Category: music

Found a song

Yesterday I was working on some arrangements for one of my songs, and was searching through a notebook to find some of the notes I had written about how I wanted the arrangement to sound. In doing so I came across the lyrics and some ideas for another song I’d been writing that I’d pretty much forgotten about.

I guess it happens. I feel I should be a bit more organised, but when I started demoing songs I put the ones I’d been writing on the back-burner for a bit while I tried to catch up with getting the other songs down on tape.

The artist – technician dilemma

Recording yourself is an interesting experience. You’re basically playing two separate roles at the same time: artist and technician. I often find it difficult to switch between the two, which can be a little problematic.

When I’m recording someone else, I get into that mode and find it rather smooth sailing. Similarly, when someone is recording me, I just focus on my playing and performing. However, jumping between the artist and the technician roles us something I find difficult and I’m learning to try and merge the two so I can be better at recording myself.

I guess the two roles are opposing kinds of brain activity or something. I really have a lot of admiration for artists who can just do everything needed to record an album all by themselves. It’s certainly hard enough to be capable of doing one of the roles involved in the recording and creation of an album.

Free Download: Bewerunge

This is a piano instrumental track that I released as a b-side to the single I Wish You Were Here in late 2007, but it was recorded well before then.

It’s an example of what happens when I just sit and improvise at the piano, and the track itself is an excerpt of a longer improvised session.

I had been recording Anna Lee doing some of her songs, using the piano and just using the room for other tracks, and she was taking a break. So I pressed record and sat at the piano while she was gone. I improvised two separate tracks and just chilled out.

When I went later on and looked at what I’d recorded, I realised I’d set some levels badly, and any of the much louder moments in the improvisation were distorting noticeably. Thankfully, the quieter moments were coming through beautifully, and there was this whole middle section of the track that I just loved.

I edited out that middle section from the larger piece, and decided that I really liked how it sounded by itself. I named the track Bewerunge because that’s the name of the room it was recorded it.

The two main lecture rooms in the Music Department in NUI Maynooth are called the O’Callaghan Room and the Bewerunge Room. The piano in the Bewerunge room is where this track was recorded. It’s a beautiful piano, and I spent the three years of my music degree in one or the other of those rooms.

[audio:http://www.misterebby.com/previewtracks/bewerunge.mp3]
download the mp3

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