Thursday, July 30, 2009

31

52:31 by ChristianLeBlanc

Wow! First and foremost, thanks to Gary Flanagan for lending me his vocals this week!

This song started with a bass line, then the drums. The lyrics came to me all in one go last Sunday evening towards the end of a studying session (even though I had forgotten the tune by that point). I recorded a set of vocals that night to remind me how I wanted it to sound.

Monday morning before work, I made an mp3 of what I had and emailed it to Gary, with my request. I had his vocals by Tuesday morning, so I added the other musical elements you hear, and re-recorded my vocals (the originals are doubling the "these are the losers" bit).

My cousin had just gotten me to listen to some Crucifucks, so Doc Dart was kind of influencing my delivery. My cousin would probably cringe to know that :)

The lyrics themselves stem from a conversation I had with Corey, and touches on the potential social awkwardness of lyric-writing - the fine line between catharsis and obsessiveness. Some bands can get away with it, some can't.

Now, this example doesn't quite illustrate what I'm getting at, but it's close enough for now. Take Blue October. "She's My Ride Home" uses violent imagery in a poetic, beautiful way. "The End," on the other hand, leaves you with a very different feeling. If you think the song works, you might feel disturbed. Me, I'm taken too far outside the song, distracted by thoughts of "wow, this guy's pathetic, and probably watches Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers way too much. Maybe he's dangerous to himself, but I think he needs to get a life."

From the same conversation, I was also trying to reduce the number of times I use words like 'I, me, my, mine, and you' in my songs for the next little while.

So anyway, I kinda like how this one turned out, which is why I finished it up a few days early :) (plus, that frees up my weekend nicely!)

(Also worth noting: while the delivery and lyrics make the 'speaker' sound a little bitter and jealous, my intention when I sat down to write was to be sincere. The song had other ideas, I guss :)

"I respect that other bands
can sing of murder, hate and dark
and make it sound all fantasy,
cool pretend and future art.
They mix it with a flippancy,
humourous and self-aware
forcing listeners to know
the artists don't sincerely care

These are the cool kids.
These kids have friends.
They're not obsessed, they're just
playing pretend.
Their prozak's a placebo
and it goes down so nice
I bought their single twice.

But then there's that band that just
frets in the corner.
Their sickness, unfiltered,
all too-obvious warning
They think noone's watching
want so much attention
We don't like to hear
it's just awkward to mention

These are the losers
They have less friends.
Always obsessed, they just cannot pretend.
Their prozak's not working
But goes down so nice.
I listened to their download twice.

These are the cool kids.
These kids have friends.
They're not obsessed, they're just
playing pretend.
Their prozak's a placebo
and it goes down so nice
I bought their single twice."

Doc Dart!!!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

30

52:30 by ChristianLeBlanc

Weird tack this week: very very busy at work (again), as well as really starting to get back into my CGA studying, which will get intense over August. With that in mind, I've started working ahead for the first time in this project; the bass line for "31" is already programmed (if not recorded), and "32" is just about finished - just needs some lyrics written and a guitar melody strengthened with some synth doubling the line. Somewhere in all this, I skimped on this week's song, but, it wasn't really going anywhere anyway. Think of music as drawing: as far as sketches go, this one's some doodles done while talking on the phone.

I kinda like that sometimes, though. More instinctive, more random. More earnest, because if nothing's expected of it, it doesn't have to conform to expectations. (Heh! Are you buying any of this? :)

Anyway: this one was done with the QY-70 for the bass drum line, my 6-string bass for the 3 bass lines you hear during the tune, and the Moog for the electronic noodling and final bits and pieces. A tired man tried singing the vocals.

...Here's a thought for you: some people refer to rainbows at night as "moonbows." I wouldn't, because I wouldn't call rainbows during the day "sunbows" or even "daybows."

"It's always been you."

Seriously, check how cool this looks!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

29

52:29 by ChristianLeBlanc

Had a leisurely time writing this one. Used the Triton, controlled by the QY-70, and wrote this over one evening and several mornings. The first line of the song came to me with the initial push of music, and I finally wrote the rest of it after watching "The Towering Inferno" with Jill.

I should point out that line 2 was inspired by some graffiti I saw 9 years ago on the C-Train in Calgary: "Your only crime is the one against us." Here's hoping I'm not accidentally making some kind of racist reference!
Waaauugghh!
Also of note: I threw some gain in around 5000 khz on the vocals, for presence (to unmuddle them a bit). You see, in my new studio, I actually have access to my music books, including the highly-recommended-by-me "Mixing Engineer's Handbook" by Bobby Owsinski.

"Yes this is time, come get some time of your life
Your only crime is the one made against us in life
Don't fear the grime, cleanliness sharpens the knife
Yes this is time, come get some time of your life"

(note: it's supposed to sound like a record scratching, but now all I can hear is a really cool duck)

Sunday, July 12, 2009

28

52:28 by ChristianLeBlanc




There's something to be said about celebrity personas that are just entertaining for being themselves. Years ago, I caught an Orange Glo commercial on dvd+r as I was recording a Cure performance on tv, and I'm glad I did. Here, check out these outtakes to see what I mean:

Wow, click here!

Anyway: my intent this week was to experiment more with drums. I did, you can't tell. But, at least this is one of the first times I came up with the drums first for a song, and then the music.

Also of note: had several instruments going into the same amp, so I could actually come up with lines on the Moog while playing along to the QY-70, which made the songwriting process a little more 'natural.'

"There's a smile just like a gun
It's gonna shatter Crystal

If you want the rain to come
You gotta shoot your pistol

Everybody run and hide,
'cus this ain't lookin' nice
The showdown starts tonight
It's lookin' like they just might

Make out in the dark
No wait - that's a different tale
It's cloudy, it's a start
Oh wow! "Wow, a yard sale!"

The forecast for today
calls for intermittent drizzle

So hide your bullets all away
All up in this hizzle"

Sunday, July 5, 2009

27

52:27 by ChristianLeBlanc

EDIT: Click here for "27 Guitar"

Came up with the vocal melody for this one first, and then thought up some guitar chords to accompany the vocals. But, since Jill and I just moved into our new townhouse and are currently in the midst of unpacking, I had to instead turn to my old friend, the QY-70, to see me through another week :)

(click here for a close-up!)

So, kind of went on auto-pilot for this week's song - meaning, I didn't really try anything new or different. Actually, the approach to this song was in reaction to song 25: keep things simple. With all the packing, working, moving, and unpacking that's been going on, this was a good week to go the simple route.

Listening again now, I can tell that my focus was on song structure, more so than melody - or a clean vocal take! ;)

"When does black turn to grey?
When does this start to be ok?
Because I've seen that side
And I think you could provide

Never thought
This could be
Something closer now than never used to seem

Well I still
Constantly miss
What you do, would you consider trying this

That's when black turns to grey
That's when this starts to feel ok
I really want to see this side
And I think that you will find

Despite the years and the miles
What's worth taking takes a while
The morning air with you
That's when grey starts turning blue"