The New Project part 4, 5 and 6
Feb
2010
We have been chipping away at this new album now for a week and things are really starting to come together.
We are still in the early stages of this process, which can be a bit grueling, but we are really having a blast. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Friday -
Chris and I went into the studio and tracked “scratch” tracks of acoustic and vocals. Essentially, I sat down and recorded a basic, acoustic guitar track and then got up and sang it. I did this for all 10 songs (11 actually as one was supposed to be on the cut list) and with that done, Dana and Chris will be able to record drums and bass with something to go by other than just a metronome. We spent 4 or 5 hours in the studio laying these down and having Chris there was a big help. He was able to remind me of things I was forgetting and so I think we laid a solid foundation for the next pieces.
Monday -
Dana, Chris, Tim and I went into the studio and worked out drum parts. It was a fairly lengthy process in the sense that we went from 10 to 7, but it was way quick considering that tracking 10 drums (actually we did 11 before I realized that 1 was on the cut list) usually takes a couple of days. We went in with an understanding of how the songs all work, but without specific drum parts laid out. The process could not have been easier! Joel (our producer/engineer) had some great ideas and with all of us in the room kicking things around we were able to get some very cool, distinct parts. Dana deserves most of the credit, however, as he was really able to sit down and make these parts come to life. Before tracking drums we all had a fear that all of the songs sounded the same and were pretty generic. That is no longer a worry. The drums sound great and feel great and lay a really solid foundation for all of the other parts.
Wednesday -
We did bass. Chris, Tim and I went in and did the bass work. Chris is flat-out brilliant! He just has a great ear and understands how to give songs a pulse while staying out of the way for parts that aren’t there yet. We went in at 6:30 and finished by midnight, which again, makes for a long night, but in comparison is really quick.
The foundation has been laid and now we should really start to see these songs come to life. After a much needed break (5 days off while Joel does some shows down south and we do services here), we’ll go back in on Tuesday and start doing keys and guitars. This process will take a few days and then we’ll do vocals.
I’m getting more and more excited about the final product and can’t wait to start sharing some songs with you guys!
Check back here for more updates soon!


