Finding the Perfect Piano

I'm having a blast today trying out my new East West Quantum Leap Piano samples. As far as piano goes for the new album, purchasing this library is absolutely the best move I could have made. With four pianos (a Bechstein D-280, Steinway D, Bösendorfer 290, and Yamaha C7), three mic positions for each instrument (close, player, and room) and dozens of reverb options, the sound possibilities are nearly endless. I've been spending this afternoon trying out various piano sounds on different songs. The Bösendorfer may not be used on this project (as this piano tends to be used more often in classical music), but the Yamaha will appear quite a bit, with a few guest appearances by the Bechstein and Steinway. The Bechstein sounds great on some of the more poppy songs and the Steinway is perfect for the more intimate tunes. The "size" and dynamic variations of the Yamaha is choice for the bigger and sometimes darker songs.

I would have never had such versatility had I tracked a live piano (I'd be limited to one piano and would have to pay for studio time and really wouldn't have the time for much experimentation). I also don't own the gear to record with multiple mics positions (I'm not sure how many mics & pre-amps the East West guys used to record these pianos, but it was definitely more than I could ever afford).

On a side note, installing this library was quite the big operation. It literally took me 24 hours (2 days of sitting by my computer) to install these samples, with 35 double layered DVDs! However, the quality of these instruments was totally worth the wait!

Backing Tracks

Today, I’m spending a couple hours working on mixing the backing tracks we’ll be using at concerts. Our live band will be made up of drums (Jim Davis), bass (Joey Bradley), rhythm guitar (not sure yet), lead guitar (Matt Meyer), piano, and lead vocals. However, a lot of my music contains quite a bit of additional instrumentation – keyboards, strings, percussion, and background vocals. For most songs, we’ll be playing with a click track and we’ll have some of these background instruments playing along with the live band.

For concerts, the backing tracks will be played back using an iPod, an iPad or a laptop and will feed back to the soundboard and then one channel (the click track) will feed to the band’s in ear monitors, and the other track (a mono mix of all the backing instruments) will be mixed in with the band through the house sound system. Our drummer Jim will be triggering the backing tracks.

The mixing engineer at the concert will be responsible for balancing the backing tracks with the live band… with this in consideration, it’s my goal to set the overall level of the backing tracks so that they are the same from song to song (so the mix engineer won’t have any volume surprises). It’s also important that the click track is the same level from song to song (so the band doesn’t get blown away by the click, or lost because they can’t hear the click).

On another note, we had a great extended 3 ½ hour long band practice this morning. The band is sounding tighter and better every time we practice! Hoping to play our first full show sometime in June!

When All Instruments Are Spoken For

I’m getting very close to having all the instruments recorded for Snapshots of the Shattered Soul. On Tuesday, I received all the audio files from Monday’s string session in Nashville (read previous blog). I’m very happy with the way the strings turned out! Thanks to David Davidson for playing violin and viola, John Catchings for playing cello, and thanks to Bobby Shin for engineering the session!

I still need to record piano and there are a few keyboard/synthesizer parts here and there that I’d like to tweak. Matt Meyer may also record a small electric guitar part at the beginning of one song (I didn’t get to this part while recording with Mike Payne). Otherwise, the instruments are pretty much ready to go.

I am currently saving up for East West Quantum Leap’s Piano Library (http://www.soundsonline.com/Pianos). Why am I now going with samples? Sounds like I’ve changed my tune, huh? Well, as opposed to recording a real piano, I won’t have to pay for piano tuning or studio time, and with this library, I’ll have access to four amazing pianos (including a Yamaha C7 and a Steinway, all with multiple mic positions)… and additionally, I’ll own these piano sounds for years to come - a great investment for future projects. Hopefully, I’ll be able to purchase these samples, finalize the piano parts, and wrap up the last bit of instrument tweaks by the middle of May. I will then start recording the final vocals (lead and background), and after that will come the mix stage.

It’s a funny feeling seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after about a year and a half of writing, recording and editing. What a blast it’s been to watch these songs come to life, from rough piano and vocal demos to complex arrangements!

