Sunday, February 13, 2011

How not to record an album

Since I am currently in NYC, approximately 200 miles from my home base, it's rather apparent I'm not getting any music recorded this weekend. That will change when I get home on Wednesday. Thank the gods for a 3-day weekend for President's Day, is all I can say! I have the basic tracks finished for all three major pieces (about 45 minutes, total), plus an idea of what I want to do for a short acoustic fourth piece.

I spent a whole bunch of valuable time last week struggling to record an extended guitar solo on my 'chops showpiece', entitled "Ashoka." I tried several different electric guitar sounds, and none of it seemed to click. I realize now that a nylon-string acoustic solo is needed, since the rest of the piece consists of steel-string acoustic, violin, and tablas. Electric sounds just don't feel right in that context. I also tried saxophone, and that was even more wrong!

When I get home, I will probably shift focus to getting the other pieces more or less finished before I tackle the "Ashoka" solo again. Frankly, my guitar chops need a little fine-tuning at this point.

Sadly, unlike last year, I may be turning in more of a demo to RPM Challenge HQ than a finished product. I am determined to make this album something special, and taking shortcuts just for the Challenge is not something I am interested in doing.


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