Offensive Coordinator in Ron Turner; 2. The most productive receiver in the league in the Moose; 3. Two new proven starters on the offensive line; 4. A franchise running back; and 5. Young depth and speed at wide receiver.
That's a pretty good haul for one offseason. And they've done it without breaking the bank. So it should be a pretty good year for the Bears.
Of course I say that every year.
jbg
For me, there are two levels of entertainment to this spectacle. The first is the pure volume of cool football highlights you get to see. The second is watching ESPN (try to) put together over 15 hours of live television on the fly.
Over the years, I've even come to appreciate the freak of nature that is Mel Kiper Jr. Can he be annoying? Yes. But as far as providing information and analysis across the entire draft, he's a monster. I mean, he'll have his initial board for the 2006 draft out this week.
Just sick. I hope he at least goes home and washes his hair.
I didn't get to watch much of the draft live this year. I was teaching all day Saturday, and sleeping/recording a good portion of the day Sunday. However, thanks to my friend Mark, the miracle of the interweb, and a somewhat slow day at work, I feel up to date on the Bears' prospects.
It seems to me that the Bears did a pretty good job of addressing their needs with talented quality selections. The most glamorous and immediately important pick for most teams is (obviously) the first round pick. This pick becomes more important when 1) a team's first round pick is the number 4 overall pick, and 2) there are talented players available at the very positions at which the team has needs.
For the Bears, I felt this was a really hard pick to screw up. They needed help at RB and WR, and there were 3 great RBs and 2 great WRs in the draft. So sitting at fourth, they were guaranteed a talented player at a position of need. And the player they got, running back Cedric Benson, was the best man for the job. Of the three RB prospects, he was the most productive, consistent, and healthy. He ran for 5500 yards and scored over 80 TDs as a four year starter for a Big 12 program.
I think he also ran for something like 8000 yards in high school. So at every level, this guy has been spectacularly productive. To boot, he and Thomas Jones are good foils for each other. I wasn't too high on Thomas Jones after last year, but I think he'll make a great back-up/change of pace guy for Benson.
Of course, Suzy Kolber (who is not hot, Finn), she of I-want-to-kiss-you-Joe-Nameth fame, conducted one of the worst interviews I've ever seen with Benson right after he was drafted. Instead of asking something like "How does it feel to be drafted by the Chicago Bears, given their history of great running backs?" she asks him the grand existential question "Who is Cedric Benson?"
I don't blame him for getting pissed off. This isn't the Oprah Show. Overall, great choice by the Bears.
The WR in the second round seems like a solid choice too. Fast guy who played for a big college program. Another dimension for the offense. And Kyle Orton in the 4th round, while not really a need pick, is a great value pick. He comes from a pro-style program and should flourish under Ron Turner. Of course, I hope he doesn't take a snap over the next three years, but still. He could have been a second round pick, easily.
Taken as a whole, this has been one of the strongest offseasons in recent memory for the Bears. After finishing last in offense last season, they've added the following pieces: 1. New, proven Offensive Coordinator in Ron Turner; 2. The most productive receiver in the league in the Moose; 3. Two new proven starters on the offensive line; 4. A franchise running back; and 5. Young depth and speed at wide receiver.
That's a pretty good haul for one offseason. And they've done it without breaking the bank. So it should be a pretty good year for the Bears.
Of course I say that every year.
jbg
Studious
Spent another Sunday in the studio getting some good work done on the vocals. It seems to be getting easier as we go along, with each song happening a little faster.
Yesterday we got a strong lead vocal take done on the song Nothing's Changed, which will probably be the first song on the album. It's also the oldest song (with the exception of Mermaid) and it was actually written while we were recording our EP in late 2003/early 2004.
I was able to take a rough mix of it home to listen to, and I can already see that it will help me out a lot in terms of working out background vocals. I'm really interested in focusing in on background vocals for this album, because it's something that I think has been lacking from previous projects I've sung on.
And Nothing's Changed is a perfect candidate because it's a short poppy tune that has single potential. So I want to make sure it's as polished as possible. After we got the lead vocal track done, we messed around a bit with The Soft Drown and Seraphim Do Mar.
However, having really put a ton into Nothing's Changed, I wasn't projecting quite well enough to get anything else finalized. Still, I think we'll settle into aiming for getting one lead vocal track done per session, and then going back and working on backgrounds for the previous session's song after I run out of steam. Backgrounds aren't as demanding energy-wise, so even if I'm a little burned out, I should still be able to get some backgrounds and/or mults done every session.
Nothing's Changed has really taken on a Coldplay/U2 vibe, which is cool. Looking back on the lyrics, I think they're okay. A little simple, but in a good way. I like the sentiment too, the whole idea of thinking you've broken out of a situation or relationship, and then having it kind of crash back onto you without warning and seeing that you really haven't changed at all. I think everybody's got something like this in their life. Looking at the lyrics for the whole album, that seems to be an undercurrent to a lot of it.
Hmmmm.
The lyrics to Nothing's Changed:
Living in yesterday it's hard
To know exactly what went wrong (what went wrong?)
Did it crash and burn and leave you lying there
In the dark before the dawn?
Chorus: I went looking for you
Are you looking for me?
Just when it seemed like we weren't the same
Somehow nothing's changed
The consequence is creeping in
The last goodbye was like the first (like the first)
Bloodshot eyes and cloudy skies and you
I don't know which of them is worst
CHORUS
I want to know
Where you go
CHORUS
jbg
I was able to take a rough mix of it home to listen to, and I can already see that it will help me out a lot in terms of working out background vocals. I'm really interested in focusing in on background vocals for this album, because it's something that I think has been lacking from previous projects I've sung on.
And Nothing's Changed is a perfect candidate because it's a short poppy tune that has single potential. So I want to make sure it's as polished as possible. After we got the lead vocal track done, we messed around a bit with The Soft Drown and Seraphim Do Mar.
However, having really put a ton into Nothing's Changed, I wasn't projecting quite well enough to get anything else finalized. Still, I think we'll settle into aiming for getting one lead vocal track done per session, and then going back and working on backgrounds for the previous session's song after I run out of steam. Backgrounds aren't as demanding energy-wise, so even if I'm a little burned out, I should still be able to get some backgrounds and/or mults done every session.
Nothing's Changed has really taken on a Coldplay/U2 vibe, which is cool. Looking back on the lyrics, I think they're okay. A little simple, but in a good way. I like the sentiment too, the whole idea of thinking you've broken out of a situation or relationship, and then having it kind of crash back onto you without warning and seeing that you really haven't changed at all. I think everybody's got something like this in their life. Looking at the lyrics for the whole album, that seems to be an undercurrent to a lot of it.
Hmmmm.
The lyrics to Nothing's Changed:
Living in yesterday it's hard
To know exactly what went wrong (what went wrong?)
Did it crash and burn and leave you lying there
In the dark before the dawn?
Chorus: I went looking for you
Are you looking for me?
Just when it seemed like we weren't the same
Somehow nothing's changed
The consequence is creeping in
The last goodbye was like the first (like the first)
Bloodshot eyes and cloudy skies and you
I don't know which of them is worst
CHORUS
I want to know
Where you go
CHORUS
jbg
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