The Last String Session

Yesterday, I mailed a package to violinist David Davidson in Nashville (we recorded strings for five songs at his studio in early February). The package contained a DVD of two Pro Tool sessions, as well as some sheet music. This next Monday, he will be recording violin and viola for the opening song on the album, and John Catchings will be playing cello on a tune called “A World Without” (John was the cello player at the recording session back in February). This morning, I met with composer Robert Nugent to finalize this cello part. I will have to email the sheet music for this part to David before Monday’s session. After this session, all the strings for the album will be recorded. Things are moving along!

In other news, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with recording piano. I’ve been eyeing some piano samples (especially East West’s piano library), but I’m not completely sure whether or not I’m going to go this route.

The Performance Side

Most bands live two competing lives. Much of their days are spent in the meticulous seclusion of a studio – tweaking and fixing to their heart’s content, while another significant part of their existence is exhausted on the road and on the stage – the true testing ground of their musicianship. Before the days of computers, it was much more challenging to get it right in the studio. There was no Beat Detective and no Auto-Tune. It wasn’t possible to line up a sloppy drummer or bassist “to the grid.” A pitchy singer couldn’t pass as a singer with good pitch – what went to tape was basically what you heard in the final mix.

And They Sounded So Good on the Record…
Thanks to today’s technology, the studio can give a musician a false sense of his/her own ability. With a live performance, what a musician plays is what the crowd hears. There are no re-takes or punch-ins (however, many nuances you’d hear in a recording are lost when the same music is pumped one time through large speakers in a noisy room of fans). Additionally, the stage brings with it many unique uncontrollable variables (bad monitor mixes, poor acoustics, unruly fans, tight schedules for set-up, tear-down, etc.). A performer has to be at the top of his/her game regardless of the circumstances.

An Honest Self-Critique
It can be humbling to hear yourself recorded, especially when you are listening back to a live performance. I know I have areas to improve. For example, as a singer, I know I don’t sing my best when I am nervous. I don’t usually get nervous on stage, but there have been times when I have been and my singing has suffered. Usually, if I’m nervous, I’ll hold back which results in bad tone and/or shaky pitch (especially high long notes). I’ve also noticed that my vocals aren’t their strongest when I am playing an unfamiliar piano part at the same time. For some reason, I won’t hold notes as long as I normally would, and my pitch loses its importance when I am pre-occupied with remembering chord changes or piano melodies. I also am aware that I have a tendency to rush my piano playing in louder song sections, and my piano playing becomes a little more generic when I am singing, and especially when I am trying to follow a click track. Obviously, every performer has areas where he/she needs to improve. On a random note, my drummer Jim recently mentioned that many drummers tend to rush when they have to go to the bathroom, and are forced to hold it. Funny but true!

I Don’t Want to Kill Any Birds, But If I Had To Kill Two, I’d Use One Stone
I made a big mistake with my last album Backstage Pass (2004). I didn’t start practicing with a band until after the album was released. Why was this choice such a mistake? Well, for one, I wasn’t really ready to promote the album through live shows when the project came out. I think it’s true that people are the most excited about an artist and/or recording at or after a live show. I also think that I would have benefited from practicing with a band before I sang all the vocals parts on Backstage Pass (although I did rehearse a lot in the car and in my parent’s basement).

On the new album Snapshots of the Shattered Soul, I am doing something different in that I am playing all of the piano parts as well as singing (Rich Barrett played piano on Backstage Pass). For most concerts, I will also be singing and playing piano (or keyboard as real pianos quickly go out of tune when you carry them from one venue to another). Rehearsing with the band has been helping me to prepare both for live shows and also for the final tracking of piano and vocals on the album. There are definitely trouble songs/sections that I am working on refining – both on my own, and also during our Saturday morning band rehearsals.

Until the Good Gets Better and the Better Gets Best
Over the last couple weeks, Jim, Matt, Joey, and I have been recording our practices and what a mirror that has been! We are each taking notes on our own performance and are working to iron out the rough spots. Currently, we are focusing on about nine key songs from the new album, but will also soon be incorporating a handful of tunes from Backstage Pass. We’re really looking forward to playing out – hopefully starting in June!

