EP4

E and myself have both had a week off work, so we have spent some of it working on EP4.

We've mostly be working on the instrumental for EP4. This will be titled "Reverie Part 1", for no other reason, that I liked the title, when I saw one of Miss Aneila's images on Flickr (http://missaniela.com/gallery/big/2642018288).

I had a specific idea that I didn't want any guitars on the track and just to use dreamy synths and other nice things. Things didn't quite work out that way.

I started prepping for the song a few weeks ago. Setting up likely synths to use, I then proceeded to pick up my guitar and using a capo and a Varichord (tuned to minor 7th shape), wrote a new song, which will eventually have lyrics. At the moment, this is called "Reverie Part 2". The title might change later.

So we had to start another instrumental and even started with a synth. Tempo wise, people have moaned our songs are kinda slow and we need more uptempo songs. Well uptempo doesn't fit the theme of "Reverie", so we made this possibly the slowest, dirge like Hair Thieves song ever. (like 78bpm). I chose a random 100 bar limit on the song as well. (so about 5 minutes max).

Then E decided he wanted a guitar on it.

I didn't want guitar on it. A debate ensued, E won after a compromise was met. We'd use a guitar, but using the same setup as the other song, namely with a capo and Varichord, (so essentially the guitar is tuned to Bmin7 I think). Hence the part 1 and part 2 thing.

So I put the kettle, whilst E came up with a series of finger picking motifs, which we then recorded.

E also put down some seriously effected guitar.

E put a little bit of Ebow on the song too. Not very much (we still might add more later).

I then stole the guitar and came up with another motif, which we then recorded.

So ok, it is now a guitar tune. Bugger.

Then we went a bit mad recording percussion.

I have a box of shakers and wooden things and triangles etc. E then proceeded to play various hits whilst recorded them.

So far things were sounding good, though playing the guitar at that tempo is painfully hard.

When E left for the day, I added a Cello part and got some orchestral samples of Gongs to add to the percussion track. I also added some drums, just to the section I recorded. To emphasise the difference in the sections. Plus my section is happier than E's.

When we reconvened, we then cut up the percussion tracks and spread them randomly throughout the track. Adding a few more percussion samples for good measure

We then decided to add a bit of acoustic. Due to the guitar essentially being tuned to Bm7. I had to come up with something, which would be inversions of the chords I was playing over. Which was G something and a D7 something.

I didn't want to play the chords in the same octaves as I had previously, so settled for lower, this required a change of tuning for the guitar. Finally settling for a tuning of DACGBD (I think... I might be wrong).

This made the D7 chord very easy to play. But made the G something chord stupidly hard to play. But I managed it.

Listening through. Over 5 minutes long, was a bit much so we cut about a minute out of the middle, making the song just over 4 minutes long now.

We then mp3'd it up and stopped.

So that was essentially what we achieved on Monday to Wednesday.

On Friday, we decided to have a lyric writing session. Having had the instrumental to listen to, it was decided that E's weird guitar part come in later, so we edited that first.

E wasn't liking the Acoustic I put in. Chord wise ok. But he thought it sounds a bit flappy on the G chord, so wants it re-recorded at a later date.

I think the only way, we can achieve what he wants, given the G chord is only the three lower strings and the D7 chord is all six strings, so one chord is very frequency limited, the other fuller, is to have separate tunings for each chord.

Being an instrumental, we will never play this live, so it makes no odds what we do with it. So we will have a play with it at a later date.

Back to lyrics. We wrote a song a while ago called Chemistry. When I came to record the vocals for it earlier in the year, I couldn't get the lyrics to fiit the melody. Which was really annoying.

So we spent an afternoon of coffee and custard creams, rewriting the lyrics and recording a guide vocal, so I will know what to sing, when I try it for real.

So that was our week of working on EP4.

E did a lot of playing this week, more so than me. To get EP4 finished, the emphasis now shifts to me. I have to finish my guitar tracks and vocals on the old song we are re-recording. Then I need to get the vocals down for the lead track too.

Chemistry might make it on EP4, though I'd like to write another collaboration track instead and save Chemistry for the album. Not sure which way that will go.

So a good weeks work. Progress has been made.

More soon!

Rollasoc