Making an album has changed my opinion on music

[carpents]

Sorry in advance for the rambling.
The short version: I wrote, performed, and recorded an album and I have a heightened respect for most music.

The long version:
I've wanted to make this album for 20+ years, but, you know, life. I stumbled upon an unmarked cassette one day in early 2017, and it was a 3-song demo from my band in ~1995. And it was actually GOOD. (Thankfully, there were no vocals, I shudder at what we would have sung about then.) But it was a post-rock sort of thing, very creative, and aged well IMO.

I told myself that I was going to finally record the album which has been sitting in my brain for 22 years.

Unfortunately, I knew nothing about recording an album. I didn't even own a microphone. The only amp I owned was an 8" practice amp. I recorded some demos using the mic in my laptop and signed up a singer & drummer. I got encouragement from a friend of mine with a studio/local record label, and signed up for studio time.

Then the singer backed out due to time constraints. Then the replacement singer backed out due to time constraints. You know, life.

I decided that I was just going to do it myself. I bought some microphones (which I now adore) and good pre-amps (also adore) and decent guitars & amps (also also adore). It turns out that I really like the engineering/recording aspect of this. Since I was teaching myself, I used some creative/non-standard mic techniques and came up with sounds I really like. By the end of September 2017, about 6 months after starting, I had a decent base of instrumentation. I hired some session drummers because the original drummer decided that "real" drums were better than what he was planning.

Then came the vocals. Oh dear.

Singing into a microphone is not the same as singing in the car, or in your head. Throw in headphones (and self recording) and it is as much technique as talent. And let me tell you how envious I am of those singers with great natural voices.

Lyrics were just as hard as the actual singing. Trying to avoid cliches while simultaneously fitting a melody and rhyming, while actually saying SOMETHING in the song is way more difficult than I ever imagined. After a thousand re-writes, I'm still not sure I got all 9 songs right in that regard. I leveraged a lot of good advice from songwriters on the web, for which I'm grateful.

After a year (literally) of re-singing and re-writing all the vocals, I finally got comfortable with them.

Mixing & mastering is a Black Art, I have zero aptitude for it and don't want it either. If you enjoy mixing and mastering, you have a rare talent and should be doing it for money. (In fact, PM me, I am working on another album.)

So, the point: I've become much more understanding of just how difficult it is to create a cohesive album of music. I'll forgive more a cliche'd line in a song, or appreciate the little bits of even simple songs. I'm even more marveled by those bands who can transcend into greatness, because every single step in the whole process is difficult. Even after you're done, then it's difficult to watch people critical of what you've made. (I've gotten some very good feedback on mine, both positive and negative.) I also spent more time in the past 18 months listening to music by people here, or on RYM or small local bands. I've learned a lot from a lot of you.

If you're interested, I put a link to the album in my signature. It's a slowcore/indie kind of thing, so if you're not into that you won't like it. (You might not even like it if you are into that! Ha!) It's streaming everywhere and I have a YouTube channel under the band name "Synchromatica", where I posted a live take of one of the songs. (Again, apologies for how long this was!)

[Hayden]

The most reliable critics of any art are those who have dabbled in that art themselves.


Anyway, I'd gladly give it a spin. Bandcamp perhaps?

[carpents]

[Hayden]

[Hayden]

Hey, you've got something here!

Plenty of early 90's influence across the board, and mixing and mastering's definitely up-to-snuff, no worries. You should be proud of this, nice and cohesive, to the point, professional standard. Suffer, Division and Acceptance are pretty good standouts.

Being said, if you're working on a new album, I merely say these things in hope of you moving forward:

As a bassist, I always try to remember rock musicians/band to have fun with basslines. You've put a lot of effort into the basswork here, but there's plenty more room for it to shine. You've got it kinda following the rhythm guitar, which is perfectly normal, but every once in a while there's these gaps that I kept desiring it to do something (mainly Need) — don't fear the bass.

Don't fear brass either. Brass would've fit nicely on a track or two here. You've got the violin midi on Breakdown, which's a nice switch-up, but some larger instrumentation can go a long way.

Speaking of bass, just gotta fill out the vocals a bit more (small bass boost, easy). Just sounded a smiiiidge thin. Don't know what mic you were using though. In my (disastrous) attempts at vocals, I've used everything from a $4000 Neuman to a built-in laptop webcam. Once past standards for recording instruments, mics for vocals can get really personal. A lot of people I've worked with have a favourite that stick with because it suits them the best (not always the most expensive options either).

Careful with mixing different reverb plates, it can makes things sound unnatural.

Stylistically, I would've loved some more shoegaze-esque dream fuzz overtop everything, especially at more climactic-moments, but that's just being nitpicky.

Everything else was spot-on mate. All the best with future endeavours

[Tha1ChiefRocka]

That's awesome man. I gave it a spin, and I'd believe you if you told me this was some long lost album from that era. I don't have the kind of time or income to do anything at this point, but I'd like to someday.

[carpents]

[carpents]

[Hayden]

[AAL2014]

This post. I like it. This is a good post.

As a drummer of now a decade, I haven't much dabbled in the recording/engineering aspect until recently. I work at a music shop where lessons are taught and there is a studio upstairs. While the engineering part can be incredibly tedious, it is a necessary evil so to speak. Cool to hear you got some results you liked through non-traditional means and mic placements, no such thing a "right" in music.

I have to say many congratulations to you for finally hammering it out and making your album! This post is coming at a time in which I'm beginning to write heavily with my band and we're planning out our first release. Nothing quite like it is there?
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