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STUDIO DIARY
The writing
for our new album “Three” is just about complete and we should start tracking
drums in the next few DAYS!!
A lot more detail will follow on this in the near future. 2003 STUDIO DIARY
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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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