The PsychoVoyager Journal

Song I've worked on and off (mostly off) since May 2008, using the program Energy XT2 in Windows XP. It's probably about done, though I will likely tweak it just a li'l bit, before I'm satisfied.

Plug-ins used; GTG DPC 3 (drums), SoHaSonata (synth), Classic compressor, Classic phaser, Classic EQ, classic flanger, Bionic Delay, as well as the program's own Synthesizer and FX DelayReverb.

A Demo was made back in 2006:



Lyrics:

I don't think you realize
just how proud I am
Just how impressed I've been
You've got the drive within
you're so long overdue
and you've long paid your dues
no one here gets an apology

sorry won't cut it
It's not in the budget
they want regrets
but they can forget it
you're doin' it your way
your way is the highway
blazin' on down the only road that gets you home

and that's why
I continue
to believe in you

and
you
should
too

takin' it underground
like you're fighting Manchus
showin' off your skills
as though you're good at kung-fu
The Five Deadly Venoms
couldn't get through your defences
forget the seven sins
your top priority is

You but not for you alone
for your strength will set the tone
and lift the hearts
of all of those around you
even those who put you down
and would see your failure crown
the doubts they've always bowed down to

and that's why
I continue
to believe in you

and
you
should
too

you rock well
and nobody does it better

(c) 2006-2009 George Isaacs


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Labels: Creative Commons, DAW, downloads, Energy XT, guitar, lyrics, music, plug-ins, Windows

Edited a small bit of the first guitar track (near the beginning), taking out a few notes that were kinda sloppy, time-wise. I played around with VST effects after reading this article on effects chains for vocals, which also touches on a bunch of freebies in that area. I downloaded a bunch and tried a few out on a vocal or two and the second guitar track.

For the main vocal (in this case the fourth vocal track - I don't know if I'll end up using this one or the fifth), I used the Spitfish de-esser, Floorfish noisegate, the Classic compressor, and Bionic Delay. I'm not sure if I really need the first two. I'll play around with them some more. My use of the Bionic Delay is a tad bit over the top with the ping-ponging (though not too excessive), but I can't resist it. Used the Compressor on the "trickster god" bit at the end and then for the guitar I duplicated the track, so I could keep the naked sound, and then play with the effected stuff independently. I used the "Uhhh" preset on the Classic Phaser, and then threw the Bionic Delay on top for some funkadelic bouncing around. Sounds a bit like whales or something. I like the way it's shaping up, so far...

Next

Labels: April Fool's Day, effects, guitar, plug-ins, Sonar

Rehearsed some funk/blues guitar earlier this evening (actually March 9th, but it's after midnight, now) to play around with some ideas and to warm up my hands before recording. Was going for that Jimmie Nolen/Catfish Collins/Prince "chicken grease"* sound, kinda. That I don't play a fraction as well as any of those guys isn't much concern to me, so much as I get a rhythm appropriate to the track.

I recorded two guitar tracks with my Peavey Vortex 1 plugged in directly to the Lambda USB box. Any effects would be added later. The second track was to replace the first, but certain elements were played differently, and I think they'd go well together, panned apart (and edited where necessary). I considered overlaying one more track over the bridge, but I'll hold off on that right now. From the sound of things, it may not even be necessary.

I'm giving myself a deadline of March 21st, to finish this recording and then drop it on MySpace. Should be plenty of time.

*Also called "chicken scratch".

Next...

Labels: April Fool's Day, funk, guitar, Sonar

Hooked up the electric guitar (Peavey Vortex 1) to the Zoom 505 FX pedal, used a couple of basic settings and recorded a few tracks starting at the chorus.

Sounds horrible so far. My head's not in this right now, so I stopped. I'll have another go in a day or so.



Based on The World They Loved To Hate, written by Crystal Walters. Creative Commons license: Attribution-ShareAlike

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Labels: Above It All, Agnula, Ardour, covers, Crystal Walters, guitar

I manged to record one track of vocals on track 21. Could'a sworn I'd recorded keys on that track not long back. Anyway, it came out well enough (I didn't rewrite the lyrics), but when I try and record another track the program (Ardour) flips out on me. The tracks keep playing, but the graphics lose detail and I can't stop it except by killing Ardour in log mode.

After closing Jack and restarting both it and Ardour I managed to record a harmony track and another lead vocal as well as an almost spoken word part of the choruses. every now and then I have to restart Jack and Ardour because of the issue mentioned above.

Trying to record guitar on track 25 I find myself faced with the same problem as before. I restart everything again, take a short break and start over. I manage to record up to the end (almost) of the 2nd chorus. Same thing happens on 26. I keep both those takes. On 27 I start just before the 2nd chorus and make it to the end of the bridge and into the third chorus, when I get an error message about track 16 (which is muted - one of the keyboard tracks mentioned in part six). I go to track 28 (I must be a masochist) and then I get the "pool out of memory - recompile with larger size" message. I don't know what that's about, but a quick Google shows that a few people have had the same thing. At the moment, I don't know if it's been solved by anybody, but I'll leave that for another time.

The guitar (an Ovation Celebrity) was recorded through an ART SGX 2000 on the "Slow Flange" preset (A-103).

I exported the session as a wav, which then crashed Ardour again and again (something about frames overflowed), but I found that the file itself was fine and I opened it in Audacity and saved it as an ogg vorbis file.

Click on the title of this post to hear it. This song is still in progress and a bit rough. Of course it may remain so, once done. I'm just saying it ain't done, yet. That's all.

Labels: Ardour, guitar, Ménage à trois with robots