Doing it All - Self production

New guitar ✅
Ableton Live Standard Edition ✅
Reorgangized studio space ✅
Fixing guitar pickups ✅
Clear head ✅
Clear Schedule✅

Recording is the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on in my life. I’ve learned Japanese and Mandarin. I’ve performed in front of 100 people. I’ve lived without money for extended periods of time trading my time and energy for a place to stay and food.

I’ve adapted to multiple cultures and learned so much about so much.

None of it compares to recording an album on your own.

Perhaps if I had gone to school for this, or started playing seriously when I was in junior high school it would have been easier.

I’m not complaining, I’m just trying to show myself some appreciation, to boost my spirits for the progress I’ve made. All those years I spent fumbling around on guitar before figuring out what and how I needed to improve. All the time zone spent facing my insecurities and trying to figure out what I actually wanted out of life. All the little pieces that led me to be able to operate a DAW and have a basic (very basic) knowledge of EQ and effects and tone and compression (still working on that last one).

I set the end of May as the deadline for 2 finished songs, fully recorded and ready for mixing. I want to change that to 3 songs but I am going to resist because I have so much going on all month, but who knows, I may be able to pull off 3 in the end.

I started out slow. Recoded two guitars and two vocal layers and started arranging it a bit only to realize it was a mess and I may not be able to save it. So I started recording again only to realize the initial magic of the first recording was gone, so I spent 4 hours cutting and pasting to try and synch the acoustic and electric guitars up.

There is something very special about demo recordings. When you think the recording is inconsequential, everything comes out exactly like it’s supposed to, at least for parts of the song.

I think for this release and future releases, I am going to end up taking a lot of first or second takes. That doesn’t mean my work will be quick. There is a lot of arranging I want to do, a lot of layers. A lot of testing ideas and trying to find the songs voice and helping things feel balanced.

So despite my first two hours feeling like a complete waste of time,by late afternoon I had made a tiny bit of progress by somehow salvaging my first take.

Maybe 7 hours in total and all I did was clean the damn thing up. The vocals still need to be re-recorded, they don’t have the same magic that the guitar had and they sound weak. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow

I thought I was done for the day but I had the urge to go to the park and play on my mini acoustic at 1 AM for a while. I ended up writing half the lyrics to song #7, the only song that isn’t fully written.

Not bad, me!

Here’s a list of all I need to do before mixing

1 remember lyrics to songs #4,5 and 6
2 finish lyrics to song #7
3 write a baseline and/or second guitars for songs 1-7
4 record guitar and vocals for songs #3-7
5 practice song 5-7 so it’s strong enough to record
6 record all extra stuff (backup vocals, other instruments on songs 2-7.

If I were to seperate each task on each song into different points I’d have a list of about 50 things to do, most of which take 30-60 minutes, some of which could take a lot more.

I recently heard someone say that self producing your music is essentially the same as doing the work of 6 people: the songwriter, the performer, the producer, the mixer, the masterer and I can’t remember the last one, editor? I’d also add the distributor and promoter! And the manager! And I may end up making the cover too so designer as well!

The goal is to have everything ready by August but getting it done will be a bit of a stretch. At the very least I do think I can finish recording two songs by the end of May.

And as soon as I have 3 songs fully recorded I am going to release one as a single, my very first properly (self) produced song.

I am getting the longest song out of the way first, an 11 minute epic about self liberation. You can already hear the live version below. After that one I will tackle the other 2 I’ve played live before (from my recent live album “Resonance Experiments 1-2) and the easiest two tracks. Then there are the last two which may prove a bit difficult simply due to the fact that one is still unfinished and both need a lot arranging, other instruments, and perhaps guest musicians.

I need to be able to separate my work into different phases which is why I’m working on the songs in pairs. This is the only way I’ve found to keep myself motivated and not overwhelmed.

So phase 1 is 65% complete and will be the most difficult, Phase 2, the easiest and phase 3 will be right in the middle.

Despite all the work I have to do, I couldn’t help but write a concept for a second album in my head while in the shower.

The second album will likely be similar to the first in terms of structure 5-7 relatively long songs (6-12 minutes) with a few interludes. I want to create it with a completely different artistic flow though, this time writing and recording at the same time, song by song, slowly over a few months. I also hope to have a bit more variety, from synth pop to shoegaze or post rock to ambient.

Back to the music!

Here’s the song we are recording in our home studio now:

Clip:

Can finally sing this without crying