Songwriting

After writing the lyrics to “The Fiddle Number” I have also written lyrics to and rearranged a song which I have previously recorded under the name “Prelude to The Lute Number” (using my own melody which led nicely into The Lute Number). Anita has agreed to sing on it, and I’m spicing up the guitar solo, speeding up the tempo,
adding bass (I’m not sure whether to add drums yet) and a banjo solo (possibly backing aswell). The new title for the song will be “The Lead-in” – a “lead-in” usually being a bluegrass term for a short instrumental introduction to a larger piece. The new title serves the purpose of removing the implication of it being a classical peice of music and more of a bluegrass tune. Anita, Teddy and I have had a few jamsessions together and I have decided
to spend some time writing lyrics and making melodies before we continue recording this fall. Anita has already taken a liking to one of the melodies I was playing around with
back in 2007, and she is looking through some of her “archives” in order to find some suitable lyrics for it. It’s working title is “Mossy Green Forest” coined by Anita after hearing
me playing it. She explained that that was the feeling, or atmosphere, the melody conveyed – and that she could almost see the peaceful forest in front of her. I think, therefore, that it
is safe to say that it will be a rather slow guitar and vocal -centric tune in a major key. I am thuroughly enjoying writing music and lyrics, and also jamming with Anita and Teddy. I suspect
that an album with mostly self-written songs (by me and “the band”) will be the end result.

New Project: “The Fiddle Number”

I have decided to do a new project with a tune that Teodor and I have previously recorded under the name “The Banjo Number”. The tune was originally made by The Shadows (called “The Lute Number”) using a lute, acoustic guitar and drums. This new version will be all acoustic (The Banjo Number was recorded with my Strat and Teodors electrric Crossfire banjo) featuring me on bassguitar (okay, this won’t be acoustic) and guitar, Teodor on acoustic banjo, my sister on the fiddle and Anita Knutsdatter on vocals. The lyrics are written by me, the first lyrics I have ever written completely by myself. I will be quite busy this May with a lot of exams and in June I’m going on holiday, but hopefully we’ll be able to record and mix the song so it can feature on the summer album I have discussed in previous posts – which will probably be finished in July.

Blackberry Blossom

We have now been to the studio to record and mix (mixing was done in my home studio) the song Blackberry Blossom with vocals, banjo, guitar, bass and violin. I’m playing bass and guitars while Teodor plays the banjo, my sister is playing the violin and Anita Knutsdatter is singing. This recording has been produced as a part of my semester assignment at my school, and I have produced it together with a classmate (Espen Fagervik Henriksen). I would like to extend a big thank you to Anita and my sister for being patient with us during the studiosession, and also our mentor Pål Erik Jensen for giving us hints and tricks along the way. The song is available for download as MP3 (192kbits), Apple Lossless and FLAC all based on the 16-bit mixdown (using POWr-dither Noise Shaping level 1). Due to the nature of this production (using the schools facilities more than I usually do), I have only used ProTools during mixdown and recording and therefore I have not used the Apogee UV22HR dither available through Logic Studio (which was used on the last album). I’m told that the level 1 POWr dither is similar to the UV22HR (it also being a Nyquist dither), but I have never A/B tested different dither algorithms myself. Shoot me an e-mail if you want me to send you a version using the UV22HR dither instead.

“Strings on Speed” album finished

Our self entitled album is now finished. Sadly we could not finish the “Sunset Road” track due to illness so the track list looks like this:

• 1. Guitar Tango
• 2. Dueling Banjos
• 3. 36-24-36

The CD production will be finished soon, but the tracks are already available for download under the music section, and indeed from the links above.

Album update

Thought I’d give you a little update on the new album. Currently I have two tracks nearing completion in the mixing stage (Dueling Banjos and Guitar Tango), and I am busy recording bass and guitar for Sunset Road and also programming the drum loops. We’re going to the studio on sunday to record banjo for Sunset Road, and electric guitar the following week. So far we have only had time for three tunes, but I hope I can squeeze in another Shadows track before Christmas arrives…

(UPDATED) The installation of Pro Tools (told by a long time Mac user)

I am a long time Mac user and up until recently I have based all my audio productions on a very stable Logic system (currently Logic Stuido 9 with MOTU 828 mk3 and Snow Leopard). Some of the projects I’m currently undertaking however, required me to take the plunge and buy my first digidesign interface (Mbox 2 Mini) with Pro Tools 8 LE (post production and studio work that requires cross platform compatibility for collaboration). The first thing that struck me was how many different codes and serial numbers I had to obtain from the user manual and various different sheets of paper that came with the box. When I finally got the damned thing installed and registered I discovered that the version that came with the interface naturally didn’t support Snow Leopard, so I had to download a “pre-release” version from the digidesign homepage. That’s right, “pre-release” as in “not supported by digidesign, and if you fuck up your system you are on your own”… When I finally found the damned link, some obscure Java applet has to be loaded in order to download, and then I discover the filesize of the update; staggeringly 1,25GB! So I start the download and leave my computer to eat dinner. A few hours later the download is complete, and I start installing the update. I soon discover that the installer nearly maxes out both of my processor cores, and what’s more is that it was sitting there for hours without any visible progress whatsoever, just this picture:

