The last two days of May were spent back up in Charthouse studios again, this time working on just three songs over the two days, as we were going to be hitting two of the more complex songs from a recording point of view. As it stands at the moment, I’ve worked on 10 songs in the studio. Two of them will need retracking, as they’re stuff I did on the very first day, and I’d not really gotten the hang of the studio just yet. The other 8 are at various stages – some just need a little bit of extra work and that’s all, and others are pretty good reference tracks that’ll need vocal retracking, and the rest fall somewhere in between. But I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far.
I think I was overly prepared in many ways, as I have a fear of wasting time in the studio when I’m working on a tight budget, and I want to be as well rehearsed and prepared as possible going in each day. I plan out what songs I’m going to work on what days, and anything I’m unsure of musically gets plotted out on manuscript paper or using MuseScore so that I don’t get flustered or blocked in any way when I’m actually in the studio.
It was nice to hear things coming together that I’ve only done rough demos of, or hearing new vocal arrangements working out better than I imagined they would. I’ve been listening to the reference tracks here at home these last few days, and picking out what I want to do with each song, and looking at what I’m not happy with about each track so far, and trying to put together a plan for how to finish off the recording as efficiently as I can. I might dilly dally when I’m writing the music, but when it comes to the studio days, I try and be prepared and organised so that I don’t waste money or anyone’s time in the studio. I’m really liking working in the studio though – I’ve taken to it a lot easier than I thought I would, click tracks and all!
But, in between studio days, I’ve been meeting with a friend of mine who is a print artist, and we’ve been chatting and working out ideas for the visual side of the album which has been exciting, and I’ve been working on the crowdfunding project on :fund:it.
In short, the last bit of cash I’d put aside for the recording days was what funded those last day in the studio, so to help fund the rest of the studio time, mixing and mastering, and the initial batch of cds, I’m running a crowdfunding project through :Fund:it – Ireland’s version of Kickstarter and their ilk. Anyone from around the world can pledge money towards a project, and you’ll see a little slew of rewards available to you if you pledge money to help me finish off this album: :fund:it – mister ebby – wires.
Wires : Fundit promo video from mister ebby on Vimeo.
Mark Willis very kindly came over and shot the promo video I’m using on the :fund:it project, and Yvonne Ryan took a few shots that day for me to use too. Check out their work!
