2017-12-11 Home

Started putting together my home studio again, after a long break since the Vol. 1 album release.

This time with real drums instead of drum machines. At least gonna test it.

And just noticed that my DigiTech JamMan looper suddenly lost all 80 memos that I had recorder for the new album! Nice… Murphy must have hated the first album and wishes no more crap like that.

2018-01-10 Home

Preproduction on song #1 (“Better Things”) structure and tempo.

2018-01-12 Home

Mr. Anssi Nykänen agreed to play drums on this one – great – he’s awesome, and perfect casting for this track.

Opened a session in Pro Tools to do demo drums with the new Reason 10. It resulted in two hours of downloads and installations. What a stupid thrill kill – just like with any recent console game…

Made guidance drum/chord tracks on Pro Tools with Reason.

2018-01-18 Home

Transposed first verses from A to E to better suit a baritone guitar.

Recorded the part with my PSR SE 277 with Mac Book Pro/Pro Tools/Balance/Little Labs Pepper. Used mostly take 16.

2018-01-20 Home

Baritone for the mid staccato part and legato end verses in A. Both in one take (some edits).

2018-01-21 Home

Some further edits, also added a mellotronish pad.

2018-01-24 Home

Bought a new Reason instrument and did some nice string sequences with it.

2018-01-25 Home

Made three arpeggio tracks with the Arturia Arp 2600 plugin. It sounds pretty good. Song title is now ’Better Things’.

2018-01-26 Home

Distorted auto-wah guitar with the sparkling blue HH Strat. DI thru stomp boxes into Pepper and the usual stuff…

Also some bass sequences with Reason Europa & Mono/Poly.

2018-01-27 Home

Some dissonant 9th chords for the mid section with Johnny A. Nice guitar. First take.

Riff synth parts with Reason Mono/Poly.

Also some synth drones/fx with Mono/Poly & Arturia Modular. Sampled vibes.

Happy birthday to me.

2018-01-28 Home

Bass with my Gibson SG Bass thru my trusty old SansAmp Bass DI. And once again, I had great fun playing bass.

Also thru the same SansAmp (I’m lazy), I played the first verse rhythm guitar, with the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top (love those P90’s). Lovely sound. Quite possibly my best rhythm guitar track ever.

2018-01-29 Home

Some pads and effects for the drum solo section with Arturia Modular & Reason Mono/Poly.

2018-01-30 Home

Took my trusty old pumpkin shaker and played it on the mid part. Just put it thru SansAmp and it’s the best shaker sound ever.

No, the shaker wasn’t a good idea – delete.

But put some vibes on the outro. A bit weird combination of mid theme and last verse chords.

2018-01-31 Home

Played baritone guitar parts for the first verses and mid section. Love the P90’s on my PRS. DI thru Pepper.

2018-02-01 Home

Recorded a rhythmic stab guitar with my brand new 70’s Satin Walnut Gibson ES-335. DI with Pepper, and Grind Machine II amp simulation. No use.

2018-02-13 Studio

Drums and percussion by Mr. Anssi Nykänen. He is an amazing musician, and also understands my fondness for the sounds of the 70’s. Anssi bought his custom made Kumu toms (no bottom heads), along with assorted cymbals. No EQ, just mics into preamps. Also a percussion track. Drum solo con furioso! What a fun session.

2018-02-13 Studio

Listening to the drum takes. Last one is the best. Anssi played the track from start to finish. Just like in the good/bad old analog tape/console days. Fantastic.

2018-02-15 Home

Played the mid riff baritone guitar part again, this time with Line6 FM-4 auto wah. One take.

2018-02-18 Home

Purchased the Line6 Helix Native and it’s pretty good. Inspired me to play the guitar solo with my Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top (P90 neck pickup). Not in one take…

2018-02-21 Studio

Attempted to re-amp the guitar solo with Falcon and CreamSound, but decided to stick with Helix version.

2018-02-21 Home

Re-amped the solo track with Vox Night Train and Heil Talk Box. Nice little extra flavor.

2018-02-22 Studio

Mix – 1st try. It’s a bit tricky. Drums sounded so much better before I put all these “betterizer” plugins on other tracks. Then you have to compensate with tinkering with the drums. And they get worse all the time. Damn, mixing was so much easier in the 70’s, with less tracks and gadgets.

2018-02-23 Studio

Mix 2. Small fixes.

Mix 3. Tiny fixes.

Mix 4. Minor fixes.

It’s fine.

2018-02-24 Studio

Mix 5. Trivial fixes.

Should be OK.

2018-02-25 Studio

Mix 6. Minuscule fixes.

Could be final.

2018-03-03 Home

Upload to SoundCloud.

2018-12-24

Now also on YouTube.