Two May Songs

I wasn’t going to share these songs because there really isn’t anything interesting about either one of them Then I remembered we’re stuck in a global pandemic lock down so why the hell not.

Also, WordPress.com has released their new editor today and I need an excuse to try it out. It’s very similar to the mobile app and it’s okay so far. One small item of note so far is that I don’t see a way to switch to an HTML editor. I’m sure it’s out there somewhere.

Anyway, two songs. Neither is all that good, but they are both done. Two down and eight, maybe nine, to go.

I wonder if any of this stuff worked.

Ready to Mix

I followed up this morning’s vocal sessions with two songs worth of lead guitar.  That makes two songs ready to mix.  I should have at least one before bed time!  May music is starting to arrive, at last.

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Junior

I’ve been playing a Gibson Les Paul Custom since 1990.

Before that I played a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (before it was stolen and my heart was crushed).

I’ve never said this before…
I’ve never thought this before…
I never dreamed this before but…
but…

I think I want a Gibson Les Paul Junior.

Partly because a vintage Junior is cheaper than a vintage Standard and my chances of actually owning something from the 1950’s is a lot higher.. but even just in terms of the current models…

I think I want a Gibson Les Paul Junior.

Lost

I did some good work on May Music last night. Four songs got lyrics and melodies. When I finished I backed everything up. Today the computer crashed and I had to wipe it. I lost yesterday’s work, but I had the backup.

Nope.

The backup didn’t save correctly. Yesterday’s changes are all gone for good.

Good and Bad

I recorded some guitars today, which is good, but while I was doing it I missed a Richard Thompson live stream, which is bad.

Go to royalalberthall.com to watch the recording… I’m watching it now.

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Backward

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My new Klone pedal has been added to the May music project.  I put rhythm guitars on three songs and used my birthday-present-to-myself on all of them.  It sounds so good it’s silly.  I needed to goose the treble knob up a little higher than I do on the KTR to get a nice sweet spot, but I haven’t been able to use it on a high watt amp at volume.  It will all change when I use it for real.

I did something else with one of the songs that’s also silly… and fun… and awesome.

The rhythm part is just hit a chord and let it ring for two bars, more or less over and over.  After I finished the actual recording (double tracked, one panned left and one panned right) I added the first of two extra tracks.  First I recorded an additional take of the last eight bars of the song.  I then reversed the track.  That was a guide.  Next I muted the bass and actual guitar tracks so that all I could hear was drums and the backward guitar.  After that I used the second extra track to record myself trying to play along with the backward track.  It wasn’t easy and it came out pretty wrong, but at least I had the same chords playing on the two tracks.  One was forward and the other was backward but they more or less rang out correctly.

The last step was to delete the first of the two tracks, reverse the second track, and pan it right in the middle and unmute all the muted tracks.  Now when I play it back I have the normal parts and an additional backward part kinda playing along with each other.

It didn’t work out as I had planned it but…….

Coolest thing I’ve ever done.