Podcast action - 211015

Sponsored by "Miles Davis".

Material from D(O)UB(T) has featured on a number of recent podcasts, to wit:-

• Greetings from Somerset Episode Five
• No Pigeonholes, and again, No Pigeonholes
• Lucas' 2-hour Musical Discoveries on ISCK Rock Radio

Clicking on the links should take you to the podcasts, but not directly to the D(O)UB(T) tracks. I think you are big enough and bold enough to find the tracks yourselves.

Great big greasy shoutouts to Steve Somerset, Don Campau and Lucas Biela for playing the tracks.

More to come? Who knows?

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah EP - 171015

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Here it is -  the final EP release to promote D(O)UB(T). Out now on Bandcamp...



Additional tracks are Is Everybody Happy Yet?, The Book Of Passwords and an instrumental demo version of Gomorrah.

Hope you enjoy it.

More news when I have it...

Regards,


djp

It's a wrap (pretty much...) - 230915

Sponsored by "Four".

I've just sent the last of my planned promo e-mails, thus wrapping up the promo campaign for the album. What happens after this depends on reactions to those e-mails and to any other spontaneous promo actions I might take going forward. Undoubtedly, there will be occasional postings on this blog as significant events occur, but as far as I can see, this will be the last you will be hearing about D(O)UB(T). Until the next thing you hear...;-).

It's been a blast doing this project, and while I feel a certain amount of sadness as it reaches its end, I am satisfied with a job well done. Some people have been known to say nice things about the album (shock horror).

I will leave you with this celebratory mugshot (literally).

Till the next time - au reservoir!

Regards,


djp

"D(O)Ub(T)" on iTunes/Promo progress - 190915

Sponsored by "Last Played 2015".

So it seems that an album called D(O)Ub(T) is up on iTunes. It's D(O)UB(T) by any other name, thanks to my good buddies in CD Baby...

...when I was uploading the album, it kept forcing the title to read as "D(O)ub(T)", I asked CD Baby to change this, which they did in fairness to them, but it ended up as D(O)Ub(T) on iTunes. It has to be said that something similar to this happened in relation to Optimism 1 - Experience 0. I presume that this is a "thing" with iTunes. Slightly annoying, but no big deal.

In other news, the Facebook/Twitter stages of the promo campaign are over. Getting some nice reviews from punters, but no action from the meeja. This is not unexpected... Currently, I'm slogging my way through a list of e-mail addresses I data-mined a few years ago. Most likely a lot of these are obsolete by now, but there's only one surefire way to find out...;-).

Finally, and I don't want to jinx this, but there is a distinct prospect of an audio interview on a podcast over the next week. Further details as they emerge.

Regards,


djp

Mare Nostrum on The Eclectic Eel/Promo progress - 090915

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Just found out that MARE...was played last night on The Eclectic Eel. You can listen to a stream of the show here:- http://www.grahamlovatt.com/show-50-08092015.html.

Big thank you to Graham Lovatt for doing the honours!

In other news, the mailing list and Facebook stages of the promo campaign have been completed. Next stop - Twitter.

Regards,


djp

D(O)UB(T) is (o)u(t) and ab(o)u(t) - 070913

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

So D(O)UB(T) has finally been unleashed on the world. And here it is in all its "sonic glory"...

The album is initially released via Bandcamp with a number of bonus tracks, full artwork and access to a free download (via Mediafire or Dropbox) of a full album mix.

I am currently uploading the album to CD Baby to facilitate release, within the next few days, via the usual major digital retailers. The CD Baby version will not have the bonus features, so if you really want those, ya gotsta go to Bandcamp, aiiii...?

In the meantime, if you want to hear streams of the full album mix, you can go to Soundcloud...

...or to Mixcloud...

...so you can't say you haven't got a choice, can ya?

I hope you get a chance to listen to the album. If you like what you hear, be sure to tell your friends. And let me know too...;-).

More news when I have it.

Regards,

djp

Release date and preparatory work - 040915

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

I can now confirm that D(O)UB(T) will be formally released on next Monday, 7 September.

The album will be initially released via my Bandcamp page. The Bandcamp version will have some exclusive bonus tracks and will also offer the purchaser the option of a separate (i.e. not via Bandcamp) download of a full album mix, with all relevant crossfades. The full album mix will be available to stream via Mixcloud also.

After the Bandcamp upload, I will be using CD Baby to distribute the album to a variety of digital retailers, including, principally, iTunes. The CD Baby version will be the basic version of the album. I have to say that, barring one issue which was my own fault, I have always found CD Baby very decent and quick to work with. The album should be available on iTunes within a day or two of uploading to CD Baby.

Once all that has been done, my promo work will start. I'll do the easy stuff first - Facebook and Twitter. Then comes the slog of contacting websites and blogs, via a contact list which I've built-up over the last few years. Truth to tell, those contacts have been next to useless for me in terms of getting attention/reviews/whatever, but I feel I owe it to the album to try and push it is as far as I can within the limits of my resources (i.e. zero resources). To that end, I have put together a press kit of the album, featuring high-resolution MP3s, graphics and pictures and a short one-page press release. This has been uploaded to Megafire and Dropbox.

I had to make a slight change to one of the graphics re. credits.  I also had to encode one or two tracks at 320 kbps (they were only at 192 kbps).

Speaking of graphics, in case you haven't seen the album cover anywhere else on the internet, here it is...

Just in case anyone gets offended by the use of Christian imagery on an album cover (there's no accounting for people's capacity to take offence), the Bandcamp version of the album will feature as a bonus an alternative album cover. I'm getting all Barney Bubbles/Do It Yourself on yo' ass...

The link to the Bandcamp page will go up on Monday, so be patient until then...;-).

Regards,

djp

Graphix nouveaux - 140815

Sponsored by "Recently Played".

Spent the morning designing the graphics for the album. I found a public domain image from Wikipedia Commons which really fit (fitted?) the bill for a variety of reasons and I think I have come up with a really striking design for the cover. It may not be to everyone's taste, and I am thinking of offering an alternative cover image with the download for those who might require it.

And in spite of all the pictures that I took over the last few days, I ended up only using one, from the first photoshoot. I have been using it as my Facebook profile pick for a day or two. No-one has died, that I am aware of...

So that's a big hurdle surmounted. I'm looking at a release date in early September, after I come back from vacation. And I have a busy few days over the weekend, so you won't be hearing from me for a little bit. Nothing to worry about - I'm sure I'll be enjoying myself. The company will be good anyway...;-).

Regards,


djp

Photoshoot 2 - 130815

Sponsored by "Talking Heads".

Did another session this morning - out in the backyard this time - again with the Canon camcorder.

Technically, the pictures came out very well and I am pleased with them - but I still don't have my cover...

I have two options - I have found an image on Wikipedia that would do the trick, and thematically would tie in with the covers I've done for the EPs, or I could have no image at all - just text. That option is very striking and compelling, but I think it would be out of step with the design theme, so I will go for the Wikipedia image if I can make it work. Or another one...

Other photos in the shoot can be used for the "inside" (if such a thing exists these days) of the album sleeve (if such etc.) and in the press kit and they will be fine.

Design work for tomorrow then...;-).

Regards,


djp

Photoshoot 1 - 120815

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Did a quick photoshoot with my old Canon camcorder.

Did the session in my garage, but unfortunately the light wasn't great so everything looks duller than it should.

I've tried a few photo editing apps, but I can't get things quite the way I want them. I'm not sure if I can get away with the results on artistic grounds, so it looks like another session is one the cards - this time in the open air. Might have a go at that tomorrow, weather permitting.

