The Architect; The Engineer - Track Listing Cuts

I just finished up mixing for my upcoming album, The Architect; The Engineer. It's been years in the making, as I originally started recording for this back in 2010, so I am incredibly excited about completing this project.

And, better yet, it sounds pretty freaking amazing. This is something I'm incredibly proud of. It's a work that, I feel, stands on its own. When I listen to it, I don't hear my influences; I don't hear Trace Bundy or Trevor Gordon Hall. Instead, I hear my own, unique voice. And it's good. No, it's great. That's what I've spent 5 years on. This is the fruit of years of dedication, thousands of hours of practice, and a significant financial investment.

But behind all of the work that has yielded success, are a number of hard decisions. Some of that is in the musical discernment itself - how to play a certain note or whether to rerecord a section of a song - but some of the decisions are after the fact.

A particular decision I've wrestled with is what to include on the album. As I stated, I started this in 2010. Well, back in 2010, I can guarantee you I was not playing how I play today. That was before taking lessons with Trevor Gordon Hall and having my entire approach to guitar playing rocked. That was before my most current pedalboard configuration, which has evolved into this vehicle for tonal excellence. That was before a lot of things. So I have recordings from then and now - most recently last summer. And somehow they have to all have this cohesive element to them. Otherwise, what's the point, right? I might as well have just released singles. And I'm not really about that at all.

For the most part, the cohesion is natural. There are enough similarities between 2010 me and 2014 me that they can stand side-by-side. The piece from 2014 is, in my opinion, superior in writing and playing ability, but that doesn't make the 2010 piece "bad" per se.

But then there are a few that are on the fence. Those are the trouble. Because this whole thing is such an investment. For pieces that don't quite measure up, I can still remember writing them; I can still remember when, at one point in time, I thought they were something of great worth. And, naturally, I'd love for others to have that same experience.

But there isn't room for sub-par art. Not with the over-saturation that we currently have. And definitely not in my album. Anything that doesn't add value is taking away value. So there has been one track cut so far, Clairvoyant Observation. It's unfortunate that I had to spend time and money on mixing and recording, but it just doesn't measure up. A second, Revival, will be decided on in the near future. But there are some really cool things I've done with the piece that I don't want to lose. And I know this isn't a huge loss - it's one song (or two), afterall. But it's admitting that the piece isn't good enough. And, maybe, admitting that it was never good to start with.

Perhaps they'll resurface in the future as B-Sides or maybe I'll give them away at some point; I don't know. It's weird that something can be so near completion and then pulled back. But it's a humbling experience and I think this is going to help to shape how I approach album number 4.

Video - Debris of a Brainstorm

To continue with the song explanations, here's Debris of a Brainstorm. This is off of my debut album, Deconstructing the Temporal Lobe, along with one of the earlier videos, Ice Mountain.

The idea behind Debris is that it's sort of how most of my compositions have been written; that is, phrase by phrase, pieced together. So often in the process there are tons of little experimental licks that don't make the cut. Most of the time those are lost. And I don't care. I believe that the best licks, the best songs, the best albums are those that you remember. Those you forget? You lose them. So what?

This song is a culmination of parts and ideas that weren't quite lost. It's in a different tuning from anything else I've written (C-G-C-G-B-E), but really builds off of ideas from previous brainstorming sessions, primarily those from Horse in the Clouds. If you're familiar with that one, it was my first lap-tapping song and is the first track on the debut, largely inspired by the movie, August Rush.

While writing Horse in the Clouds, I had lots of ideas and just no great way to cram them into one song. So I went back and forth between the two different tunings and worked on them simultaneously, really only intending on finishing one piece. After Horse in the Clouds came, when a second tune came, it was obviously the "debris" of the "brainstorm."

Because nothing else I've written is in this tuning, it doesn't get much play time these days... But I do really enjoy playing it and usually, I like to think, other people like it too.

Enjoy!

Video - Muscle Memory

So this one has actually been up for a while... But I want to give stories behind all of my work, ya know, make them a little more real. What better way than to explain the song and give you a point of view of me playing it? I'm convinced that it would be easier to learn to play guitar this way, but that's not what this is about.

This is actually one of the songs that will be on album 2, but one that's familiar enough to throw up here for everyone. As a matter of fact, this almost made it onto Deconstructing the Temporal Lobe, my first album, but it wasn't in a polished form at that point. And actually, this had a different name at that time as well.

So how did it make it to the second album and get a new name? It started roughly a year after the first album, when I went back for another recording session with Jeremy Bentley at MR.STUDIO. I recorded the song in that session and ...that was it. Fast forward a year and I'm thinking about the next session and a full album. So I go back to listen to what I already have ...and have no recollection of this song?