Coming soon… “Developing an Engaging Set List”

Overdubs with Mike Payne

On March 11th, Nashville studio guitarist Mike Payne started recording overdubs for three songs that we were unable to get to on our trip to Nashville back in early February. This past Monday, he posted the audio files from these sessions for me to download. Over the past week, I’ve been pulling these new guitar parts into Pro Tools, and just finished importing the last of these files last night. I have to say, Mike’s guitar parts have taken these last several songs to a new level! Two of these tunes are the worship song and the love song I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. I can tell Mike really spent his time on these tunes. The harmonies and counter melodies he came up with aren’t just icing on the cake; I believe they are foundational in bringing these songs to life!

Tones and Parts
I have learned quite a bit from working with Mike (I’ve recorded with him twice now – once on February 4th at his home studio, and then again on March 11th over iChat). Not only is he a skilled guitar player; he is extremely adept at choosing guitar tones that work well in the mix and guitar parts that compliment the other instruments. I’ve heard a couple professional engineers comment about “Mike’s (great) tone.” He just knows his amps, pedals, and guitars and knows what it takes to get a certain sound. At one point, I remember saying to him, “This song is partially inspired by The Fray. I don’t want to sound exactly like them, but do you think you could find a guitar tone which might fit this style?” Sure enough he did – and he actually came up with a slightly varied tone that sounded somewhat “Frayish,” but different enough to give my song it’s own sound.

The Skill of Listening
I find that a lot of musicians don’t listen to anyone but themselves when they are playing. It’s good to be aware of what you are playing/singing as a musician, but in a band setting, it’s important to make sure your tones/parts/pitch/etc. are blending well with everyone else. I’ve played with some musicians who are determined to play at all times with as many notes as possible. Often, silence is as much a musical tool as musical notes themselves. Simplicity is also at times more powerful than complexity. Sometimes, silence is used to give a song dynamics (instruments are brought in and out at key song sections) and other times, silence is used to help a melody or counter melody “breathe.” Simplicity can likewise be used to communicate a certain emotion (intimacy or innocence) or to punctuate a more note heavy musical passage.

I think one thing that makes Mike such a good studio musician is the fact that he is a careful listener. While recording overdubs, he actually asked me to turn his guitar down quite a bit in the mix so that he could hear how his parts were blending with the other instruments. He also had me turn the drums up a bit higher than everything else so that he could make sure that his playing was tight. As I go back to listen to his parts, I am amazed at his sense of rhythm. I’ve hardly had to edit any of his parts because about 99% of the time, he is locked to the drums like a leech to a leg. Absolutely amazing.

A Pleased Costumer
In conclusion, I am so thankful that my friend Dave Bechtel introduced me to Mike Payne. It has been awesome to work with him, and I hope we have more opportunities to work together in the future!

Piano Tracking at Liberty Presbyterian

Well, last night, I began to officially track piano for the new album. I got through about four songs, and have six to go. Here are some pics from Liberty Presbyterian in Delaware, OH. I've decided to go with the Yamaha C7 for many of the songs. Our church's Kawai just doesn't sound grand enough for the big tunes. However, I may use the Kawai on a couple of the more popish songs.

One Piece at a Time

The pieces are really coming together for the new album! Last Friday, Mike Payne recorded guitar overdubs for the 3 songs we were unable to get to while in Nashville last month. He should be sending me those files in the near future. Also, this coming Thursday, I will be meeting with composer Robert Nugent to listen to a cello part he arranged for one of the new tunes.

I now have most of the MIDI strings programmed. These sampled strings will be mixed underneath the real strings to create a larger sound. I’ve also been quite busy practicing and making final tweaks to piano parts. I hope to record real piano in the next month or so. Next week, I may do a practice recording session where I will set up some mics on a live piano and experiment with different mic positions and pre-amp settings. In addition, I’ve been practicing vocal parts – mostly in the car while driving (I’ve created a variety of mixes – some without vocals, some without piano and vocals). You may see me driving down the road singing at the top of my lungs!

I’m still paying for the album as I go. I’m currently saving up for an Empirical Labs Distressor, a compressor that I will use on the final vocals, along with my API A2D pre-amp. I want to use the highest quality signal chain as possible!

I’m still hoping to release the new album sometime the middle of this year.