Ah well - all in the interest of practice...;-).

Regards,


djp

You Have My Heart Scalded EP - 040815

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

And here it is, in all its splendour...

 Four tracks:-

• YOU HAVE MY HEART SCALDED
• I CAN EXPLAIN...EVERYTHING
• FLOATY FLOATY
• YOU HAVE MY HEART SCALDED (instrumental demo).

Something for everyone (hopefully...).

Busy doing promo on it now, as I type...

Hope you enjoy it!

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly - 130715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

...FLY was submitted for Tom Robinson's FRESH ON THE NET Listening Post last week. It didn't achieve Fresh Faves status, but it was up against stiff competition, and I made a few contacts, so that was alright then...

I'll submit another track from the album for consideration in due course.

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly (Shwarz remix) - 070715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Thanks for Shwarz from dnbhub.com for this remix. Never been remixed before. Have I "arrived"...?;-).

Enjoy!



Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/Me & The Fly - 060715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Not much happening around these parts these days - apart from my iTunes library crapping out for the umpteenth time. But it's not like I'm not used to that...

I've given the tracklisting a good few listens and I'm 99% (if not 100%) happy with it. At this stage, the only change I'm likely to make is in relation to crossfades between tracks - #firstworldproblem...

In other news, I have submitted ME & THE FLY for consideration on Tom Robinson's FRESH ON THE NET site. If I hear any more news on this, I'll pass it on...

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/The New Number Two - 040715

Spent the morning on AA3 re-jigging the tracklisting in the light of the decision to drop ...NUMBER TWO.

The transitions sound pretty good to me, and the total running time is down to 70.34, which can't be bad.

My ears are fairly shattered now, so I'll give 'em a rest for a day or two. I'll just check the transitions then, one last time, just to be sure.

Enjoy your weekend!

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/A Plague On Both My Houses/Watching The News With The Sound Off/The New Number Two - 030715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Another frustrating, and ultimately disappointing, day today...

Remixed/remastered ...PLAGUE and WATCHING... in CE5/AA3. Both sound fine and are keepers.

However, I spent practically the whole day trying to sort out ...NUMBER TWO, and having got to the 37th different mix, I decided that I can't do anything with it in its present state. I won't even begin to list all the hoops I tried to jump through to bring this track home, but ultimately I couldn't get it to work. It's a shame, because I really love the track. I gave it every chance to come through, but...

The problem lies in my choice of VST soft synths, I plumped for a couple of "distressed" sounds which seemed to occupy the same space EQ-wise. No amount of adjustment would make the various parts sit well together, so I have decided to drop the track from the album. I'll revisit it again in the future - I just don't have the time for it right now.

Of course, that now means I have to adjust the tracklisting. What larks! A job for next week, perhaps. Well, at least the album will be even shorter now...;-).

Enjoy the fine weather!

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/Complications From A Fall/The New Number Two/A Plague On Both Your Houses/Watching The News With The Sound Off - 020715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Another frustrating today, but maybe not as bad as yesterday.

Having reviewed the work I did yesterday, COMPLICATIONS... passed muster, the others didn't.

I spent much of the day remixing in CE5/AA3 - ...PLAGUE... is now fine. ...NUMBER proved very frustrating - I'm now up to Mix 29 and I'm still not sure if it's OK. The 29th mix is OK to sleep on overnight - if I'm not there, I'm nearly there. I didn't get around to WATCHING... at all.

Busy day tomorrow, I reckon...;-).

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/Watching The News With The Sound Off/Complications From A Fall/The New Number Two/A Plague On Both My Houses - 010715

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Frustrating sort of day. I decided to go for a spin in the car to review the tracklisting over the stereo speakers. To do that, I enlisted the aid of my old iPod Shuffle, which I thought had packed it in a few years ago, but apparently was only resting between engagements...

Went off for a spin for an hour or more, out by Lough Derg and Terryglass and back by Borrisokane (as you do...). I reckon the "musical" tracks are fine, but some of the ambient tracks need to be tweaked,

I adjusted the EQs for WATCHING..., COMPLICATIONS... and ...PLAGUE, and they seem to be OK, but ...NUMBER TWO is giving me trouble. I couldn't tweak the EQ, so I had to do a quick remix of the track in CE5 and master in AA3. Not sure if that works so well. If I can't fix the track, I'll just have to drop it.

I'll check these four tracks again tomorrow and see where that leaves me.

Bummer...

Regards,

djp

Gomorrah/Tracklisting - 280615

Sponsored by "Neu!"

GOMORRAH

Graphics done for a prospective October release.

TRACKLISTING

Made an MP3 file of Version 3b in AA3 for review purposes. Can't wait to listen to it over the car stereo and the setup in my lounge. There may be a few tweaks to be done on a few tracks, but more in the way of EQ adjustments. I'm certainly not messing around with crossfades again...;-).

Regards,


djp

You Have My Heart Scalded - 270615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Ran up graphics for the ...SCALDED EP, which I hope to release in early August.

The graphics have a certain stylistic similarity with those of ...FLY. 'Cos that's how I roll...;-).

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting - 230615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Had another go at the tracklisting in AA3. I compared Version 3b with Versions 2, 3 and 3a and found where the time had been slipping. There was one crossfade that was significantly self-indulgent. I have corrected that error and have got the running time down to 74.19, which is quite satisfactory.

I need to create a wav of the full album mix so I can give it a good ol' listen. I'm trying not to be forensic about the album at this stage, because if I start finding microscopic flaws in the tracks now, I might as well just give up. This is all part of "letting go" of the album. Has happened before, so I'm familiar with the potential for panic...;-).

Real world intervenes tomorrow...

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/Watching The News With The Sound Off - 220615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Back from the weekend roadtrip, I decided to give the most current version of the tracklisting, Version 3, a critical listen. I felt I needed to change the outro to WATCHING... The original version has a silly gramophone-winding-down effect which I've used on a number of occasions in the past, to the extent that even I thought it was clichéd. So I decided to fade the track out a bit earlier - edited it in AA3.

But then I foolishly thought that I could just insert the new version into the tracklisting file and then "drag" all the other tracks and keep the crossfades, Na-ahh, not in AA3. I basically had to create new crossfades, which, Murphy's Law being what it is, do not match those in the original Version 3, so even though I've shortened WATCHING... by a good 10 seconds, the overall tracklisting is longer by 30 seconds. It could only happen to me! I will now have to go back to the original Version 3 and try to work out how to recreate the crossfades. So, today's longer version of the tracklisting is Version 3a, while I have created a Version 3b to work on whenever I get the chance.

No rush. Maybe not tomorrow. Something else lined up...

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting/The New Number Two - 180615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Organised a tracklisting (two actually) for the full album mix in AA3. This involved me using metronome audio set to the tempo of each individual track, and then lining-up consecutive tracks based on the metronome. I think it works pretty well for most of the transitions, but I suspect there will be several tweaks between now and the release date. There's been one already...;-). Running time has been reduced to about 74:40. Bit of an improvement on 90 minutes, wha'...?

The album in its Bandcamp/iTunes etc.versions won't have those transitions. The tracks will be standalone, as it were. The reason for this is that streaming doesn't like crossfading and downloaded crossfaded tracks sound crap. So you will have to download the full album mix via Bandcamp (or stream it off Mixcloud) to get the full effect.

As I was going through the masters, I found an unpleasant hiss on THE NEW NUMBER TWO. Now, I know there are people out there (you know who you are) who got to great lengths to add tape noise to their tracks to create an analogue effect on digital recordings. I am not one of those people...;-). So go it had to.

