Studio Update – The Richest Man

Well, the mountain hike was a bust.  At least as far as the video footage is concerned.  There was nothing scenic about that trail.  It was an unforgiving ascent for two miles without pause.  A serious thigh buster.  The dense forest prevented me from capturing anything of the vista.  Back at home, I had to spend a chunk of time backing up the studio computer; a day of downtime.  I’ll spend the rest of the holiday practicing the guitar and working on the percussion.  America is a beautiful place.  I am filled with pride today.

Enjoy. Peace. Jason

Studio Update – The Richest Man

The Richest Man Cover

Progress on the percussion continues in fits and spurts.  I finally went back and began to flesh out the rhythm guitar part.  I’m using Yang at the moment;  my Fender Stratocaster from the late 80’s.  I’ve already found a few killer vocal harmonies, but haven’t recorded anything yet.  I’m spending a little time today working on a “reboot” of a song called Signing Your Scripture from the album Gyroscope.  I need to get back into the habit of working on more than one project at a time.  I get much more accomplished.  I’m going hiking into the mountains today.  I’m hoping to get some good footage for this song’s video.  Enjoy. Peace. Jason.

My Fender Sratocaster Guitar
My Fender Sratocaster Guitar

Studio Update – The Richest Man

The Richest Man Cover

I’ve been back to work on this project.  A week ago the song was only a single lead vocal line, background guitar and synth pad.  The percussive section had just started to develop.  Now, there are a few drum parts across the first third of the song.  There is also this wicked little metal percussive riff that brightens the stage.  I am surprised how much I like the song’s character already.  It usually takes more development first.  I’ll probably continue onward with the percussive instruments until I reach the end.

Studio Update – It Sounds of the Winter

It Sounds of the Winter Cove

Tons of progress.  I re-recorded the background vocals after all.  The audio is now in a Final Review stage.  If I can listen to it three times consecutively without anything sounding wrong I’ll consider the song done.  I’m expecting to publish to iTunes some time this week.  The video is now 98% done.  Just some final refinements; mostly timing issues.  I’m digging it much more than last week.  The final shots have really added to the overall project.

Studio Update – It Sounds of the Winter

It Sounds of the Winter Cove

Life interrupts: sprained an ankle,  redecorated the studio, and more.  I’ve continued to move the project forward; if only in small increments.  The video is probably 75% done.  The audio was nearly complete until I got it in my head that another short background vocal was needed.  I’m still debating.  I have the long memorial weekend ahead of me.  The goal will be to finish up everything.

Studio Update – It Sounds of the Winter

It Sounds of the Winter Cove

The video is crawling along at a steady pace.  Probably 50% done.  It’s coming out well.  Done in a similar style as Sandstone Fossil Fear and Baring Lake, I suppose.  Very time consuming.  I’ve had to stop all work on The Richest Man and other projects.  The audio recording of ‘Winter is rounding out nicely.  The lead vocal has a weird blown-out-reverb effect that I’m lovin’.  It will take another week or so to complete.

Studio Update – It Sounds of the Winter

It Sounds of the Winter Cove

Rainy weekend.  All hopes of shooting new video were dashed.  I spent a good amount of time on the general production of the existing shots and text.  Probably 25% complete.  I’m getting much more comfortable with the editing software.  I’m kicking myself because the initial ‘vision’ I had for this video is translating into a much more complicated project than I want.  Typical.  The final recording of the audio went through a few more revisions.  I’ve been cleaning up the low EQ mostly; getting rid of the muddy-ness.

Studio Update – The Richest Man

In progress album by The Jason Fables
In progress album by The Jason Fables

Found two great synth pads a couple of days ago.  All of a sudden, the trajectory of this song has changed significantly.  It’s sounding more open and lavish.  I may not need many other instruments or vocals for this one.  If that holds true, I am much further along than I thought.  I need to get to work on cover artwork.

Studio Update – It Sounds of the Winter

It Sounds of the Winter Cove

I think all tracks are recorded now.  However, I’m not yet convinced these last background vocal tracks are good enough.  We’ll see if they grow on me.  The overall song mix is in a pretty good place.  Usually there are tons of tweeks to make once the final tracks are down, but this recording is already close.  I didn’t expect this song to come out quite so sad.

I started into the video today.  The first few shots are in position.  When I went running along the river this afternoon I found a cool place to film myself singing the lyrics.  It would have a small waterfall as a backdrop.  Maybe next weekend.