Category Archives: music

Calling of Simon

After many attempts, I’ve settled on version 9.x for the Calling of Simon mix. The goal of this mix was to create more separation between the various instruments and tracks. That goal continues to elude me… but my ears want to tell me I’m getting closer.

The biggest change in this final version (as compared to the almost-final-version that was posted originally on FB,) is the piano track. I wish I could keep the crisp, original track as it was recorded for the final version of this song’s mix… but for whatever reason (frequency fights, velocity problems, etc.) I found myself getting tired of hearing the harsh, repetitive pinging of notes from a sampled instrument. In an effort to avoid these problems, I ended up reshaping the piano tone into something different… and from what I can tell, the change in tone has helped to better separate the piano from the rest of the tracks. But there is still more that could be done!

The song (and lyrics) can be found on the Music Scrapbook… or on SoundCloud (for the time being.)

Calling of Simon Mixing Notes

With the mixing of Calling of Simon, I’ve been trying to branch out into different mixing techniques (“different” as in: not trying to hide the mix in a glossy, mid-range mess…)

These techniques have involved:

  • using delay and reverb for vocals (rather than relying on a channel strip preset)
  • cutting out low end frequencies from the reverb-saturated piano
  • cutting out boomy low end frequencies from the bass
  • breaking up the drum group track into individual drum tracks

But I’ve faced problems with:

  • finding mysterious frequencies that hurt my ears (and these might be caused by unnecessarily-boosted mid-range EQ frequencies… but still trying to locate the source)
    • helped: by using a compressor/gate on the master aux to act as a “catch-all” for any harsh frequencies missed in the individual tracks
  • flattening the vocals… how do the pros do this?
    • helped: by using a compressor/gate to help with smoothing out the vocals
    • helped: by panning the vocals to hard left and hard right to take away the “in-your-face” aspect of the vocals and allow the vocals to sit better in the mix
    • still need to add more automation for the loud parts of this song, though… and find a way to cut out the light distortion happening from the mid-range vocals eq… (might try out different attack settings with the compressor, too.)
  • taming the high-end EQ of the drums without making the drums sound like they are being played in a bit-crushed cave

Calling of Andrew

Finally had the opportunity to finish up the latest mix for the first (of five) songs from the end of last year. School got in the way of finishing these sooner… but I wanted to try to have these mixes sound easier on the ears than any previous recording I’ve had the opportunity to mix. Though even after spending so much time on the arrangement and mix, I still wish certain parts could be done differently…

The first song, Calling of Andrew, is from the album The Calling and follows the events of John 1:35-42 where Andrew meets Jesus and soon invites his brother (Simon) to meet Jesus.

The song (and lyrics) can be found on the Music Scrapbook… or on SoundCloud (for the time being.)

Still Waters

A few days late… and a few dollars short… but the Christmas Gift for 2012 was finally finished around the 1st of this new year. Good timing, eh…? I’ll try harder next year… like a good rover should!

Anyway, if you’d like to hear (or download) the songs for the “Still Waters” album (also known as the “Christmas Gift 2012” album…) here is the album link:

still-waters-cover
Still Waters Album Booklet

Thanks for listening!
And I hope you have a good new year!

Almost There…

Although the Christmas Gift album for this year is nearing completion… I do wish I had had more free time to work on it before Christmas. I started planning for it back in November (as usual…) but some things came up and work on the album had to be put off until later (in late December.)

We’ll see how the album turns out…

Next Christmas Gift Album Underway

Work has finally begun for the next Christmas Gift album. It seems that the album will probably be just a seemingly-random assortment of different types of songs… instead of being a concept album, like that one Christmas Gift 2010 album.

A lot of thoughts have been put upon my mind over this past year: thoughts about loss, self-centered thinking, and (a lack of) spiritual growth. Somehow these thoughts will most likely find their way into songs on this next album.

I also am hoping to get another song in the Life of Christ series added… if possible. 🙂

Here’s an early quote from the project:

“You cannot have just what you want
without hurting yourself
and others, too.”

Decisions

Been rethinking the first song on the second album for Dream World. It’ll be the third try… the other two tries (Now or Never and Lonely Girl) just don’t quite cover the same emotions that I want to convey in this part of the story. I also want the album to start out in a way that at least attempts to draw the listener further into the overarching storyline.

Hopefully this helps…

DW Recording: Day 45

Added some weird lead guitar parts to the Drive Home song, tonight. The parts are layered in an attempt to create manually-created effects. Hopefully it worked…

I tried using the Washburn WI64DL for these guitar parts, but I haven’t changed the strings on it (yet…) and I don’t know what gauge or type of strings were originally used. The strings feel pretty thin and sound pretty tinny, so I’m guessing they are probably 9s or something. Anyway, I just wish they had had a slightly darker tone in the end. But… that can still be changed with EQ adjustments later.