Road trip over the weekend, so I'll be back in harness on Monday.

Regards,


djp

You'll Never Miss Your Mother Till The Well Runs Dry/Me & The Fly/I Choose Indecision/Tracklisting

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

...MOTHER...

Mixed/mastered 14 different mixes in CE5/AA3. The last one is the best. The balance got sorted fairly quickly, but I kept hearing these timing glitches and I think I've fixed as many of them as I could without actually re-tracking.

And that, my friends, is the last track on the album done and dusted. And to prove that point, here's a little screenshot of my progress spreadsheet, showing a very satisfying preponderance of yellow...:-

I had a lot of PC trouble this morning, which was really pooping on my party, but I eventually sussed that my problem was a Windows update which hadn't "taken" properly. Once that got sorted, everything went smoothly.

So all the heavy lifting has been done. The next step is to concentrate on the tracklisting and putting together a full album mix for inclusion as a bonus track on the Bandcamp release. I am also going to put the mix up on Mixcloud for your streaming pleasure.

Speaking of the tracklisting, I CHOOSE INDECISION isn't going to make the cut. The mix is weak, principally because of the drum parts. The track is totally rescueable, but I don't have the time or the inclination right now, so I'll revive it for a future release.

My Twitter promo campaign for ...FLY is still ongoing, but it's nearly finished now. I've been getting great responses to date, with hopefully more to come. Oh, and the drum & bass mix is in progress, so I'll see how that works out. If I like it, I'll add it as a bonus track on the Bandcamp release.

Tomorrow I will crack on with the full album mix and a spot of promo. After that, we'll see...

Regards,

djp

Me & The Fly/This Is Going To Take, Like, Forever - 050615

Sponsored by  "Music (random)".

...FLY

Finished the first half of my Twitter promo campaign. Second half starts tomorrow

...FOREVER

Another "window" opened for me this afternoon, so I managed to mix/master the track in CE5/AA3.

The track truly lived up to its name as it was way more difficult to mix than I'd thought. The main difficulty was trying to get the bass to sit nicely in the mix. Took me a few hours but I finally cracked it. A certain amount of judicious editing of the Ric bass parts was required.

The mix is fine. I thought I'd missed an aspect of the track in the mix that I thought was present in the rough demo I'd made a few months back, but when I reviewed the demo, that aspect wasn't there as I'd imagined it. Starting to come a little unglued here...;-).

Only one more mix to go. I won't be able to manage it this weekend and I'm on a road trip pretty much all next week, so it will the week after that again before I'll be able tackle that track, In the meantime, I'll continue with my promo efforts.

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly/My Troubles Are As Nothing Compared To Yours/Stiltwalker In The Wind - 040615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

...FLY

I was starting to do some more promo work on Twitter, when a whopping great big "window" opened up for me, so I dropped the promo for the present. I'll get on to it over the next few days.

On top of that I got contacted with an offer to do a drum & bass remix of ...FLY. Will have to think about that - correspondence has been exchanged and responses are awaited...

In view of the whopping great big "window":-

...TROUBLES

Mixed/mastered in CE5/AA3. Three mixes in all - third is the best. Had to do a lot of emergency surgery on the Ric bass parts, but everything sounds hella tight now.

STILTWALKER...

Mixed/mastered in CE5/AA3. Two mixes  - second is best. Had to tweak the vocal parts a bit. Pretty easy mix to do, as it happens.

I have to rejoin the "real world" briefly tomorrow, so I don't know exactly what I'll be doing on the project. Promo most likely.

Only two tracks left to mix/master now. Yowza!

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly/Mare Nostrum - 030615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

ME & THE FLY

I've been slaving away on Twitter doing a spot of promo for the EP. Should be finished tomorrow.

MARE NOSTRUM

Another one of my famous "windows" opened this morning and I managed to mix/master the track in CE5/AA3. The track sounds great.

Another "window" may open for me tomorrow, so I'm told. We'll have to see about that, though...

Only four more tracks left. Should be finished within a month, but possibly sooner...;-)

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly/I Choose Indecision/Iye/You Have My Heart Scalded - 010615

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Greetings from a spectacularly miserable (weatherwise) Bank Holiday Gulag. Here is the news...

ME & THE FLY

Released and getting some nice comments from some nice people. You can judge for yourself right now...

In other news, I had another one of my "windows" and did some work on other album tracks, to wit...

I CHOOSE INDECISION

Mixed and mastered in CE5/AA3. Sounded alright when I mixed, but then I left it for a while and played it back - meh. My choice of drum parts didn't help things, but I'm not sure if the track works as a dub in any event. Probably too much going on with it anyway. 

My inclination is to drop the track from the album, but I'll work up two different tracklistings (one "with" and one "without") and see how I feel about the track closer to release date.

IYE

Mixed and mastered in CE5/AA3. Sounds fine to me, A keeper...;-).

YOU HAVE MY HEART SCALDED

After much consideration, I'm going to revert to the original mix, because that's how I roll.

More over the course of the week.

Regards,

djp

Me & The Fly - 260515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

So, I've gone and committed to a date. The ME & THE FLY EP will be released on 1 June 2015. Full details are on the relevant Facebook event page - https://www.facebook.com/events/842222109192252/.

And here's the graphic for the EP. I rather like it...

Further information closer to the day.

A bit excited - haven't done "the launch thing" in a while...;-).

Regards,

djp

You Have My Heart Scalded/Me & The Fly - 240515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

...SCALDED

One last tweak to the mix in CE5/AA3. Definitely using this mix...I hope...;-).

...FLY

Finally got down to designing the cover art. Had a bit of fun locating a suitable font, but eventually got one. I can highly recommend 1001freefonts.com if you're stuck for a font.

I also found a suitable image from Wikipedia. I know, "Creative Commons" and all that, but just because I used it in this instance doesn't mean I endorse it. You can't call me a hypocrite if I acknowledge it myself...;-).

I'm having a good old think about a suitable release date. Sometime within the next few weeks, that for sure.

Roadtrip for the next few days. See you later on in the week...

Regards,


djp

FCA Boots/Gomorrah/Is Everybody Happy Yet? - 220515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

FCA BOOTS

Sorted the glitch. Remixed/remastered in CE5/AA3. Sorted.

GOMORRAH

Had to do an emergency edit on the Ric bass/Squier Strat parts. Mixed/mastered in CE5/AA3. Three mixes. Taking the second.

IS EVERYBODY HAPPY YET?

What a nightmare of a track to mix. Had to edit the Squier Strat parts and do a huge amount of tweaking of the VST soft synth parts. Mixed/mastered in CE5/AA3/AA1.5. Not sure if I'm 100% happy with it. Made multiple mixes, too many to count. I picked the least worst one, if you follow me. I spent an awful lot of time on a track that won't actually feature on the finished album. Who'd be me, eh...?

In other news, my broadband was down all day. I was too busy to check it out during the day, but this evening I got on to my ISP. During the week, I'd ordered fibre broadband and was told that an engineer would be out in a few weeks to sort things out. However, it seems that they actually turned on my fiber broadband today and my router couldn't handle it, Luckily, I had a second router which could take fibre broadband, so I got on to the support guy and found that if I connected it to the test phone socket inside the master phone socket, everything worked fine. However, the support guy told me that this would disable my landline, so I had to disconnect my alarm, because it was beeping like mad.

Subsequently, I discovered that the landline could work if I connected it to the test socket through the filter. So it seems there may have been no need to disconnect the alarm at all. Tcheh! So now you know what I'll be up to for the rest of the evening.