It was bizarre. I had a general idea of what tuning it was in, but that's it. So I had to basically deconstruct the whole song and reteach myself. It was difficult, but eventually I remembered the shapes I was using, how I was plucking the strings, etc. Hence, Muscle Memory.

It's nothing technically dazzling, super complex, or obtuse like much of my work. Instead, it's just a well rounded, very agreeable composition. Easy listening without needing to think to appreciate it. Hope you enjoy!

Studio Session 12/9-12/11

So I was just in the studio this past weekend and thought it’d be good to share some insight for those of you who may want to someday record some music and also for those who just want to know what it’s like. I’ll summarize my time this past weekend and throw in some tips as well.

Over three days (Friday-Sunday), I was at MR. STUDIO (Jeremy Bentley) in Lancaster for about 21 hours. In that time, I laid down guitar for 7 songs, totaling close to half an hour of material. These ranged in complexity from one or two track songs to some that had 6 or so. I’ll need to go in for one more day/weekend to finish up the project, but it is coming along well.

Overview:

Friday:

I tend to try to get the hard stuff out of the way first. It makes sense to me.  So a song that uses two stages of looping, distortion, delay, and some crazy polyrhythmic stuff made sense. Between setup and this song, I ended up going over by an hour.

Saturday:

I started with some easier stuff on Saturday. Starting off with something straight forward made sense after Friday night’s work. After one easy one, I did one that had a bit more percussion involved, so it was a little more difficult to lay down and get dynamically correct.

Then I started on another complex one. Looping, reversed loops, distortion, delay, and surprises were all involved… And by surprises, I mean, you’ll have to wait and the wait will suck. In any event, this one took the cake for hardest. Some 6 hours later, both Jeremy and I were frustrated and didn’t have a complete recording.

Sunday:

Sunday started with an easier song that ended up with some extra goodies. I’m excited for this one. It didn’t take too long until I decided to start playing around with it. Then ideas just started popping up.

After that, I did an old one that really didn’t take much time at all. It was easy and straightforward. Then, one with some looping and some percussion that wasn’t too hard either. This one brought out some new ideas that drastically change how awesome the song will be, so playing around there took some time.

Finally, the song from Saturday was revisited. It took us up until the very end of the session, totaling somewhere between 7-8 hours on that one song… Frustrating, but a great final product.

Tips:

Guitars:

Get them professionally set up. This was the first time that my Taylor was set up (big thanks to Penn Avenue Music in Reading). I keep it in a pretty well controlled environment, so it wasn’t out too bad, but with the neck true, it plays noticeably smoother.

Restring your guitar. This will be done with the setup, unless you’re going to skip that step. Don’t experiment with a new type of string – use a gauge and brand that you are comfortable and familiar with. And break them in! No one wants a tinny sounding recording, so make sure you’ve got 20 hours or so on them.

Also, go into the studio with options. I never go in with just one guitar. This weekend, I only used one guitar, but I had another, as well as a bass, just in case I felt inspired. You don’t want to think up some great idea and not have the means to execute it. Sure, it sucks lugging tons of gear into the studio, but it sucks more when you want something that’s not there.

Electronics:

With acoustic, you generally just mic the guitar. You don’t use an amp, and, even with electrics, you want to avoid effects. The idea is that it is easier to add stuff later than it is to take it away. Ever try to take out reverb after it’s been recorded? Ha!

What you’re looking for with the electronics is that everything is working properly. This may mean a new set of tubes in your amp (or preamp, as was my case), isolating and eliminating any noise from your pedals, changing the battery in your guitar (for active p’ups), or servicing your vintage echoplex (mine needs to be cleaned). This will ensure that you’re not messing around trying to fix stuff during your studio time. When you do it there, it costs you money.

Practice:

You’re going to be playing your instrument for extended periods of time. And you’re going to be trying to get everything right the first time. So figure out what you want to play and then you’ve got two focal points: accuracy and endurance.

Accuracy is hitting every note correctly. In your practice time, focus not only on the right notes, but also on tone. At least with guitar, there are a number of different sounds you can get from the same note. You want the best one. So practice that way.

The endurance required may vary. For a solo instrumentalist such as myself, 20 hours in a studio means upwards of 20 hours playing guitar – in two or three days. If you’re in a band or also sing, you’ll have some relief. If not, you’ve gotta be prepared.

The first time I recorded with Jeremy, my fingers were raw after day one and I was in excruciating pain at the end of the weekend. I actually had to take time off of playing to let my hands recover. This time? My hands felt great at the end of every day and Sunday night, when I got home, I got out my guitar and started playing some more. The key was that leading up to the weekend, I put in quite a few 4-5 hour practice sessions, some on back to back days. Earlier I mentioned putting 20 hours on a new set of strings. I did that in a week. Including the time recording, I played for nearly 40 hours in a 7 day period. That’s a full week’s work.

