The Dream Is Alive

So.
I'm done recording and editing.
Maybe with a little more feeling this time:
I'm DONE RECORDING AANNNDD EDITING!!)(*#$&*!!!!

This morning I redid a couple of final vocals and edited the bad fades I had heard in my listen-throughs, I erased some superfluous files on my hard drive to make room (since somehow, 2 songs before the end, I filled my 160GB hard drive), I consolidated files, and called the studio to make an appointment for mixing.
THAT is what I did today.

The process is far from over - I'm still finishing T-shirt design, website design, and digital distribution research and I have to start promoting and mixing and mastering (or having those things done). BUT, friends, the end is in sight! Thanks for joining me on the journey - I'll continue posting as mixing goes on. It will be really fun (for me - for you too, I hope) to hear the difference between samples that were NOT mixed and samples that ARE mixed. Yay!

Here's a final UNMIXED sample for you all:

Tired Lonely Fools (The DREAM IS ALIVE)

Thanks!
Mara

Yay! Still not done. But closer.

I'm working through all of the songs alphabetically now, condensing tracks that are edited and making sure all of those edits are clear and precise, fixing little annoyances in vocals and other parts, redoing guitar solos, and generally finalizing things.
Last time I posted, I couldn't decide whether or not to record the vocals for Gotta Get Out late at night after a long day of recording. I did record them then, and they weren't perfect enough. So today, with no warming up (sorry voice teachers and students), I knocked that vocal out in ONE take. Sometimes belting high notes works best for me without a warm-up. I know, I know, it does more damage. I promise it's not an everyday occurrence.
ANYWAY, I'm fully edited and ready for mixing with
Friends and Fools
Gotta Get Out
Happy Song
She Says She Knows
So Long (my love)

The list from my last post was slightly inaccurate because I have since listened and decided to edit a few of those parts. BUT, I think one more day of editing will be all I'll need.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has purchased advance copies of the album - I'm going to be able to afford to mix, master, and release the album with your help!

As a thank you, HERE is a full verse and chorus from Gotta Get Out!
Can't wait to play it for you once it's mixed and mastered!!

Gotta Get Out Sample

CRUNCH week

So.
My girlfriend just finished law school and is out of town for a week. I am waiting to set a date for mixing, but hoping to schedule it for later this month. What does that mean? I have LOTS of work to do! The nice thing is, I'm at a point where each song just has a few finishing touches left. I'm getting VERY excited. I've been working for about 10 hours so far today, and I have finished 5 songs including 2 with LOTS of editing work.
Songs that are now done:
Happy Song
So They Say
Tired Lonely Fools
Wind Will Back
and:

What If We Try (Falling Down?) - need to decide on the title.
For the record, this is the FIRST sample I'm posting that has the final lead vocals on it! Yay! Of course, when I go to the studio for mixing, we'll compress it, add reverb, and make it sound a lot cooler. Still, at least it's in tune now.

I'm trying to take good care of my voice so that I don't overdo the singing, but I think I have one more song in me tonight. Should I go for Gotta Get Out tonight? Maybe something a little more low-key. It's the age-old conundrum: Singing the tough song early so my voice can handle it, or saving it for the end so it doesn't ruin me for other songs. What would Renee Fleming do?

Should have more recording time tomorrow evening. Hope to post another sample then.
Love and back to work!
Mara

Yay for percussion!

Hello again, my friends.
Today was by far my most productive day since I went to the studio months ago. Perhaps the common denominator here is Ashley Baier, the fabulous percussionist who paid me a visit today to add percussion tracks and listen through to my drum edits. After she left, I did a ton of editing work and am getting VERY VERY close to being done recording these songs!

The first song we tackled together is one that I only began recording YESTERDAY. I had been wanting to add another track to the album the whole time, but hadn't gotten time to sit down and finish writing. Once I actually sat down and worked on it, this song came out in about an hour - not bad considering how long I had been thinking about writing it. Here's a sample of the beginning of the song, complete with Ashley's expert tinkering on various percussionary instruments. (DISCLAIMER: When I recorded the vocal for this yesterday, I was very stuffed up. Sorry!):

Happy Song Sample

I haven't yet posted anything from last weekend when Nancy and Liz were here to record backing vocals. We didn't get through all of the tracks I was hoping to have them sing on, but we did get through several songs in our limited time. Today I had time to sort through those tracks and edit them together. Here's a sample of So Long with backing vocals (and perhaps too many guitars). (DISCLAIMER: STILL not the finished lead vocal. Don't mind the squirreliness of my part):

So Long Sample


The major stumbling block now may be that all I have left to do for most of the songs are the LEAD vocals, and obviously I want those to sound good. So I need to be over my current cold, I need my girlfriend to be done with finals for law school, AND I need tiiiime to record. When the stars align, I'll finish the vocals and move on to mixing. From there, it should be a QUICK snowball to completion.

