April 2023 Grapevine

We’re at the end of the rainy month of April. At least we haven’t had a sudden freeze so we did have the joy of seeing the spring flowers bloom. Of course all the blooming added to the huge amount of pollen floating around the soup bowl of a valley we live in. I guess the moral you learn in the spring is that life and nature is a two sided coin. In spring there is the beauty of the flowers paired with the torture of the sinuses. So it goes with most things in life. This is another reason to indulge yourself in the beauty of artistic endeavors. There may be a negative side to it, but I’m not sure what that would be. Possibly it is the need to wade through a lot of selections to find music that you can really latch on to. But even that does not seem like a negative to me. As I scourer reviews and listen to different styles I always tend to hear something new. It may not end up being a style that does anything for me personally, but it’s always a learning experience. Even if a style of music does not make you want to delve in to it further, there’s always something to be learned. What instruments does the song use? How is the arrangement put together? Is there a style of mixing that defines the genre? What pieces can be used in the style of songs you are writing? When you listen to this month’s songs, keep those questions in mind – and keep an open mind. An open mind will open new doors and the other side of that door may contain an unexpected revelation.

First Up: Triptides – ‘Hand Of Time’

Listening to this song takes you back to the late sixties heyday of driving jangle rock. You can view it as ‘retro’, but that doesn’t distract from the beautiful way the instruments are combined to push the song forward. The driving foundation of the song is the drumbeat. If you listen to the kick drum in the beginning of the song, it almost sounds like a lower snare – tight and punchy. That sound along with the snare drum does the bulk of work moving the tune along. The snare is crisp with a little ‘dirt’ thrown in to add crunch. What’s also interesting in the percussion parts are the subtle pieces you can hear in the background if you really listen. If you listen closely you will hear what sounds like a shaker at the 1:15 mark. In any song it’s the little, subtle touches that you don’t notice consciously that make a difference. The guitars are split up nicely between the left and right channels with the left carrying a fuzzed out drone and the guitar in the right channel playing heavily reverbed single note lines throughout the song. The bass guitar is placed more towards the middle of the mix and keeps the song’s chord pattern steady. The bass sound and placement make a big difference in the song – just the right EQ, and mixed in so that it is perfectly audible without muddying up the rest of the instruments. There’s keyboards throughout the song which also add to the retro feel – a very 60s Farfisa sound. Finally the vocals are added directly in the middle. They’re upfront in the mix so you can catch all the lyrics with a little reverb and fuzz added. All this makes for a fun song for driving with windows down in the summer and a slight feeling of nostalgia for a musical time from the past.

Next Up: Maximo Park – ‘All Of Me’

For our next selection we’re sticking with the retro feel of early eighties indie rock. The drums here drive the tune throughout but are a bit more muted than in our previous selection. The song is built with dynamics that keep the verses a bit quieter and go full bore when the chorus starts. To add to the drive of the chorus sections a keyboard is added that plays a short consistent musical theme when it appears. For most of the song the bass keeps a steady pulse on the eighth notes echoing the keynote of the chord being played. The verses pull back on the volume a bit and are highlighted by the guitar playing the chords as arpeggios with some chorus and delay effects. The vocals and lyrics are absolutely highlighted in the song. They are upfront throughout and when the song picks up in volume during the choruses the vocals are doubled to keep them the main focus. In songs vocals have multiple purposes. They are an instrument and sometimes they are used for that only. But vocals also have a lyrical content and in many songs that is the main focus. Finally, the melody line may be the most important part of the vocals. There are songs where the lyrics are just OK, but the melody line is so powerful it commands the song and makes the lyrics seem much richer than they actually are. ‘All Of Me’ is a great example of a well crafted song that combines all of the elements in to create a fun, cohesive tune.

