keys are on the way.
This groove’s got some pop to it.
Been playing guitar all day. It’s been a blast. Still thinking about the vocals for LDA. Will I have a chorus, or just rock it solo?
The chord progression for Fun de Mental is evolving. Some B section riffs came to me in the past couple weeks too.
Not much more to say, because music isn’t words.
I spent most of the day jamming on Love Don’t Ask. I tinkered with the bass line and settled on the overall song form (for now, at least). What’s kind of surprising when I heard everything together in draft state for the first time is a certain source of inspiration that was anything but conscious but not altogether bizarre. It’s B.B. King. Being a guitarist and having been drawn to blues– sometimes quite strongly– it’s not totally unusual that I’d hear King’s chops as I plugged away at my composition. Still, it’s a bit strange– or at least unexpected.
I believe I mentioned that unexpected sources of inspiration surfaced for ZLT too. Guitar-wise, I didn’t realize until I was well into the project just how I was hearing undertones of Mark Knopfler. Also, when I was laying down the drum patterns, in particular the snare, I was feeling the Clash.
I’m critical when I hear material I find derivative. I don’t think I’m in that territory. I think I’m subsuming to a respectable degree. My point here is not to match what I’m doing to what’s been done. I’m annoyed when people do that, because it’s as if they don’t know a way forward without those references. It’s intriguing to me has these past moments in the music life bubble up and seem to come out of nowhere– at a time when I’m asking for…that something.
And I played a few cycles of Fun d’ Mental (aka Song 2). That’s going to be a fun one too.
I’ve probably alluded at times to the point of this blog. It’s primarily a chronicle of my personal music endevours. About two years ago, I was gearing up for a second album. My first one had been recorded five years earlier, right after I finished college. I was stumbling around for a long, long time (well, five years to be precise) for the tonal qualities my next recording would have. Yes, I over-thought this. But, on the plus side, I listened and reflected.
Which brings me to my turning point. Inspired by an electronic musician who only releases EPs (forget who exactly), I decided to do the same. Instead of sculpting that seemingly perfect idea once every five years or so, I might as well release a shorter work every year.
This gives me two big benefits. One, it will boost my production chops. Two, I’m sitting on many years worth of material that I have to get down in order for it to see the light of day. Also, once a song is done, I can move on.
The goal is consistency. My recording rig improved by leaps and bounds between my first and second records. I’ve always felt that my real art was songwriting. I used to say, to the chagrin of my guitarist friends, that my choice of instrument wasn’t important. What’s important is writing melodies and rhythms. And I’m sitting on this kind of huge body of work that’s grown over only about the past 10 years or so. I can go in there and grab fragments and turn them into songs. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Zen Luck Tricks was supposed to be 12-14 tracks, but I simply ran out of time. Two songs that didn’t make that cut will highlight this summer’s EP. So you see ZLT would’ve probably taken 5 years to complete. But by breaking it up, I can change so easily. I don’t have to worry about the overall flavor. The flavor will change. Every year.
I woke up last Saturday and it became suddenly clear that the lead part of Can’t Wait should be played with a slide. I finding I have to really tease the recording, though, as the harmonics overdrive the levels. At least, I think that’s what’s happening. I like the texture the slide creates though. And it adds another roots element to this project for me. I went through a blues phase, as a lot of guitarists do I assume, and I got really into slide. Even though you don’t have all the note choices, those limitations sometimes can lead to very creative applications. And one of the primary features of the slide is sustain, which is actually a slightly unusal quality for guitar. Slide was originally used to emulate vocals. It’s definitely a sound I’m going to use in the future.
I started to record lead parts last night, and ran into system resources limitations. So the scattered tracks that had comprised the Trains rhythm guitar part were mixed into one. I did extensive experimenting to come out with a final I liked, which involved adjusting out levels a few times (re-mixing once) and apllying various effects. I ended up using a band pass filter, which essentially tightened up the dynamic range, and in particular took some off the bottom so as not to compete with the bass.
Tonight, I’m going to mix the rhythm track for Lines. I went for a different tonal feel for the backing guitar on Lines, so I may need to play around with effects again. But seeing as there’s only one guitar part, I won’t have to spend a lot of time on levels. I also want to bang out as much of the Lines solo parts as I can. The basic riff from Lines was written a few years ago when I played in a few rock bands here in NYC. I had gotten my rock legs back under me, and decided to find a talented singer with some material to play and help develop it. The Lines riff is Zep inspired, for sure. The orignial contained quite a bit of dissonance too– Page wasn’t afraid to write a theme around a dissonant interval. He used the tritone at times like Four Sticks in a decidedly blues-jazz manner.
I find it interesting how much I go back to blues and rock in this project. Those are the standards after all, and I never wanted the eletronic production to overwhelm the songwriting. I shoot for any of my songs to be playable by a bunch of 14 year-olds in a garage. The Lines riff(s) will have a lot of the same feel as the Trains ones, I imagine, seeing as how they’re being developed at the same points in time. My guitar rig is completely untouched through all of this, on purpose, so I can capture the same sonic characteristics.
I’m also becoming aware of the challenges of a good rock solo. I did some free jamming on Trains last night, recording each take to see what if anything was usable. And I didn’t keep any of it, although I did find the register and basic patterns I think I’ll use. I really love how Gibson guitars sound in the upper registers. They’re almost horn-like. It’s also fascinating how the guitarist can find so many variations as he works his way down the neck– there’s a real growl in the mid-registers, and then the clangy, clanky brashness of the open ones. Lines was written down there. But now, it’s kind of all over the neck.
