I’m a child in a new playground

Recording is a super interesting process.  There are so many factors that act on the eventual product that makes it onto the radio…or in my case, onto an EP that no one bought on iTunes last year.

But all self deprication aside, when you’re piecing together music in a studio, you’re like a child confined to a specific playground.  You can’t ride a see saw if you don’t have one, and if the monkey bars are the only thing you enjoy, you might play on them a lot.  Get it?  Yes, I’m recording my next album on a swing set.

When I recorded my first CD over a year ago, I was recording at a studio in Venice, CA.  This was a private studio for an accomplished songwriter and musician (I got to play the guitar used to record Kelly Clarkson’s breakout hit “Since You Been Gone”).  The resources I had in that studio were specific, whether it be the old Telecaster I put on most of the tracks, or the drums I programmed for my rhythm section.

There’s also the engineer that I work with that feeds my creativity in different ways.  Kenny Carkeet was my engineer for my self-produced EP, and while I was the one piecing the songs together and playing everything, his process would lead to different inspirations for me.  He liked to touch up everything and clean up most of the tracks as I performed them so that each listen was a gradual progression toward the final, polished mix.  Also, because of budget, I couldn’t spend the time to track drums myself, so we used some amazing drum sounds to program the parts quicker than I could have recorded them live.

Currently, I’m recording at a new studio in Highland Park/Eagle Rock with Tim, the owner of Mas Music Productions.  He is also a great engineer and has different resources at his disposal.  He has a really easy drum room where I got to track drums for the first time (proving I’m a better drummer than I gave myself credit for).  Playing live drums gives a whole different feel to a song, and has changed the process a little for me.  Tim also likes to get me to record things as perfectly as possible before touching up details, and leave the mix as rough as possible until the last moment.  Listening to each new mix brings a new feeling and a new inspiration to bring into the next session.

My first record had a super polished alternative pop-punk-pop-rock sound and captured a specific tone that I really enjoyed and felt did my songs justice.

This time around, my stuff is coming out with more of a punk-rock-infused Ben Folds Five feel, which I like a lot.

Talking about different circumstances leading to different inspirations, this new album features more piano in the forefront of the mix and I’m trying to keep it that way.  I want to try and keep my live shows to a three-piece band this time around, having bass and drums with me on either piano or guitar.

This idea also led me to either my next album title or a potential band name for my music (instead of just my name):

Hammers & Strings

Whattaya think?

Anyhow, I’ll keep you posted as I move along here with my recording.  I may even post some rough mixes for you to feast your ears on.  Be on the lookout for Hammers & Strings in some form or another.  Talk to you soon.

Rocknroll.

Eric

Recording ’11 began today

So earlier, I got to find out if I can actually play the full drum parts to my songs.  Today, I began recording for my sophomore solo effort.  I’ve always prided myself in an ability to play piano, guitar, and drums, though I’ve never had to physically play drums in a band (yet).  For my first EP I recorded, we used some amazing sounded programmed drums because of budget, and to be honest, we got it sounding pretty real.  Needless to say, I was excited to get the chance to prove this to my “audience.”

For starters, I wanted to work on “Loud and Clear,” which is an anthem-y song about the euphoric feeling of being on stage while the audience sings your song back to you.  After recording a scratch vocals/piano track (just a simple recording to hold my place in the song) I went to work on the drums.  Here’s a pic of the set up!

I’ve never had myself recorded playing drums before, and if there’s ever an instrument that requires precision, it’s a drum set.  Needless to say, I was worried that any imperfections in my playing would be underlined by the hi-tech recording equipment.  To my relief, everything was sounding really great and I was really getting to work on the parts of the song and perfect them right there.

After that, I went to work on the bass, laying down a heavy, grungy-but-sweet bass line.  The song was already sounding so full and rich with only having terrible piano and vocals (with respect to what it WILL sound like) backed by a solid rhythm section.

Five hours of bliss spent creating the makings of the next great piano–rock song.

Rocknroll