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Yeah, I had nothing to say for a heading. Anyway, it's been two weeks since we've given an update, so for the three of you reading this, here's what's going on. First and foremost I'm happy to say that the vocals are DONE! Never thought we would get through it, but we did. I ended up re-recording all of the lead vocals in Better Than Before. The intial recording was a while ago, and I feel that my voice has improved significantly since then. I'm very happy with the final result, and I think Mark is pleased as well.

We also got Mark's bass solo done for Awaken The Man, but we want to re-cut it. Hopefully Mark can nail that down this week. I still have to get the guitar solo done for ATM as well, which is going to end up being the last recording we have to do. In the meantime...

Last night we worked out the bass line for my guitar solo section in The Bottom; we were working with the original, demo version. When Mark started recording the "good" version last night, he asked me if I wanted him to play it straight or add a few things here and there to keep it interesting. I told him that it was really up to him whether he wanted to lay it down solid so I can wank over the whole section, or if he wanted to give it a little flavor. Well, we ended up working together to create a very nice section that both fits in the pocket and creates some sonic variety. We tried a few things that fit in quite nicely and really makes the section pop.

After we got that down I wanted to record an intro idea I had for the solo, using my eBow. It was cool because I ended up writing 2/3 of the whole solo right there on the spot (with Mark's help, of course). I was only expecting to get a few bars worked out, but the muses kept me busy for a while. I suspect we'll have the rest of it finished by next week.

From there, it's one guitar solo to go and we can wrap up the recording process. At that point we really have our work cut out for us in terms of mixing. Hopefully we'll stay sane enough to see the CD finished.

Could we possibly have any more vocals to record?

Well, yes... and we recorded more of them last night, once again for Awaken The Man. There must have been something in the air, because both Mark and I managed to get some very good takes last night. I got all of my leads done with the exception of one line Mark and I aren't happy with. (I tried to get it last night, but I ended up blowing my voice out at the end so we decided to try again on Saturday.)

Overall the session went very well. If I remember correctly we only have one of Mark's verse and my one line left for vox on this tune. I wonder if we can get it done on Saturday...

I'm also planning on re-recording some of the vocals on Better Than Before. I'm convinced that I can do a better job on it, and hopefully Mark will indulge me in capturing some better takes.

Help from Mike Ian

Mike came over to Digital Din yesterday to help us process the drums and provide some mixing guidance for our project. It's pretty amazing watching him work, and it really opened up my eyes to some techniques that will ensure a good sound when we get this album mixed down. So far it's sounding really good!

Now all I have to do is figure out why SONAR crashes when I try to mix down projects that have effects busses in them. I've got an inquiry in to Cakewalk, hoping they can give me an answer...

Guess what we worked on? Um, yeah... vocals!

As if there was any doubt, last night we finished up more vocals. We ended up re-recording ALL of the vocal tracks for For What It's Worth last night. Mark played me what he recorded, and although I really liked it, I felt he was a little pensive. I personally attribute this to Mark just getting his voice back into shape. It's been a very long struggle for him to figure out the cause of his vocal problems - both physical and, of course, emotion - and I'm really glad that I convinced him to do the vox over because he nailed the hell out of them!

There was one small section of the song that had a three-part harmony in it. Mark asked me to sing all three parts because he likes the way my voice blends with itself. So I got to it and it came out quite well. It's safe to say that the vocals for FWIW are now finished.

Once we got through that we moved onto Awaken The Man and cut some vocals there as well. There is a very quiet section, one of the verses I sing. We did that last night and it came out very well. I have to tell you, however, that it was a struggle. I have this phobia with the microphone we use to record vocals. It really makes me nervous and tightens my vibrato. Mark coached me along and we got some takes that we're very happy with. We still have a long way to go with the vocals for ATM, but in the end I know it's going to kick serious booty!

Mike Ian is coming over on Sunday to help us with the EQ settings for the drums he laid down. He's not only a great musician, but also a great engineer, and we're looking forward to having him help us get the great sound we feel the CD deserves.

More vocal tracks

My voice has been feeling MUCH better lately * so I re-cut the vocals to "For What It's Worth" the other night. (The originals were tragically lost when the computer crashed and had to be re-formatted several months ago.) Altogether, they came together okay, but I'll still need to re-cut some of them. It will help to have Josh there to operate the transport while I'm singing, it was a pain to jump back and forth and still concentrate on my tone!

We're also having Mike Ian come over this weekend (tentatively) to help us get his drum sound for our tracks, which are nearing the next phase (mix-down). Hoo boy.

* For those who know me, you know I've been suffering vocal problems over the last several years. I've seen an ENT doctor several times, had large cameras shoved down my throat looking at my vocal cords real-time, etc. I've been diagnosed with thyroid issues and acid reflux, but none of the medications/treatments/abstinence from coffee/other BS I tried seemed to truly "cure" my relatively sudden loss of vocal stamina or quality. I believe I have finally found the cause of my vocal issues - the water quality in my home. After going strictly on filtered water, my voice is almost back to normal. Bizarre, but glad to have finally narrowed it down after almost three years of uncertainty!