It’s almost like I’m being tossed back into the world of Microsoft and Windows! This is the exact reason why I converted to Mac and never looked back. After a long time I got sick of waiting and decided to try a new install, so I uninstalled every trace of Pro Tools and started over. It appears that I couldn’t have made a poorer choice, ’cause now I’m sitting here staring at the exact same picture as above, my processor fan going wild and the percentage meters hitting the roof. There are a few words of profanity not far away from being pronounced, but I shall try to constrain myself. I have decided to let the installer continue through the night, so I guess we’ll see in the morning wheter or not I end up with getting Pro Tools installed or an overheated MacBook Pro. As for the future, this Mac user will try his best not to ever purchase antoher product from digidesign.

UPDATE!
After sitting there all night and getting no further I started to investigate why Pro Tools wouldn’t install. A quick look in a few system log files in the console application I discovered that the installer had been trying to remove the Pro Tools dock icon, unsuccessfully throughout the night. After removing the dock icon and starting the installation process over it seems to be doing fine… How stupid is this? Very…

Guitar Tango recording in progress

I’ve been to the studio today recording both rythm and solo parts for “Guitar Tango” (by The Shadows) on my acoustic guitar, after recording the bass at home yesterday. Using bass on a track is new to me, but it really assisted in removing the “rubato feel” that have been inherent in my previous recordings. I still have to stitch together a few solo tracks before creating a rough mix though, but I’ll post it here as soon as it’s ready. I’m returning to the studio on Sunday to record some electric guitar (to replace a part of the solo on acoustic) and hopefully violin overdubs. I’m not yet sure wether or not I’ll use the electric guitar solo parts, but I’ve figured I’ll give it a go and see if it fits.

“Dueling Banjos” rough mix

We are finished recording the “Dueling Banjos” track. I have made a rough mix of it available under the music section of my site. I’m not by far finished mixing the track, I even have to replace a few chords here and there to “polish it up”, and add a bit of EQ, compressor and reverb. You’ll get the general idea listening to the rough mix though. We had a great time in the studio recording the track, and we’ll be back soon with “Blackberry Blossom”. I’ll hopefully be able to record the bass track for “Guitar Tango” tomorrow, and the acoustic guitar tracks on friday. I’ve also booked studio time on sunday to add the electric guitar solo and violin overdubs.

Update on the new album project

“Downpour” by Brandi Carlile is a no go as for now. I forgot to mention that Teddy and I will also record “Sunset Road” by Belá Fleck. I have also started making arrangements to record a few violin tracks with my sister (with myself on guitar), which will hopefully also be featured on the album. The aim is to have the album finished in time for Christmas. So far the track list looks something like this (the final order of the tracks hasn’t been decided yet):

• Dueling Banjos
• Blackberry Blossom
• Foggy Mountain Breakdown
• Sunset Road
• Guitar Tango
• Rohan Theme (from The Lord of the Rings)
• Concerning Hobbits (from The Lord of the Rings – this one is not certain)

We might spice it up with a few classical pieces aswell, although if we have the time for enough tracks I might consider seperating the project into two halves, one bluegrass project (“Dueling Banjos” through “Sunset Road”) and one guitar/violin project (“Guitar Tango” and down).

Planned: New album

I’m currently in the process of planning and arranging the recording a new album, along with a few select members of my family and friends. I will do most of the instruments myself along with arranging, editing and producing in general. Teddy and I have started discussing a name for our string duo, and so far we have decided on “Strings on Speed” (or SOS if you will). The album will probably be named “Strings on Speed – with guests” or something along those lines.
So far I have decided to do a version of “Guitar Tango” (by The Shadows) using acoustic guitar and violin (the latter instrument not played by me personally) and perhaps electric guitar and bass aswell. We will also be doing a version of “Dueling Banjos” (a long time “favorite”), possibly “Blackberry Blossom”, and an acoustic version of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”. I have also been contacted by a member of my family that wants to do “Downpour” by Brandi Carlile, which we’ll probably have to adapt to some sort of “string band” or bluegrass version.
All in all a very “bluegrassy” album with a touch of flamenco inspired guitar (Guitar Tango), and acoustic sound.