Well, the wheels are turning at Chez Tofte once more...I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm making a solo record. This time though, I'm collaborating, which I'm hoping will keep me honest. Also this time, I am the owner of some quality recording gear, so theoretically SOMETHING good should come out of it. I'm looking at doing 6 or 7 songs and drums are currently tracked for at least 3 potential tunes. This process started in the discussion phase about two months ago, between myself, producer/bassist Chris Kelley, and drummer Dan Caruso. Thanks to modern technology, none of us have even had to be in the same room at the same time! And hell, Dan lives in Buffalo! Even so, the journey has started, and results may be entertaining. Stay tuned.
Oh, the second WSB album is still on the agenda as well.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Drums
Well my drum sounds are pretty damn good considering I'm recording in a basement. I'm really happy with the sound of some of the tracks after having a chance to bounce them over to Pro Tools and play with some EQs and compression.
I have, as of 9:05 Saturday morning, recorded the following drum tracks:
The New Deal
Miss Moneypenny
Already Spent
One Hit Wonder
Would I Ever Have To Lie
Why You Care
Put Me Up
I will be re-tracking one or two of those today, and hopefully adding a couple of new ones. I have about another 5 days in CNY before my vacation is over, and I'd really like to make the best of it. I still have left to track:
Saturday Survivor
Magazine Girl
Katy's So Cool
St. Christopher
Bring Me Down
She's A Little Bit Off
And maybe a few others. That I'd like to try and knock out at least two more for this current round of recording. We'll see what happens. Either way, the new WSB album, as well as a few solo recordings, are well under way.
I have, as of 9:05 Saturday morning, recorded the following drum tracks:
The New Deal
Miss Moneypenny
Already Spent
One Hit Wonder
Would I Ever Have To Lie
Why You Care
Put Me Up
I will be re-tracking one or two of those today, and hopefully adding a couple of new ones. I have about another 5 days in CNY before my vacation is over, and I'd really like to make the best of it. I still have left to track:
Saturday Survivor
Magazine Girl
Katy's So Cool
St. Christopher
Bring Me Down
She's A Little Bit Off
And maybe a few others. That I'd like to try and knock out at least two more for this current round of recording. We'll see what happens. Either way, the new WSB album, as well as a few solo recordings, are well under way.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Again
October 7, 2010 was the first post regarding the creation of a WarrenScottBand album. Today, a year and a half later, I am happy to announce that I am laying down the first tracks of what could turn out to be our second album.
After spending a lot of money that we didn't really have on "Sweet Bin Music", I began focusing my attention on obtaining quality recording gear with the idea in mind that the next record would be tracked entirely on our own. Well today is the day that I take the next batch of WSB tunes, as well as a couple of solo songs, and start laying down drum tracks.
I don't know if they'll be keepers. But if they turn out well, there's no reason why they can't be. My plan is this: start recording now, and gradually chip away at it without the time constraints (and money constraints) of using someone else's recording studio. The new WSB album might not come till 2013. Who knows?
And like I said, I am working on some solo tracks at the same time. They range from acoustic pop to Foo Fighters-esque rock.
The Process:
Yesterday I bought a new kick pedal and several new drumheads in order to make my kit sound as good as possible before I put it "on tape". I did a couple of test recordings that turned out pretty well, though I think I need to move my overhead mics. At present I have them positioned as follows: one directly over the ride cymbal, one between the hi-hats and thin crash, and a tube condenser out in front of the kit to pick up some room sound.
The mic over the ride is picking up some low-frequencies that I'm not really fond of as the cymbal vibrates. I'm sure I could EQ that out, but I'll just toy around with mic placement first. I'm thinking a more XY approach in front of the kit may be better, and more natural sounding.
I detuned my snare a bit last night because it was a bit too "pingy". I'm going to take a trip to Oneida Music (Oneida, NY) and pick up some new snare wires as well before tracking today.
I also threw a mic (SM58, all I had left) on the bottom side of my snare. Haven't had a chance to test that out yet, but we'll see how it goes.
That's it for today.