Shtuff...

Regards,


djp

I Can Explain...Everything/You Have My Heart Scalded/FCA Boots - 210515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

A "window" opened for me today, and I mixed both of the tracks in CE5. Mastered in AA3. One mix of ...EVERYTHING and two mixes of ...SCALDED. I'll take the second mix, thank you very much...

There's a little fix I need to do for FCA BOOTS. There's a glitch that's noticeable over the headphones but not over the monitors. I'll have a look at this in the next few days.

That's good progress made this week. Only nine more tracks to mix/master.

More tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

FCA Boots/Tropes and Memes - 200515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

FCA BOOTS

Did 4 different mixes in CE5 and mastered in AA3. I think I'll go with the fourth mix, but I have an idea for an edit which might be interesting - we'll see. It'll be based on the fourth mix anyway, so it'll only take a few minutes to try it out.

Had to do an emergency edit of the Ric bass parts and programme a new synth part - the latter may not be necessary.

TROPES AND MEMES

Did one mix in CE5 and mastered in AA3. A simpler task, even though that track is more complex than FCA. Such is life.

I'm starting to run out of time here, so I'm going to do a blitz of mixing/mastering over the next few weeks. Some distractions along the way of course - a.k.a. shtuff.

More tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

Tracklisting - 100515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Even though I am not working off a complete set of mastered track as yet, I think I have the tracklisting for the album pretty much nailed for the moment. 19 tracks - over 80 minutes long - I know, I'm an insaniac...;-).

As was the case for HELLHOLE, I plan to create a full album mix for the album, to compensate for the fact that I cannot crossfade the tracks on Bandcamp. The full mix will be included as a bonus track on Bandcamp. This time out, I also intend to upload the full mix onto Mixcloud (and possibly Soundcloud) for streaming purposes.

In order to get my crossfades sorted "properly", my plan is to upload all the tracks as a multi-track session file in AA3 and then use metronome tracks, which I recorded today in CE5, to line the tracks up to the optimum effect. I've done this type of thing for previous releases, but only "by ear" (without the metronome tracks). This should make things so much easier - or not work at all...

I also have the tracklistings sorted for 3 EPs to promote the album. More will be revealed closer to the moment.

Big roadtrip planned for the next few days, so you probably won't hear from me until the weekend.

Phew, sez you...

Regards,


djp

Choking On Dry Bread (a.k.a. Flypaper)/Tracklisting/ You'll Never Miss Your Mother Till The Well Runs Dry - 080515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Spent the morning tweaking the edits and dubs in CE5. And I was happy enough with that, when a window emerged in the afternoon to mix/master the track properly. Which I did, except of course I did a further significant amount of additional tweaking along the way. I now think I've got it sounding as good as I can get it. If you like dub, then I think you'll like this.

I've decided to retitle the track as FLYPAPER, since the track has nothing to do with either choking or dry bread, but also there is a large lump of vocals from ...FLY, so it makes sense to change the title. That's it - no further discussion - executive decision.

In other news, I started putting together an initial tracklisting in AA3. So far, I've got 19 tracks and the running time is around 77 minutes. I'm trying to sequence the tracks in trios of fast/slow/ambient, but I know that the last track has to be ...MOTHER, so that idea doesn't hold all the way through. I need to check that I have not added EP tracks and that I have enough spare ambient tracks to go on the EPs (there will be three, FYI). I'll have another look at this over the weekend.

Making progress, bai...

Regards,


djp

Choking On Dry Bread - 070515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Great fun today! Got most of the dubbing-up done in CE5. Tracked a metronome part using the Behringer Xenyx 1202, which I may (or may not) use in various places through the track.

I just need to work on the vocal parts and a few other bits and pieces tomorrow.

While the levels will be similar to ...FLY, it looks like the mastering set-up may have to be somewhat different, so while I might have a go at mastering tomorrow, it will only be a provisional jobby.

Possibly inspired by this track? I'll admit to nothing...

Regards,

djp

Choking On Dry Bread/Me & The Fly - 060515

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Thought I might have a window to do some mixing/mastering this week, but I have a house full of students studying for exams, so that put the kibosh on that...

Instead, I started work editing CHOKING..., which essentially is a radical dub of ...FLY. The track is being extensively re-worked and will pretty much start at the middle section of ...FLY and everything will radiate from there, if you know what I mean,

The Ric bass and Squier Strat parts are pretty much sorted and MIDI soft synth parts are pretty OK too, but I might look at that aspect of the track again. Since the student "situation" is continuing for the rest of the week, I'll do some work on this tomorrow and possibly Friday. I'll look to see what use I can make of the existing vocal parts. With a bit of luck, I'll be able to start dubbing-up tomorrow.

As CHOKING... is working off the ...FLY CE5 project file, and as all the levels have been set for the ...FLY mix, I should, in theory, be able to mix/master CHOKING... using the ...FLY levels without having to use monitors for mixing. I'll give that a go. If it works, it'll save me a good bit of time.

CHOKING...will feature on the album, while ...FLY will not. Just want to clarify that.

Regards,


djp

Mare Nostrum/Me & The Fly - 280415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Big Gulag-shaped window opened up for me today!

MARE...

Spent the morning editing/dubbing-up the track in CE5. Not fully convinced that it will make the final album - I think that will depend on how satisfied I am with mix. But it should at least feature on an EP - especially after all the time and effort I put into the bastid. Time will tell...

...FLY

Spent the afternoon mixing and mastering the track in CE5/AA3. Ended up with five different mixes and I had issues with all of them, but I reckon I got them sorted on the fifth mix. Nice, big, beaty track and the title track for the first EP!

Having spent all day in the Gulag, I will be glad to return to the real world for the rest of the week, if only to give me ears a rest!

See yah when I see yah...

Regards,


djp

Mare Nostrum - 270415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Tracked 9 vocal parts and 1 sleighbells part on the Gulag Mobile. Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

A lot of editing required. There are tuning...er...conflicts between the vocal parts and the pre-existing musical parts. I think I can work around them. but it may require a bit of ingenuity on my part. Should be fun.

One of the issues I have with this track is because I cannot work out the tempo of the track exactly, based as it is on a live drum track, I'll have to do my dub delays by ear. Should be fun (part deux).

This should be my penultimate tracking session for the album. I may have one more to do, but that won't be for weeks yet. In the meantime, I will edit MARE... and then crack on with the mixing/mastering. Should be fun (part drei).

More work tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

Tropes and Memes - 260415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Edited/dubbed-up in CE5. Mostly on the MIDI drum parts. Had to track one of the VST soft synths (Prologue Forum Romanum) to audio because the synth tended to hang. Tidied up the ending and the track is now ready to mix/master. Sounds immense...;-).

The plan for tomorrow is to track the vocals for MARE NOSTRUM. That's unless "shtuff" happens...

Regards,


djp

FCA Boots - 250415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

In the spirit of yesterday's posting, I did a blitz on FCA BOOTS, editing and dubbing-up in CE5.

There isn't a huge amount of space in the track, so there wasn't a huge amount of dubbing-up I could do (some of it will be lost in the mix, which rather defeats the purpose of dubbing-up, I suppose) but it's done and I'm happy with it. Had to tweak some of the Ric bass/Squier Strat parts, but it's sounding great now and ready to mix/master.

More work (possibly) tomorrow...

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah/Mare Nostrum/FCA Boots/Tropes and Memes/Everybody Calls Me Darren - 240415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

GOMORRAH

Edited/dubbed-up the vocal/Squier Strat/MIDI drum parts in CE5. Everything goes so much more smoothly when the PC decides to behave itself - just sayin'...

