Wednesday 28 August 2019
the humming of the summer galleries
two years ago musicians of bremen were playing a gig just off brick lane (many of you came). recording is more or less complete for musicans of bremen volume four.
a few days ago horsemouth wandered over to the supermarket in the fields - he bought dishwasher tablets and more coffee (two for five on lavazza red label, unheard of these days but only intermittently appearing). horsemouth is stockpiling coffee (and when they had the offer on tins of kidney beans/ chick peas).
other than that he either hid from the sun or sat in the back garden and read - he’s reading guy de maupassant’s account of his time in sicily (with illustrations of many of the sites and some notes on them by jean-pierre houël). last time he read it he was fascinated by the detail of the human hand that swinburne had given maupassant as a present (in the introductory essay by gesualdo bufalino). this time he was fascinated by the self-administered asylum for criminals at monte aperto and the static quality to the people in houël’s illustrations against the life of the ruins.
in the following days it was even warmer, even less activity, even more reading. horsemouth was listening to musicians of bremen demo CD for volume four but now on shuffle currently the humming of the summer galleries, ah we have reached the giant cumbia version of turn your heater on.
Saturday 24 August 2019
recording diary - recording 2019 is complete
wednesday horsemouth wandered down to howards and howard played him the new version of blue crystal fire - ok horsemouth is convinced (job done - no need for horsemouth to be playing on it).
then howard presented him with a thwocking great boof ...baff.... beat for turn your heater on - this made horsemouth’s job of recording a guitar part much easier because he is no longer the main source of rhythm and timing on the track (which is now some kind of cumbia) - all this was recorded very quickly, organ on the choruses, root note bass, horsemouth’s vocals - done (except for most of howard’s vocals which will be done later).
then they had a general tidy up adding tambourines and shakers to whatever would bear it - the odd acoustic guitar (on pagodas) to warm it up ad pull it together. howard added harmony vocals to ride on (which isn’t ride on really).
they the had a general tidy up for real where howard loaded up the acoustic guitar, the lap steel and the banjolin and horsemouth loaded up with the harmonium in a rucksack and off they went to horsemouth’s. (the bass, the tambourines and shakers he’s going to have to pick up another time, the nylon strung guitar he’s leaving round howard’s).
they then went off in search of beer with the entirely predictable results you know...
horsemouth is now listening to musicians of bremen volume four (demo CD) and has been doing on repeat almost since he got it.
the new version of blue crystal fire rocks (good job howard), horsemouth is most pleased with his bassline on blindspot,
confiding in the evening star just needs some sorting out of the slide guitar parts and the level of horsemouth’s vocal needs to come down, the chorus guitar part to be found, but it’s sounding good already (the only real test).
wonky (the crooked timber) has arrived without the guitars - it still sounds good, ride on (which is not ride on) sounds good, the harmony part howard added should probably come up.
on broadbury down lifts a poem by the reverend sabine baring-gould (with a few tweaks), the question is where to have the vocals begin to get the most atmosphere out of the backing, the first verse first take horsemouth thinks he has got it in the right place (but the second take is in the wrong place), for the second verse the two takes are in the same place but it should probably start later (there’s room). there was also a guitar part that could do with coming back up. the outro needs some work (but there are plenty of possibilities).
the trumpet shall sound (fka. harmonium) - probably lose horsemouth’s ‘snoring’ vocal (or turn it down very low). sounds like an outtake from a horror movie.
on the humming of the summer galleries horsemouth just drivels on bluesily to howard’s humming piece - he should have tried a waltz-time interlude - it’s pleasant enough but horsemouth doesn’t know if it merits its full length.
japan sounds like an outtake from a children’s tv show (featuring morris dancing, japanese shamans and fish).
katy cruel has survived the guitar pile-up. with the guitars thinned down to the steel string and the resonator (ok there are some lap steel swooshes) the rhythm track works. perhaps horsemouth can persuade denise to sing on it, what it probably needs is violin.
primitive american pagodas sounds a bit muffled and lashed together (and strangely like king crimson doing pretty) but really it’s ok, it just needs the ending sorted.
painbirds sounds tough and focused, the organ could probably do with coming up, it’s a good organ sound it doesn’t need to be hidden, the instrumental verse guitar could probably do with coming up a little.
punchdrunk blues sounds great. sand storm - another horror movie outtake. again horsemouth busks along on guitar. at the end the guitar is left to itself (probably cut/fade around 4.24).
turn your heater on (cumbia) horsemouth doesn’t know yet - he doesn’t have all the vocal tracks, the uke is turned down, the melodica isn’t on there yet. it sounds nice and big with the organ on the choruses. (darn it horsemouth forgot to put on the slightly bigger chords for the second go around on the chorus - ah well).
am I born to die? is the one that doesn’t make it. that’s a lot of tracks. nothing will happen with them for a while.
