ok, I tweaked the EQ on the guitar tracks for the (follow up) tunes so that they have more mids, matching the (retro) tunes which utilizes a 6 string guitar (the ‘follow up’ has a 7 string that pumped out a lot of low end).  I also re-sang ‘crybaby’, ‘worry about’, ‘impressions’.  Then I re-arranged the order of the tunes, putting ‘worry about’ and ‘impressions’ at the end.  Now the order of the songs sort of tell a story and kind of follow one another logically somehow in my mind with 2 funkier tunes at the end.  This will be effective for a live show too.

Uplaya’s submission cutoff is July 31st for their competition

——–

(retro) get my thing
(retro) nothin to lose
(retro) cause it feels good
(retro) like this
(retro) the blues
(retro) save yourself

(follow up) crybaby
(follow up) flyin
(follow up) high on yourself
(follow up) i’m fine
(follow up) lost my mind
(follow up) same damn thing
(follow up) when it rains

(retro) worry about
(follow up) impressions

….see this previous blog entry for explanation

(retro) get my thing
(retro) save yourself
(retro) nothin to lose
(retro) cause it feels good
(retro) worry about
(retro) like this
(retro) the blues
(follow up) crybaby
(follow up) flyin
(follow up) high on yourself
(follow up) i’m fine
(follow up) impressions
(follow up) lost my mind
(follow up) same damn thing
(follow up) when it rains

I re-sang (and re-posted) all the tunes except for ‘get my thing’ and ‘save yourself’ today.  ‘the blues’ has been altered slightly as i’ve been trying to get it right since the original version.  the others just needed to be sang w/ just that right bit of attitude and personality.  i’m still working towards the jul31 cutoff date for the uplaya competition which at the very least may gain the vecctones more exposure plus their Auddy Award system intrigues me

check out all the retro debut tunes here

you can’t have a retro debut album without a retro mixdown….by that i’m referring to making the drum tracks mono and some other slight adjustments to give it more of an indie sound and feel.  from what i’ve read, mono drum tracks were the thing back in the day.  i like how they hit the compression/limiting and also because they seem to have more punch but with a warmer centered tone.

i actually made the decision based on the vecctones follow up album which is pretty much done. you see, i almost bailed on these ‘retro’ debut tunes by moving onto another set of songs without releasing the first set.  after completing the follow up album, i decided to go back and rework the first set.  all along growing and developing as a vocalist and producer.

so now i’m ready to hit the scene with 2 albums, each about 30 minutes, actually i think the retro is under 30 (though i have one or 2 other songs that could make the cut) and the follow up is over 30 minutes.

i also have guitar riffs worked out for the 3rd album which i did months ago when i got a new guitar and was all excited to play it (around the time i was finishing up the follow up album), but then put those ideas off to the side to rework the retro tunes…..

summary:

retro debut tunes (posted) = a bit more funky and abstract ….09 release date

follow up album = more guitar driven (still some funky elements)   ….09 simultaneous release date possible

3rd album guitar ideas = guitar driven  ….maybe end of 2010 probably 2011

thank you to Protools for offering up SansAmp PSA-1 as a free download!  holy fuckin shit…this things is unbelievable in what it can do to fix up existing guitar tracks already recorded w/ distortion.  I feel I am getting the guitar tone that I originally wanted but couldn’t seem to get.  It also made the bass tracks nasty & gritty…nice! yummy!!!!  I’ve become excited about these retro debut tunes all over again, even more so as things are getting closer to becoming finalized.  now it’s just vocals, vocals, vocals…not that what is now posted is bad but I have a july 31st cutoff for the uplaya competition which might at the very least gain the vecctones more exposure.

why should the afternoon be any different than this morning?  well, I wasn’t as irritated, actually i was pleased that i heard somethings that i could do to make the tunes sound better.  so i feverishly went thru all the tracks and tweaked away.  these mixes are getting closer to the master.  i removed the slight touch of reverb on the master track, giving it more punch and also more saturated because now the reverb isn’t there to wimp it out too much.  I also added some tube overdrive to the bass tracks and added some higher frequencies to the drum tracks giving them more air.

now i can focus on recording the final vocal tracks without having any weird quirky things distracting me in the head phones…it’s all pyschological…mind over matter

today I realized that i needed to bring down the vocals a little bit, so that’s what i did, in addition to patching in on a couple vocal parts that needed it.  i have to learn to be more compassionate and forgiving with myself…it’s just impossible to hear and do everything all at once.  i’ve worked diligently over the past few years in order to have a couple albums worth of material (the follow up to the ‘retro debut’ album is already completed pretty much) so I know that it takes many small steps to go great distances.  but today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was irritated like hell that i had to re-adjust some things…i mean aren’t i supposed to be some sort of fucking super hero or some shit like that?

i ‘ve done it a few times in the past, but after listening to other songs in itunes then back to the vecctones, it became apparent that i needed more compression and saturation.  so in addition to re-singin the vocals today, i also mastered it some more.  that is what’s posted now as of july 2

Don’t be surprised if new vocals are posted a few more times within the next couple weeks.  I’m tryng to finalize this retro debut album during the month of July.  What’s posted also contains new mixes with some more compression and a slight touch of reverb to smooth things out.  These drum tracks consist of some nice DW’s and a mixture of Paiste, Bosphorous and Zildjian cymbals The BD is birds eye maple, the SD is also maple with a partial brass shell.