Song018_The Wire Walk

This instrumental has a driving beat, one electric (picked) guitar, a wash of keyboard noises and dueling trumpets. The synth bass part is very simple and the electronic drums are purposefully puny so that the electric guitar sits on top of the mix. The background keys create a full sound, and the trumpet part was only played once...copied into another track, moved a few measures forward and panned to the opposite side of the stereo field. The bulk of this idea happened a few years ago, but it was re-worked and finalized today. I started the day working on a different song, but after 5 hours of effort I decided it was not worthy of completion. I suspected that might happen occassionally, but hopefully it's a while before it happens again.

Thiago Silva will be joining me for tomorrow's recording session. We have never worked together before, but we met earlier today to discuss ideas.

-Matthew

Song017_Stronger Than Science

This is another instrumental...a simple, but rhythmic and melodic tune. I started building this session with drums, then distorted guitar (choppy "power chords"), then analog bass, then icing (i.e. keyboards, noises, horns, etc). Each track was spontaneous...filling in the gaps created by the previous track. Of course, sometimes I record a track "spontaneously" all the way through the song (without stopping), then it's a matter of editing to create the proper gaps in each track. If everything plays all at once then it's not as interesting, it's not as dramatic, and sounds get covered up by other sounds, so I try to introduce new sounds throughout the song (even if I'm repeating a part of the song you've already heard). The electric guitar (clean picking with delay and reverb) was fun to record and I found that there wasn't another guitar part that complimented it...it does fine on it's own. I prepared some lyrics for this song early this morning, but it worked better as an instrumental (so I'll save them for another song). I finished this song around 4pm today, but I didn't post it until around 8pm. I had some trouble getting the final mix that I wanted, so I "bounced" a few versions until I was satisfied...hope it sounds good coming out of your speakers.

-Matthew

Song016_Jettison Three

Today's song is an instrumental where delayed electric guitars mix with a wash of keys. The noise sits on a foundation of drums and bass that makes me want to drive somewhere. Recording this song reminded me that simplicity goes a long way. It's more about where each layer is placed and not how many layers there are. Also, choosing the right sound (i.e. guitar effect, bass tone, keyboard preset, etc) will often determine whether or not the part being played fits with everything else...especially on an instrumental where there are no vocals to take the spotlight aways from what's happening in the background. This song has about 12 tracks (previous songs in this series have had around 18-30 tracks). It sounded ready after 8, but I stopped before I got too carried away. Song016_Jettison Three is now online.

I haven't had much time to go back and listen to the songs I've already created, but I listened to a few last night. I heard a few things that I would've done differently, but I'm not going to go back and change anything from previous songs. Part of this project is to show what I can do with one idea in one day. I would like to go back (at the end of the project) and Master the final tracks all at once (for the sake of consistency in volume/E.Q), but I don't want to alter them creatively. Once I upload the song at the end of each recording it is part of the OTTO archive...for better or for worse.

-Matthew

Song015_Day of Launch

I got the album for Week 02 uploaded last night. It's now available for sale ($5). I just finished the first song on this next album ("Gravity is on Your Side"). This song, "Song015_Day of Launch" is mostly spontaneous. There's a section that plays an open 'A' then slides up and down (B, D, F, G). I made that part up during a soundcheck while rehearsing with the full band (2003?). Today's idea started with those 4 measures, then I added a simple 'E,D,A' change for the verse which made it a complete song. The analog bass was fun to play (I like sliding notes and alternating from high to low on the fretboard). The distorted guitar (and 1-2 keyboard parts) make for great "filling," and the overlay of 2-3 electric (solo) guitars were the inspiration for the singing melody (which is why they match in certain places). The lyrics came to me all at once...simple, but I like them.

-Matthew

Song014_People Like You (the end of Week 2)

I am still recording today's song, but I thought I'd go ahead and make a few notes. This is one that I wrote years ago while living in Seattle (originally titled "Accidents"). Brandon and I recorded this song once (2002?). In fact, it was one of our first efforts on a ProTools system. His mom, also a good musician, built a room above their garage so her gospel quartet would have a place to rehearse. She wanted a new album recorded, but renting time in a studio can be expensive. She paid for a ProTools unit, we produced the album at no charge and got unlimited use of her computer/room. It was a pretty good deal for everyone. Anyway, I've made a few changes to this song (the new title is "People Like You"), but overall it's still a 3-piece rock song. I thought this song fit the theme of the album, and I wanted to end it with energy (like the previous album).

I have some updates to make to the website, and I'll be uploading a new album to my online store later today. The "newsletter" email will be sent later tonight also. It will have a link to the FREE song-of-the-week, so go to the website and join the Mailing List if you haven't yet. If you got the email last week then you're on the list.

-Matthew

Song013_All At Once

This song was written late last night on the piano. It's a fairly simple pattern using 3 chords, but the texture was created from layering choppy acoustic guitar parts against a backdrop of smooth sounds (strings, trumpets, organ). The vocals are sparse but heartfelt. "Common sense says this is more than a feeling, but all of my thoughts come at once when you're near me."

Tomorrow's song will complete another album, so tonight I will be getting things ready to upload. I still haven't decided on the FREE song-of-the-week...will have to wait and see what happens with tomorrow's recording session first.

-OTTO

Song012_Surface to Air (w/Brandon Steach)

Brandon came over today around 9am, we talked for a few minutes, he picked up the acoustic guitar and strummed through a few ideas, and we had our song structure within 20 minutes. We outlined a few things on paper such as: which instruments might work well for this song idea, the chord progressions for the 4 different parts, and the order of the song (i.e. verse, chorus, bridge, etc). We both agreed that this song worked as an instrumental, so we didn't scramble to create lyrics and melodies. Brandon recorded the acoustic guitar, the bass guitar and a keyboard to create the foundation for the song...I played Producer. Then, I added the piano, the distorted guitar and harmonica while he played Producer. Brandon finished it off with drums (mallets on toms!) and an acoustic picking part. This song is in 3/4 time...like a waltz, and it uses 4-5 standard chords (but each played in a non-standard way). We finished our final mix around 5pm and considered it a successful day.

-Matthew