10 Best Lists From A Master

Alan Parsons knows a lot of stuff. 

His advice might even be worth listening too.

You should.

Listen.

Read.

10 Best Bits of Musical Gear Ever

10 Things Everyone Should Know When Recording

If You Could Record In Wilco's Loft...

...what would it sound like? How would YOU go about recording your songs?
Do you see computers as an evil in the process of making your songs real?
Or do they need to be reel (tape)?

Read Andrew Bird's thoughts on this matter as he explores Wilco's studio, filled with every gadget and guitar his heart could desire.

Nothin' All Day

Been a bit since I wrote a song. Since starting Arlington Station a few months ago, I've been concentrating on the shows we have scheduled. In terms of writing, I've not been in a hurry. It's been a wonderful process of learning what our abilities as musicians are as well as exploring the sonic pallette that we all create together. I was hoping that my next song would take advantage of our strengths as a band, but this one is more of a singer/songwriter/folk tune. Lisa and Dave got involved with the lyric end of the writing process. First time we've written together. Hopefully we'll continue to do that!

Here's the latest. It's called Nothin' All Day.
John

Nothin' All Day - mp3

Nothin' All Day
lyrics by John Natiw, Lisa Chambers & Dave Chambers (Arlington Station)
music by John Natiw

5am and the rain won't stop
I'm gonna think about nothin' today
I need to sleep, but on second thought
I'm gonna think about nothin' today

Newspaper said that the war's still on
I'm gonna think about nothin' today
I'll just leave it to the Pentagon
I'm gonna think about nothin' all day

CHORUS
I'M GONNA THINK ABOUT NOTHIN' ALL DAY
AND WHILE AWAY SOME TIME
IT DON'T MATTER WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY
I KNOW THE SUN WILL SHINE
TOMORROW I'LL SEE IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY
BUT FOR NOW I'M THINKIN' 'BOUT NOTHIN' TODAY

Bank man said that the money's all gone
I'm gonna think about nothin' today
Preacher man told me I'm doing wrong
I'm gonna think about nothin' today

Postman brought unhappy news
I'm gonna think about nothin' today
It ain't nothin' but bills and blues
I'm gonna think about nothin' today

[CHORUS]

My friends all tell me that I've lost my mind
cause I'm gonna think about nothin' today
24 hours and I'll be fine
But, I'm gonna think about nothin' all day

Now don't go thinkin' that I don't care
I'm just gonna think about nothin' today
Some folks say that life ain't fair
I'm gonna think about nothin' all day

[CHORUS]

Trying to See the Sound

Now that I have a few songs in my suitcase, I've really started to think about recording these things for real. While being away for awhile hunting I took the opportunity to begin to think about my "sound palette". You know, the "colors" that will make up my sonic painting. When I write, the palette usually consists of an acoustic guitar, main vocals and maybe some harmony vocals. Occasionally I'll add something to the mix, but that's pretty standard.

Over the past few years my sonic palette hasn't really been important or obvious to me. Recently, I've begun to see my desired sound more clearly. LeAnn Rimes said in a recent interview in American Songwriter Magazine that she made a mix CD for her producer to give him an idea of what she was looking for in her sound. I thought this was a great idea, so I began to look through my music collection for the "sounds" that I've been inspired by. After getting down to a short list of songs (not necessarily artists), I sat down and listened. Over and over again. Why do I love these songs, sonically? What instruments are playing? Where are they positioned in the sound field? What types of instrumentation and mixing fits the type of songs I write?

Here's a little bit of what I've learned the past few days. I'm a sucker for a few specific instruments when combined properly. Also, I have some very specific and different ideas about drums and percussion and how they should relate to the song (well, MY songs, at least). I actually took it so far as to make a list of instruments I would love to have on my CD someday. Here's that list with a few observations about each choice:

1. Acoustic Guitar - This will be the bread and butter of the sound. Sometimes it may be the focus of the song, other times in the background as a scratch track. Also, combinations of Acoustic Guitars (posssibly capoed) could be great.
   
2. Piano - Sometimes there's nothing like a few well timed chords from a piano to anchor an idea in a song.
   
3. Slide Guitar - High soaring sounds. Adds atmosphere.
   
4. Bass - Upright if possible.
   
5. Cello - Adds low end acoustic flavor.
   
6. Mandolin - Adds high end acoustic flavor plus a little country.
   
7. Violin/Fiddle - A lead instrument.
   
8. Drums - Sparse, but with a purpose when used. Not overly busy. Pocket.
   
9. Percussion - Usual shaker and tambourine, but other non-conventional sounds as well when effective.

So, there it is. The beginnings of my sound palette. Now all I need to do is find some folks who can actually PLAY all these instruments!