Programming MIDI Strings (Video)

Marc talks about string articulations, and the process of programming MIDI strings which will used to fill out the sound of a smaller string section.

Click on the photo for video. Video is 12.5 MB and may take a minute or two to load. You can also right click on the photo and select "save target as..."

Oceans of Creativity

Piecing It All Together
It’s been about a month since we recorded strings and guitar overdubs in Nashville, and since then, things have been quite busy here at 10x12 Productions. At this point, I’ve cleaned up most of the string and guitar tracks, and have pulled those tracks into my “main” Pro Tool sessions (the strings and guitars were recorded and edited in separate Pro Tools sessions to cut down on clutter with all the unused takes). I’ve also been busy working on programming the MIDI strings that will be mixed in under the real strings for a larger orchestra sound (I’m preparing a video blog which will explain this process in more detail). This is quite an exciting stage as I am for the first time hearing all of the “final” instruments together - with the exception of the real piano, which I hope to record in the next month or so. As mentioned in my previous blogs, I still need to record guitar overdubs for 3 more tunes. I am planning to track these guitar parts with Mike Payne next Friday, March 11th (remotely, over iChat, as he is in Nashville and I am in Columbus).

Practice Makes Perfect
In addition to studio work, I’ve been busy practicing with my live band (drums: Jim Davis, bass: Joey Bradley, guitar: Matt Meyer). We’ve been rehearsing almost every Saturday at Jim’s place (he has a nice finished basement space with an in-ear monitoring system). We don’t have any official shows lined up yet, but we do have a possible gig in June, which would have us opening for a national Christian act. We hope to start playing out officially in early summer (mainly regional shows at first).

An Overcrowded Boat
The creative process continues to be exciting and wearying. I’m currently working on a tune that is overly concentrated with instruments, and I’m trying to figure out what parts to cut out. This song has been driving me crazy the last couple days, but I think I am making some headway on deciding what to eliminate. Sometimes less is more. I’m a sucker for big production, but even with “grand” songs, you have to find a tasteful limit to the number of musical layers. Originally, the “size” of this song was built around some guitar power chords, a big organ, a couple synth pads, and an arpeggiating synth lead (not to mention a few drum loops here and there). As the song developed, I had Rich Barrett add some string parts, and Mike Payne added some cool guitar accents that I hadn’t originally envisioned. Suddenly, I was having trouble finding space for everything. I think I’ve solved some of the clutter issue by cutting out the organ and some of the pads for much of the song. I also lost the drum loop in the choruses, and pulled out the strings for the first part of the first chorus. Just like an overloaded boat, sometimes you have to sacrifice some non-crucial luggage to the sea for the well being of the vessel.

Video blog coming soon...

What’s Next on the Menu?

For the next couple months or so, I will be attending to some miscellaneous to-dos.

(1) I still need to record a cello part for one tune. I was going to record this in Nashville during our last trip, but decided it’d be more cost effective to have John Catchings (the cellist) record the cello part at his home studio at a later date, instead of recording the part at David Davidson’s, where 3 other players would be sitting around twittling their thumbs… not to mention I’d be racking up unnecessary studio and engineer costs. Robert Nugent will be arranging the cello part. I will simply mail John a Pro Tools session, he’ll record the cello, and he’ll then mail/email me with the audio files.

(2) I also need to record string parts for the first song on the album. It’s a pretty simple string arrangement, and for cost reasons, I will have a single string player layer violin and viola parts over some full orchestra string samples I am already using on this tune.

(3) I need to record guitar overdubs for 3 more songs with Mike Payne. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to these songs last week when we were in Nashville. We will use iChat (similar to Skype) to communicate while recording (I’ll be in Columbus and he’ll be in Nashville). I think this should work relatively smoothly as we’ve already worked together a little bit. He will be tracking to his Pro Tools system and will mail the sessions to me once we are finished recording.

(4) Additionally, I will start working on editing the live strings we recorded last week and the MIDI strings which will be layered under the live strings. Basically, the rhythms of the real strings and fake strings need to line up. I will also need to program a number of MIDI articulations (marcato, slurs, etc.) that will emulate the articulations of the real strings. String arrangers Robert Nugent and Rich Barrett are providing me with MIDI files of the string parts, which I will further edit to align with the real strings.

