Recordings

Throughout the pages of this blog you’ll come across different types of recordings. One day perhaps I’ll get myself into a studio and get some stuff down professionally, but in the meantime I’m just putting it out there as is. This may sound odd, but I’m not that concerned, at least not in this forum, with perfection. I’ve made little or no attempt to hide blemishes or mistakes. That was never my aim. In fact I promised myself years ago that I would no longer let the quality of my recordings be a factor in putting them out there. I know there’s some pitchy moments, I know some of the timings off, I know I get some of the lyrics wrong  or back to front; I know and it doesn’t matter. When I get the chance I’ll improve on what’s here with more polished versions. The main aim is to have a record of my material. So, here’s an explanation of what you’ll find:

zo0m-h2n1) The Sunday Sessions – These are literally recordings in my lounge room or music room as I practice or mess around with ideas. So, no effects or other studio niceties, just me, my guitar, piano, or whatever, played live and recorded on my Zoom H2n warts and all. They aren’t always recorded on a Sunday, but that’s the name I give them because that’s when it’s most likely to happen, and when the first of them did happen. It’s my relaxation time. The Zoom H2n is an amazing little recorder, and I recommend something along these lines to any budding songwriter. Record as you write, it’s amazing how often you’ll forget a melody by morning!

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roland-vs2000cd2) Rough Demo Tracks – These are demo roughs recorded in my home studio. So a few more studio niceties, like reverb, but not the finished article, often with just a simple drum beat and a single instrument. Recorded on my Roland VS-2000CD.

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3) Live Performance – recordings of live performances, either solo or with other musicians. They are what they are. Recorded with whatever, from smart phones on.

garage-band4) F & Friends – Not studio quality, but essentially complete tracks recorded on either GarageBand or my Roland VS-2000CD. These days I’m using GarageBand more and more simply due to the ease of recording. The VS is fantastic, but complex, and requires significantly more time and effort. GarageBand allows me to record quickly, and that suits me to a tee! It also has the added benefit of drum loops which means I can get more complete sounding recordings with quality drums. I’m currently using loops from Drums On Demand – a great find! With luck I’ll be able to convince some friends to get in on the act and add their own talents to the mix.

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5) Rescued From The Archives – I’ve found a few tracks that have survived years of tape degradation to make it into the digital age in a reasonably good enough condition to be worth preserving. I’ll add more as I unearth them, but I don’t live in hope of finding too many (probably a blessing)

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6) Studio Stuff – I live in hope 🙂