Finally: Bitter Defeat – ‘Long Lash’

We’re going to stick with the style we’ve listened to in the first two songs. I don’t usually have a theme style for the songs we review each month. For April, we’ve stuck with the indie rock sound throughout the three selections. Sometimes that happens due to the magazine I’m going through to find new songs, which is what happened for April. The instrumental lineup fits the bill here: two guitars, bass, keyboards and drums. We have a main vocal as well as some nice backup vocals to fill in the sound at certain parts of the song. The mix is pretty even, with each instrument having a presence in the song. There’s a guitar theme that is played throughout the song that acts as a counter melody when there are no vocals. As with the other songs in this style the bass keeps a consistent rhythm and stays mostly on the key notes of the chords. The mix between the vocals when the backups come in is well done. This can be trickier than you would think – you don’t want to overwhelm the main vocal and yet you want to have the secondary vocal loud enough that the harmony between them has a presence. The keyboard has the least noticeable sonic presence. It acts more as the ‘floor’ of the tune that all the other instruments are built on. One final interesting note is the drummer in the video playing his kit standing up. Not something you see very often and I’d love to know how that changes the feel of playing a kit.

Just Because – Billy Strings featuring Willie Nelson – ‘California Sober’

I’d usually throw a ‘retro’ tune in here, but this song just came out. What more could you ask for? Billy Strings and his band. Willie Nelson. Twisting a few up to keep ‘California Sober’. As always Billy and the band kick ass on the instruments with a few other guests appearing. This was written to celebrate Willie’s 90th birthday. We should all be so lucky as to be able to keep doing what we love when we’re turning 90. The smoke filled bus at the end of the video brings back fond memories (smaller vehicles, just as much smoke). If you have a chance to see either of these amazing musicians, don’t hesitate, just grab a ticket.

Live Music Report – Hoots & Hellmouth At The Sellersvillle Theater 04/12/23

On April 12 we got to see the band Hoots And Hellmouth at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA. Our seats were literally a few feet from the stage, so we had a great view of the show. The band would be difficult to fit in to one category. My best guess would be calling them a combo of Americana, Rock and a bit of Folk music. I always appreciate a band that is difficult to label. The two front men, Sean Hoots and Rob Berliner both took turns on lead vocals for different songs. They’re energetic performers and moved a lot on stage adding to an already high energy show. Songs ranged from quieter ballads to high energy rock songs. For this show Bob Beach from the opening act David-Jacobs Strain and Bob Beach stayed on stage to play harmonica with the main act and added some great solos to the songs. In this smaller venue they had a lot of interaction with the crowd, which makes it feel like you’re part of the act and adds a more personal element to the entire show. I’ve added a video I found of them playing live on WXPN from July of 2021, plus another older video. For the show we saw the instrumental lineup was two guitars, bass, keyboards and drums and harmonica, which made for a bit bigger sound then you’ll see in the videos. Definitely a band you should see live to get the full impact of their music.

In The Studio 16 – Multitasking

It’s been a while since we put up an ‘In The Studio’ video. One of the reasons we don’t have a lot of studio ‘tech’ videos is that I’m not really sure what people would like to hear about. There’s lots of sites that talk tech. I’d like to share practical information on how recording is done without becoming overly technical. So tech info for people who love music but don’t want to get in to the weeds of an overly technical discussion. That’s a hint to send me questions about topics you’re interested in from recording specific instruments to mixing and mastering. I learned how to record using the hands on method. Figure out one problem and one piece of tech at a time. That’s the reason most of the videos are completed start to finish without editing and with me manually moving the camera around. I want you to feel like you’ve walked in to the studio with me and sat down for a chat.

Today’s video discusses the fun of being able to multitask if you have your own recording setup. If the video sparks any questions you have, or you want to know about another topic, please send those questions in!