After spending a lot of money that we didn't really have on "Sweet Bin Music", I began focusing my attention on obtaining quality recording gear with the idea in mind that the next record would be tracked entirely on our own. Well today is the day that I take the next batch of WSB tunes, as well as a couple of solo songs, and start laying down drum tracks.
I don't know if they'll be keepers. But if they turn out well, there's no reason why they can't be. My plan is this: start recording now, and gradually chip away at it without the time constraints (and money constraints) of using someone else's recording studio. The new WSB album might not come till 2013. Who knows?
And like I said, I am working on some solo tracks at the same time. They range from acoustic pop to Foo Fighters-esque rock.
The Process:
Yesterday I bought a new kick pedal and several new drumheads in order to make my kit sound as good as possible before I put it "on tape". I did a couple of test recordings that turned out pretty well, though I think I need to move my overhead mics. At present I have them positioned as follows: one directly over the ride cymbal, one between the hi-hats and thin crash, and a tube condenser out in front of the kit to pick up some room sound.
The mic over the ride is picking up some low-frequencies that I'm not really fond of as the cymbal vibrates. I'm sure I could EQ that out, but I'll just toy around with mic placement first. I'm thinking a more XY approach in front of the kit may be better, and more natural sounding.
I detuned my snare a bit last night because it was a bit too "pingy". I'm going to take a trip to Oneida Music (Oneida, NY) and pick up some new snare wires as well before tracking today.
I also threw a mic (SM58, all I had left) on the bottom side of my snare. Haven't had a chance to test that out yet, but we'll see how it goes.
That's it for today.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Mixing
Last night I opened up my email, and sitting there in my inbox were 5 mp3 files. These are the rough mixes from our recording session. Stress on rough. There's been virtually no work done on them since we were in the studio.
I gave them a thorough listen-through, and I must say, I am very happy with the quality of the songs. They could easily be released as-is if we were just doing a demo tape. But now we begin the process of post-production.
Richard will spend a couple hours per song mixing the levels, adding some effects, some EQing, some editing and will really polish the tracks up so they sound professional. Then Brandon and I will pop into the studio, give him our thoughts on the first pass, and then he will begin the next round based on our notes.
Once this is finished, we move to the mastering phase, which is basically to get the songs ready to be "pressed" (as much as a CD can be pressed).
In the meantime, I am working on the hand-produced album artwork, Brandon and I are both working on the legal mumbo jumbo (copyrights, publishing, etc), and we are in the midst of designing a professional website.
Once the mastering of the disc is done, we send it and the artwork off for duplication and packaging.
One step closer to actually releasing this bad boy!
I gave them a thorough listen-through, and I must say, I am very happy with the quality of the songs. They could easily be released as-is if we were just doing a demo tape. But now we begin the process of post-production.
Richard will spend a couple hours per song mixing the levels, adding some effects, some EQing, some editing and will really polish the tracks up so they sound professional. Then Brandon and I will pop into the studio, give him our thoughts on the first pass, and then he will begin the next round based on our notes.
Once this is finished, we move to the mastering phase, which is basically to get the songs ready to be "pressed" (as much as a CD can be pressed).
In the meantime, I am working on the hand-produced album artwork, Brandon and I are both working on the legal mumbo jumbo (copyrights, publishing, etc), and we are in the midst of designing a professional website.
Once the mastering of the disc is done, we send it and the artwork off for duplication and packaging.
One step closer to actually releasing this bad boy!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Fin.
The tracking for our album is done! 10 acoustic guitar tracks, 5 drum tracks, 3 harmonicas, 1 banjo, 5 electric leads, 5 lead vocals, and 5 sets of LIVE background vocals in 2/3 part harmony.
All of this accomplished in 3 days. I am very proud of the work we did this weekend, and am immensely impressed with the skill and efficiency of all our guest musicians: Terry Brennan on vocals, Mike Bell on lead guitar, Carl Gallagher on banjo, and Will Prepestas on bass.
Brandon and I both agree, this is the most focused we have ever been while recording, playing live, rehearsing or anything. We were really on top of our game this weekend, and I'm not ashamed to say so.
Brandon's lead vocals were fantastic. At times it was ferocious, and was balanced on certain songs with a sense of vulnerability. He really let loose on this.