The track is ready to mix/master and it's HUGE!!!. You're going to love it - or absolutely hate it...;-).

The track bears a very passing resemblance to this...

As for the other tracks, I've had to make a few executive decisions. I'm kinda running out of time and I have a lot of tracks to work on.The next few months could be a little difficult what with business travel, holidays and such, so I have to be realistic about what I can achieve.

So here goes...

• MARE NOSTRUM - I will record choral vocal parts for this track next week - definitely. I have a "window" which I plan to exploit to the full, and this track is window-shaped...
• FCA BOOTS - I'm not going to bother with vocals on this - just go straight to mix/master stage
• TROPES AND MEMES - ditto
• EVERYBODY CALLS ME DARREN - I'm going to abandon this track. It's a silly idea that doesn't actually add any value to the album. In fact, possibly quite the reverse..

So that leaves me with three tracks to work on over the next month. I plan to release an EP at some stage in June, so I will concentrate on the tracks for that initially. Stay tooned for further news...

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah - 230415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Pretty much finished editing/dubbing-up the vocal parts in CE5. Some small tweaks required, but nothing major.

Also edited the Squier Strat parts and started dubbing them up. Should be finished tomorrow.

Lots of trouble with the PC. I had fantasies of taking a sledgehammer to it when the new PC is in place and bedded down.

Must dream on for a while yet, though...;-).

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah - 220415

Sponsored by "Music (random)".

Edited the vocal parts in CE5. Almost fully satisfied with them - more work to do tomorrow.

I had a lot of tech-y issues with my PC, which are basically because the damn thing is ancient. I am negotiating the process of upgrading my PC for future projects, although I have some concerns re. the compatibility of OS with CE5. But I may be able to get around that.

A thing for the future...

Regards,


djp

You'll Never Miss Your Mother Till The Well Runs Dry - 140415

Sponsored by "Deezer".

Edited/dubbed-up the Squier Strat parts in CE5. Also did some editing of the Ric bass parts. Things sound pretty tight now.

According to previous blog posts, I had planned to track some choral-type vocal parts and according to my progress spreadsheet, I actually had tracked them. But I can't find the wavs anywhere, so I suspect that I didn't track them, but mistakenly noted that I had. D'ye follow me?

At this stage, I can't really see how adding vocals will do anything other than muck up the arrangement, so I'll forget about the vocals. And on the basis of such accidents, artistic choices are made...;-).

That being the case, the track is ready to mix/master. Time to move on...

Regards,


djp

You Have My Heart Scalded - 130415

Sponsored by "Added April 2015".

Finished editing and dubbing-up in CE5. The dub delays were very much a case of trail and (lots of error), but the track sounds fine and ready to mix/master. Time to move on.

Regards,


djp

Watching The News With The Sound Off/You Have My Heart Scalded - 120415

Sponsored by "Dronescape".

WATCHING...

I'd tracked a couple of spoken word parts for this track a few weeks back, but when I checked them today for editing purposes, I discovered that there were artefacts from the audio cleanup process which I couldn't remove or "work around". So I was faced with the choice of tracking the parts again, or of scrapping them entirely. I chose the latter, as I have no guarantee that the problem won't occur again with new parts. Executive decision - get over it...

...SCALDED

Edited the various vocal parts in CE5. Almost fully sorted - tomorrow should complete that part of the process.

Regards,


djp

This Is Going To Take, Like, Forever - 110415

Sponsored by "djp".

Spent the morning in my PJs (you probably didn't really need to know that...), radically re-editing the Ric bass parts in CE5.  I got them as tight as I could, but certain issues have had to be covered-up in a dub stylee...

One of the big problems I've had to deal with on this track has been trying to sync a MIDI kick drum with a reverse kick drum. This may have lead to some of the concerns I had with the bass part timing. But I finally sorted that out, so the track sounds really well.

For a while there, I thought it was going to live up to its title...;-).

Time to move on. More work tomorrow, most probably.

Regards,


djp

This Is Going To Take, Like, Forever - 100415

Sponsored by "Disco".

Edited/dubbed-up the vocal parts in CE5. Came together rather easily. I used some "wild" vocal parts to form an outro. Sounds intriguing.

Also discovered some Squier Strat parts which I'd tracked but hadn't edited. Had a poke around to see what was useful, but only kept a few little snippets.

I think I'm going to have to do an emergency edit on the Ric bass parts. They're not quite as tight as I'd like 'em. I'll have a go at that over the weekend.

Regards,


djp

Stiltwalker In The Wind - 090415

Sponsored by "Depeche Mode".

Finished off editing/dubbing-up in CE5. I had to tweak one of the Squier Strat parts too - sounds much better now.

I had a lot of issues with my PC today. I think one of VST delay plugins is very "needy" memory-wise and it caused CE5 to freeze, almost invariably after I'd made some change without saving it. Changing the plugin sorted that out, although the alternative plugin doesn't quite have the character of the original. But it'll do...

The track is now ready to mix/master.

More work tomorrow. Time to move on...

Regards,


djp

Stiltwalker In The Wind - 080415

Sponsored by "Delia Derbyshire".

Edited most of the vocal parts in CE5. Not 100% satisfied with them yet, but I'll work on them again tomorrow.

Also did a a spot of dubbing-up on some of the other parts. Sounding well.

Tomorrow should do it!

Regards,


djp

Stiltwalker In The Wind - 060415

Sponsored by "David Gerard".

Spent the morning dubbing-up the Squier Strat and MIDI drum parts in CE5.

Found it hard to concentrate today for some reason. The dub delays are not quite as tight as I would like them to be, but they're probably fine. Sounds like a spot of "human intervention". That's the spin I'll put on it anyway.

Work (as in paid employment) tomorrow, but I'll be back working on the album on Wednesday (hopefully...).

Regards,


djp

My Troubles Are As Nothing Compared To Yours - 310315

Sponsored by "Country".

Spent all morning and a good chunk of the afternoon basically re-editing and then dubbing-up the track in CE5.

Almost perfect. Some timing issues with the 12-string, but they should only be noticeable to the most forensically-minded. Sounds like it was played by a real person...;-).

No doubt further tweaks will occur at the mixing/mastering stage, but I'll give it a rest for now. My ears need a break and anyway the real world intervenes tomorrow...

Regards,


djp

My Troubles Are As Nothing Compared To Yours - 300315

Sponsored by "Comedy".

After a little overnight road trip to Kilkenny last night (courtesy of Mrs P), I came home this afternoon, rather knackered but determined to do some work on the album.

I edited all the vocal parts in CE5. They needed significant tightening, and as a a result of my efforts, they now sound significantly tighter.

A lot more work to be done on this track tomorrow, so I'd better get a good night's sleep tonight then...;-).

Regards,


djp

Iye - 270315

Sponsored by "Classical Music".

Spent the morning editing/dubbing-up in CE5, and by lunchtime I was so close to completion that I kept going in the afternoon. Finished and sounding great!

Time to move on. I'll take a break for the weekend to give my poor ears a rest, but will be back in harness on Monday, at some stage.

Regards,


djp

Is Everybody Happy Yet? - 260315

Sponsored by "Circumambient".

Did all me editing and dubbing-up in CE5. Not 100% happy with it (which is ironic, given the track title) but I have a few down-and-dirty ideas that might make it all bettah...

I also tracked an additional VST plugin synth part to complement that one I didn't like yesterday. They work well enough together.

It's going to be an absolute cow to mix, so I'll have to be careful with my EQs an' ting.

