this is HARD!

So I'm worried this time around isn't going as smoothly as it has in the past. Ideas have been hard to come by. And they've been building a new apartment next door. I should've had the foresight to write an album about construction. And now, when I want to record some vocals, there is a loud ass thunderstorm brewing outside. I should've written an album about Benjamin Franklin. Damn, that would've been awesome.

Anyways, hope everyone else is fairing better than me, or at least are enjoying a quite recording space. See you at the end?

Things are getting hairy.

Three days left and I've only got 13 minutes of music. This is a problem. I still plan on hitting the 30 minute mark, but unfortunately, it's looking like the rest of the album will probably not sound nearly as nice as the three songs I have recorded. The songs will still be cool I think, but the production value is going to have to drop off significantly if this is to be finished on time.

As a side note, doing Record Time while working third shift is kind of crazy. I get home from work between 7-8am. This leaves me with about 4-5 hours of recording time before I need to go to bed. So, I go to bed around noon, wake up at 7-8, record for awhile, and go back to work at 11. The problem with all of this lies in this weird facet of working the third shift: your life becomes one very, very, very long day. Endless. You spend 24 years of your life going to bed when the sun is down and waking up when it's up. When you only sleep with the sun outside, the concept of a "new day" is kind of lost.

What I'm trying to say is, this album is weird as hell, very fast, and very loud, because I HAD to do it that way to keep myself awake through any of it. I hope you all like it.

Longboat is Long

Day 3 of Record Time, but only Day 2 of my Viking Metal epic!

Not a lot to report from last night, but I finished all the drums and heavy guitars. The album is clocking in at a whopping 32 minutes. It's all pretty slow, which helped a lot.

I've learned a ton already from RT9. I realized that instrumentation/production really have nothing to do with how ambitious an idea is. My piano/vocal only concept actually turned out to be too ambitious for Record Time. I was listening to a ton of Regina Spektor, James Taylor, and Carole King, thinking "I'll just write some of that." Egotistical much? In fact, I'm learning that the simpler the instrumentation, the more work it actually is. Lyrics matter more, performance matters more, structure, melody, everything. It might be true that in Record Time, you need at least one element that can be pretty much thrown by the wayside.

Anyway, the album is heavy. REAL heavy. And I've realized I have a secret weapon: my sister, who has agreed to supply some really over-the-top opera vocals to add to the epic factor (she's a vocal performance major). I've also got 4 days to find a Horn of Gondor-type thing.

I guess I'm toying with the idea of giving this album a story, because why not? It'll just be a bunch of pillaging, maybe someone gets betrayed by the gods and kills them, I dunno. I'll probably figure it out Saturday afternoon.

Later!

so much to do

I find when I do record time I branch out and collaborate with other people more than anything else, last time I produced a rapper, did a ridiculous jingle and a metal cover, all but the cover being inspired by the people that worked with me on those projects. This time around I'm working with a screamer and branching into that genre (very new for me), T Clax the rapper looks like he may make another appearance to record time in a song that I haven't started yet, and last night had a bunch of guys over (the same that worked on/inspired the brilliant work entitled mr. brew from the last record time) working on what turned out to be an 8 and a half minute campfire song...filled with just awful vocals that i'm sure will be melodyne heavy by the time it gets to sunday. Every time record time comes around again I get more and more ambitious...then realize how much work I have just cut out for myself...that's about where I'm at now :).

Day 3isms!

Day 3 was super good!  I love that Record Time fell on my birthday, & I think yesterday all the stars aligned perfect for maximum success.  (Someone even gave me a capo - about time I get my hands on one of those!)

I got a song written as well as a progression for another.  The song I wrote is by far my favorite I've ever written.  It's really lyric-heavy, which is something I was trying to stay away from, but I also think it's appropriate.  This brings my album to:

Intro
Song I
Song II
Song III music
Song IV lyrics

Two songs left to reach my goal!  I'll probably finish writing today & start recording tomorrow.

The world of music is exciting right now.  Keep blogging!  Keep musicking!  Getcha some!




xoxo,


Marta

Gear and a Viking Metal Primer

Alright well, there's not much reason to do this, as my gear hasn't changed since last time, but here it is!

My room was so clean just two days ago! Now it's gross. Honestly took these on my way out the door this morning. Please don't judge.

I had an AWESOME night of recording. I feel much better now. And I can tell you with certainty that I'm now making a straight-up old school VIKING METAL album.

For those unfamiliar with the genre, Viking Metal is, well, metal about Vikings. It technically started as an offshoot of black metal, but it can be in a pretty wide variety of styles. For mine, though, I'm shooting for the really early sound exemplified by Bathory - a one-man band made up of a dude named Quorthon (may he rest peacefully in Valhalla). I used to listen to the album "Hammerheart" before track meets in high school.

Here's the best example I have of old-school Viking metal:

As you'll notice, the production is pretty crazy. Ridiculous amounts of distortion, and the drums are huge but sort of buried at the same time. That's the plan for me as well. Last night I recorded 15 minutes of drums and basically wrote all the guitars. Tonight should be another 15 minutes of drumming, then filling in ALL the guitars and bass. Would be awesome to get all of that finished and have 4 days for keyboards, vocals, and mixing.

I'm also thinking this won't be under the Strange Battery name. The opportunity to give myself a Viking name is just too great to pass up. I don't know how, but I'll need some artwork like this, too:

I realize I may be the only one that enjoys this album. LIKE I CARE.

Pullin' Hard.

I don't think I've ever pulled this hard for lyrics.  My album is going to be instrumentally sparse, so I've been much more concerned with vocal inflections and lyrical content.  I am definitely having some of the most fun writing lyrics this time around than ever before, and for whatever reason, a lot is being pulled from my daily encounters with the homeless in San Francisco.

I bought a new guitar for Record Time back on Sunday.  A vintage Takamine acoustic.  Exciting.  It's been a pleasure to finally work on an acoustic instrument that sounds thick and good.

Hit an all-time best album cover composition for any of my solo work.  Had an entire photo shooting afternoon, and I can hardly believe how well the photos turned out.  Mmmmmmmalbumartwork.

Here's to 3:45 AM, waking up, and feeling the need to contribute to the blog.  Bitchin'.