Sunday 18 August 2019
recording diary - 12/08/19 to 16/08/19. tranche two, week two,
day one 12/08/19 .
a slightly grumpy horsemouth - a slightly inconclusive day. while horsemouth thinks turn your heater on is a bit obvious howard’s friends love it - result. so they are taking another crack at recording it, this time to click and this time in a shorter version. horsemouth layed down the guitar part quickly and efficiently, howard will do the rest later, on to the next thing.
pagodas (debussy (mostly)) - it had a certain charm in its first version (but horsemouth muffed the first playing of the main phrase and couldn’t get the ‘sequencer’ guitar arts in sync - though this had its own charm), so time to rerecord it. resonator main, howard’s sweet sounding acoustic on the C minor (chorus), various slide and harmonic parts on the resonator, organ bass and a tremeloed/ violined f-g cluster to add texture. done - once again horsemouth didn’t get everything he wanted (but it’s getting closer) at least he got the sequencer guitar parts in sync this time. the choruses are sounding much better though - that organ, acoustic guitar, slide guitar on the tune mix sounds great.
katie cruel (traditional) - nylon strung guitar to record the main riff recorded to click, bass and picking pattern on the resonator (tuned daddad), a vocal sung to each, then howard’s acoustic added because there was string squeak on the nylon guitar part (which turned out to have a string squeak in the same place also), then the first part replaced by a simplified version of the part, the banjolin on top (sometimes - it’s a bit of a beast and incredibly fucking loud). some slide guitar.
broadly this was the matrix of the song and when it was running in time it all sounded huge but there were various points where the whole timing came unstuck. possibly it can be saved with judicious editing or a bit of copy paste (there’s certainly enough guitar parts to chose from) or alternatively the whole thing could be re-recorded from scratch with just the simplified nylon guitar part and the resonator part. in the cold light of day it all seems sortable. the steps forward - the double horsemouth vocals worked this time (opines horsemouth modestly), howard added some quiet but excellent backing vocals on the choruses, horsemouth left room for a solo this time.
japan (pharoah sanders) - just something quick to decompress at the end of a slightly frustrating day. horsemouth is of the opinion that this actually resembles one, two, three four, five (once I caught a fish alive). he recorded several times round the riff, added the bicycle pump tambourine (er on listening to the pharaoh sanders original he’s added a new element), the wordless vocal, a few single notes on the banjolin (and got howard to sing a vocal). done - it was pissing it down with rain so a bottle of beer from the supermarket rather than a trip to the pub. reconvene on wednesday.
the thing horsemouth has to realise about musicians of bremen volume four is that we are talking about a 2020 release (what even if we were being less ambitious and only talking about a limited number of tunes? yes horsemouth, even then.) the last week of august howard will need a holiday before going back to work - they can get the lion’s share of the recording for the songs they have done by then but that still leaves howard to tidy up edit and mix them in weekends and half-terms (stamina permitting). horsemouth should (of course) shoulder more of the burden.
day two 14/08/19 .
so horsemouth and howard reconvened on the wednesday to record more for musicians of bremen volume four.
first horsemouth added some tambourine and shaker to japan (it was sounding most morris), howard added another (quiet) harmony vocal and then (at horsemouth’s request) added an improvised melodica part.
horsemouth had brought down rob’s old bass and using this he recorded a part for blindspot trying to get a funky (but not too ostentatiously funky) kind of sound after lunch (cheers howard) they had another crack at recording ride on (happy mondays) this time in 24 bit. they pretty much recorded it as they did before, horsemouth added the tambourines and shakers and some better slide guitar tracks. but when they listened back to their 16 bit demo (recorded with the aid of a bottle of beer each) it was just a better track. (horsemouth may put tambourines and shakers on that one).
howard had a plan to record a track and the slow it down so they got on with recording that track punchdrunk blues - howard recorded a trancey Dm/ D9 riff and (revealing a good midrange voice) some americana-type lyrics. horsemouth then added some banjolin, and acoustic guitar (dropped D tuning) and a rockabilly type guitar at reasonably high intensity.
day three 17/08/19
turn your heater on - frustratingly no progress here. a slightly hung over horsemouth and howard with a cold were unable to lay down a replacement rhythm track to click (to prevent speeding up on the choruses) nor to play it correctly all the way through. now horsemouth is a big fan of cheating at such moments (that’s what recording to click track is for) his attitude is influenced by even eisenberg’s the recording angel. howard seems to adopt a more purist performance aesthetic (that recording is the documentation of a performance - so cheating is not allowed). ah well.
they took refuge in blue crystal fire - here howard successfully replaced the uke part (originally recorded in 16 bit) and the vocal tracks (impressive). horsemouth then stepped up to the plate and delivered the acoustic guitar part (could’ve been better but it’s in time and in tune, job done) and underpinned it with a goth bass line. there is a uke solo that will stay in 16 bit backed up with some banjolin, there is also a drone made of two e-bowed guitars (that will stay in 16 bit too).
the bass and the guitar are on a long fade up throughout the track so that (in theory) the song starts as a voice and ukulele piece and gradually morphs into something else. (the e-bow drone should probably do this also). the parts are now there anyway.
new jerusalem days has changed - horsemouth recorded two vocals of the reverend sabine baring gould’s poem on broadbury down (sample lyric on broadbury down a gibbet stands). this recollects the murder of grace peard, patience rundle and patience’s daughter mary by the tramp welland and his subsequent execution and display of his rotting corpse in a gibbet there. horsemouth has taken some liberties with the words. he’s not sure they are quite in the right place yet - but they’ll either fix this in the edit or they won’t.