Maybe heading towards the exit marked "EP material"? We'll see...

More work tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

I Choose Indecision/Is Everybody Happy Yet? - 250315

Sponsored by "Christmas".

A combination of "events" and the recurrence of a bloody cold (sat too long drinking pints in a draughty pub in Dublin last Saturday night) lead to yet another postponement of my vocalisation work, so, in view of the looming presence of "shtuff", I had to invoke Plan B...

...INDECISION

Finished off the editing/dubbing-up in CE5. This in spite of my PC freezing on a number of occasions, with the relevant CE5 project file being unsaved at the time. Bugger. However, the track is now ready to mix/master, so, "result"...

...HAPPY

Started working in editing the various vocal parts. They're tidied up now, so I just need to decide where the cuts/pastes are. I changed some of the MIDI drum VST plugin parts, just because I can.

I also need to change out one of the key synth parts. I don't like the tone I used, so I have to find something similar, but not as extreme.

More work tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

I Choose Indecision - 170315

Sponsored by "Buzzcocks".

Editing/dubbing-up in CE5 sorted after much experimentation/trial-and-error/foostering. Track sounds great now.

Time to move on, but the real world intervenes tomorrow. "Shtuff"...

Regards,


djp

I Choose Indecision - 160315

Sponsored by "Bruce Springsteen".

Did some more editing and dubbing-up today in CE5. Progress was interrupted by "shtuff", but I have most of it done now, so I should be able to finish it tomorrow.

Till then...

Regards,


djp

I Can Explain...Everything/I Choose Indecision - 140315

Sponsored by "Bob Marley".

...EVERYTHING

Had a final mess-about with the editing in CE5. It's pretty much ready to mix/master at this stage. I intend to a few hard edits to the master inna Holger Czukay stylee, but that won't be for a while yet. Time to move on...

...INDECISION

...and so I did. I started dubbing-up the drum parts in CE5, just to get a bit of momentum. I'll probably do so more work over the weekend.

Things to do now...

Regards,


djp

I Can Explain...Everything - 130315

Sponsored by "Gong" (for the day that's in it...).

Feeling somewhat better manflu-wise, but I decided to keep working on ...EVERYTHING. It's very nearly all done at this stage. I need to track some VST plugin parts in audio for editing purposes. I'll do that over the weekend.

I'm probably spending more time on this track than it actually merits, given that it's heading for EP Heaven, but I want to get it sounding as good as I can before it escapes the Gulag. Call me obsessive, if you like...;-).

Regards,


djp

I Can Explain...Everything - 120315

Sponsored by "Bleep Podcast".

So Mrs P went back to work and left me with me manflu, which is now in that "internal balaclava" stage where your head is fuzzy, you can't think straight and everything's a hassle. So I was not in the mood to set up the Gulag Mobile and do some tracking. "Shtuff"...

Instead, I kept on Plan B and started editing and dubbing-up ...EVERYTHING in CE5. Making some progress in spite of my woolly-headedness. There's a lot more to do, and I suspect that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Good to keep busy, eh?

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly - 110315

Sponsored by "Black Sabbath".

Was supposed to track various vocalisations today, but both Mrs. P and I came down with a dose of manflu, so that plan was rightly scuppered. Welcome to the world of "shtuff"...

Luckily I had a Plan B, so I edited and dubbed-up ...FLY in CE5. Sorted all my delays and fixed one or two irritating elements. The track is pretty much ready to mix/master, but I reserve the right to make a few edits on the day.

More work tomorrow - the exact nature of that work depends on "shtuff"...

Regards,


djp

Tropes & Memes/Mare Nostrum/Everybody Calls Me Darren/FCA Boots/Me & The Fly - 030315

Sponsored by "Andy Partridge".

TROPES/MARE/DARREN/FCA

Was getting ready to record vocalisations for these tracks, but real life intervened. I did manage to work up rough backing tracks and transferred them to the Gulag Mobile for future work.

ME & THE FLY

Found and downloaded a wonderful sound effect track of a fly (of course) from my old favourite site, The Sound Effect Library. Inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

I also edited the vocal parts and started dubbing-up the rest of the track. Almost ready to mix/master, but I'll play around with it a bit more, I think.

Back to normality tomorrow. Bah...

Regards,


djp

Watching The News With The Sound Off/I Can Explain...Everything/Is Everybody Happy Yet? - 020315

Sponsored by "Amon Duul I and II".

Tracked various vocal parts on the Gulag Mobile using the Sennheisier e855:-

WATCHING...

- two spoken word parts

...EXPLAIN...

- one spoken word part

...HAPPY...

- one spoken word part and twelve tracks of singing (nine tracks of harmonies)

Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project files in CE5.

Although WATCHING... has already been mixed/mastered, I will need to do this again to cater for the spoken word parts. Not a problem much.

I reckon I have only 4 more tracks to record vocals for. I should have that sorted tomorrow with a bit of luck...

Regards,


djp

I Choose Indecision/Iye/Stiltwalker In The Wind - 270215

Sponsored by "Alternative".

More tracking of "vocalisations" on the Gulag Mobile via the Sennheiser e855...

...INDECISION

- 2 parts

IYE

-3 parts

STILTWALKER...

- 8 parts, 7 of which are more by way of sound effects (you'll know what I mean when you eventually hear the track...).

Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

Much editing to do...

Taking a break for the weekend. More work on Monday.

Regards,


djp

You Have My Heart Scalded/This Is Going To Take, Like, Forever - 260215

Sponsored by "Allez Allez".

...SCALDED

Tracked four vocal parts on the Gulag Mobile, using the Sennheiser e855. Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

Various shouty improvisations. Quite fun to do. A bit concerned that the takes might have been a little "hot", but the wavs look OK. Should sound fine in the mix. Much editing required, however...

...FOREVER

As above, but only two vocals parts tracked. Whispers. Some editing required - maybe not too much.

More work tomorrow. Not so much shouting this time...;-).

Regards,


djp

My Troubles Are As Nothing Compared To Yours - 250215

Sponsored by "All Songs Considered".

Tracked 15 vocal parts on the Gulag Mobile, using the Sennheiser e855 microphone. Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

Lots of interesting harmonies. Some editing and much EQ-ing required. Great fun though!

More work tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah - 170215

Sponsored by "80s Music".

Tracked 17 vocal parts on the Gulag Mobile via the Sennheiser e855 mic. Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5.

Sounds great so far. Some editing required.

Back to the real world tomorrow...

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly - 160215

Sponsored by "70s Music".

Tracked 15 vocal parts on the Gulag Mobile using the Sennheiser e855 mic. Audio cleanup in AA3 and inserted into the relevant project file in CE5. Some editing required, but not a huge amount.

More work gomorrah...

Regards,


djp

Gomorrah/My Troubles Are As Nothing Compared To Yours - 030215

Sponsored by "Nina Simone".

Well, I know I said I'd think about doing some vocals today. Well, I did think about it. Most of last night, in fact. I found looking myself for reasons (or excuses) not to sing today. And I found plenty of silly, trivial, moody reasons. But when I woke up this morning, I found the best reason of all - incipient manflu. So, no singing to day, just Lemsip...;-).

But I decided to use the time to do some work on lyrics and vocal nonsense. Over the last while I have been keeping notes of random phrases that have popped into my head, for use either as proper lyrics, or as words I can dub-up. In the latter category, I have material for six tracks, to which I will probably add material improvised while tracking. All good fun, no doubt...

But I also found time to write two sets of lyrics. And here they are...

 

GOMORRAH

 

 

Baby's going back to Gomorrah

 

She's leaving on the morning train

 

I'll take her to the station tomorrah

 

I wonder will I see her again?

