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16 APRIL 2004 ...SYSTEMS RELEASED... Track listing and
credits: -
Performed by: - Andy Sayers :
Lead Guitar & Vocals Dave Werrett :
Bass Guitar Neil Phillips :
Drums Additional Lead
Guitar on “Something I don’t need”, “Realise” and “Full” Terry Anderson. Recorded at The
End Room Studio August to October 2003. Additional
recording January 2004. Mixed and mastered
March 2004. Systems artwork
designed by Andy Sayers. Outsider logo
developed with Neil Phillips and Terry Anderson. 15 APRIL 2004 ...STUDIO UPDATE NO 9... Systems is officially released tomorrow, 16 April
2004. It’s been a while since the last update so
we thought it was about time to fill in a few gaps.
We finished the recording some time ago really and, as has been
previously documented, it was at this stage (October 2003) that things slowed
down. Quite a lot of editing was
needed to tame very prominent hi-hat on most of the tracks but we eventually
had what we thought would be the final mixes towards the end of January. At this point we decided to go to a
commercially run studio to get the tracks mastered and that took place in mid
February. Unfortunately, whilst the mixes sounded good
as they were, it wasn’t possible to get a good balance at the mastering
stage. Basically, we ended up having
to compromise the level of the kick and snare drums to the extent that it was
decided that we had to go back to the drawing board. This meant re-mixing all of the songs. It must be stressed that this was in no way
down to the studio or engineer, who certainly did all that could be done with
the material he was given. A big thank
you is owed to Martin Nicholls for the work that he put in. It was only a matter of budget constraints
that stopped us from being able to go back to The White House for the final
mastering. In March we eventually completed the new
mixes and started the mastering process in-house. Andy has Sound Forge on the PC in his studio
and that was used to create the final masters. These were completed well before the end of
March and it was then a question of developing the artwork for the cd. A considerable amount of time was spent on
this and it could have taken longer without the help of Terry Murray of
Audiocopy to whom we are also very grateful. So, at last it’s finished and we’ve already
got two new songs ready for............... 31 DECEMBER 2003 ...STUDIO UPDATE NO 8... Things did slow down considerably once the mixing process was
started. The problems encountered were
more of a technical nature really and only a few bits ended up having to be
re-recorded or changed. On reflection,
some of the possible re-writing referred to earlier (update no. 5) was not
pursued and the way that the tracks have developed once the technical stuff
was ironed out made anything like this un-necessary. After several re-mixes we’re now at the point where the
in-house part of the project is virtually complete. Subject to a few minor changes, the next
stage is mastering and this should take place early in 2004. More on that later. One thing we will be able to do soon is get some
samples up on the site in mp3 format.
Sadly we can only get a few mb of mp3 files up on this site due to restrictions
on file sizes and the overall size of the site. We are looking at ways around this, such
as other host sites, but in the meantime we will be putting some shorter
samples on our mp3 page. As for the release date, we are currently
aiming for January and will update this as soon as we can. We still have artwork ideas to look at so
there’s still plenty to do. 22 NOVEMBER ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 7... Things have
slowed down a bit since the last update.
Andy has been busy working on the first remixes of several of the
songs and, whilst these are beginning to take shape, we’ve also started
experimenting with a few new ideas.
Not the best time to start re-writing songs but what the hell! We have also
come to a decision about the mastering of the finished tracks and, as this
can’t take place until early in the new year, it gives us a bit more time. There should
be another update soon and we’ll try to get some mp3 samples on to the site
in some form by then. 23 OCTOBER 2003 ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 6... Since the
sessions with Dave a couple of weeks ago, the vocals and backing vocals have
more or less been completed. Although
it might seem that this has taken some time, we have had quite a few gigs
recently and we’re now in the final stages of the project. This week Andy has added a few new guitar
parts, changed a few things and re-recorded the odd vocal part. The first batch of rough mixes have been
done and, as promised, some mp3 samples will find their way on to the site
soon. Initially the
aim was to pick several of the songs for the second album from these sessions
and start work again on the tracks that didn’t work out later in the
year. As it’s turned out, all of the
tracks have made it and the current track listing is: -
Could still
be some changes yet (titles, running order etc.) but the feel of the first
mixes is very good and the album should be finished before the end of
November. We are going to take a few
weeks off and then start getting the final mixes together. The next update will hopefully be
accompanied by some mp3 files of some kind. ...STUDIO UPDATE
NO 5 MONDAY 6 OCTOBER... It’s been a really busy week in the studio. Two very good sessions with Dave have
completed all of the bass tracks for the album and also a few covers that
we’ve put together for demos. It was
something else hearing the proper bass parts interacting with the rest of the
recording and really bringing the whole thing to life. It was sounding pretty good before, but we
really had to capture Dave’s sound and attitude to bring it up another
level. Fair play to Dave (two Pizza’s
Werrett). In the early
hours of Saturday morning I completed the last few guitar parts (solo’s on
“Hurts to feel” and “Walk away”). So,
subject to any last minute fixes etc. the drums, guitar and bass are done! The vocal parts have also been started and
again it’s been great to work with stuff that’s so familiar. Just like with the first album really, you
can just get on with it because you know what you’re aiming for. There’s still
quite a lot of work to do but with the current momentum we should be mixing
the first tracks quite soon. Details
of the final track titles and the name for the album will be revealed in a
future update and we will put some early mixes on the site in mp3 form soon. 23 SEPTEMBER 2003 ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 4 TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER... Last Friday’s
session with Terry went very well and we managed to just about complete all
of his guitar parts on the day. It
means a lot to me personally to have Terry involved, particularly on the
tracks “Realise”, “Full” and “Something I don’t need”
because he was involved in their creation! We were
gigging again last week so time was limited, but I managed to re-do a few
parts I wasn’t totally happy with. This
week I’m basically having a rest from the project, but later on I might get
around to reviewing the tracks done so far to identify anything else that can
be improved on. Dave will be
starting his bass parts next week and, once these are largely complete, the vocals can be put down.