that just leaves confiding... which is proving elusive. at one point howard had the ukulele part replaced and the vocals sung but then they ran into a snag with removing howard’s vocal from the chorus (the better to permit horsemouth to sing on it in his inimitable fashion - it being much easier for howard to follow horsemouth than horsemouth to follow howard). the uke and the guide vocal had been recorded at the same time and so there was leakage between them - when howard’s vocal was pulled out a proportion of the ukulele vanished leading to it sounding weird. despite the work done on the backing vocals howard became dissatisfied and the afternoon’s work went in the bin.
horsemouth (who had been sitting around waiting to record his slide guitar parts mumbling supportively, and, truth be told, already had his nose out of joint from his failure in the morning to record to click) was a little grumpy at this point. but it is, truth be told, the recording schedule he himself formerly advocated, record a demo and then re-record. it is just that now that he is actually doing it he has lost interest in it.
so they gave up and cracked open some bottles of beer.
they listened to pharoah sander’s thembi (astral travelling, thembi itself, bailophone dance) and discussed doing more co-improvised things in the time that remains to them to record. howard has a recording made on his phone of him and some friends humming in an art gallery as part of a training course (now this is very good).
--------------
today - recovery of equanimity. monday - back to recording.
a slightly grumpy horsemouth - a slightly inconclusive day. while horsemouth thinks turn your heater on is a bit obvious howard’s friends love it - result. so they are taking another crack at recording it, this time to click and this time in a shorter version. horsemouth layed down the guitar part quickly and efficiently, howard will do the rest later, on to the next thing.
pagodas (debussy (mostly)) - it had a certain charm in its first version (but horsemouth muffed the first playing of the main phrase and couldn’t get the ‘sequencer’ guitar arts in sync - though this had its own charm), so time to rerecord it. resonator main, howard’s sweet sounding acoustic on the C minor (chorus), various slide and harmonic parts on the resonator, organ bass and a tremeloed/ violined f-g cluster to add texture. done - once again horsemouth didn’t get everything he wanted (but it’s getting closer) at least he got the sequencer guitar parts in sync this time. the choruses are sounding much better though - that organ, acoustic guitar, slide guitar on the tune mix sounds great.
katie cruel (traditional) - nylon strung guitar to record the main riff recorded to click, bass and picking pattern on the resonator (tuned daddad), a vocal sung to each, then howard’s acoustic added because there was string squeak on the nylon guitar part (which turned out to have a string squeak in the same place also), then the first part replaced by a simplified version of the part, the banjolin on top (sometimes - it’s a bit of a beast and incredibly fucking loud). some slide guitar.
broadly this was the matrix of the song and when it was running in time it all sounded huge but there were various points where the whole timing came unstuck. possibly it can be saved with judicious editing or a bit of copy paste (there’s certainly enough guitar parts to chose from) or alternatively the whole thing could be re-recorded from scratch with just the simplified nylon guitar part and the resonator part. in the cold light of day it all seems sortable. the steps forward - the double horsemouth vocals worked this time (opines horsemouth modestly), howard added some quiet but excellent backing vocals on the choruses, horsemouth left room for a solo this time.
japan (pharoah sanders) - just something quick to decompress at the end of a slightly frustrating day. horsemouth is of the opinion that this actually resembles one, two, three four, five (once I caught a fish alive). he recorded several times round the riff, added the bicycle pump tambourine (er on listening to the pharaoh sanders original he’s added a new element), the wordless vocal, a few single notes on the banjolin (and got howard to sing a vocal). done - it was pissing it down with rain so a bottle of beer from the supermarket rather than a trip to the pub. reconvene on wednesday.
the thing horsemouth has to realise about musicians of bremen volume four is that we are talking about a 2020 release (what even if we were being less ambitious and only talking about a limited number of tunes? yes horsemouth, even then.) the last week of august howard will need a holiday before going back to work - they can get the lion’s share of the recording for the songs they have done by then but that still leaves howard to tidy up edit and mix them in weekends and half-terms (stamina permitting). horsemouth should (of course) shoulder more of the burden.
day two 14/08/19 .
so horsemouth and howard reconvened on the wednesday to record more for musicians of bremen volume four.
first horsemouth added some tambourine and shaker to japan (it was sounding most morris), howard added another (quiet) harmony vocal and then (at horsemouth’s request) added an improvised melodica part.
horsemouth had brought down rob’s old bass and using this he recorded a part for blindspot trying to get a funky (but not too ostentatiously funky) kind of sound after lunch (cheers howard) they had another crack at recording ride on (happy mondays) this time in 24 bit. they pretty much recorded it as they did before, horsemouth added the tambourines and shakers and some better slide guitar tracks. but when they listened back to their 16 bit demo (recorded with the aid of a bottle of beer each) it was just a better track. (horsemouth may put tambourines and shakers on that one).
howard had a plan to record a track and the slow it down so they got on with recording that track punchdrunk blues - howard recorded a trancey Dm/ D9 riff and (revealing a good midrange voice) some americana-type lyrics. horsemouth then added some banjolin, and acoustic guitar (dropped D tuning) and a rockabilly type guitar at reasonably high intensity.
