Rework - can be just the ticket

Wow! Vince has just left and Andy is upstairs in the Bathroom doing his vocal warmup exercises in preparation for this evening's vocal session. We just had a flurry of creative activity - after our A&R meeting there was one song that we all decided would warrant a major rework, and we tackled that one for the second session of the day. I fet I should tell you about it whilst I am still breathlessly excited. We massively simplified the beat, changed the bass sound, stripped back some of the sequencers, Vince wrote a whole new "string" arrangement on the middle part ( and under the end chorouses) and we put some cool electronic noises here and there on the track (I particularly like the way that the Novation SL Remote supports the MiniMonsta, the impOscar and the Oddity "out of the box" - it makes for a lot of fun). It's still the same song, but it sounds very different to my ears. In a good way! Sometimes it really is best to stop fiddling around and just retrack the song (be that with a guitar band or a electronic project) - after all there is nothing really to lose apart from a few hours time (because we don't throw the old version away) and potentially so much to gain. No fear! Long live creativity.

Happy Halloween from us all

Pumpkins carved by Joe Brien.

Halloween

Vince's wife, Tracy, has been looking after us. She sent sweets in case kids come around on Halloween and a Zucchini bread. Yum Yum.

Early Start

Up at 7 today - and straight in the studio with a cup of green tea. I wanted to get three rough mixes done that reflect the state of play so far. I find that it is very important to have stuff ready to listen to at anytime. Obviously I keep all the roughs in iTunes, so they are immediately available, and we can make a CD for Andy or Vince should they require it, and I keep updated mixes in a heavily fortified location on the web for the band, our A&R guy Daniel, and band's manager, Michael, to access whenever they want to. It's all about listening isn't it.

Regarding LP Title Suggestions

Just so everyone knows - Andy is not reading this Blog AFAIK, so Album Title suggestions here are wasted.

Another "Thank You" to yet more Sponsors

And a Final "Thank You" to all my Sponsors

Here

Andy makes a small speech :-)

A helpful feed for this blog

I have created a feedburner feed for this blog. I hope it will be useful

For those new to this Blog

You can see the previous entries on my website

The first song on a Bright Sunny Monday

Well, we all survived the storm, I cycled into Portland and enjoyed an eggwhite Omelette at the Porthole.

Back in plenty of time to prepare for Vince's arrival. Vince and I were underwhelmed by our lack of genius on this song. It seemed lame to us, and not Electro enough. So we proceeded to rectify our failings immediately. I sped the song up, Vince changed the bassline and we were off! Within 90 minutes the song was TRANSFORMED. We loved it, and when Andy arrived he said immediately that it was MUCH better. We (electro) rock!

The second song made a better initial impression, but Vince had decided that between us we had put too many annoying bell sounds on the track! So we got rid of those :-) And we crept the tempo up slightly - now it sits really nice with the vocal melody. For me the tempo of the song is so much about maximising the feel of the vocal melody, and it is a lot of fun getting that just right. Especially as we get closer and closer to final vocals.

Andy is continually reworking and honing the lyrics, and to my ear they keep improving - all credit to him and his focus and determination. He is also in fine voice, so it is a pleasure to work with him on the songs.

Vince tells another joke

possible quote of the day by Vince

"Just say Futurist - that works every time for me"

Vince chats briefly about synths

Sunday was a much needed day of rest, I enjoyed a very long cycle ride all around Cousin's Island and Little John Island. It was so windy on the bridge to Cousin's Island that I had to get off and walk - the wind was blowing me off my bike. Not much else to report other than the fact that I got an eMailed Photo from Vince to remind me that he IS making a disco album - so all of us Dance Music fans can be happy. :-)