Part of Your Story

Began tracking "Part of Your Story" with Todd yesterday. Few setup glitches on my end prevented us from doing more, but, the stuff we did get was great! It really made me realize what I want to do this for real - you know, for like the rest of my life. It's amazing what you can learn in a matter of minutes...and I felt like experience alone will allow me to grow.

So here it is...

Part of Your Story - Acoustic Demo

So, we've got a pretty good acoustic track (mic'd and direct). Vocals were great also. We may end up recording another acoustic track once band is done only because it could be tweaked just a bit...but, overall, it sounds good. I added a really simple Reason drum track - nothing fancy - just to give it a little more. I hope to continue tracking the band next week...after I get a song or two more done with Todd.

Let me know what you think...I am always open to hearing what people honestly think. You can't hurt my feelings...seriously. I am still learning, but what's cool is, I feel determined to learn the in's and out's of recording. And the best part, it's one thing that my lack of vision isn't affecting, which is an amazing feeling for me!

Keep ya' posted...

Tracking

I start tracking Todd's songs tomorrow. I have a few session files with clicks setup in Pro Tools already, to save some time. I don't like the click tracks that come with programs...they are too plain and don't really stand out. I create my click tracks in Reason via ReDrum. I try to make them a bit more musical so that it is more enjoyable to use...I am not a fan of the plain-Jane click track.

Anyways, I may post some vocal-acoustic stuff if I get anything good. Keep ya' posted!

Try this on for size....

Jonathan's stuff is done. Here's what I did...

(Note: Files are rather large. It may take a bit)

1. Missing - Nice piano driven song. The piano/keys track was one of the hardest ones to work with.

2. Heart Beat Song - Cool tune. Drums rushed a bit (my fault of course)....but, it still sounds great. Bass and drums sound very solid on this one. Again, piano just wasn't where I wanted it.

3. We Seek the One - One of my favorites. I like this one because it all works together to make a nice arrangemnet. Electirc is doing some really cool stuff and I think it fills the gaps that the rest of the band just doesn't cover.

4. Be - This one is primarily piano (keys really). When the band comes in, it is pretty powerful.

5. Order My Days - Though it's not as full as the others, it still works. This one would have helped to have drums all seperately mic'ed (I was using brushes).

6. Because of You - The first one I worked with. I think it is lacking something to fill the gaps when electric isn't as present. Very U2-ish!

That's that. Next on the agenda...tracking vocals and acoustic for Todd Wright. Hoping to do that next week. Until then....I will play around with the Jonathan mix learning new stuff about Pro Tools. Let me know what you think....please, please, please!

Just Another Day....

Current Project: Jonathan Martin's live recording from Grace Bible Church

What I Have Done: Mixing is done. As of this morning I mixed down two tracks. I finished the other four that were reasonably usable this afternoon. So, a total of six songs from the handful of ten that he did.

What I've learned so far: Pro Tools is fantastic. I know that....something else that is important to note. I have a lot to learn about EQ. Period, end of story. Mixing is pretty easy...however, I still feel I can do more with my mixes. Today I worked a bikt with automation. Automation is great, if I can get it done the right way. I also worked a bit more (jsut playing around with) the "Gate" plug-in. Since a lot of that was done before hand, I didn't have a lot of use for it, however, it allowed me to see what it does.

Notes: Don't really have access to a place yet to host this stuff. I need to talk to Paul about building something. I would like to put together an entire site of things I am doing, both production and performance. Hopefully we can get something up soon. In the mean time....I will see if I can't host them elsewhere.

This is a learning process. I want to be very hands-on and learn a bit for myself so that it will stick and make more sense. I could have someone tell me what to do, but that's just no fun. But, if anyone reading this has any tips, tricks, or resources for me to look into....please don't hesitate.