day three 17/08/19
turn your heater on - frustratingly no progress here. a slightly hung over horsemouth and howard with a cold were unable to lay down a replacement rhythm track to click (to prevent speeding up on the choruses) nor to play it correctly all the way through. now horsemouth is a big fan of cheating at such moments (that’s what recording to click track is for) his attitude is influenced by even eisenberg’s the recording angel. howard seems to adopt a more purist performance aesthetic (that recording is the documentation of a performance - so cheating is not allowed). ah well.
they took refuge in blue crystal fire - here howard successfully replaced the uke part (originally recorded in 16 bit) and the vocal tracks (impressive). horsemouth then stepped up to the plate and delivered the acoustic guitar part (could’ve been better but it’s in time and in tune, job done) and underpinned it with a goth bass line. there is a uke solo that will stay in 16 bit backed up with some banjolin, there is also a drone made of two e-bowed guitars (that will stay in 16 bit too).
the bass and the guitar are on a long fade up throughout the track so that (in theory) the song starts as a voice and ukulele piece and gradually morphs into something else. (the e-bow drone should probably do this also). the parts are now there anyway.
new jerusalem days has changed - horsemouth recorded two vocals of the reverend sabine baring gould’s poem on broadbury down (sample lyric on broadbury down a gibbet stands). this recollects the murder of grace peard, patience rundle and patience’s daughter mary by the tramp welland and his subsequent execution and display of his rotting corpse in a gibbet there. horsemouth has taken some liberties with the words. he’s not sure they are quite in the right place yet - but they’ll either fix this in the edit or they won’t.
that just leaves confiding... which is proving elusive. at one point howard had the ukulele part replaced and the vocals sung but then they ran into a snag with removing howard’s vocal from the chorus (the better to permit horsemouth to sing on it in his inimitable fashion - it being much easier for howard to follow horsemouth than horsemouth to follow howard). the uke and the guide vocal had been recorded at the same time and so there was leakage between them - when howard’s vocal was pulled out a proportion of the ukulele vanished leading to it sounding weird. despite the work done on the backing vocals howard became dissatisfied and the afternoon’s work went in the bin.
horsemouth (who had been sitting around waiting to record his slide guitar parts mumbling supportively, and, truth be told, already had his nose out of joint from his failure in the morning to record to click) was a little grumpy at this point. but it is, truth be told, the recording schedule he himself formerly advocated, record a demo and then re-record. it is just that now that he is actually doing it he has lost interest in it.
so they gave up and cracked open some bottles of beer.
they listened to pharoah sander’s thembi (astral travelling, thembi itself, bailophone dance) and discussed doing more co-improvised things in the time that remains to them to record. howard has a recording made on his phone of him and some friends humming in an art gallery as part of a training course (now this is very good).
--------------
today - recovery of equanimity. monday - back to recording.
Friday 9 August 2019
recording diaries 2
recording day four
tranche two has been completed. horsemouth has a CD of the demo tracks (er. excepting katie cruel which in the rush to get in a curry and get up the pub was forgotten ).
but an unfortunate discovery has been made - much has been recorded in 16 bit wheras it could have been recorded in 24 bit (don’t ask horsemouth he can’t hear the difference). this means much of it will have to be redone audiophiles.
in a way horsemouth and howard are well ahead in the recording stakes - they know what tracks they are interested in pursuing, they know what tracks (despite initial promise) do not work for them (or rather for who musicians of bremen imagine themselves to be) and frankly horsemouth would relish the opportunity to record some of the stuff he has done already better (and again).
on the day horsemouth recorded wondrous love and and am I born to die? (which by the vagaries of the alphabet are placed at opposite ends of the demo CD). now horsemouth has great fun singing these but he doesn’t know if they are keepers.
and am I born to die? is just is two guitars tuned open G, horsemouth droning on and the organ droning on (ok at the line waked by trumpets sound three notes are played on the banjolin). it probably needs to be redone with more space. it may be a keeper (it may be portentous enough).
blind spot (what would I say) is one of howard’s - horsemouth just added a little guitar. possibly what it needs is bass. there’s a place where the uke can be pulled out. really it sounds to horsemouth like a song in search of a second part.
blue crystal fire sounds great with the increasing volume acoustic guitar a banjolin part has been added but it’s way to fried in flanger and delay to make sense. a translation of the robbie basho version of the tune.
confiding in the evening star (demo) sounds good (but it will have to be redone) - nonetheless better can be got from it. horsemouth is enjoying the understated lap steel part (there’s a rattle in there that will have to be fixed). both of these two are howard vocal and ukulele pieces basically. there’s an instrumental second half that horsemouth would like to make use of in some way (if he can just work out what it is).
the crooked timber (fka. wonky - ok no, maybe wonky is a better title for it) is a howard slide guitar and vocal thing. like blue crystal fire (and, horsemouth hopes, pagodas) it is a homage to the american primitive guitar scene (this time late era john fahey).
ride on (happy mondays) - well they certainly had fun recording it and (surprisingly) it sounds pretty decent. howard has doubts about it.
new jerusalem days - well this is a portentious monster (and a half). fueled by a giant distorted organ chord and two beats. horsemouth is reasonably pleased with what he’s done here.