(5) Also, in the near future, I will begin recording all the piano parts on a real piano. Still working on a location for this.

(6) After all these miscellaneous tasks have been completed, I will begin recording the final lead vocals as well as the background vocals (at 10x12 Productions). After these have been edited, I will hand all the files off to Dave Bechtel for mixing!

The String & Guitar Sessions

Our trip to Nashville was exceptionally smooth – no snow, hardly any traffic, and we made great time! Crystal and I left Columbus a little after 5:00 am and got into Nashville around 11:00am (Nashville time). We grabbed some lunch at O’Charley’s, rested in the car for a little while, and then headed over to violinist’s David Davidson’s house around 1:30. It was nice to not feel rushed! After meeting David Davidson and engineer Bobby Shin, we headed inside and up to the control room. I gave my hard drive to Bobby, who copied all my Pro Tools sessions to his computer, and then imported his Pro Tools templates into each of my Pro Tools sessions (his templates contained audio channels set up to accommodate all of the string mics). The other string players began rolling in around 1:45 – David Angell on 2nd violin, Monisa Angell on viola, and John Catchings on cello (and David Davidson on 1st violin).

My friend Dave Bechtel was to be at the session, but had unfortunately come down with appendicitis the night before, and was in the hospital getting his appendix removed. David Davidson made the comment, “Well, Dave did say he might not be able to make it because he might have another gig… he got another gig alright… at the hospital! Ha!” All humor aside, we were disappointed that Dave could not be there and we continue to pray for his speedy recovery!

The plan was to track strings for 5 songs, all within 3 to 4 hours. We ended up recording 3 passes for 3 songs and 2 passes for 2 songs in 3 ½ hours. Why 3 passes on some songs and 2 on others? Well, most of the strings are going to be supplemented with strings samples in the final mix, but some of the tunes have more unique string articulations (slides, runs, etc.) that will be hard to copy with string samples. I wanted to keep the recording time to a minimum as I was trying to stay within a budget, and I figured 2 of the songs would be easier to fill out with samples while the other 3 might need more layers of real strings.

We finished recording around 5:30pm. What an amazing session! I was so happy with the audio we captured. Bobby was a great engineer, and David, David, Monisa, and John were phenomenal! Not to mention, David Davidson provided us with coffee, snacks, and a bag of oranges and grapefruits for the road! The day couldn’t have gone better. I think the musicians really enjoyed playing the songs. Thanks to Robert Nugent and Rich Barrett for some killer arrangements!

Crystal and I headed back to the Hampton Inn, where I immediately began copying the audio files to a backup hard drive. I also began burning the string Pro Tools sessions onto DVD. It’s always comforting to know you have a hard copy of such important data. After kicking back at the hotel for a little while, we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants – The Olive Garden! Afterwards, we returned to the hotel, and I began exporting stem files (sub-mixes) of the strings, as I would be using them for the guitar session with Mike Payne the next day. We finally got to bed around midnight. It was going to be a short night.

We woke up Friday morning around 7am, and after getting ready, we headed downstairs for a surprisingly tasty continental breakfast. I’ve had some pretty lousy hotel breakfasts in my day, but this was pretty good! We left the hotel around 8:40 and arrived at Mike Payne’s house at 9:00am. Mike took us upstairs to his home studio, and asked me if I’d be willing to man the Pro Tools system while he played guitar. “Sure!” I exclaimed. I plugged my trusty dusty self-powered firewire drive into his iMac, he grabbed several of his guitars, and we began recording!

Depending on the song, Mike used one of 3 guitars – a beautiful red Gretch, a warm toned Telecaster, or a PSR90 Jr. (which sounded remarkably great for the low price tag). All of his amps were set up in another room, and were feeding through a Chandler Limited Germanium Pre and a Universal Audio 1176 compressor into Pro Tools LE. He implemented a variety of pedals (delays, reverb, chorus, etc.), none of which I was familiar with, but then again, I’m not a guitar player - I just know his effects sounded amazing and he knew how to use his gear!

We stopped for lunch at noon and the 3 of us headed over to one of Nashville’s favorites, Oscar’s Tacos. We exchanged conversation about marriage (Mike is a newlywed), church, recording and touring, financial planning, and of course, the Toyota Matrix (as both of us are owners).

