We’re getting close to finishing the recording phase of this new album. Since the last journal entry, all guitars have been completed and the vocals for about half of the tracks have been recorded. This leaves a couple more sessions to finish up the vocals and then maybe a day or two to add finishing touches on everything and then we move on to the mixing.
Even at this point, before any mixing has been done, the songs are all sounding really good. We’re really anxious to get this album finished so people can hear it. It’s been almost a year since we’ve been home from touring so I know a lot of people are probably wondering what’s going on or what’s taking so long or whatever. But I think anyone who actually cares enough to be wondering what’s going on will be satisfied with what we’ve been spending all our time on. We probably could have written and recorded a new album in half the time we’ve been spending on this one, but then I think it would really be obvious that we rushed it and most people would just be disappointed.
When it comes time to release the album, we may need some help with promotion. It could be anything from handing out flyers at shows in your area to just telling your friends to check out the new album. A lot of our fanbase has been built from word-of-mouth so every little bit helps. Things have been building pretty slowly, but I think with a little help, we can turn a lot of people on to what we’re doing with this new album. We’ll probably be putting up some flyers and other promotional stuff for anyone who wants to help with that kind of thing. And obviously we’re open to suggestions. If you have an idea on how we can get the word out about the new album in your area, please let us know.
Since we left off, Mike was eating his own shit, the drums and bass were completed and we were moving everything over to High View Studios to continue the recording process.
At this point, the next step is to record all of the guitar tracks. Instead of recording one whole song and then moving on to the next one — the way most of the other instruments are recorded — the guitar is usually recorded based on the type of sound being used. So, basically, all the “loud” parts are recorded in all the songs and then we go back and record the “quieter” parts and other parts that use different effects. Just to give you an idea, the chorus of a song like “Tabula Rasa” or “The Silent Acquiescence…” would be a “loud” part and the verse of something like “433″ would be “quieter” part. I guess that would be pretty obvious, but you never know…
Over the course of about 4 days (Oct 24-27) Tony recorded all the “loud” parts in all the songs and then started working on some of the quieter sections. Typically the “quieter” parts take a bit longer because you have to spend more time getting different sounds and making sure the effects sound right. I was actually only at the studio for 2 out of the 4 days Tony was there, so I couldn’t tell you exactly what was done. But a pretty big chunk of the guitar is now recorded which puts us that much closer to getting all the recording done and moing on to mixing. More guitars will be recorded towards the end of this week.
Even though the guitars are still being recorded, Jamie started recording some vocal tracks this past Friday. We usually start alternating between guitar and vocal sessions at this point in the process. Once a song has most (or all) of the guitars done we’ll start recording the vocals, mainly just to allow Jamie to have some time off in between vocal sessions, instead of having to do everything all at once and possibly blowing his voice out. This time Jamie was in the studio by himself, so aside from what he told me — that he finished the main vocal parts (not including harmonies and background parts) on 3 songs — I really can’t say much else about what went on. He sounded pretty happy with what got done though so I guess we’re still on schedule.
While Jamie was in the studio, the rest of us got together to start working on the DVD. It’s still basically in the planning stages — we’re collecting footage and mapping the whole thing out — but things are moving ahead. The only problem is that, so far, we’ve only recieved submissions from 2 fans, so we don’t have much to work with as far as that whole thing goes. We’re still accepting submissions, though, if anyone is interested. We will be using everything that we get in one way or another, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to be featured on the DVD… all you have to do is send us something.
Anyway, we’ll be back in the studio later this week so there should be another update here soon after that.