Happy spring,
Mara

Almost done!

Helloooo, world. Once again, I have been working furiously to make incremental progress for weeks now, but after yesterday I had no excuse - I HAD to post my progress. For the last few weeks I've been editing parts, adding little electric guitars here and there, and doing a lot of planning for backing vocals. Yesterday, the Pushovers came to Brooklyn and we spent all day recording backing vocals. Nancy and Liz started out the day with Is This My Life, singing the parts we always sing live. We then moved on to Sing So Loud and Tired Lonely Fools, both of which involved adding new parts to the existing vocals they were familiar with.

In the afternoon, several of our friends and girlfriends were able to join us for two group-vocal sessions. Jessie, Mandy, Zena, and Meredith all joined in for Tired Lonely Fools and Gotta Get Out (a-woah!), both of which sound fantastic now.

After the band left, I got to editing, and then had a very special treat - our two 10-year-old neighbors came down to the studio and added their expert voices to Tired Lonely Fools!

Because I haven't finished editing yet, I'm posting a sample of Is This My Life today. As soon as I have another few minutes, I'll post a sample of Tired Lonely Fools so you can start practicing to sing along with the final version.

IS THIS MY LIFE SAMPLE

In OTHER news, I have gotten some samples of logo designs from MY DESIGNER, and I'm really excited about the direction that's taking.

Love to everyone and happy spring!
Mara

What a weekend!

OMG, people, I had 2 days off from work, PLUS I worked the closing shift on Saturday which meant I had until 2pm to work on recording. This was, indeed, a busy busy recording weekend (see the picture of my living room, which stayed that way until about 5 minutes ago). I would say I went from being 45% done with recording to 90% done in just 2.5 days. I also went from being extremely stressed that I'd never finish to feeling confident that I'm nearing the end. SO, now the good news!

I finished bass, acoustic guitar, and MOST of the electric parts this weekend. For all the songs! I have a couple of half-finished maybe songs (maybe they'll make it to the album, maybe they won't), and I haven't worked on those yet. BUT, the following songs are ready for backing vocals, lead vocals, and finishing touches:

Friends and Fools (needs a new name)
Gotta Get Out
Is This My Life
She Says She Knows
Sing So Loud
So Long
Tired Lonely Fools
What if We Try
Wind Will Back

This weekend also featured an interesting near catastrophe wherein my 25-year-old Casio keyboard ALMOST went kaput. Somehow, while I was on the phone with my mother (who gave the keyboard to me as a gift when I was 8), it got better. I can't explain where it went, or why it came back, but I'm grateful to the Casio gods for having created such a fine piece of MIDI equipment in such a compact and resilient package. I used the keyboard today to work on Sing Hallelujah. It's a very simple song, and I thought it would be fun to add some electronic sounds to it. I think the sounds I found are OK, but not exactly right. But here's an idea of how it MIGHT sound when it's done. What do you think?

SING HALLELUJAH

After so much productivity, I can't just give you ONE sample, so I thought I'd give you a bit of Tired Lonely Fools too since it's one you have probably heard if you have seen me (or the Pushovers) play live in the last year or two. I think this still needs a bit more, but it's going to have tons of vocals so I don't want to overdo the instruments. They say you can always mute them later, but I tend to get attached to the way things sound, and have a difficult time letting them go. I find it's best for me to edit early.
Anyway, Tired Lonely Fools:


TIRED LONELY FOOLS

It is now time for me to drive to the airport to get my girlfriend, whose absence this weekend may or may not have facilitated a great deal of the work I got done. Not that she gets in the way, only that I tend to want to play (and eat) instead of working. Maybe I should erase this sentence.

Happy listening!
Mara

Almost done with Acoustic!

And my fingers show it! As I type this blog, my left fingers are feeling the computer buttons. Why doesn't Mac make a computer for guitar players where the keys your left hand types are cushiony and covered in lotion?

I digress.

Today I added Acoustic Guitar to Gotta Get Out and Sing So Loud. Both are songs where the acoustic part is going to be largely covered by the electric guitars, but I wanted the texture and added rhythmic specificity that only an acoustic guitar can provide.
Here's the same sample of Gotta Get Out that I posted earlier on the blog (I think), but now with Acoustic guitar mostly in the right ear.

Gotta Get Out with Acoustic Gutiar

Off to work now.
M