Painted Smiles - next steps

No session this week or next week. I'm taking a break this week to create some space for getting some things done at home.

My thoughts on what to do at the next session - I was thinking that we created a precedent when we worked on The Great Escape in January, by creating an alternate mix (see Great Escape - alternate mix). I'm considering doing the same thing. It's not that there's anything wrong with the current approach; it's more about challenging our imagination. Suppose we were to start with the same bed tracks we've already put down, but used it to create an alternate mix, one that emphasizes different song elements. We'd end up with two versions, two different flavours. I think that could be a good thing.

Painted Smiles 2006 remake - Day 2

Steve added some synth tracks and some synth arps and I put down a guide vocal track. I could feel the effect of the harmonic structure we discussed last week; I could hear it pulling the melody in a few places, encouraging me to choose different notes on certain lines.

I felt like I was off in the You can... verse because the chord progression didn't go where I expected and I compensated by adjusting my delivery. When we played it back, it sounded fine; it worked. What was throwing me off was that in my chart I had the You cans placed as coming on the downbeat, but the music we recorded required that I deliver them as pick up notes. In the end, it's good enough for a guide vocal.

Steve searches for something particular in the synth module. "I'll hunt you down," he says, and finally concedes. "It'll probably come to me tomorrow morning."

Next, out comes the red guitar. Some clean guitar playing, adding the textural layers, followed by some "edgy" guitar playing. Steve looks like he is having a religious experiences when he records his guitar tracks.

Drums. Steve gets an aerobic workout on the electronic kit, adding some human performed hits on top of the drum loops from last week. Playing to a click track allows us to use drums as an instruments rather than as the traditional timekeeping function. I consider that to be one of the distinguishing characteristics of my music; don't use drums just for the sake of using drums, use them because the song calls for them.

Click the play button below to hear the partial mix.


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A new dream vacation

J and I took a few extra days off work and gave ourselves an extra long weekend last week, which we used to take a Thousand Islands cruise. We stayed at an Inn in Gananoque, from where we started a five hour cruise that took us on a tour of Boldt Castle.



I now have a new dream vacation, which is to live in Gananoque for three months in the summer and write a book. I was particularly inspired to learn that the son of a local bookstore owner had written and self-published his first book (Aeldenwood, by M.G. Belanger).

My other dream vacation is to rent a boat for two weeks and sail along the Trent-Severn seaway.

Painted Smiles 2006 remake - Day 1

I had the first studio session this week, to start off the Painted Smiles 2006 remake project. We discussed the harmonic structure of the original recording and ways to approach the remake. The original version was centred around the Am chord; the droning or pulsing of the clavi synth anchored the bass line. Steve suggested an approach in which the bass line moves with the chords, creating a different harmonic structure. We still came back to the droning effect in the outro.

The bed tracks are down now. They consist of two acoustic guitar parts, an electronic drum loop and a bass synth track. This partial mix, as it stands now, makes me think of a soundtrack for some movie or TV show but I can't quite place what it is. Some crime drama I think, like Bourne Identity, or CSI.

Click the play button below to hear the partial mix.


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A decade of service

Here's an excerpt from a letter I received from my employer this week.

Congratulations on your upcoming service anniversary. Your hard work, loyalty and dedication have helped make [company] a world leader in productivity software and professional services.

I made it to the ten year mark! When I was just starting my career in IT, I kept my first job for two years. The first year was good and I enjoyed it. After the first year some changes were made and I became progressively dissatisfied over the second year. Finally I left and went to my second job.

The second job proved to be my job from hell experience. I stayed there for two years as well, but it felt like I'd been there four years. I felt like I had gained four years of experience during those two years. Considering how many 10-12 hour days I put in, I probably did gain four years of experience.

My pattern to that date led me to question whether I was even suited for the work environment. Maybe I should go back to school, stay in the academic environment? Well, I decided to try for job number three before making that decision. I started job three and soon found that it was a much more positive and enjoyable work experience than the ones I had previous. Given that my history to date had been of changing jobs every two years, I resolved to stay with this job for at least three to five years.

The three year mark came and went and I had no inclination to leave. However, one day I was approached by some colleagues who had left the company. They wanted to recruit me to the company they had joined. I didn't really want to change jobs at that time, but they courted me for a while and eventually made me an offer I didn't want to refuse. So I took that job and now it's been a decade!