March 2023 Grapevine

Time keeps flying by. March is a season of change. Today we went back to Daylight Saving Time (I personally like the light later in the day rather than earlier). March 20th is the first day of spring. There’s the saying “March comes in like a lamb….”. The idea is that the changeover from winter to spring is a time of sleep turning in to a time of growth. The interesting part is the changeover is different depending where you live. In our area we still have somewhat distinct seasonal changes. In other areas the changes are more subtle, or the winter and summer weather lasts longer or for most of the year. Go farther north and you might have snow from September through June. People react differently to seasons. Some people are able to hunker down inside and produce a lot of new art when the weather is bad outside. Other people need to be able get outside in nice weather to get the creative juices flowing. I tend to fall in to the category of people who are affected more by the amount of sunshine than the outdoor temperature. I also find that what’s going on in my life affects me more than the weather does. I wish I had the ability to be creative no matter what the circumstances. People who are able to separate their creativity from the circumstances they are in tend to put out more creative projects. Right now we have a lot of partially finished projects on the burner. I’m hoping the roll over in to spring will make our projects bloom. In the mean time let’s look at the music some other people are putting out and take some inspiration from them.

First Up: Dry Cleaning – ‘Don’t Press Me’

I get a kick out of the human necessity to find a label for most things. This is especially true when it comes to artistic endeavors. Categories, sub-categories, sub-sub categories. Dry Cleaning falls in to the category that is being labeled by some as ‘sprechgesang’ (Wet Leg would be another example). It carries a feel of ‘indie rock’ musically. The drums keep a relatively straight forward beat throughout the song. The bass sits mostly on the keynotes of the chords, sometimes doing walking notes from one chord to another and helps keep the beat steady by staying mostly on quarter or eighth notes. The guitar is the wild card here. It often runs through little riffs or melodic lines during the verses. The guitar sticks to the top end. I would describe the sound as ‘thin’. That’s not a criticism as it is a deliberate choice that the band makes. The parts played and the sound of the guitar sticks to the top end. There’s not a lot of fatter middle and low tones in the guitar sound. There’s a little bit of distortion crunch, but not too much. The guitar tends to walk across little riffs and a lot of chords are played as arpeggios. With the bass and drums being the foundation, the guitar almost acts as a vocal. The biggest feature that ties bands doing this style together are the vocals. ‘Sprechgesang’ has vocals that are partly spoken and partly sung. And the parts that are sung are ‘lightly’ sung – there’s not a lot of movement in the vocal range. Dry Cleaning’s vocal mix feels like it’s sitting on top of the rest of the mix and are recorded very dry. It feels like being at a fun band party where the the band is playing and someone is talking in your ear right next to you.

Next Up: Momma – ‘Rockstar’

There’s a lot of different styles that fall in to the big category of ‘rock’ music. At this point it’s pretty hard to create a style that’s really unique. I would bet that if somebody came up to me (or you) and said “wow, this band has a totally different sound”, we’d would be able to give examples of other bands, maybe famous, maybe obscure, that sound similar. So the question becomes. does falling in to a ‘known’ category make a band automatically good or bad? A resounding “nope’ would be my answer. The devil is in the details: what does the band do with that sound? That’s a long lead in to talk about Momma and ‘Rockstar’. The sound is classic ‘indie/grunge’. Quiet parts, giving way to loud, blasting sections. In ‘Rockstar’ we have clean guitar parts with simple strummed chords, dropping out the bass and drums. When the time is right they kick in the guitar distortion to bang in to heavy mode. The vocals tie everything together, keeping a consistent almost laid back feel throughout. Sometimes the difference when you’re taking on a more well known style is how well the song is mixed. They did a great job with this song. The drums and bass are at a consistent level in the mix. If you go too loud with the actual sonic volume in the noisier distorted parts the quieter parts become lost. It’s a delicate balance and Momma pulls it off in this song. This is a song that catches me with some of the vocals and the tie in with the video. “Still need a drummer, the last one quit the band” sums up our years of experience in the multiple incarnations of our band. Do people still put up flyers with pull off tabs? I think anytime a song captures a personal experience the listener has had there’s a big connection right away.

