Tag Archives: acoustic rock

Songwriters Know – It takes how many takes?

Posted on by
1

By Jeff Copperthite:

Finally was able to get a solid session in today. With a schedule like mine, it is very difficult to find an hour or two at a time.

Between teaching, marriage, and a running addiction to Final Fantasy XI, recording time is hard to come by all at once.

Thankfully, Final Fantasy XI was down for maintenance, my wife was at work, and school was over for the day.

So I got down to the studio and finished the guitars for the song i’m working on now.

And those who have recorded before know how much it takes to lay down one track you are happy with. I ended up with five guitar tracks. The song is about 4 1/2 minutes long. That’s 22 1/2 minutes of guitar recording. That is assuming of course I get each one right on the first try.

Good thing nobody under the age of 27 lives in my house. When you mess up what was a terrific guitar track by missing the string or the chord, it is usually followed by a four letter word that isn’t “love”.

Multiply that by 40.

While three of the five guitar tracks were done in 4 takes or less, the fourth one went through creative changes. Do I want it distorted? Let’s try it clean – nah, screw that lets get that distortion back – wait, is that how I had it? 9 takes later, I had a track that i’m somewhat happy with – i’ll probably end up recording it again. If anyone listened to me talking while recording they’d think i’m nuts.

It’s weird when you know you’re nuts as well.

That’s not even considering the guitar solo, which only happens for 1 minute of the song.

I must’ve played the same solo for the 1st half of this time span about 24 times before I got one perfect.

Then I did the 2nd half on the first take.

When I listened back to it expecting to have to record it again, I surprised myself with it. Recording is like that. Once in a while you nail an entire song in an hour. Other times the song nails you. Or gets you nailed…

No, just kidding. I have yet to have the need to throw throngs of fans off my legs so I could get in my tour bus.

But as you can see. It is a fickle hobby that we are involved in. Good thing you get to hear the end result. It takes hours of recording to get one 4 1/2 minute song for you to enjoy. Imagine how long it takes to record an entire EP or album. Good thing we’re allowed to sleep in between.

Well, more updates to come when they happen.

Until then…

“I’m So Lonely” (A Beach Boys Cover)

Posted on by
2

Okay, so now for a REALLY obscure one!

This song is from the Beach Boys self-titled 1985 album. It’s called “I’m So Lonely” and was Brian Wilson’s only solo lead on the album.  Why would I pick such an obscure song? Well, for one thing, my roomate dared me to figure it out on my own, and this is also the way I’ve been feeling lately (bust out the violins).  But can you blame me?  I mean, living away from home is tough.  Factor that in with just starting to work full-time for the first time.  Plus, add in running a condo for the first time.  When all of those things combine, you find that you don’t have a lot of time for yourself.  But that’s where music comes in.  Singing, playing and recording these cover song music videos for the Laptop Sessions music blog is a great way to keep the passion of music in my life without taking up too much time.  Honestly, I don’t have that much time to take up anymore!

Most people don’t like the Beach Boys’ 1985 self-titled album.  But, I don’t understand why.  To me, this album has just about everything.  It’s not without its flaws, but I’d love to hear a redone version of this album with real instruments.  I think people would have a much different take on the album.  But, it was 1985 and the Beach Boys were using cutting-edge technology to record their songs.  They wanted to do all of their new songs digitally, so they went over to England.  There, they found one of the only studios in the world with the equipment to pull off such a task.  Maybe the Boys wanted to sound “hip” and not like they were a bunch of guys in their 40s.  The result was one of the first albums released on compact disc- a revolution, but not well-received.

For one, the fans definitely noticed the change in style (except for “California’s Calling”, featuring real drums by Ringo Starr- the only person worthy enough to take Dennis Wilson’s place on a Beach Boys record).  But, I like the style.  Sure, I was born in 1984, but honestly, I love the style of these songs- especially Carl’s contributions.  “Maybe I Don’t Know” is one of my all-time favorite songs.  It features great lead vocals and an amazing mid-80s guitar solo.  I’ll agree- it’s hard to believe it’s from a Beach Boys song.

With “I’m So Lonely”, the Beach Boys got Brian Wilson to contribute a song.  You know, I think Brian sounds pretty good on the recording.  He sounds passionate (unlike his lackluster performance in “Crack At Your Love”).  The song is simple, but it’s great to hear Brian’s falsetto once again.  If you haven’t listened to this album for a while, I strongly suggest you give it another chance.

This video is EXACTLY what the Laptop Sessions are all about.  These acoustic cover song videos are meant to take songs and strip-down their production (in this case, the synthesizers of the mid-80s).  I want to make videos where people say, “Wow, I never liked the studio version of that song, but since you just made it an acoustic version, it’s actually a really good tune!”  I think I do the song justice and I hope you enjoy!


Late Night Video Blog – A Songwriter at Work!

Posted on by
1

By Jeff Copperthite:

So what the heck is the newest member doing up at 2:18 a.m. on a blog that just started?

No, i’m sober.

Yes, i’m nuts.

No seriously i’m really trying it out to make sure i’m able to post. If you’re reading this, then another mission accomplished.

I’ve been working in my not-so-aethestically pleasing studio on another track for Greenlight. I have a terrific audio picture of what I am doing for this song, and I got to mess around with guitars and a bit of vocals lastnight. My wife came down with me and snapped some photos of me at work. I’m posting the vocal picture on this entry because – well, it goes to show when we at FMP record our singing, we aren’t a bunch of stiffs in front of that microphone.

Singing and loving it

I’m not looking at a furnace and water heater – i’m envisioning the five fans bobbing their head in time with the bluesy beat.

Told you I was nuts.

And you can tell from the background – I can’t wait to get to that putting up corkboard ceiling and a nice non-load-bearing wall in front of said appliances.

But seriously I look forward to recording most of the guitars and vocals for this song soon, and I have another 3 songs to start recording. I am so excited that music is coming naturally to me again.

Also, Jim, Chris, and myself are already plotting “Jamnation 2: the search for more listeners.”

Ok fine, we’ll probably just stick with “Jamnation 2”. Why can’t album sequels work like movie sequels.

Hopefully soon I can procure a webcam and contribute to the laptop sessions. There are lots of cover songs that can use the FMP touch, and I want to do my “part” (come on musicians – laugh!)

Until then…

“Jamnation 1” Video Blog Clip

Posted on by
1

A few weeks ago, Chris, Jeff, and I combined for the launch of the new Fusco-Moore.com. We were so excited and planned for weeks to do “Jamnation”, an EP of songs played live in our studio, then overdubbed live (again!) to make a total of six “musicians”.

We were very pleased with the way it turned out and had a TON of fun doing it- no arguments or anything. Of course, Jeff always brings that kind of fun to the table, so that’s one of the reasons we wanted him in Fusco-Moore Productions. Below is a short video documenting some of the work we did that day. Now, we’re all looking forward to Jamnation 2!