 

 

Baby's going back to Gomorrah

 

Big city by a  different name

 

She's going back to where she came from

 

I wonder will I see her again?

 

 

(c)2015 Daniel Prendiville

 

 

MY TROUBLES ARE AS NOTHING COMPARED TO YOURS

 

 

Well my clothes are worn but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And I feel forlorn but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And my car won't start but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

I've a broken heart but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

 

Well the sky is grey but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And it rains all day but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And my muscles strain but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

But I feel no pain so the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

 

And I feel the cold but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And I'm getting old but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

And I struggle and strive but the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

But I'm still alive so the troubles I got

 

Are nothing compared to yours

 

 

(c) 2015 Daniel Prendiville

 

 

I need to tidy out the arrangement for ...TROUBLES a bit, but nothing a bit of "editage" won't sort.

 

Real world intervenes tomorrow. Can't be having fun all the day, can I...?;-).

 

Regards,

 

 

 

djp

 



FCA Boots - 020215

Sponsored by "Nick Drake".

Well, that was fun!

I recorded ten parts of marching footsteps in my backyard on the Gulag Mobile, using the Sennheiser e855 microphone.

Footstep recording rig. Kitchen chair - model's own...
 



I was planning on recording 12 parts, but the next-door neighbour was moving about and I was half-expecting a head popping over the boundary wall, wondering what the rumpus was. In addition to that, there was a lot of ambient traffic noise from the main road, so I decided to cut my losses and end the session early. And it has to be said that marching in time to a metronome is not the easiest thing in the world for an unfit middle-aged man to do...;-).

I transferred the 10 wavs to my PC and did audio cleanup in AA3. Because there is a limit to the number of audio tracks you can have in CE5 (64, I think...), I created a multitrack "session" file in AA3 and made a stereo mix of the wavs. I then inserted that into the relevant project file in CE5 and dropped the marching in-and-out of the mix as I desired. Essentially, it will only feature when there is just one guitar part in the mix.

In spite of doing something like 20 bars (eh?) of marching, the tempo of the footsteps tended to drift rather alarmingly towards the end of the parts and the ambient noise got rather noticeable half-way through. So I found 4 bars that sounded pretty clean and tight and cut/pasted them as appropriate. Messed around a bit with EQ and delays, and the footsteps sit pretty well in the mix, but obviously the final decision on this (and everything else) will be made at the mixing/mastering stage.

As I said, "fun"!

More work tomorrow, but I'm not sure what I'll do. Might track some vocals. Eeek...;-).

Regards,


djp

FCA Boots - 010215

Sponsored by "New Wave".

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks pretty favourable, so I intend to do a spot of field recording for FCA BOOTS.

To that end, I tracked a metronome track in CE5 via the Phonic Firefly/Behringer Xenyx 1202. Edited it in AA3 and transferred it across to the Gulag Mobile. Sounds good so far...;-).

More tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

Me & The Fly - 310115

Sponsored by "New Age".

Some lyrics...

ME & THE FLY

Me and the fly

Together we try

Symbiosis in community

No one knows why

But me and the fly

Flout convention with impunity

We're living on the fringe

Where we cannot be found

But we are never sad

When there's a buzz around

Me and the fly

Exist on the sly

Under the radar in the cloak of night

No one knows why

But me and the fly

Live in the shadows to avoid the light

Mutual benefit

We live in harmony

He's thriving on my filth

I dig his company

Don't try to bug me

Don't try to phone

I'm happy with a

Bug of my own

Me and the fly

A satisfied sigh

Always laughing and we never cry

No one knows why

But me and the fly

Are happy together as the years go by

And to the outside world

It's all a mystery

They've never seen the likes 

In all of history

Me and the fly

With no fish to fry

No agenda and no axe to grind

And all the folk like you

Will never comprehend

We live in peace with no

Intention to offend

Don't send your SWAT team

To set us free

We're happy here for

Eternity

(c) 2015 Daniel Prendiville

No, I have no idea either...

Enjoy!

Regards,

djp

Unwinnable Caption Competition - 300115

Sponsored by "Never Played".

Mixed/mastered the track in CE5/AA3. Again, a lot of the heavy lifting had been done in the dubbing-up process, so the mixing itself was pretty smooth. However, my itchy editing finger got busy and I made a few changes which I hope will have enhanced the track.

I also decided to mess around with the actual master, flipping the channels and other nonsense.

The track sounds big and beaty and I think you'll like it!

The weather early next week should be reasonably favourable, which is a good thing, as I plan to do some field recording on Monday or Tuesday, so I'll need to do some preparatory work for that. In the meantime, I'll be giving some thought to lyrics and other vocalisations.

See you in the funny papers...

Regards,


djp

Never Had It To Lose It - 290115

Sponsored by "Neil Young etc."

Mixed/mastered the track in CE5/AA3.

Had a lot of "fun" trying to get the Ric bass parts and the drum parts to sit well together. Much faffing about with EQs and the like, but got there eventually. One or two little edits required for the Squier Strat parts also.

The track sounds fine, but I'm still not sure about its place on the album - it feels more like an EP track at this stage, but we'll see when all the other tracks are done.

More work tomorrow.

Regards,


djp

Helicopter Shots Of The City - 2870115

Sponsored by "Neil Hannon etc.".

Mixed/mastered the track in CE5/AA3. The heavy lifting had been done as part of the dubbing-up process, so the levels merely needed to be tweaked. A change to the EQ setting for the kick drum made a huge difference.

The tracks sounds really big over the monitors and I'm delighted with the finished product. It has given me a lot of confidence for mixing/mastering the rest of the tracks.

More work tomorrow!

Regards,


djp

Demo doings

Sponsored by "Motown".

All the demo tracks I mastered yesterday have now been converted to MP3s using AA3 and will be transferred to my iPhone later on today.

There are technical issues with some of the demos, but this shouldn't (correction - won't) be a problem when it really matters.

Off to Limerick to watch a "dead rubber". Gotta be done, I'm afraid...

Regards,


djp

It's not just a question of words...

Sponsored by "Motorhead".

According to my spreadsheet, I have 14 tracks that require "vocals". Some of these also need "lyrics", so I'm guessing that a few of these tracks are going to be "songs", while the rest of them will more appropriately be described as "instrumentals with singing". Or "talking". If you catch my drift...

In order to facilitate the lyric-writing/vocal-arranging process, I did rough mixes of the tracks in CE5. Over the next day or so, I'll convert the mixes to MP3s and transfer them on to my iPhone. I will then be able to "live with" the tracks for a while to see what emerges.

In the meantime, I have a few tracks that are ready to mix/master, so I'll do that towards the end of next week.

Great to have a plan, isn't it?

Regards,


djp

Unwinnable Caption Competition - 200115

Sponsored by "Charles Mingus".

Finished work on the track. More editing that dubbing-up per se, and I probably could keep at it forever, but ya gots ta stop sometime.

Delighted with the track - it's a cracker! It's got a Can vibe with a Wobblesque bass line. What's not to like?

Time to move on. Hope to sneak in some work at the weekend.

Regards,


djp

Unwinnable Caption Competition/Accents - 190115

Sponsored by "Miles Davis".

UNWINNABLE...

Eleven months to the very day since I lasted worked on the track, I starting dubbing it up in CE5. I concentrated mostly on the Squier Strat parts, and experimented with clearing out some of the other material. Getting there, but quite a bit to go yet. I should have it sorted tomorrow, I reckon.

I also started playing around with the mix. It's going to be tricky, but the track is shaping up nicely, so all the effort will be worth it.