Finally: Phil Tyler & Sarah Hill – ‘Are You Going To Leave Me’

I thought we’d end on a song that works with very stripped down instrumentation. The song is made up of vocals and banjo with sounds like some background hand drums. I’ve always liked bluegrass music and have become a much bigger fan of the style in the last few years. When we talk about music with banjos and mandolin we tend to think about bluegrass. But the instruments have served in many different kinds of styles. Folk music often used that instrument combination. A lot of styles like folk and bluegrass drew from early English and Celtic music. The feel of this song falls more in to the Celtic style. The banjo is played in a claw hammer style as compared to the three finger picking style that has become more associated with bluegrass. There’s more full chord strums added to the single picked notes. The vocals certainly have the Celtic feel and sound. You have to do a great job with mic and EQ selection to get the vocals right when the arrangement is a spare as this song. If you’re not familiar with working in a studio and recording some of the concepts may seem sort of backwards. I’ve found that’s it’s often more difficult to record a very spare arrangement like this as compared to a full multi guitar rock band. There’s not a lot of room for error as any little mistake or glitch will really stand out with no drums or loud distortion to cover them up. They did a beautiful job with the presentation and recording of ‘Are You Going To Leave Me’. Any song that would sound right for walking through the woods alone will always catch my ear.

Retro: The Sisters Of Mercy – ‘This Corrosion’

I thought we’d take a trip back to the dance clubs of the late 1980’s. This song originally appeared on the band’s 1987 album ‘Floodland’. ‘This Corrosion’ was the lead single from that album. It fell right in line with much of the post punk music being created at the time. There were a lot of post punk bands whose music was perfect for hitting the dance floor. Making danceable music is not as easy as it would seem to be. You can’t just get a beat and throw anything on top of it. You have to hit the right tempo. Not too fast, not too slow. The best dance music made it almost impossible to stay off the dance floor. The drums and bass keep the song moving along. The vocals are what really propel this song forward. You have a lead vocal that is in the baritone range, which sets it apart from most dance music. The great idea here was adding the huge chorus of vocals through out the song. The album version (usually the version played in clubs) has a 38 second chorus lead in. In a club that was great – you’d hear it and it was a call to hit the dance floor. The snap of the snare and high end mixed kick drum sound propel the song, but all the instruments are designed to keep a steady beat going, where you can place the vocals on top. The Sisters Of Mercy used a drum machine – they referred to it as Doktor Avalanche as if it were a human band member. The sound of most bands doing this music was often somewhat keyboard/synthesizer centric – a lot of small parts that worked perfectly together. This song, however, also has some really tasty guitar parts thrown in – noisy leads and chord arpeggios in the background as well as actual bass guitar. Turn on the black lights and push up the volume!

Messin’ With The Music Part 22 – ‘Children Of The Sun’

We’re back with another cover song by Electrostatic Rhythm Pigs. It’s been a while since we put one together, but we’re back to work on a few new ones. This one is ‘Children Of The Sun’ by Billy Thorpe. It was originally released in 1979 from the album of the same name. The album was Thorpe’s debut album in the United States after success in his native Australia throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The original version of the song is pretty long – it clocks in at 6:44. We went back to our usual process of recording these covers. All acoustic instruments using the same microphone, pre-amp and compressor pathing in to the mixing board. We do use an electric bass, but run it directly in to the same path as the microphone to the mixing board. We do the takes of each instrument straight through to give it the most ‘live’ sound possible. For this song our game plan was to speed the song up, so it’s 17 beats per minute faster than the original. The original song has a lot of heavily fx’d guitar parts so there’s a lot of instrument sustain, which we wouldn’t get with an acoustic version, so we decided to go with a faster version. The song has two guitars playing the main parts for a foundation. We added twelve string guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo and some tambourine with multiple tracks of vocals. To get the spacey feel of the original a lot of reverb and delay was added to the tracks during mix down. Hope everyone enjoys it. We’re already discussing what our next cover tune will be.