New Sherwood Update
The latest studio blog from Sherwood can be seen by clicking read more.Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I go for a morning bike ride around our block (which is a 2 mile trip that I do like 5 or 6 times). It's a good thing I don't ride out to Griffith Park because my back tire goes flat right near the end of my 5th lap. I take my bike to a repair shop, but it will take several days to complete all the work I want done (it's an old bike). I might have to go swimming for exercise, which most of my band seems to be doing nowadays. It's just so cold in the morning!
We only have a few songs left in the preproduction phase. The first one for today is called Talk, a newer song that is very beautiful but has an usually dark subject matter -- it's spoken from the perspective of a torturous interrogator. Our demo is simply a big distorted guitar, some claps and the singing. Brad spends an hour tinkering on a strange synthesizer machine we've never heard of before (it doesn't actually have a keyboard on it, only a bunch of knobs, a switchboard, and all kinds of weird buttons). He records some chords, then Dan plays some guitar, then I play some drums and tamborine, then we take a lunch break. Dan and I watch some pre-recorded music programs during lunch (Pearl Jam on VH1 Storytellers which is somewhat interesting, followed by Goo Goo Dolls on Music In High Places which is too hippie for our taste, followed by Kanye West on VH1 Storytellers which is really sweet).
The last song on our list is Blind, a splendidly gorgeous ballad that has received mixed reviews. After listening to and talking about the song for a while we decide that it probably doesn't belong on this album. I am a little bummed, as I really wanted this song to make the cut but I don't take it personally. Some of the other guys have favorite songs they want to include that I don't like, so I don't make a big deal out of it.
Since there are no songs left on our preproduction list we break for the day while Brad begins making mp3 mixdowns of our rehearsal takes. I go install some new drum heads and then chat with Brad about Sunny Day Real Estate and Foo Fighters, delaying his work a bit. The man is full of great stories.
We start recording for reals tomorrow!
Our friend from college is performing with a comedy improv group in Hollywood so we head over there, search for parking which takes way too long and costs way too much, and enjoy an evening of laughs. Free popcorn!
Upon returning home, we find Nate hanging out with our friend Ryan (from VH1's Tough Love). Ryan has all kinds of stories from the show, including the fact that everyone on the show is an actor. This makes me dislike reality television even more. I fall asleep listening to Sigur Rós.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
We wake up and have our weekly band meeting. David and his girlfriend make breakfast for all of us (very sweet of them). Then it's time to start recording!
We make sure the drums are all tuned up nicely and choose the right snare for the first song (What Are You Waiting For). This song uses two snare drums -- a big, fat down-tuned DW for the verses and Brad's nice Keplinger stainless steel for the choruses and bridge. They both sound really great; it's a pleasure to play on nice equipment. We listen through the demo and go over changes that everyone wants to make, take a quick lunch break (pizza courtesy of Brad), and start tracking around 2:30 p.m. Brad's preferred method of tracking is to have everyone in the room together playing their instruments to capture the energy of a "live" performance (even though we'll only keep the drum tracks). Nate stays in the control room to sing vocals so Dan plays bass in the room with me, David, and Mike. Because we've played this song many times over the last 8 months, it only takes 2 times through to get it all right. One drum fill in the bridge requires a few extra takes but we quickly move on to song #2, Ground Beneath My Feet.
We tune the snare drum (Keplinger) down a little bit and change the cymbals. This is the first song I've ever recorded that uses a China cymbal. Dan is skeptical but Brad loves it (and so do I; I've always been curious to try one out). After playing through a few times we decide it would be interesting to record the song without the use of a metronome. This takes a few extra tries but we're later able to splice together parts of different takes to have a final product. Things are going well! On previous recordings we would get the drums sounding good and then I would record all the songs in a day or two. Brad's methodology is more spaced out so it looks like we'll only have time for three songs today.
We end the day with Everything. We switch snare drums, change some more cymbals (but keep the China which I use for one fill in the song), and track a few takes. Done! We'll probably do an acoustic/stomps-and-claps song tomorrow to complete the drums/rhythm for our first batch of songs to work on.
We celebrate the first day of tracking by walking to a really good frozen yogurt shop a few blocks away. On the way we pass a house which, according to Brad, has a recording studio that once belonged to Bing Crosby. Niccceee! I get some mint and chocolate frozen yogurt and load it up with almonds, Oreos, Reese's peanut butter cups, and cookie dough. I regret nothing.
My friend invites me to a concert in Hollywood but I am pretty tired from drumming, and have gone out the last few nights and will be going to a concert tomorrow (Brad is in a band called Cranky George that plays every few months and he wants us all to come tomorrow night). Mike, his girlfriend, and I catch the latest episode of The Office and call it a night.
Friday, March 27, 2009
We take advantage of the fact that there are eight people at our house (five Sherwoods + three girlfriends) by recording some group stuff for Make It Through. Brad brings a portable DAT recorder/microphone over to our house where we all put on boots and record some stomps and claps. It's very fun and I'm a little out of breath (towards the end I was jumping up and down to make some sweet stomp sounds). After Brad pieces together our rhythmic meanderings on his computer, we get all the guys and gals into the tracking room to lay down some group vocals. We all sing the part a few times, then all the girls sing, then all the guys, and then the better singers (read: not me) do some harmonies. I use my free time to take some pictures (see our pictures section).
Soon after, Dan and David's girlfriends have to leave. Everyone is sad; we've enjoyed having them around. The good news is that we have drums/rhythm completed for our first batch of songs. In case you haven't been keeping track, those four songs are:
What Are You Waiting For
Ground Beneath My Feet
Everything
Make It Through
Brad has to leave early tonight to play with his band in Hollywood, so we only have time to track bass for one song (What Are You Waiting For). We will do more tomorrow, but we'll spend most of the day in Long Beach at the wedding of our former merch girl, Ciara.
The bike shop calls and tells me my bike is ready. Mike drives me to the shop and I ride it back. Feels great!
Brad puts our names on the guest list for the show, so we go down to Hollywood and watch Cranky George play some Irish-inspired tunes. The others in his band include members of The Pogues and actor brothers Kieran and Dermot Mulroney (Dermot is the guy in My Best Friend's Wedding and, I discover, quite an accomplished multi-instrumentalist). It's a fun show. Everyone is excited to see Ciara get married tomorrow.