ACCENTS

Mixed/mastered in CE5 and AA3. Sounds huge. Another one in the can...

This is the fun bit!

Regards,


djp

Floaty Floaty - 060115

FLOATY FLOATY features on the new WE ARE ALL GHOSTS compilation "...ENDING THE YEAR ON A HIGH 2014", which you can download from Bandcamp. All proceeds from the sale of the album will be donated to Hospice UK.
 

Not sure what implications this will have for the track. I may leave it as being exclusive to the album, or I may include it in an EP. I'll have to bend my brain about this issue for a while. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the track...;-).

Regards,


djp

Never Had It To Lose It - 060115

Sponsored by "Magazine".

Dubbed-up the track in CE5. Much clearing-out of "muck", which wasn't easy, but I persisted with it, and the track sounds a lot better now than when I started working on it. Mixing/mastering should be challenging in terms of sorting out frequencies and that...

Not sure if this is going to make it on the album. Halfway through this session, EP obscurity seemed to be the track's fate, but now I'm not so convinced of that. Nice problem to have, I suppose.

The real world intervenes tomorrow and then I'm off on my travels all next week, so I'll see how much more I can do this month. Good progress so far...

Regards,


djp

Helicopter Shots Of The City - 050115

Sponsored by "Luke Haines etc.".

Finished off me dub-up work in CE5, concentrating mostly on the Squier Strat and 4Front Rhode parts. Luckily I was able to mask most of the deficiencies in my guitar/bass playing. I could have stayed at it forever, but I think 5 hours is quite enough, thank you very much!

It's probably not 100% perfect, and I'm sure a proper pro dub mixer would have done a different (and much better) job, but it sounds fine to me. Ready to mix/master.

Time to move on.

Regards,


djp

Accents/Helicopter Shots Of The City - 040115

Sponsored by "Last Played 2015".

Well, that was enjoyable! My roadtrip was postponed until the afternoon, which gave me a few hours to play around with.

ACCENTS

Solved the problem with the trailing decay. It was caused by putting the HALion Synstrings part through a long pre-fader reverb. Tracking the part (and the reverb) to audio in CE5, using the Phonic Firefly/Behringer Xenyx 1202 solved that problem and I can edit the audio to end exactly where I want it.

The track is now ready to mix/master.

HELICOPTER...

Had great fun "dubbing-up" the MIDI drum parts. Much trial and error was required, but I got there in the end. I realised that I need to set up a separate set of FX for each drum part, as sharing FX  between parts didn't work out for me. I wonder is there a limit to the number of FX channels I can have in CE5? Guess I'll find out tomorrow...;-)

Regards,


djp

Accents - 030115

Sponsored by "Last Played 2014".

Programmed dub delays on the vocal and percussion parts in CE5. Much trial and error and back and forth, but the track sounds in pretty good shape now.

I have an issue with trailing decays on some of the VST plugin synths, but I'll sort that by tracking them to audio and fading them out at the appropriate time. That'll be on Monday, as I have a mini roadtrip tomorrow.

Because of the source material for the vocal parts (sampled 78s), I reckon I'm going to put this as a hidden bonus track on the Bandcamp download, which means it won't be available on the CD Baby/iTunes/whatever version of the album. So you'll know where to go when you want to download the album, eh?

Regards,


djp

D(O)UB(T) status report

So, I've reached the New Year, which is always a crucial time in my view when considering the progress (and general "health") of an album project. Whatever is in good nick at the turn of the year gets worked on to completion - whatever isn't in good shape gets dropped.

So, what's the story with D(O)UB(T), then?

According to the spreadsheet that I've used to log progress on the album, I've started work on a total of 28 tracks. That's way too much for an album. I have no idea of what the current total running time would be for those tracks, but I'd say we're talking north of 90 mins. So, in reality, I have plenty of tracks to spare for inclusion as non-album tracks in a number of promotional EPs. At this stage, there will be at least two EPs - possibly even three. I may also keep a few tracks back for inclusion on netlabel submissions, should I be asked for material.

Still, 28 tracks, eh? What's the story with them?

A total of 8 tracks have been mixed and mastered and are considered complete. These are mostly, but not exclusively, ambient/experimental electronic tracks. The really good tracks will feature on the album - I plan to sequence tracks in triplets - fast/slow/ambient-y - lather/rinse/repeat. Those that aren't quite up to snuff will feature ether as EPs tracks or compilation tracks.

The tracks in question are:-

• A ACCIDENT
• A PLAGUE ON BOTH MY HOUSES
• COMPLICATIONS FROM A FALL
• I AM A SHADOW OF YOUR FORMER SELF
• THE BOOK OF PASSWORDS
• THE NEW NUMBER TWO
• WATCHING THE NEWS WITH THE SOUND OFF
• FLOATY FLOATY

I need to "dub-up" 4 tracks. By "dub-up", I mean I need to program/automate various dub effects. Once that has been done, the tracks will be ready to mix/master

These tracks are:-

• ACCENTS
• HELICOPTER SHOTS OF THE CITY
• NEVER HAD IT TO LOSE IT
• UNWINNABLE CAPTION COMPETITION

ACCENTS will probably feature on an EP, but the others should make the album. We'll see... I'll start work on these tracks over the next few days and I hope to have them finished by the end of this month, taking account of a lengthy roadtrip I have planned in a few weeks time.

The remainder of the tracks need a bit more work, including (variously) writing and recording lyrics/vocals, tracking some additional audio and the almost-inevitable "dub-up". One or two of the tracks will probably not make the album, but should feature elsewhere.

These tracks are:-

• CHOKING ON DRY BREAD
• ME AND THE FLY
• EVERYBODY CALLS ME DARREN
• FCA BOOTS
• I CAN EXPLAIN...EVERYTHING
• I CHOOSE INDECISION
• IS EVERYBODY HAPPY YET?
• IYE
• MARE NOSTRUM
• MY TROUBLES ARE AS NOTHING COMPARED TO YOURS
• STILTWALKER IN THE WIND
• THIS IS GOING TO TAKE, LIKE, FOREVER
• TROPES AND MEMES
• YOU HAVE MY HEART SCALDED
• YOU'LL NEVER MISS YOUR MOTHER TILL THE WELL RUNS DRY
• GOMORRAH

(Phew - that makes 28 tracks in total - I can count...).

So, on that basis, I have 20 tracks to finish between now and the summer. As I said above, I'll do the "dub-up" tracks first, and then I'll work on ME AND THE FLY, which will be the lead track on the first EP. The track itself won't feature on the album, but the dub version of it, CHOKING ON DRY BREAD, will.

I have set myself a bit of a challenge, but it's all very do-able within the timescale.

In relation to which tracks actually make the final cut, I am conscious of the fact that some tracks may be very similar to each other. I certainly don't want to feature two such tracks in close proximity to each other, and the plan is that one would go on the album and the other would go on an EP or compilation.

I'd better get cracking on this so...;-).

Regards,


djp

FCA Boots - 020115

Sponsored by "Last Played 2012" and "Last Played 2013".

Programmed/edited a number of MIDI VST plugin parts in CE5 using the Roland Juno-D/Phonic Firefly/HALion One/ JP Analogue Stringpad. Not sure if I'm going to use all the parts, but I'll certainly use most of them.

I also took the opportunity to tweak some of the Ric bass parts and the MIDI drum parts. All is well now.

The track is bloody awesome as it is, but there's more to do on it at a later stage.

Check in later on when I will give an overview of the project status. Could be mildly interesting...;-).

Regards,


djp