storm - this is powered by by a shifting malevolent keyboard part (and sundry john carpenter horror movie noises), horsemouth bodges along as best he can on the resonator. like he said he hated recording this but it sounds pretty fucking good. at the end the keyboard goes off to be malevolent elsewhere and horsemouth plays the change through a few times on (time for a fade). horsemouth is keen to rename this one (maybe howard will let him).
pagodas - this was recorded on the resonator (several resonators). this is horsemouth’s solo guitar piece for the record. he fluffs the first main theme but he thinks it’s fixable (in fact it will all have to be fixed). it has a habanera rhythm running through it which it would be good to get stronger (bass or piano - maybe both). there is a transition into the second part of the tune that’s probably going to have to stay in 16 bit (because horsemouth has no idea how he did it). the 16 bit debacle may enable horsemouth to get the two ‘sequencer’ guitar parts in the correct place (and thus enable him to get rid of the current, and somewhat bodged, ending) and replace it with something arty.
painbirds - (mark linkous) now this sounds like a keeper (mostly because there’s an adequate main vocal performance by horsemouth) and the harmonies work well.
turn your heater on - (keith hudson) now this is great fun (but horsemouth is not sure it’s a keeper). if it’s a keeper it’s a country song and his vocal should probably come up (he modestly opines). rather than risk re-recording the main guitar that should just be left in 16 bit (it’ll live). perhaps they’ll re-record it differently.
wondrous love - one of the horsemouth songs from the day. it will probably bear redoing (but horsemouth’s not sure it’s a keeper).
after that they had a curry to celebrate (thank you curry hut) and then went for a swift pint (in howard’s case two) at the gentrifier’s arms.
recording day three work proceeded on the new musicians of bremen album, howard added some particularly fine vocals to confiding in the evening star (which they’ve redone for no good reason which now means horsemouth has to redo his parts to get them as good as they were on the previous version - sigh). on the other hand the new vocals are great so it’s progress.
they added an organ part to the end of turn your heater on - well two in fact, a small skanking one (that was endless trouble) and a big churchy one for the end chorus (that was only marginally quicker). the organ sound is a good one though. howard added a melodica part based on the telephone love rhythm (and an echo on it) - that sounds good too.
nonetheless horsemouth was grumpy and out of sorts - hopefully it will shift soon. in any event they have the weekend off for reflection.
tranche two has been completed. horsemouth has a CD of the demo tracks (er. excepting katie cruel which in the rush to get in a curry and get up the pub was forgotten ).
but an unfortunate discovery has been made - much has been recorded in 16 bit wheras it could have been recorded in 24 bit (don’t ask horsemouth he can’t hear the difference). this means much of it will have to be redone audiophiles.
in a way horsemouth and howard are well ahead in the recording stakes - they know what tracks they are interested in pursuing, they know what tracks (despite initial promise) do not work for them (or rather for who musicians of bremen imagine themselves to be) and frankly horsemouth would relish the opportunity to record some of the stuff he has done already better (and again).
on the day horsemouth recorded wondrous love and and am I born to die? (which by the vagaries of the alphabet are placed at opposite ends of the demo CD). now horsemouth has great fun singing these but he doesn’t know if they are keepers.
and am I born to die? is just is two guitars tuned open G, horsemouth droning on and the organ droning on (ok at the line waked by trumpets sound three notes are played on the banjolin). it probably needs to be redone with more space. it may be a keeper (it may be portentous enough).
blind spot (what would I say) is one of howard’s - horsemouth just added a little guitar. possibly what it needs is bass. there’s a place where the uke can be pulled out. really it sounds to horsemouth like a song in search of a second part.
blue crystal fire sounds great with the increasing volume acoustic guitar a banjolin part has been added but it’s way to fried in flanger and delay to make sense. a translation of the robbie basho version of the tune.
confiding in the evening star (demo) sounds good (but it will have to be redone) - nonetheless better can be got from it. horsemouth is enjoying the understated lap steel part (there’s a rattle in there that will have to be fixed). both of these two are howard vocal and ukulele pieces basically. there’s an instrumental second half that horsemouth would like to make use of in some way (if he can just work out what it is).
the crooked timber (fka. wonky - ok no, maybe wonky is a better title for it) is a howard slide guitar and vocal thing. like blue crystal fire (and, horsemouth hopes, pagodas) it is a homage to the american primitive guitar scene (this time late era john fahey).
ride on (happy mondays) - well they certainly had fun recording it and (surprisingly) it sounds pretty decent. howard has doubts about it.
new jerusalem days - well this is a portentious monster (and a half). fueled by a giant distorted organ chord and two beats. horsemouth is reasonably pleased with what he’s done here.
storm - this is powered by by a shifting malevolent keyboard part (and sundry john carpenter horror movie noises), horsemouth bodges along as best he can on the resonator. like he said he hated recording this but it sounds pretty fucking good. at the end the keyboard goes off to be malevolent elsewhere and horsemouth plays the change through a few times on (time for a fade). horsemouth is keen to rename this one (maybe howard will let him).