Write on,
John

A Response to Steve's Summer Goals

The other day I was reading Steve's Summer Goals and went to leave a comment. I wrote this huge rambling thing, but the site booted it before I could post it. Started to leave a comment again tonight and thought maybe I'd do it this way instead. Too much to say. Anyhoo... You/I/we should do this Steve! I know I've been talking about getting an EP/CD done for months.

As far as how to choose what to record, a friend suggested that I record one song at a time in the studio. Just pick one and go do it. Spend a half or whole day getting it done. First, it's easier to do it that way, and, second, it's more fiscally responsible. Eventually you end up with a bunch of recorded product that you can then decide what to do with.

With me, I sometimes think I "don't know how to play" these songs well enough to record in a studio yet. The only way I know to get through this is to play these suckers out. A lot. There are a few benefits to this approach. First, you get really good (proficient) at the tunes and, therefore, save money in the studio. Second, I think there is process of "finishing" that takes place. Listen to your first recording of a song and compare it to a recording of it after you've played it out for a year. It's different. The singing. The guitar/piano. It's closer to being "finished". Third, you get a sense of which songs folks really like (see previous paragraph). And, lastly, you're automatically building up a fan base who will, theoretically at least, buy the CD's you're about to make!

Anyhoo.... I've been thinking that I have enough songs to record. I've played out a few over the past year and have a couple new ones I'll debut in the next month or so. Maybe by the first of the year I'll have accomplished all the stuff I talked about above and be ready to start knocking these things out one by one. Wouldn't it be cool to have a nice CD to sell at gigs by spring-time? Sure it would!

Just went through my song binder and counted 25 songs that I know of that I've written since about November of 2004. Don't think I would have EVER had that many if it weren't for this blog. Thanks for the motivation everyone!

For the record (haha), here are the songs I'm thinking of recording (in approximate order I'd want to record them):

1. This Time (2006)
2. Jesus and John Lennon (2007)
3. Tiny Footprints (2007)
4. An untitled instrumental (2006?)
5. It's About Time (2007 & not coincidentally the working title of my future CD)
6. An Irish Love Song (2004)
7. That Water Came (2007)
8. Rivers (2007)
9. Stop the Rain (2006)
   
10. All We Need is Some Love (2007 and this one is gonna need some serious work... i.e. layers of sound).
11. One Cut Too Deep (2005, a song that has huge potential if I'll only go back and work on it and play it out a few times... great lyrics)
    

So there it is. Looks like I've got the makings of a CD after all! How about you Steve? Liza? Eric? Whatcha got?
J

My Big Summer Goal

Well, I've written a number of songs this year (thanks to this blog and occasional friendly kicks in the butt from John).

I think now I want to try and concentrate on recording an E.P. (or album?) before the end of the summer. I think a realistic goal would be to record a 4-5 song E.P.

It may not happen, but then again, it may.

I played a solo acoustic show this past Friday (see the Monday, July 02, 2007 entry) and realized that several good songs that I've had for years have not been recorded (or put on a CD).

Here are a few that I want to record:

Cosmic Soda Machine
(I've had recording requests for this one now for several years)

What Are We Waiting For?
(new one posted on this blog this year)

Don't Give Up
(new one that I haven't done a full recording of)

The Next Chapter
(recorded on my VS1680, but never but on any CD or officially released).

I Can't Get Over It
(my "techno" song")

Can You See Me?
(I wrote this in '97 and somehow it sounds like my inner Jack Johnson)

I've Got News For You
(On this blog--an ok recording that I may redo to make a little more pro).

People Are Pictures
(first song on this blog)

I know I have a few more in my folder...I'll have to check it.

The trick with some of my songs is that they don't feel like they "fit" with anything else. They're too happy or too sad or too funny to work to be on the same album together. But I still love them each like one of my children. Ok. A few of them are ugly and I hide them in the closet and would never admit that they were mine, but MOST of them I love like my children.

I've also wanted to release a record of all of the love songs I've written for Joy (each Valentine's day I've written one song for the past 12 years).

I don't think I can pull that one off this summer...but maybe for this coming February...

I'm curious as to how some of you have placed/chosen songs for your album. Finished 10 songs and went for it? Wrote thematically on a single topic?