And the thing I may be most proud of personally was not my drumming. It was the fact that Terry, Will, Brandon and I walked into the tracking room, stood around one microphone, and started belting out the harmonies on several songs into one mic, on one track, with no overdubs, no ability to individually alter someones voice, and no ability to balance the individual volumes of the voices. We "Beach Boy'd" the vocals. They were tight, in tune, and powerful. Those of you who know me know how seriously I take harmony singing, and how hard I work at it. Though we didn't go nuts with the amount of vocal harmony, what IS there is quality, and I am very, very proud of it.
Now we move on to the post production phase of this record; mixing, mastering, duplication, NAMING IT, and artwork. The hard part is done. Also, arguably the most fun part.
Look for the WarrenScott EP to be released sometime this summer!
All of this accomplished in 3 days. I am very proud of the work we did this weekend, and am immensely impressed with the skill and efficiency of all our guest musicians: Terry Brennan on vocals, Mike Bell on lead guitar, Carl Gallagher on banjo, and Will Prepestas on bass.
Brandon and I both agree, this is the most focused we have ever been while recording, playing live, rehearsing or anything. We were really on top of our game this weekend, and I'm not ashamed to say so.
Brandon's lead vocals were fantastic. At times it was ferocious, and was balanced on certain songs with a sense of vulnerability. He really let loose on this.
And the thing I may be most proud of personally was not my drumming. It was the fact that Terry, Will, Brandon and I walked into the tracking room, stood around one microphone, and started belting out the harmonies on several songs into one mic, on one track, with no overdubs, no ability to individually alter someones voice, and no ability to balance the individual volumes of the voices. We "Beach Boy'd" the vocals. They were tight, in tune, and powerful. Those of you who know me know how seriously I take harmony singing, and how hard I work at it. Though we didn't go nuts with the amount of vocal harmony, what IS there is quality, and I am very, very proud of it.
Now we move on to the post production phase of this record; mixing, mastering, duplication, NAMING IT, and artwork. The hard part is done. Also, arguably the most fun part.
Look for the WarrenScott EP to be released sometime this summer!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
So far....
The recording process has been going swimmingly. In two days we've got most of the album in the can. Today all we have left to record is background and lead vocals.
It's sad that this process went by so quickly. I think I love nothing more than recording in the studio. Maybe playing live, but it's pretty close.
Anyway, if you haven't noticed, I've been live-tweeting the recording process over at @stofte. You can follow the progression of tweets here-
It's sad that this process went by so quickly. I think I love nothing more than recording in the studio. Maybe playing live, but it's pretty close.
Anyway, if you haven't noticed, I've been live-tweeting the recording process over at @stofte. You can follow the progression of tweets here-
Friday, February 25, 2011
Today is the Day
It is 8:44 am on Friday, February 25th 2011, and the band is waking up and getting ready to roll out to the studio. It is a terribly rainy day in NYC, but it's much more peferable than snow.
We had a marathon of a vocal rehearsal last night, and I'm really impressed with how everything is coming together. Our bassist is fantastoc, Brandon's voice is sounding better than ever, Terry has thrown in some really great harmonic ideas, and the songs are meshing together very well.
Right now I can hear the sizzle in the kitchen as Brandon is preparing a "power breakfast" for the three of us that crashed here last night, so I should probably go lend a hand.
I will be live-tweeting as much as I am able to over at @stofte on Twitter. Pics, anecdotes, etc. Once again, thanks to everyone who has supported us in our musical journey up to this point. It only gets better from here.
We had a marathon of a vocal rehearsal last night, and I'm really impressed with how everything is coming together. Our bassist is fantastoc, Brandon's voice is sounding better than ever, Terry has thrown in some really great harmonic ideas, and the songs are meshing together very well.
Right now I can hear the sizzle in the kitchen as Brandon is preparing a "power breakfast" for the three of us that crashed here last night, so I should probably go lend a hand.
I will be live-tweeting as much as I am able to over at @stofte on Twitter. Pics, anecdotes, etc. Once again, thanks to everyone who has supported us in our musical journey up to this point. It only gets better from here.
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