pagodas - this was recorded on the resonator (several resonators). this is horsemouth’s solo guitar piece for the record. he fluffs the first main theme but he thinks it’s fixable (in fact it will all have to be fixed). it has a habanera rhythm running through it which it would be good to get stronger (bass or piano - maybe both). there is a transition into the second part of the tune that’s probably going to have to stay in 16 bit (because horsemouth has no idea how he did it). the 16 bit debacle may enable horsemouth to get the two ‘sequencer’ guitar parts in the correct place (and thus enable him to get rid of the current, and somewhat bodged, ending) and replace it with something arty.
painbirds - (mark linkous) now this sounds like a keeper (mostly because there’s an adequate main vocal performance by horsemouth) and the harmonies work well.
turn your heater on - (keith hudson) now this is great fun (but horsemouth is not sure it’s a keeper). if it’s a keeper it’s a country song and his vocal should probably come up (he modestly opines). rather than risk re-recording the main guitar that should just be left in 16 bit (it’ll live). perhaps they’ll re-record it differently.
wondrous love - one of the horsemouth songs from the day. it will probably bear redoing (but horsemouth’s not sure it’s a keeper).
after that they had a curry to celebrate (thank you curry hut) and then went for a swift pint (in howard’s case two) at the gentrifier’s arms.
recording day three work proceeded on the new musicians of bremen album, howard added some particularly fine vocals to confiding in the evening star (which they’ve redone for no good reason which now means horsemouth has to redo his parts to get them as good as they were on the previous version - sigh). on the other hand the new vocals are great so it’s progress.
they added an organ part to the end of turn your heater on - well two in fact, a small skanking one (that was endless trouble) and a big churchy one for the end chorus (that was only marginally quicker). the organ sound is a good one though. howard added a melodica part based on the telephone love rhythm (and an echo on it) - that sounds good too.
nonetheless horsemouth was grumpy and out of sorts - hopefully it will shift soon. in any event they have the weekend off for reflection.
Wednesday 7 August 2019
recording diaries
horsemouth is done cat-sitting in the hills of walthamstralia and has returned from the forest to his home in the river valley.
the recording goes well - even stuff that horsemouth thought wasn’t happening seems (on re-listening) to have come out ok.
5th august
horsemouth, successfully (he thinks), put some guitar parts on experiment 2 (currently renamed new jerusalem days - horsemouth added a vocal where he mumbles this) using the resonator and howard’s old acoustic. (ok no there are some problems with the timing that will probably need fixing). horsemouth is a little out of practice with recording to click (his preferred way of doing things). and once his playing is committed to tape playback can be a little harsh on his ego.
next he took a crack at recording pagodas using the resonator (but sadly without click) - it came out very strange. horsemouth will have to give it a listen to decide if he likes it. there’s a strange transition into the second part (the 'sequencer part') and horsemouth couldn’t get the two sequencer guitar parts in sync, so they’re out of sync which has a very brian eno’y effect.
after lunch and a walk horsemouth added a pleasantly messy resonator part to painbirds and a drone organ part (the best he can manage with his limited keyboard skills) in a neil young stylee, howard added a ghost vocal to thicken up the verses and some harmonies on the chorus. (it’s sounding big).
on blue crystal fire they tried the ‘guitar getting louder’ trick - it seems to work ok. ideally they’ll do some duplication of the lead ukulele part with the banjolin. and at this point they hit the wall and had to stop. wonky (now renamed the crooked timber) they pronounced finished and complete.
6th august
having worked on pagodas the day before horsemouth was intending to firm up the rhythm track with a piano playing the bassline habanera style (but ended up adding some chimes instead because the piano sound was a bit rubbish). they then got bogged down in new jerusalem days (horsemouth adding a slide part and a tapping part to the end of the song) but as they thinned it out sense began to emerge from the murk.
then ride on (by the happy mondays) as a waltz - howard recorded the main vocal and ukulele together, horsemouth added the bass drum (a large well-padded chair beaten) and the hi-hat (a bicycle pump) and a woodblock (a pair of birkenstocks). he then added the banjolin, a side guitar (somewhat uninspired) and an acoustic guitar (in dropped d). maybe it needs organ (perhaps the kitchen sink). it becomes somewhat discordant at the end (having been really tuneful until then).
finally with howard singing and horsemouth playing guitar they laid down turn your heater on (today they’ll probably add organ to it) to this they added a ukulele part and more vocal tracks including two by horsemouth - a mid-range one, and a higher one where he tried following howard up into the upper registers (not that successfully). horsemouth added the telephone love rhythm at one point (but he’s not sure if it needs it). the rhythm track is fairly tough that helps stick it together.
finally they had a re-listen to an instrumental horsemouth had struggled to come up with anything sensible to do on the guitar on (using the resonator) - but this time it sounded almost coherent. a good day - now perhaps a lie down before horsemouth goes back to do it all over again.
the recording goes well - even stuff that horsemouth thought wasn’t happening seems (on re-listening) to have come out ok.