We returned to the house about 1:00pm and picked up on song #4. I had hoped to spend about a ½ hour recording guitar overdubs for each song (we had 12 to record), but unfortunately, we were only able to get through 9 of the 12 songs. Mike had to wrap up at 6:00pm. We could have worked faster, but I really didn’t want to rush through the songs, as I was so happy with the sounds we were getting, and didn’t want to skimp on anything. We will end up recording guitar overdubs for the remaining 3 songs via. iChat (more about this later).

We concluded the recording session at 6:15 and again, Crystal and I headed back to the Hampton for some chill time. I also copied the guitar sessions to a second drive, and began burning backup DVDs. We then went out to celebrate at another one of our favorite restaurants – The Cheesecake Factory (the restaurant where Crystal and I first met in February of 2008). We had to wait a little while, but the food was worth the sitting. We couldn’t believe how busy the restaurant was at 10:00pm at night!

Saturday morning, we slept in, which was great. We were both struggling from some serious sleep debt. After packing up our things, and grabbing some breakfast (at the Hampton again), we went to visit my friend Dave Bechtel, who had just got out of the hospital. It was great catching up with he and his family!

We got on the road around noon (Nashville time) and arrived back into Columbus around 8:15pm or so (Columbus time). Again, the roads were clear and we had very little traffic. Thank you Lord for a wonderful trip!

What’s next on the production schedule? There is still plenty of work to do. Stay tuned for details…

Video Clips From Nashville

Video 1: Mike Payne playing guitar. Video 2: The David Davidson string group.
Click on the photos for video.

Leaving for Nashville

It’s hard to believe the time is here! Here’s the plan. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be leaving at 5am for a close-to-seven-hour trip to Nashville, TN. We’re hoping the roads are clear and the traffic is minimal! We’re aiming to get to Nashville around 11am (Nashville time), we’ll grab some lunch, and then we’ll head over to David Davidson’s studio for a 2pm string session. We will be recording strings for 5 songs. The session will last anywhere from 3-4 hours. We’re hoping we can get everything tracked in 3 hours, as every hour is an additional $460! There will be 4 players – cello, viola, and 2 violins. Depending on the song, we will be recording 1-3 takes… for some songs, we’ll be layering multiple takes; for other songs, a single pass will suffice (as we will later be layering the real strings with sampled strings). All I’ll be bringing is a hard drive that I’ll plug into David Davidson’s Pro Tools system. After the string session, we’ll probably grab dinner with my friend Dave Bechtel. Later that evening, I may need to do some quick mixes of the strings – these mixes will be useful for the guitar overdub sessions the following day.

Friday morning, we’ll head over to studio guitarist Mike Payne’s place at 9am. The goal is to record for 7 hours with a one-hour lunch break. Mike needs to wrap up by 6pm. I’d like to track guitar overdubs for 12 songs - this amounts to just over 30 minutes of recording time per song. Again, I’ll just bring a hard drive and plug it into Mike’s Pro Tools rig. I’m sure we’ll we exhausted that night and will just want to chill out after a long day of recording! We'll return to Columbus on Saturday.

If you’d like to pray for us, here are some prayer requests:

(1)We’d appreciate your prayers for safe and quick travel!
(2) Pray that we’ll be able to get through the string tracking in a timely fashion on Thursday, and pray that the players will have skill as they play!
(3) Pray that we’ll have creativity as we record with Mike Payne on Friday. His guitar tones and playing are going to greatly define the sound of this project.
(4) Pray that Lord willing, we won’t have any technical difficulties!

Thanks for all your support! I’m very anxious to share this new music with you! It still looks like the album should be finished towards the middle of this year (maybe June-July).

What a Men’s Retreat Taught Me About Recording

This past weekend, I attended a men’s retreat at our church. It was both an encouraging and a convicting time. Our speaker, Tom Burns, focused his attention in the book of Ecclesiastes and compared our lives with Solomon. Solomon spent much of his life searching for the meaning of life. He diligently pursued knowledge, pleasure, wisdom, foolishness, and toil, but none of these things satisfied his empty heart. In the end, Solomon concluded that man could only discover true meaning through a relationship with God. Our speaker Tom went on to encourage us to look to the Lord for our purpose and satisfaction.