Having put down vocals for all three songs, I turned to lead guitar over the weekend. I ran into a situation similar to the one below with riffs– I was just jamming over top the other tracks when I started to feel the need for through-composed parts. I want to keep some spontaneity, somehow. But I found the guitar clashing too much, both because there are already melodic backing instruments and there are vocals this time, which differs from my first recording, Exotic Threads.
Like I said earlier, vocals really command the attention in a way that even a screaming electric guitar doesn’t. Right now, I’m really tacking arrangment and instrumentation issues. When does the lead guitar occur? In the intro, an then it comps until the solo? Or should it fill in, being more active in a blues way? I’m tending towards the latter at least for Strange Trains. Trains is after all a blues song. Maybe the others will cry out for different attention.
So, this week I plan to carry out some experiments. I found the melodic pocket for Trains– basically, F#m over the Bm-D section, then G and F# over G-F#, all pentatonics. I like the note choices the F#m pentatonic gives me, and along with the turnaround, it keeps Trains in that dark, bluesy groove. The chorus to Trains actually does some strange and beautiful things tonally. I’m not sure how to approach this yet; there won’t be a solo per se in any place, but I haven’t settled on whether I’ll play any fills.
As for the others, my guess right now is Can’t Wait won’t take a whole lot of notes. Instead, I hear textures for that one. Lines goes by fast, tempo-wise. I think this will dictate that fills during the vocals would be mostly pointless. But Lines has built in breaks for guitar solos.
It’s been critical to keep the eyes of a producer for this project. And there’s so much to learn when you look at everything from that height.
I re-recorded Lines last night in the key of Dm. New submix and rhythm guitar parts took two hours, so I wasn’t able to add new vocals. And, damn, I wanted to sing! I want to sing! And dance!
No, not really dance…
I fascinated how a half-step modulation can open up creative possibilities. I upped the key to create more bottom room for the final note of the first verse phrases. The seemingly small key change led to a new chorus melody idea, one that I’m in love with and certainly using. Even the verse phrasing changed slightly. I should say was able to change. I don’t know why. It’s one of those mysteries about music.
I’ve decided to follow an “accidental” arrangement of Can’t Wait. It’s a re-org of the pieces that should make for a nice contrast with the other songs, as far as layouts from beginning to end go. Sometimes when you’re so close to a project, it’s difficult to see things from a new angle unless it’s by accident. So, we’ll see. I think it’s going to work out just fine though.
Writing a riff comes down to jamming. I doubt my preconceived notions would have gotten very far. I basically have two guitar parts written for Can’t Wait now. Rhythm track one is Jimmy Page via John McLaughlin (circa Que Alegria– one of my favorites ever). The other track is a page out of modern rock.
This, I suppose, is my fusion.
I have the submixes sitting inside my computer now. Yes! And I dig how they turned out. As I turn my attention to guitar parts, I’m realizing that I have quite a bit of work to still do– I think. It’s been a little while since I’ve revisited the various musical scraps I have for guitar.
I was listening to Can’t Wait yesterday, and I started to worry that the bridge was going to be difficult to find the right guitar part for. Actually, the whole tune presents somewhat of a challenge, because it ended up taking its own direction. Now, I love the direction things went. I wasn’t at all freaked out that the song was morphing into something I written earlier (!) When it came time for guitar, I noticed the chords had changed, because the melodic nature of the bass lines (what I wrote about all last week) implied certain other harmonic movements. It’s possible to just stick the old chords on top of the new bass in most places– and that’s exactly what I plan to do in most places. Never the less, some new composition will be necessary.
hmmmm
And what the songs needs are riffs. I love those, of course, as a guitarist, riffs come as second nature. Lines has its own riff already, written specifically for Lines back in the days I was cowriting and playing small gigs around the city. Strange Trains will need a riff too, I think. I came up with quite a few parts for Trains just by jamming. Oh, and I’ve decided to nix the rhythm part on Can’t Wait (yes, even after 96 takes).
So I’m back in songwriting mode, feeling a bit of pressure from the schedule, but internalizing a lot of how this works and how it feels. My next EP project, pharma-cynical, should speak more clearly to me about what’s needed.
I also came across a Wired article on forgetting about Facebook and the other social networks and using blogs and various Web toolie widgets to create an open version of that same thing. It reminded me that I have to build this site out, and describe myself more.
But for the next couple of weeks, it’s nothing but riffs…
I’d like to knock out the guitar parts to Lines and Strange Trains this weekend. Yes, that’s ambitious. I’d be happy with half of that.
The first issue I’ll have to confront here will be guitar tone. I’ve gone back and forth with this one. My preamp, which plugs directly into the computer for recording, emulates 6 different preamps. For Zen Luck Ticks, I’ve been torn between sending my Les Paul through a Fender or a Marshall. Both tonal directions have similar sounds above the preamp setting, but the preamp setting truly does create some distinctiveness. I’ve thought as a compromise that I could lay the rhythm tracks with one and do the leads with the other. That may in fact be the solution, although the rhythm track I laid down for Can’t Wait uses the Marshall, and I had thought of doing those in reverse.
The second consideration will be the chord voicings and the last will be the groove. There’s an art to separating lead and rhythm parts, and for that matter, rhythm guitar and bass. Ultimately, I think, you want to create a unity. It gets back to lush versus sparse. The more difference there is among the voicings, the more dense and lush you make the production. Multiplying tracks is only necessary where a physical limitation occurs on a single track.
We shall see what happens when I plug in. I’m sure I’ll have many lessons learned to share.
