Hateful Chains

Things moving forward part III

Ok, now it's been another year since I wrote something. But I guess a year really goes by quickly.

So much has happened, that I don't even know where to begin. It started where I left off, the last time I wrote here and told you we were now looking for additional band members. Here's how it turned out:

I made an announcement on a musician's web page's Wanted-list that we were looking for a bass player and a drummer. At this point we had done four demo-songs with the guitarist and put them on Sound Cloud, privately, because it might be that the songs change at some point and the demos are not official material ready to be released. Plus, drums were made with software and we both thought that when actually releasing something, we should have real players.

So, a few answers came and we agreed to meet some of them. First we found a bassist, a nice guy from a town an hour away. No problem, rehearsals could be arranged just fine. We had a rehearsal with him and the soundtracks. Then we found a drummer as well. Together we had a few rehearsals and it seemed to be slowly coming together. Then the drummer realized he had no time for this, because he had to care for his special needs child and had a business as well. So we were back to rehearsing with a track...

At one of these rehearsals there was some confusion about schedules, because the space was used by several bands. A drummer, a childhood friend of the guitarist, was there and heard of our situation. "Take me then!" he exclaimed. I thought "Oh yes!" and said: Why not! So I sent the demos to him and we made plans for next rehearsal. He had a ton of ideas and visions on how to take this thing forward. Both him and the bassist are with us today.

Next I started making new songs, or rather, finish those I had already started. I had made several songs that were all in different stages. Some were only lyrics with no music. There were some unfinished lyrics. I don't count those mindstream-poem thingies in that category, only those that already have a certain form, but lack a line or two, or are stuck. Some songs were already complete in my head, but had no chords thought out yet. So I sat down, played them and put down the chords. That clarified the structure as well. Some songs that I started forming in LMMS (Linux Multi Media Studio) were still incomplete.

Yes, I used LMMS at some point because it was free and easy for me to use. I needed SOMETHING to turn my songs into a listenable form. It sounded really machine-like, though, and is not an actual Recording Software. I now use Cubase, which is really nice and easy to use. I got it together with a sound card. Even in its elementary form it has everything I need to create pre-demos and, together with my Korg Trinity, to make the synth tracks for each song. I have kept the LMMS, because there were some cool sounds in there I like to use every now and then.

Anyway, with Cubase I made several pre-demos: Synth tracks the way I wanted them to be in the final "product", guitar tracks to give the guitarist some general idea on what to play, and bass and drums as midi-tracks. These were then transferred into the guitarist's Cubase, which has more plugins and stuff. On this we recorded actual guitars and vocals. After some general mixing these were sent for band members to listen to. And then we rehearsed. With this method I have now completed six songs and two more are on the way.

Somewhere along the way we decided that we would settle for synth track and not get a player. The more people, the harder it gets to organize, and everything runs smoothly the way it is now. The guitarist, and the drummer had experience in playing with a click track and it seemed the logical option for this. The downside is of course, the lost possibility to improvise. Every time we play, it goes the same.

But not entirely: There's room for solos and slight alteration in every song. So if the players are musicians, they are able to make the songs live, even with the click and synth tracks. Besides, this seems to be the way many bands perform anyway. Why, I don't know, but I guess one of the reasons is the demand to sound as good live as on the album.

Playing the songs and increasing their number has been going on for almost a year. Not bad! But it's time to think of other aspects as well, the non-music stuff. I decided to design the band logo myself. I have some training using Photoshop, so I thought I could handle it. I downloaded Gimp, since Photoshop is really expensive. Boy, did I have to learn new things! Luckily there were a vast number of tutorial videos on Youtube. So I spent a month or two creating a few versions of a logo which I then introduced to band members. Out of the most popular one I then created the final version. It can be altered and modified, if needed. Of course this is just the first one and there's no rule that says you can't change your logo. Some bands have the same logo forever, some change it every year.

Next, we needed pictures. The drummer had a ton of ideas for this too. I searched for a photographer who would have experience in band shoots and it turned out the drummer knew just the right guy! I think I'll save it for the next post, though...

Things have of course moved forward in my personal life as well. I have other other music-projects going on as well: an acoustic pop-cover band, composing contemporary music, arranging a contemporary music festival etc... Last fall I spent a month in Spain in an artists' residence, doing nothing but composing all day. A welcome break from all the work and ordinary life.

After that trip I moved in together with my sweetheart. Everything has been great! There's just no words to describe it, but I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life. I sometimes feel this happiness is wholly undeserved and might be taken away at any second. I dread it, but then there's no point in dreading something that has not yet come to pass.

So, until next time!