As we broke into small groups, a number of men shared about their own struggles. Some guys were looking for their identity in work; some of the single guys wrestled with believing that a mate would make them happy. I was going to open up, but never got a chance to do so. Nevertheless, I went away from the retreat sensing that God was trying to tell me something.

Over the course of the weekend, two verses especially stood out to me. One was Ecclesiastes 2:4 which reads, “I undertook great projects…” and the other is 2:23 which reads, “All his days his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” Ever since I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with projects. Before my teenage years, I was preoccupied with LEGOS. In fact, I remember once having a temper tantrum because I was missing a key piece to one of my building sets. In middle school, I became enamored with skateboarding, and spent most of my summer days rattling my wheels down the sidewalks of Clintonville, OH. Later in middle school, I became consumed with music and recording, and have been consumed ever since.

So here I am, days away from another trip to Nashville. I am both excited and nervous. I can’t wait to hear the live strings and I’m dying to hear what cool sounds studio guitarist Mike Payne brings to the table. However, I’m also worried that we’ll be delayed by bad weather or traffic on our way down, and I’m afraid we may not get everything completed in the allotted recording time. I’m concerned I may have to spend more money than I was planning to spend. Then there’s the possibility of technical difficulties. I really doubt I’ll even sleep the night before we leave.

Throughout the course of making this album, I’ve battled panic attacks and physical anomalies most likely triggered by stress (headaches with broken vision, ringing in the ears, occasional numbness in my arms and/or hands). I am keenly aware that I am an uptight guy. I don’t need anyone to tell me that. I obsess and worry a lot. It’s one of my many issues. I constantly have to hand “my plans” and “my comfort” over to the Lord.

Despite all my fretting, it’s good to know God is in control. I know He cares about this album, but more importantly, He is concerned about where my heart is. He wants me to trust Him, and He wants me to keep the small things of this world in perspective with the big things of eternity. Thank you Solomon (and speaker Tom) for the timely reminder.

” Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Marc Andre & Band Performs at InsideOut

This past Saturday, we got the chance to perform some of my new songs for the first time at Grace Brethren of Polaris' InsideOut Creative Forum. No electric guitars or drum kits this time - just a small acoustic set. Pictured left to right is the touring band: Joey Bradley (bass), Matt Meyer (guitar), Marc Andre (vocals & keys), Jim Davis (drums). To learn more about InsideOut and to see a video of us playing, visit http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=132754520101762

Making Final Preparations

This week, I hope to wrap up exporting stem mixes that will be used in the Pro Tools sessions we’ll use for recording in Nashville. Stem mixes are basically sub mixes of groups of instruments. I’m specifically creating stem mixes for bass, drums, rhythm guitars, keyboards, vocals, as well as fake lead guitars and fake strings (these will be used for reference when we are tracking the real lead guitars and strings). The purpose of stem files in this situation is to allow for some monitoring flexibility while recording. In other words, the studio musicians can adjust their headphone mix to their own tastes – more vocal, less bass, more drums, etc.

I am also working on getting some decent demo mixes in Pro Tools. Previously, all demo mixes were in Logic Pro, the program where all the songs were originally composed. My friend Dave Bechtel will eventually be mixing the songs in Pro Tools, but in the meantime, it helps me to hear what the songs might sound like.

I met with composer Rich Barrett last Monday, and plan to meet with him at least one more time before we go to Nashville Feb 3rd-5th. Rich is wrapping up string arrangements for two songs. He initially played all the string parts into Logic Pro, but is now completing the actual notation (for the string players) in Sibelius. Logic is a great program, but is a bit unintuitive when it comes to notation.

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ll be doing in Nashville – we’ll be recording a string quartet (which will be layered multiple times to create a large string sound) as well as guitar overdubs with Nashville studio musician Mike Payne. All of the “bread and butter” rhythm guitar parts have already been recorded. However, Mike will be adding the guitar “seasoning,” if you will – effect based guitar sounds and leads. The guitar sounds we’ve recorded so far fall into two categories – acoustic rhythm guitar and distortion/overdrive rhythm guitar. Mike will be adding guitar tones that make use of other effects – delay, chorus, tremolo, etc. These sounds will function to further set each song apart from each other, giving each tune a unique guitar color palate.