Rest:

Don’t go in tired. Recording is mentally draining. Even if you are physically prepared, your mind needs to be in the game or you’ll get nothing done.

For vocalists, I hear you’re supposed to rest your voice. I don’t know, I’m not a vocalist.

Documentation:

This is a big engineering thing that has carried over to my music. I’ll never be one to write out my songs, but make sure you include any relevant details, so that you know them when you’re recording. This includes song names, tunings, effects used, effect settings, etc. I went a step beyond and made a chart that listed these things. Ultimately, it helped me to visually see which songs made sense in progression, giving me my album order. Sending this to Jeremy gave him a good idea of what was coming where as well. Be sure to keep track of anything that changes in the studio as well.

Be Open Minded:

Sure, I mentioned above that you want to have things figured out beforehand. The point there is that you shouldn’t be writing the songs on studio time. That doesn’t mean that they can’t change. Be open to changing things last minute. You may accidentally hit an extra note somewhere, but if it sounds better that way, then change it. When you’re sitting in a studio listening to the same section of a song a million times in a row, you’re bound to come up with some new ideas.

Let the Engineer Do His Thing:

These people record for a living. They probably know more about recording than you do. Accept that. Once I was in position with the mics, I was told not to move. Sure, I moved in between playing, but while playing I was in the exact same position EVERY TIME. Don’t screw that up.

Finally, here’s the gear setup that I used:

• ·      Guitar: Taylor 410ce (c. 2007)
• ·      Pickups: K&K Onboard Trinity
• ·      Effects: (in order) Presonus TubePRE (w/JJ 12ax7), Ernie Ball Volume Jr., Ibanez TS7, Line 6 DL4, Danelectro Tape Reel Echo Simulator, BBE Sonic Stomp, Fishman AFX Reverb, Boss RC20XL
• ·      Amp: Roland AC-60
• ·      Mics: (2) SM57 – 1 off of soundhole, 1 for amp. GT55 – off of 12^th fret.

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FE Exam

Things on here have been a bit slow lately. By that, I mean that I haven't posted anything up here in something like two weeks. Definitely not the most responsible thing to be doing...

A large portion of my lack of internet presence was taking the Fundamentals of Engineering exam last weekend. The FE is an 8 hour long engineering test that's cumulative for 4 years of engineering courses. After taking it, I found that it had a lot in common with recording.

Yes, that's a bizarre connection. And I know everyone's experiences with recording are rather different from one another, but this is at least with my experiences, which may at least be in common with a few people out there.

• Preparation
• For the FE, I had to review 4 years of course material. That included just about everything I've learned at college. Likewise, before going in to record, you've gotta bust your butt to get every note of the songs that you plan on recording. Sometimes these are pieces written over a few years and so you've got to relearn all of that stuff. It's a ton of sucky work, but ends up being really beneficial.
• Early Mornings
• Unfortunately, for both of these, it's important to get lots of sleep the night before. For the FE, I went to bed around 9:30 and was up by 5:00AM... It's important to go into these with a clear head to be able to concentrate and last through the day.
• Endurance
• An hour long engineering test is enough to render you brain-dead for the rest of the day. The FE was the most exhausting test I've ever taken. The first section (4 hours) were a breeze. Got through that and felt great about it. However, by the second section, I was mentally shot; it didn't matter how well prepared I was for it. With recording, you're usually recording for hours on end. As a solo act, when I'm in to record, it's me playing, and playing, and playing... The first half goes great, but as the day wears on, it ends up not mattering how well you practiced - it will get you. Your technique starts to get sloppy and the quality that you're able to produce drops off.
• Exhaustion
• Not only did the FE ruin the days leading up to it, but it also sucked pretty bad a few days afterwards. It was an early morning followed by a late night and just the inability to function properly. I took a nice  break from being productive after that. With recording, you need a break afterwards, too. When I recorded Deconstructing The Temporal Lobe I was in the studio for 22 hours over the course of 2 days. Afterwards, I needed a break and didn't play for a few days.
• Waiting
• You can't record an album and have a final product a few days later. It doesn't work like that. If you're getting CDs pressed, it'll probably take a few months from recording through post-production and pressing. The FE, for whatever reason, takes 12 weeks to grade. At least with recording there's a legitimate reason for it to take so long. The FE is a scantron... all you do is have a computer read them. No reason that should take so long to grade.
• Reward
• As an engineer, one of your goals is to become a professional licensed engineer. You can't take your PE test until you pass the FE and work for a few years. In music, one of your goals may be to be able to make a career out of music or to at least have your name and music spread. You can't make much money if you don't have any recorded material of yourself and you can't get by on word of mouth without recordings either.

So it's a strange connection, but they're very similar. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the studio sometime soon... And  hopefully they figure out that you can grade tests like the FE in like 3 days and don't take 12 weeks to get back to me.

-Alex