Today's song begins a new album, Week45_Magnification. This week's album will have singing on every song (unlike last week...all instrumentals).
I started the day by changing the strings on my acoustic guitar, and then I spent about 20-minutes trying out different chord progressions, rhythms, and tempos. I had a general sound in mind for today's song, so I had a good idea of what instruments I wanted to use, but the chord progression was the missing link. Once I found a few things that I liked, I actually spent 15-20 minutes writing some lyrics. This approach is uncommon for me in this project. For about 80% of the songs I start by turning on the computer, and I write as I record. It works both ways, but I felt like I had solid direction before beginning this song, which helps in certain ways. This song contains: drums, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, distorted electric guitar, keys, slide guitar, electric guitar picking solo notes, and vocals...recorded in that order. Additionally, there are 4 tracks of vocals (18-20 total tracks in this song). Carly, my wife, sang on today's song. She had never done any formal recording until a few hundred songs ago, but we'll be experimenting with her voice all week...should be fun. Today was a challenge because she got home at 2000, I completed my vocals at 2010, and I had to leave at 2030. She sang her part about 6 times, and I kept the best 2 (for a natural stereo effect). I got home around 2245, and I completed the song at 2344. Close one. There are a few other things that I would've liked to do to this song, but I ran out of time.
LYRICS: "Who would've thought, it's not the act it's about the heart. The weakest opponent could win. The enemy hides out within. I've been waiting my whole life for someone like you. Now it's not mine, it's our life...since we said 'we do.' All the time...all the while. It's more of a feeling than a storybook formula. Two lovers falling fast in love, for sure."
-Matthew
http://www.anewsongeveryday.com/
matthew@anewsongeveryday.com
About Me
- OTTO
- My name is Matthew Otto, I am from Texas (USA), and I have been writing and recording music for years with various bands (2nd Home, oneunder) and under various aliases (Mumford, Squishy Jackson, OTTO). When I was 16 (1991) I bought a Tascam 4-Track cassette recorder, and my life hasn’t been the same since. I recorded hundreds of hours of music on that small recorder before graduating into the world of ProTools (2001). Over-dubbing and multi-tracking became a few of my favorite terms. Years of approaching music from a solo stand-point has allowed me to streamline the creative and technical processes involved with writing and recording. At this point in my life (34) I feel ready to challenge myself by recording a new song every day. At the very least it will improve my abilities, but I’m also hoping that the uniqueness of this project will stimulate the word-of-mouth machine…making my music available to new ears. I will start in July 2009 and continue for up to one year.
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