HOw do YOU do it?

I've Half A Mind To Post A Post On Posting

Well, I went three steps further. I got an inspiration for a song, so I grabbed my digital video camera and recorded myself as I ran out to the studio and recorded the song. It's like a "How To" on how I write my songs.

It's not the ONLY way I write songs, but it happened to be the way I did it this time.

The video is heavily edited. I filmed 28 minutes of footage and am hoping to edit it down to five.

I will post the song here when I have finished the video and can post the YouTube link as well.

Pro Tools for the Complete Idiot

I'm not really a complete idiot, only a partial one. I've been experimenting more and more with my ProTools set up with a recently purchased book called ProTools for Musicians and Songwriters by Gina Fant-Saez. It's colorful and has lots of pictures, so I felt less intimidated by a program that can seem very intimidating. It's very well written and only once so far in the book (and I'm about halfway through) did something not match up on my screen with what she wrote and illustrated. Everything else has been spot on.

I wish I had purchased this book earlier and straight from Amazon, but I made an impulse buy at my local Barnes and Noble. Be wise and use Amazon...at least for purchasing specialty books that are expensive.

Enough of my mistakes in purchasing, buying this book was definitely NOT a mistake. This book is sort of like taking a class. It works step-by-step through the process of using ProTools LE 7 and M-Powered 7, giving equal airtime to Mac and Windows controls and nuances. Even though the author is obviously MAC biased, she never bashes the Windows version and does a great job of simply explaining the program.

One of the activities in the book was to make your own drum loop from scratch using samples. You can even download those samples to try on your own computer! Here's her website: www.protoolsformusicians.com


The advantage of using drum loops to record with rather than a click track is that you are working with an actual groove. It brings out different ideas and makes you play differently than if you just strummed along to a click track. As far as songwriting goes, it's a great way to take your song in a different direction.

By the way, I can't hype this website enough:

Looperman.com

Free drum and percussion loops (and tons of other things). It tends to lean more toward the techno crowd, but I've found it extremely useful in creating music on the fly without having to worry about creating a drum track.

The Mad Scientist Strikes Again...

As I've probably said here before, I'm a bit of a gadget degenerate. And, like most artists, I'm terrified of losing ideas. While I'm out and about, I can, of course, write lyric ideas down, but have no real way of saving audio ideas (melodies, lyrics, guitar ideas). I've tried the "call your phone and leave a message" route, but no, thank you.

Today I bought an Olympus WS-100 Digital Voice Recorder. This little baby is about 3 1/2" by 1 1/2" and only about 3/8" deep. It's tiny. But this unit has 64MB of memory built in. It also has the ability to detach from the "base" unit and plug directly into the USB port on your computer.

This morning I sat down, set the WS-100 on my desk and played through a song I wrote about a year ago to try it out. The unit was sitting about a foot and a half from me as I played. I've uploaded an untouched file for you to check out the sound on this thing (and no, this doesn't count toward my song production for February).

It's a bit muddy, but for a unit that small that you can take anywhere, I love it. Check it out if you like...

This Time.WMA

I also tried to import the WMA file to my recording software and tweak it a little, but, while it works, it kind of defeats the purpose of the unit. I got it to save ideas. It's got so much memory (and the files it generates are so small) that I can hit record and just sit around and play all night, recording every idea I try. Then I can upload the file to my computer and save it with the date.

Plus, I can use it to record my kids when they tell me they're gonna clean their room - as evidence. ;o)

John

Just ONE good take...

In trying to record a decent demo of Rivers the past few days, one thing has become abundantly clear. I need a portable studio. Recording in the Man-Cave™ works well enough (WHEN it works), but dealing with the "ambient noise" is driving me nuts. With a family of six people, an eighty pound lab, noisy gas & water meters, phones etc., it's nearly impossible to get a decent "take" in this house. I'm not trying to get it "perfect" or anything. Just looking to get a relatively noise free demo. So... I've been looking at those portable digital Boss units. It would be wonderful to have a portable unit to record elsewhere with (can't lug the computer around!). Once I've recorded the dry tracks, I could import them into my computer software and mix/master them.

Anyway... I'm just venting a bit here. Looking for alternatives in getting a decent sounding track.

Having said all that... I did do a very good take of Rivers tonight. HOWEVER, after finishing it, I realized I didn't have my phantom power switch on and the take was lost. Never got a decent one after that. Hope to get one soon.