Today, I practiced for the first time with drummer Jim Davis and guitarist Matt Meyer. We hope to start playing out in the spring or summer to promote the new album. Eventually, the live band will consist of drums, bass, two guitars, 1-2 keyboards, and vocals. However, we plan to first nail down our parts as a three piece, and after doing that, we will start adding other players.

Nashville, Here We Come!

Looks like we will be tracking strings in Nashville on Thursday, February 3rd and electric guitar overdubs (in Franklin, TN) on Friday, February 4th. Can't wait!!!

In other news, I got a Korg nanoKONTROL from my sister for Christmas. It's been fun using this with Logic 8 and Pro Tools 8!

The album is coming along! I've basically been doing a lot of miscellaneous work - tightening up guitars, adding a few extra synth/loop parts here and there, as well as stream lining and backing up Pro Tool sessions to DVD. I also met with composer Rich Barrett before Christmas and am meeting with him again this week. We're trying to wrap up string arrangements for two songs. We need to hurry as we will be heading to Nashville in less than a month!

Production Update

Here are some things I’ve accomplished over the last few weeks.

1. Updated the operating system and firmware on my iMac and installed Pro Tools 8 (in the meantime, I’ve been running Pro Tools on my MacBook). I’ve been putting off this iMac update for nearly a year, fearing that it might interfere with the function of all my software instruments, effect plug-ins, and Logic Pro. Surprisingly, the updates have caused no trouble at all! Both Pro Tools and Logic (and all plug-ins) run seamlessly together on the same machine. There are many benefits to having Pro Tools installed on my iMac – (1) I am able to more easily export sounds out of Logic and then pull them directly into Pro Tools. (2) I plan to record background vocals and lead vocals using Pro Tools on the iMac, as the iMac is much quieter than my laptop and takes less time to get up and running. Before updating the iMac, I had to put the laptop in a closet when I was tracking to Pro Tools (3) the 21” iMac screen is much larger and is better on my eyes!

2. Consolidated most of the edited drum tracks (took the chopped up edited audio files and converted them to continuous files – ie. one kick drum audio file, one snare drum audio file, etc.)

3. Created “no drum” mixes of all the songs for drummer Jim Davis who will be playing in my live band. Jim and guitarist Matt Meyer are already getting together to work through some of the new songs. These no drum mixes will help them as they practice. I hope to start playing out with these guys (and a few others) this next spring or early summer.

4. Exported “no string” mixes for composer Rich Barrett who is working on tweaking the string arrangements for two songs.

I am gearing up to begin recording background vocals in January. As far as signal chain goes, I am using a Shure SM7 mic which runs into an API A2D pre-amp and then feeds via SPDIF (a digital connection) into Pro Tools. I’m looking at picking up a FMR RNC compressor for background vocals and an Emiperical Labs Distressor for lead vocals (both of which will be inserted into the API, separately of course depending on whether I am tracking background or lead vocals).

Catching the Bug

The last weeks have been slow as far as album progress goes. I’ve been a bit under the weather with what seems to be either the cold or the flu, accompanied by sinus and sometimes migraine headaches. Not the most fun thing in the world. Nevertheless, the album continues to move along. I met with composer Robert Nugent on Monday to go over the string arrangements for a couple songs, and am meeting with composer Rich Barrett on Thursday to go over the string arrangements for a couple more songs. I am also “consolidating” my drum edits, which basically means I am committing to the edits by converting sliced up files in single continuous files (one kick drum audio file, one snare drum file, etc.).

I’m getting close to having the money for the next Nashville trip. It now looks like we will be going to Nashville in early February to record real strings and electric guitar overdubs. Feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this next step!

I haven’t gotten around to recording new background vocals yet. I’ve already recorded some background vocals, but have more to record. It’s looking like January may be a good month for tracking BGVs. My good friend Matt Stepp may be singing some back up on a couple tunes!

These projects always take longer than expected. Nevertheless, it is rewarding to slowly see the finished product come together!