Letter Seventeen

Another Sunday, another RPM cover.  This time I took on “Oh, Florida” by The Missed Connections.  I took the song in a decidely darker direction than Amelia originally did and I’m still unsure whether I did the song justice.  Still, every recording is a learning experience.

You can hear Amelia’s original version on her alonteone page.

I took advantage of a rainy Sunday to record a cover of one of my favorite songs from RPM2010 – Party! by Gumbo.  Check out his songs at Alonetone.

The very talented (and my new friend) Keith Landry has covered my song “Day To Day”.  He did a great job.  I think I like his version more than mine.  Go check it out and then visit Keith’s Alonetone site and leave him some comments on his own songs.  I’m hoping that Keith and I can collaborate on some songs in the future.

Last month I produced my first interpretation of the 2 Guys, 1 Brain theme.  It was a fun bit of playing with electronic music.  This time through, I’ve decided to go for something simple.  It’s a cello, a piano, and a stand-up bass.  Next month, there will be guitars.  I promise.

As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of the 2 Guys, 1 Brain podcast.  Their theme song is a catchy little tune called “Bongo Booty” by Vincent Van Go-Go.  So there I was, poking around in Logic, checking out the new features and….

Allow me to present an interpretation of the 2Guys theme.  I have it in my mind to create a new version of this every month in 2010 to give Randy and Andy something interesting to play with, but we’ll see how that goes.  For now, enjoy my first attempt.

29 years ago this month R.E.O. Speedwagon released Hi Infidelity.  For better or worse, I loved that album.  My older brother played it to death and I heard it so many times that it wore its way into my psyche.  My favorite song was “Tough Guys”, probably because it had a bad word in it.

So now I’ve recorded a cover.  There’s a lot going on here, with 10 tracks, including the first recordings with S&D#6, my new guitar courtesy of the fine gentlemen at Insignificast.

This is either the most brilliant or the worst thing I’ve ever done.  You can be the judge.

I decided to do a little tribute to my friends Keith, Sam, and Doc over at one of my favorite podcasts, Insignificast, by recording my own version of one of their segment bumpers.  Enjoy the musical joy that is Ask Doctor Doc.  Sam wrote it in ten minutes and I recorded it in slightly more.  A fun way to spend an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon, and a great way to learn how to seamlessly blend multiple takes into one.  The primary vocal and guitar solo both have some really nifty edits.  It’s not art, but it’s a fun learning experience.

Here’s a shocker – I covered another Sha-Pink song.  This one is actually a Qubic original from what I can tell, and here’s how Darrin responded upon hearing it.

As usual, I sped the song up.  The vocals sound like they’re sung through a phone on purpose – it fits the song.  I spent a couple of days changing just about everything on this one, and I could likely keep doing the same for another two days, but for now I’ll just stop.  This is the first song I’ve produced using Logic and I think the sound is dramatically better.  I can’t speak to the performance, but the technical aspects sound better.

Anyway, enough talk.  Just listen.

Edit: I had to update the post because the podcast feed picked up the wrong file.  Hopefully this fixes it.

Edit #2: I originally mixed the song using headphones and wanted to give it another shot, so I’ve updated the file.

My friend Paul is working on getting his new musical, Dillinger – Public Enemy Number One staged on Broadway.  It’s going very well and chances are that the show will be on a stage in New York within the next year or so.  While he’s waiting, he’s decided to release a number of older songs to his Facebook friends, including a number of songs he recorded 20+ years ago.  Some of those songs feature (extremely painful) contribution from me.

Anyway… I recorded a few of his songs, way back when.  Among them was “When Tomorrow Comes”.  I recorded this in 1989 on a cheap 4-track in the apartment I lived in during college.  It’s notable for my use of bass (one of the first times I ever recorded a bass) and the background vocals you might hear if you strain hard enough.  The hollow echo to the recording is all curteousy of the big empty room I recorded in.

Enjoy this blast from the past.

I decided to try a few things familiar and a few things new this time.

First the familiar: it’s another Sha-Pink cover.  Go check out the original on their MySpace page.

Now the new:

I played with MIDI and keyboard sounds a bit more than I have before.

I’m using a new program for drums called Addictive Drums.  I like it.  A lot.

I took my time.  I spent eight days on this song, which is far longer than I’ve ever spent on any other song.  I played with mixes. I removed parts.  I added parts.  In other words, I did more than just keep the first take for once.

This may be the best thing I’ve ever recorded.  Now, keep in mind that you need to frame that within the considerable limitations of my talent, so “best I’ve ever recorded” is sort of like “tallest midget”, but still….

At the very least, it’s progress.