5th august
horsemouth, successfully (he thinks), put some guitar parts on experiment 2 (currently renamed new jerusalem days - horsemouth added a vocal where he mumbles this) using the resonator and howard’s old acoustic. (ok no there are some problems with the timing that will probably need fixing). horsemouth is a little out of practice with recording to click (his preferred way of doing things). and once his playing is committed to tape playback can be a little harsh on his ego.
next he took a crack at recording pagodas using the resonator (but sadly without click) - it came out very strange. horsemouth will have to give it a listen to decide if he likes it. there’s a strange transition into the second part (the 'sequencer part') and horsemouth couldn’t get the two sequencer guitar parts in sync, so they’re out of sync which has a very brian eno’y effect.
after lunch and a walk horsemouth added a pleasantly messy resonator part to painbirds and a drone organ part (the best he can manage with his limited keyboard skills) in a neil young stylee, howard added a ghost vocal to thicken up the verses and some harmonies on the chorus. (it’s sounding big).
on blue crystal fire they tried the ‘guitar getting louder’ trick - it seems to work ok. ideally they’ll do some duplication of the lead ukulele part with the banjolin. and at this point they hit the wall and had to stop. wonky (now renamed the crooked timber) they pronounced finished and complete.
6th august
having worked on pagodas the day before horsemouth was intending to firm up the rhythm track with a piano playing the bassline habanera style (but ended up adding some chimes instead because the piano sound was a bit rubbish). they then got bogged down in new jerusalem days (horsemouth adding a slide part and a tapping part to the end of the song) but as they thinned it out sense began to emerge from the murk.
then ride on (by the happy mondays) as a waltz - howard recorded the main vocal and ukulele together, horsemouth added the bass drum (a large well-padded chair beaten) and the hi-hat (a bicycle pump) and a woodblock (a pair of birkenstocks). he then added the banjolin, a side guitar (somewhat uninspired) and an acoustic guitar (in dropped d). maybe it needs organ (perhaps the kitchen sink). it becomes somewhat discordant at the end (having been really tuneful until then).
finally with howard singing and horsemouth playing guitar they laid down turn your heater on (today they’ll probably add organ to it) to this they added a ukulele part and more vocal tracks including two by horsemouth - a mid-range one, and a higher one where he tried following howard up into the upper registers (not that successfully). horsemouth added the telephone love rhythm at one point (but he’s not sure if it needs it). the rhythm track is fairly tough that helps stick it together.
finally they had a re-listen to an instrumental horsemouth had struggled to come up with anything sensible to do on the guitar on (using the resonator) - but this time it sounded almost coherent. a good day - now perhaps a lie down before horsemouth goes back to do it all over again.
Sunday 4 August 2019
on coming to the end of a week in the forest
horsemouth is coming to the end of his week in the forest.
this was his last charity shop find - 50p
day six in the forest - the charity shops of leytonstone a big MEH
yesterday horsemouth awoke in the forest and walked down past the hollow ponds to leytonstone (but there was no joy to be had in the charity shops there). later he wandered off to lou and martin’s do down at water into beer. that went well. martin played (opening with ornithologist’s arms) with his daughter singing harmony, horsemouth traded him for one of his CDs, then his son played violin (a variety of jigs and reels), two young dudes played - very singer-songwritery, nice jazzy chords and runs, kind of aztec camera etc.
then lou played, no banjo this time just guitar and voice, a gillian welch one, the one about her dad, milly, and a new song about deaths in custody (horsemouth thinks clinton mccurbin one was the last song he remembers being written about deaths in police custody, but they never go away.
horsemouth will do you a review of martin’s CD soon.
an after gig pint in a weatherspoons and then back to horsemouth’s main gaff by train and foot (pausing for a bag of chips to soak up the alcohol).
now he’s back up in the forest (he has just fed the forest cats). the bird feeder is full. he’s ‘zombied’ some illustrations of contributors to city am. a quiet day today (then off to max’s birthday) a final tidy round and clear up tomorrow (the last day in the forest).
emile zola (the flood, blood, three wars is done), horsemouth has returned his attention to mary wollstonecraft’s the wrongs of woman. in the madhouse the two communicate by notes left in books and by reading each other’s marginalia.
day five in the forest - horsemouth finds the magic money tree (turning on the taps of love)
ladies and gentlemen, horsemouth has found the magic money tree - it was in walthamstow all the time! that dominic cummings hits the ground running, testing multiple similar ads online, the message - deliver brexit/ promising increased spending on public services. the key problem with promising increased spending on public services is that people don’t believe it - they have been told that it couldn’t be afforded for years and have internalised this belief and repeated it, there is no magic money tree.
but now horsemouth has found it (project fear advisory) the pains of brexit can be avoided. the peril of turning on the taps of debt funded spending is that it reveals austerity and deficit reduction as the ideological project it always was and all the suffering it caused as avoidable. how do you like them lemons?
horsemouth was surprised to see lemons growing on the magic money tree but there you go...
there is a complicating factor - brexit - which (project fear advisory) will fuck the economy (at least in its current form) and thus adversely affect uk plc’s ability to repay. international finance (those bastards) will of course have to charge more interest on their loans (purchases of government bonds and the like) to cover the risk that we will default (or more likely inflate away our debts). what may help or may hinder uk plc with this project is that trade war and economic slowdown is hitting china. the US and the EU - government debt begins to look like a good bet for the money slooshing round the world finance system in search of some kind of return somewhere. but will post brexit uk government debt have such a rosy glow to it?
what does a graph of economic output and brexit look like (project fear advisory)? - like a swoosh apparently (how very modern, how very reassuring). the nhs is of course the litmus test of how much uk plc’s owners love their citizens - turn on the taps of love - but not unconditional love, no, there will have to be changes... but the main problem (as with any course of treatment) is that it takes a while for the patient to actually feel better...
