I just realized the other day that, while we didn’t shoot nearly as much footage as we did during “Transition”, that we had never shared any behind the scenes videos from “Unbroken”. So, I combed through everything and did a very quick edit to put out there. There’s no underlying commentary, no real organization, and really no point to it all. Just thought I’d share it with anyone who’s interested:
On a side note, I ran into a number of funny bits that kind of had a theme. So I also made a Top Ten Reasons Why It Takes Us So Long to Finish a CD:
This probably sounds a little strange all by itself but hopefully, as the pieces of this CD come together, this will all make sense…
“Welcome” is a short segue between “String Theory” and the next song, “Full Circle.” It not only works to bridge the two pieces together musically, but once again we are moving the story forward with sound samples. Throughout the CD, the part of our therapist will be played by none other than Brad Jenkins, the real talent behind all of Woodcrest Chapel’s endeavors.
“Welcome” was actually just an afterthought. Chris and I had finished piecing together the arrangement of “String Theory” and were talking about what to do to as a bridge into the next section. I grabbed a guitar and started in B (where “String Theory” leaves off) and came up with something that ended in D (where “Full Circle” begins). I recorded it right then and there, threw on a bit of piano, and other than re-recording it for purposes of better timing and playing, it’s exactly what you hear…
“String Theory” is our first musical introduction to the album. The music is dark and aggressive, hopefully bringing out feelings of mental and emotional turmoil. Chris brought out some nice textures and melodies in his guitar work which add a melancholy feel to the whole piece.
The addition of the sound samples (thanks to my friends and coworkers) really help bring out the storyline and set the stage for where the story truly begins. Again, hopefully we’re staying balanced between being too vague and not being too overt. We want to leave some of the story up to the interpretation of the listener!
On the gear geek side of things, this is a very rough mix. Chris and I are both attempting to utilize virtual guitar amp simulators so we’re still tweaking our sounds. We hope this setup will give us the advantage of being able to tweak our sound all the way down to the final mix. In the past, we’ve both recorded guitar parts several times over simply because we weren’t happy with the sound. Now, we can record clean guitar parts straight into the computer then choose any amp and effects configuration after the fact. We’re going for maximum flexibility but I don’t think we’ve hit on the best sounds yet so the final version will probably sound much different (hopefully much better).
I’m also getting used to mixing “inside the box”. Typically, I’ve had a mixer in front of me with faders and knobs to fiddle with. Right now, I’m missing all my knobs as I scroll, click, and drag my way through the mixing process. But, I think things are sounding pretty good regardless.
Jim is still working on taking some pictures that stylistically go with each song. Once we get those together we’ll update these posts with the images.
After taking some time for the holidays and working to solidify the ideas and direction for this concept album, we are ready.
We have begun recording in earnest and have decided on a somewhat novel approach. Rather than making everyone (including ourselves) wait up to a year to hear all of this music, we’re going to complete one song at a time and share them as we go. The first installment is available above for your listening pleasure and to hopefully pique your interest in the story as a whole.
There are several things I’d like to say:
First, this one isn’t really a song exactly. There’s definitely music there, but it’s more of a production piece that helps tell the story. There will be several of these bits along the way because we’re planning on having segues, both musical and narrative, between all of the actual songs. This song leads into an instrumental intro that isn’t quite finished yet and will be shared soon.
Actually making this was a total creative blast for me. The idea was to set the mood and give our story a place to begin without being too overt in just telling a story. We wanted to use sound effects, voice samples, and music combined to bring it all together. Most of the sounds I captured myself, the exceptions being the door creak and the general environmental sounds, which I downloaded from Freesound.org (a great place to get sound effects!). I used my trusty ZoomH4 to record the voice talents of people I know from work, church, and at home. This one features Barb Peck as the overbearing mother and my wife Tracy as the pill-pushing nurse. I really had fun collecting all the voices along with the footsteps, opening/closing doors, and piano creaks (I’ve always secretly wanted to be a foley artist), and you can definitely expect to hear some more as things progress.
Overall, the idea here is to share one song at a time until we reach the end when CDs will actually be made. Sure, you’ll have heard all the songs by then, but there will be some extra production in the final mixdown that will hopefully make it sound even better, the songs will be intercut without breaks so that you get the full sequence of songs, and we plan on putting a lot into the CD itself with images and lyrics to help augment the story.
As we post these, feel free to leave comments and feedback giving your thoughts on the direction. We don’t want to give the story away but it would be interesting to hear what other people think is going on.
It’s that time of year again! I can remember this time last year, putting the final touches on “Unbroken”, getting the artwork and final mixes together… It has been a long year but one that has turned out to be very productive.
Chris and I have completely finished writing and arranging the new CD, which means we are fully into final recording mode! That being said, it will still probably be some time before we’re done but I thought I would share what we have so far.
This being a concept album and all, we have to have a big, grand instrumental intro. Tentatively titled “String Theory”, this is based on a piece I’ve been kicking around for years which Chris helped me finish off. It’s a heavy intro but we’ll also be reprising the same piece with symphony sounds at the end of the album. Should be a good way to bookend things.
First, here’s a video of the intro. So far, Chris hasn’t put anything down on it so it’s just me (sorry):
(I’m going with a building theme. We’ll see how long I can keep it going before my construction knowledge runs out).
The last time we got together we finished mapping out a couple of other songs. Things are coming together very well at this point. Chris and I are very much on the same page with a lot of things. Our only downfall is, as always, time (of which there’s never enough). Anyway, rather than reading all my thoughts, take a look at the latest videos from the studio:
We’re well underway towards building the foundation of our concept album. Chris and I got together again this Friday and roughly mapped out 2 more songs. We’re working quickly to get a rough idea of the scope of the whole thing, then we’ll go back and work harder on our specific performances.
The concept revolves around the story of a criminally insane ward of a mental hospital and a therapist who radically believes that group therapy is the way to treat them. Each song will focus on one person with a major mental disorder, tell their story, and also help propel the story of the whole CD.
But hey, instead of telling you, check out the latest videos:
A couple of months later and my, how things have changed. First and foremost, Jim Hare has decided to take a hiatus from the band. We respect his decision and he is welcome back whenever he is ready, but in the meantime, Chris and I will carry on writing the next CD.
As reported earlier, it is a concept album, the scope of which has not yet been determined. The basic story line and concept are in place and many of the songs have been written. We’re concentrating on just a few songs at a time, working out the arrangements, melodies, and overall sounds. These are just demos for the moment so that we can make sure we have all the right elements in place to help tell the story before we commit to final recordings.
Another new development is a change in recording equipment. Chris and I both now have computers with Cubase for recording and I’ve finally parted ways with my trusty Roland VS-2400. There’s a learning curve involved for our production flow so much of my time so far has been spent testing out equipment and processes to see what works best. But now we’re in full swing.
To give you a taste, check out this video of Chris working on some basic guitar ideas for the first major song, tentatively titled “Symphony of Flame”:
