Category: recording

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recording

Studio Day: Special Guest Vocalist

Tonight was a recording session I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I got to record vocals for “We Are the East” sung by the duchess who inspired it. Caoilfhionn is one of the most beloved Eastern royals in the last few years with good reason, but there are still many who have not experienced her incredible voice. She is a talented singer (and songwriter), and arranging this song as a duet with her is a true privilege. Geeking out with her about music and our very different experiences in the SCA…that was an added pleasure, because she is a thoughtful and wonderfully honest person.

I promise, I will share more details about the project for which the song is being recorded. Soon…

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recording

Studio Day: Lead Vocals

I spent time in the home studio today, banging out lead vocals for a few different projects. The main one, of course, was “We Are the East”, which now has a complete set of male vocals in place. I’m excited, because this is a sign that I’ve learned from experience. Working on Hidden Gold, I left pretty much all my finalized lead vocals for the end of the project. This was a mistake, because (a) it meant the other musicians and singers didn’t have a finalized lead track to match up with, so I had to do a lot of digital editing at the end, getting things lined up, and (b) I had to cram in weeks of singing at the very end of the recording process without time to recover in between, so at the end it got really challenging (and painful).

I also did vocals for my filks, though I want to check what I need to do to be in the clear before I share those. Still, all in all a very productive day. A couple of hours of recording, a few hours of editing and compositing the vocal tracks. It’s enjoyable to see that the muscles I developed on my last recording project are still available for me to use.

I look forward to sharing the results of these endeavors with you when the time is right.

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recording

Studio Day: We Are the East

I had my old high school chum (and Hidden Gold mastering engineer) Neil Fein in the home studio today to record guitar tracks for “We Are the East“, as part of a special project (more about that later). I’m excited to be recording again after taking a year off, and it was fun to be recording guitar tracks with someone I haven’t worked with before as a musician (though Neil accompanied me at a live performance at a party some months ago). Neil brought, as I had hoped, some lovely lyricism and finesse to the song, and I’m very pleased with what we were able to do together in just a few hours. Thanks again, Neil!

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mp3 recording SCA

New Demo: “We Are the East”

As promised, I’ve put together a quick rough demo of “We Are the East” with the help of my friend and sometime mastering engineer Neil Fein (on guitar). For those who want to get to know the tune, here you go.

[EDIT 5/21/2017: In my typically cruel fashion, I have taken the demo version down. The official recording for Sing for the East is available on the song page.]

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mp3 recording

Wille Vilse (Call Me Will – Swedish version)

Another update I failed to mention. To my surprise and delight, I get to check two items off my artist bucket list that weren’t really on my radar:

  1. Have my work recorded by another performer.
  2. Have my work translated into another language.

I recently became friends with Swedish LARPer Solvej von Malmborg, who had been seeking music appropriate for LARP events. I pointed her toward my music, and “Call Me Will” in particular, as possibly the sort of thing that might go over well.

I was flattered when she asked permission to attempt a Swedish translation. You can see the results here. You can also listen to Solvej’s beautiful rendering of the piece, which sounds impressively sexy in her language:

[UPDATE] Here is the literal translation back from the Swedish given to me by Solvej, demonstrating the challenge it presented. A lot of the original couldn’t translate directly.

Continue reading “Wille Vilse (Call Me Will – Swedish version)”
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charity recording technology

VocaliD: Giving the Gift of Voice

Last year, I learned about a project called VocaliD (pronounced “Vocality”), which is using technology to allow donors to give the gift of individual, unique voices to people who are unable to speak. The project is now up and running, accepting donations, and has begun creating custom voices for people.

I just got a certificate of appreciation for completing my first hour of donations (500 sentences). It’s incredibly simple to do, as long as you have a computer with a microphone and a decent room without excessive noise. Plus, you get to say goofy sentences and recite the occasional line from Kipling or The Velveteen Rabbit.

This holiday season, if you have the time to start this project, I invite you to give the gift of your voices to those who need them. (And if you don’t have the time this month, or only have a little, sign up as a donor, and start whenever you can. You can record any time, and 10 sentences is considered a valid recording session. And while the website says you have to use Google Chrome, I did it from Firefox without any trouble, so you can try it with your current browser and see if it works.)

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album recording SCA

The most amazing part of making the album…

The most incredible part of this project has been collaborating with so many talented people who were so eager to help make it possible. The SCA and musician communities are an unbelievably generous group of people. This isn’t my official acknowledgments, this is just sharing about what a joyful experience this has been.

Continue reading “The most amazing part of making the album…”
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album recording

Studio Day: Instrumental Work Is Complete

Master Arden of Icombe just got in his car, and the final cleanup of all the instrumental tracks for Hidden Gold is complete. Now it is all down to me.

My friendship with Paul Butler began 30 years ago, when he and I met at performing arts camp. It was a fun, quirky connection, and though we didn’t actually stay in touch after the summer, we did have one collaboration at the time that stayed with me: he ran an RPG of his own design, and I rolled up a character to play through a dungeon full of brain puzzles. I decided to create an avatar, my fantasy counterpart. The name? “Drake Orinwood”, which became my character name ever since. (The last name was changed slightly to pass the submission heralds when I registered it in the early 90’s.)

I bumped into Paul online three years ago when I started checking out the bardic scene and launched the Facebook group. If I hadn’t had that years-old, long-dormant connection, I don’t know if I ever would have had the guts to ask him for his help on this project. But having earned a Laurel in period music, and having studied (and learned to play, and indeed make) a stunning variety of period instruments, Arden of Icombe was the ideal partner (along with Dave Lambert) to bring my vision for a bardic album to life.

Thanks again, Paul, for two years of fun and hard work, and for teaching me what is possible if I just have the courage to ask.

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mp3 recording

The Great Demo Purge of 2015

Okay. I don’t think this is really going to break that many hearts, but I will preface this by saying no, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke. Honest.

Continue reading “The Great Demo Purge of 2015”
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album recording

Studio Day: The Guitar Work Is Done (No, Really)

I just dropped Dave off at the train, and all the guitar work for Hidden Gold is complete. While there are still two more recording sessions to do with other people (one more instrumental day with Arden, and one more female vocalist for “Lady of the Rose”), this marks a major milestone for the project. Dave was the first person I asked to collaborate on this with me, and when he said yes, it gave me the courage to ask others. He has been my co-producer and my mentor. Most of what I know about how to record music I learned from him. I know Dave is excited to reach the goal line too (though not as much as his wife Kathleen–thank you, Kathleen! I could never have done this without your kindness and patience).

And now, back to life for today. There will be lots of mixing and editing to do this week, but not today.