and in fact feel better may never come - once we are working away to pay the interest on this new debt we are the slaves of globalised finance (once again) and certain phrases will return - there is no alternative (for example). of course we will all be in this together (one nation tory) once again but of course some will suffer more than others - how about er... the working class? I mean after the sterling job they did of defending their pay and conditions during austerity who can doubt that they will fight off any attempt to make them pay for brexit as well (after all it’s not like it’s self-inflicted, and it’s not like the middle-classes won’t be queuing up to tell them this).
horsemouth is back online from the forest - he has had a day off from the world wide communion (though that’s not from want of trying). it is good to know such an existence is in theory possible. he, of course, had to make his own entertainment, to amuse his own boredom (hence his discovery of the magic money tree).
he read zola’s juvenalia the flood and three wars (after reading gustave flaubert’s juvenalia - in the same hesperus edition) - zola thinks war is inevitable, he castigates hugo for being a dreamer who wants to found a united states of europe (pfft - like that could even ever happen), for believing in international community and a new golden age.
this was his last charity shop find - 50p
day six in the forest - the charity shops of leytonstone a big MEH
yesterday horsemouth awoke in the forest and walked down past the hollow ponds to leytonstone (but there was no joy to be had in the charity shops there). later he wandered off to lou and martin’s do down at water into beer. that went well. martin played (opening with ornithologist’s arms) with his daughter singing harmony, horsemouth traded him for one of his CDs, then his son played violin (a variety of jigs and reels), two young dudes played - very singer-songwritery, nice jazzy chords and runs, kind of aztec camera etc.
then lou played, no banjo this time just guitar and voice, a gillian welch one, the one about her dad, milly, and a new song about deaths in custody (horsemouth thinks clinton mccurbin one was the last song he remembers being written about deaths in police custody, but they never go away.
horsemouth will do you a review of martin’s CD soon.
an after gig pint in a weatherspoons and then back to horsemouth’s main gaff by train and foot (pausing for a bag of chips to soak up the alcohol).
now he’s back up in the forest (he has just fed the forest cats). the bird feeder is full. he’s ‘zombied’ some illustrations of contributors to city am. a quiet day today (then off to max’s birthday) a final tidy round and clear up tomorrow (the last day in the forest).
emile zola (the flood, blood, three wars is done), horsemouth has returned his attention to mary wollstonecraft’s the wrongs of woman. in the madhouse the two communicate by notes left in books and by reading each other’s marginalia.
day five in the forest - horsemouth finds the magic money tree (turning on the taps of love)
ladies and gentlemen, horsemouth has found the magic money tree - it was in walthamstow all the time! that dominic cummings hits the ground running, testing multiple similar ads online, the message - deliver brexit/ promising increased spending on public services. the key problem with promising increased spending on public services is that people don’t believe it - they have been told that it couldn’t be afforded for years and have internalised this belief and repeated it, there is no magic money tree.
but now horsemouth has found it (project fear advisory) the pains of brexit can be avoided. the peril of turning on the taps of debt funded spending is that it reveals austerity and deficit reduction as the ideological project it always was and all the suffering it caused as avoidable. how do you like them lemons?
horsemouth was surprised to see lemons growing on the magic money tree but there you go...
there is a complicating factor - brexit - which (project fear advisory) will fuck the economy (at least in its current form) and thus adversely affect uk plc’s ability to repay. international finance (those bastards) will of course have to charge more interest on their loans (purchases of government bonds and the like) to cover the risk that we will default (or more likely inflate away our debts). what may help or may hinder uk plc with this project is that trade war and economic slowdown is hitting china. the US and the EU - government debt begins to look like a good bet for the money slooshing round the world finance system in search of some kind of return somewhere. but will post brexit uk government debt have such a rosy glow to it?
what does a graph of economic output and brexit look like (project fear advisory)? - like a swoosh apparently (how very modern, how very reassuring). the nhs is of course the litmus test of how much uk plc’s owners love their citizens - turn on the taps of love - but not unconditional love, no, there will have to be changes... but the main problem (as with any course of treatment) is that it takes a while for the patient to actually feel better...
and in fact feel better may never come - once we are working away to pay the interest on this new debt we are the slaves of globalised finance (once again) and certain phrases will return - there is no alternative (for example). of course we will all be in this together (one nation tory) once again but of course some will suffer more than others - how about er... the working class? I mean after the sterling job they did of defending their pay and conditions during austerity who can doubt that they will fight off any attempt to make them pay for brexit as well (after all it’s not like it’s self-inflicted, and it’s not like the middle-classes won’t be queuing up to tell them this).
horsemouth is back online from the forest - he has had a day off from the world wide communion (though that’s not from want of trying). it is good to know such an existence is in theory possible. he, of course, had to make his own entertainment, to amuse his own boredom (hence his discovery of the magic money tree).
he read zola’s juvenalia the flood and three wars (after reading gustave flaubert’s juvenalia - in the same hesperus edition) - zola thinks war is inevitable, he castigates hugo for being a dreamer who wants to found a united states of europe (pfft - like that could even ever happen), for believing in international community and a new golden age.
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