26 SUPERHERO [070209]

Well, here we are. Halfway. Congratulations on making it this far.

Download 26_Superhero_[070209].mp3

Download 26_Superhero_RADIO_[070209].mp3

It's a celebration. Or, it's not.

I got you a gift! Songs in the correct order! I haven't updated the individual songs because that's way too much work, but if you download the project-to-date zip file (also below "collect them all" on the right) and drop those files into your music playing client of choice, they should line up in chronological order.

Now, for your gift to me, you can go to my store and give me some money. I will then give you a gift of a Sasquatch Hunter t-shirt or a hard copy of I Am Not a Sailor I Am the Captain, at which point I will be up 2-1. The gift-giving will not cease!

I apologize for the poverty of this post - it being a celebration week and all. I have been busy with general human obligations over the past few weeks and am working frantically to make sure the music does not slip. Can't say as much for the literary quality of my posts.

That said,

If you have been following and you dig what's going on, please commemorate this milestone by (1) leaving a comment and (2) giving me a bump/link via facebook, twitter, email, or whatever your friends like to click on. I'm really thrilled with the quality control that I have been able to maintain over these last 26 weeks, and I think that we, as a group, can feel good about sharing this with others.

Maybe I'm getting slightly pop-er

I woudn't really have a problem with that. This song has three verses, a story, a hook, and no WTF-inducing detours. I like that. It's tough to get my brain to settle down sometimes.

The jangly guitar-sounding part that you hear is actually a hyper-sped-up sample of Jesse's strummed bass from the outro to Dirge Nowitzki (listen and see if you can spot it). I originally set this song up an an exercise in sidechain compression; I was going to set up the kick and snare to trigger compression on the guitar so it pulsed in and out of the mix. Once I had managed to set up the compressor correctly - an accomplishment in itself for me - I realized that my idea sounded horrible, so I scrapped it and just moved forward with the song.

Slower lyrics = shorter vocal sessions

It has taken me a while to come around to the slower delivery. For the record, the guys in Indef asked me to slow down my vocals from the get-go. But I was young, stubborn, and all gung ho about proving myself as a skilled rapper (fat load of good that did), so I resisted. Now look at me. I have to admit that I have been partly won over by the fact that less crowded vocals are just easier to get done. It's also far easier to add inflection to lines. I would also imagine that it's much easier for you to listen to them without getting a headache. Finished vox for this song in around 2 hours. In contrast, Body (listen) took about 4 hours in the booth.

Welcome to Vocoderville, Population: One

You probably didn't even know it existed.

Did those hooks using the cheesy little vocoder on the microKorg. Had some issues using the built-in mic, so I ran my vocals through my main vocal rig before sending them into the vocoder. The compression really helped even out the signal into the vocoder, which got rid of some nasty frequencies.

I Am So Analog

Third verse is the best. Wouldn't you agree? Every once in a while I come back to these songs and hear a few lines that suprise the crap out of me. Often it sounds as if I'm listening to someone else. I'm pretty sure that when I revisit this song, the first half of the third verse will stand out. Ultimate goal is to be able to make an entire record of songs that make me feel like this all the way through.

BTW, I'm skewing more analog each week, thanks to this a Krohn-Hite band-pass filter on loan from Nick. It's one of an impressive fleet of these things that Nick has collected and modded for pro-audio use.

I have taken to running my snares through it to roll off the nasty, fatiguing digital edge that Reason and Pro Tools so generously add to my samples. Reason especially. I probably ran 80% of the parts for this song through the Krohn-Hite. Sometimes I just let the sound run through the tubes for the rounded-out sound without even using the filter.

On that note, I picked up some cool lab amps from MIT Flea a few Saturdays ago. Will post pics next week. Plan to slap some XLRs on them and see what happens. Stay tuned for the exciting results.

The blogs they loved me once this week

Basha!Basha!Basha! Gotta love that handle.

Will try to get back into the flow next week with a longer and slightly more entertaining post, maybe with some links.

Song details:

Mixed by Phil Gorey. Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East, Cambridge MA.