Hopefully by then I won’t have a cold.
At this stage we can start getting some early mixes together. Andy ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 3 FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER... During the
last week I have been concentrating on guitar solos and various guitar
overdubs (Acoustic and picking etc.).
Terry will be in the studio later today to put down his guitar parts
so, to say the least, it’s coming together.
I did say earlier that the songs were easy to record but doing the
solos has been great fun as I am creating new parts and reshaping old ones as
I go along. All things being equal we
should have all of the music done within the next week to 10 days. Dave’s got some parts to re-record. Not because there’s anything wrong with the
initial bass tracks but we want to capture Dave’s sound in all its glory, so
I’m looking forward to that. Next will be the vocals, which will probably take a
couple of weeks allowing for gigs and rehearsals (and I’ve got a cold!). Whilst the vocal tracks are done we will
start putting together some rough mixes and, at this stage we will look for
any tracks that could be improved. We
aren’t looking for total perfection.
We haven’t got that sort of budget and we all have day jobs! The sound should, however, be pretty good
considering the resources we have and it will definitely have a live
feel. We will probably use some of the
rough mixes for a new demo so we might as well put some mp3 files on the
site, even if they are 32 bit or just samples. Anyway, at the moment it looks like our
target of an early December release will be met. Could be sooner. We’ll do a
further update in the near future and start covering some of the detail, such
as song titles and, possibly, artwork themes. Andy Sayers ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 2 FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER... It’s now
nearly three weeks since work started on the new album and we have nearly
finished the recording the initial rhythm guitar parts. For now all of the rhythm guitar parts are
being played by Andy, but this could change if another guitarist joins the
band before the album is completed.
However, at the moment it’s all sounding quite powerful and there
will, of course be some contribution from Terry Anderson in the next few
weeks. He will be recording his parts
before going back to University. Terry
has already been involved in the project, having co-written some of the
material with Andy, and he is responsible for the photographs on this page! There is still
the possibility of re-recording the rhythm parts using different recording
techniques, so this part of the process could continue for a while. What has been noticeable though is how easy
it has been to record parts that are so familiar. There have been a lot of first takes and
it’s great to hear the songs taking shape at this stage. Earlier today we had a listen back to
several songs with the various tracks roughly eq’d and it’s sounding really
good. The aim is to
get one or two demo versions finished before the end of September and include
some mp3’s on this site. ...STUDIO
UPDATE NO 1 FRIDAY 22 AUGUST... ..At the end
of the first week all of the drum tracks have been completed as Outsider
start work on their second album.. Work started
on Monday 18 August when the band (Andy, Neil and Dave) was joined in the
studio by former guitarist Terry Anderson.
During the weeks sessions Terry has acted as “an extra pair of ears”. Something vitally important during the
initial tracking process where everyone in the band is focused on the
performance of the song. It was also
particularly important for Andy who has the extra task of engineering to
think about whilst playing. Terry will
also be adding some guitar tracks on some of the songs that were co-written
with Andy, “Full”, “Something I don’t need” and “Realise” but his help and positive presence in the studio was really
appreciated during the first few days. All together 10 new songs have been started,
together with a few covers, for demo purposes, and one or two extra tracks
(more on these later). Recording is
taking place at Andy’s studio “The End Room” and the intention is to start
and finish the project there and perhaps use another studio at the mastering
stage. We are all
very excited with the results so far and can’t wait to get to the stage where
we can put some rough mixes together and maybe one or two mp3’s on the
site. Having more or less completed
his drum parts Neil will have to be find an exceptional level of patience for
the rest of the recording process! Neil and Dave
were both relatively inexperienced as far as studio recording is concerned
but took to the change in environment very easily and even coped with a
couple of surprises thrown at them by Andy.
First there was a new end section to one of the songs. Not only had Neil and Dave never played
this before but they’d not even heard it.
In fact the two and a half minute instrumental piece had only existed
in Andy’s head right up until just before it was recorded. The reason for this? “We’ve got to have one
over 7 minutes and this one needs to be it”. The second
surprise was probably more radical and, providing the rest of the tracking
process goes well, the new album will feature a song that was only introduced
to the rest of the band (briefly) at a rehearsal the week before. Currently untitled, the second take of this
song was also only the second ever complete performance, but it seems to have
captured some extra urgency. Talking of
second takes, or not. There were quite
a few first takes during the drum sessions.
To be fair, well over half of the tracks went down in one. Six songs were later re-recorded for
technical reasons but all in all there was a good, intense, feel to the live
takes. Something which should be felt
in the finished product. More track
details and updates will follow. |
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