I struggled for weeks to dial-in an effective guitar tone for the entire album.
I wanted to replicate my guitar's live sound with it's three-amp setup, but after several recording sessions, I concluded: it was best I put the project aside for the time being.
Somehow, my live guitar sound wasn't translating well to the recordings — I had to accept a guitar tone which didn't come close to what I imagined, or somehow, someway, devise a whole new approach.
* * *
I decided to focus on my acting career.
I auditioned for several projects, was nearly cast in a few, and was actually cast in a couple projects which I ultimately decided weren't right for me. After completing a Directing for Actors workshop, performing in a staged reading of two ten-minute plays, and a Shakespeare performance workshop, I returned my attention to the FAILED TO HEED ep.
I spent a week working on the same song, recording and re-recording it over and over again. But, I could not dial in an effective guitar tone.
Ultimately, my music mentor, Rick Walker (live looping artist, electronic music composer, percussionist, trapset drummer, multi-instrumentalist and found sound musician @ www.looppool.info), found himself short of the bread he needed for music software, so he offered me three rack sized effects units at the unbeatable price of $100 — the exact amount he needed. My studio was now armed with three additional tone sculpting tools: parametric equalizer, 30 band graphic equalizer, and compressor — adding these to my Sonic Maximizer vastly improved the tonal palette.
And yet, I was still frustrated.
Yes, the overall sonority was greatly improved, but my guitar tone was leaving me wanting.
And yet, I remembered having a guitar tone that I enjoyed in the past,
I went to the unused/saved for resale shelf and swapped out the equalizer on my pedalboard with the Sonic Stomp I used to have on the board (the Sonic Stomp is a pedalboard friendly version of the above mentioned studio rack unit).
Eureka — that was it!
Theoretically, the equalizer ought to be able to replicate the Sonic's tone to some degree, and I must have thought as much at the time when I originally swapped them out, but , my ear has been seeking something only my imagination could hear, and now, with the Sonic on the board again, I've got that sound.
It's an old pedal and quite large due to the battery compartment, so I thought I'd purchase a used micro version at a relatively low price. When I looked, I found that a new version was recently released with an additional tone control — I had to have it. It's exactly what I've been looking for — I absolutely love it and swear by it.
Finally, I locked my guitar tone, and it still is. Any equalization done during recording is on the mixer side exclusively.
I've been working every available moment ever since. Sometimes, I work on one song exclusively, sometimes all three in one day. I'm constantly on the lookout for the sweet-spots in the mix. Changing a synth tone from one kind to another. Re-working the kick drum emphasis in one song. Raising the toms in another. Changing counter point for more or less tension. Adding more reverb on one instrument, less on another. Adding a bar here, removing one there. Removing the chorus, calling it a bridge, and playing it only once.
It's been several weeks now, and I'm finally satisfied with these phase two recordings — that is: everything but vocals — and can share them here with you.
I hope to have FAILED TO HEED completed — with vocals — and released officially and internationally sometime by November or December of 2023. The official release for SUBLIMATE was in 2021, and I was hoping to have the next album released in 2022 but alas, it looks like December 2023 at the earliest.
The < redux > in the titles of the songs refer to the fact that these songs were inspired by arrangements on SUBLIMATE.
At the time, I thought of SUBLIMATE as a demo, something I would use to let musicians know what I had to offer — I wanted to be part of a group. When the pandemic swept the world, and the Feds opted for lockdown-type quarantines, I waved all my thoughts of co-labs goodbye for the foreseeable future. I decided to upgrade my entire studio. SUBLIMATE was guitar and drum machine. FAILED TO HEED re-imagines the most popular songs with a Kurzweil synthesizer and an Alesis drum machine — a totally different palette — one I'm really in love with.
The follow up single, FOOL'S PARADISE is currently in phase one.
I can't help but feel I need one more song for a satisfying live concert. I'm temped to create another song without vocals to round out the live set just as instrumentals for the time being, before getting into vocals for the EP. I haven't yet decided.
I"m really looking forward to bringing this project live.
take care
keep cool
stay in tune
JCS