Jack of no trades…
Just a quick note – after four months of negotiation (!!!) The Third Ending have just signed a deal with ProgRock Records for promotion and distribution of our debut CD. The ink is still wet on the contract, so there’s no official release, but it is definitely happening.
Hurrah, and all that 
I’ve been working on the audio & video recordings from this gig last weekend, and my poor aging PC is feeling the brunt. It’s a shade over three years old now, a humble Athlon XP 1900+, and while it has served me admirably, it has always had a penchant to run rather warm. I think it actually may be the motherboard (a Gigabyte GN400Pro) – I’ve read about a few problems with inaccurate temperature readings on this particular board, so it may be that it’s not infact overheating – it just thinks it is. Nevertheless, it brings my audio work to a spectacular halt each time. Processing slows to a crawl, audio stutters, the poor machine starts emitting a series of strangled beeps, and then has to go for a bex and a good lie down before it’s good for anything. Now I’m not one to deny my PC the right to its R & R – it’s getting toward the twilight years in PC terms after all, but I still need to do my work.
The recording & video itself are in fair to moderate shape. Some of the problems reflect those on the night – Cornel’s vocal parts are virtually inaudible, and the pitch is pretty wobbly (due to the fact that they were virtually inaudible on the night as well, so he couldn’t hear himself). The acoustic guitar was a bit out of tune for a couple of songs (again, we didn’t catch it, because we couldn’t hear it). Nothing irreparable, but then you start to encounter the slippery slope of concert recording post-production fixes. The acoustic is out? Well, let’s just grab the Maton & plug it in, we can re-do that one easy enough. Hmm… except now the vocal doesn’t quite sit with the acoustic for a couple of lines. Ok, where’s my SM58, I’ll just fix that up… oh, but the sound is a little different, I can’t quite match the EQ, and it’s really obvious where all the bleed drops out in the new section, so I’d better re-record the whole song – just so it matches sonically of course – I’ll reproduce my performance on the night, flubs and all, so it’s honest. Oh, well, except for that note, and this one here… and ohhh that one was quite bad. I know I can sing them correctly, so I’ll just do them here, and it’ll be more of a “hypothetical gig recording”.
The next thing you know, you’ve got INXS’s Live Baby Live, which while it has the word “live” comprising a full two thirds of its title, ironically contains about the opposite ratio of actual live recorded material.
Now, where’s that autotune plugin?
Well, I’m not sure how much of this little live video/audio we’ll be seeing – apparently the reording outputs on the mixing desk were positioned post-EQ and inserts, and so there is precious little low frequency information to be had. Also, as various factors led to the gig starting at 11:45pm, we were all a bit teddy-tired, and the performance is not exactly all it might have been.
I’m personally still keen to mix & edit it up, and at least see how it looks and sounds. If nothing else, we can sit at Knotty’s place with a few drinks and a pizza, and watch it on the big screen for a bit of a laugh. I’m also still cautiously optimistic that we’ll get something useable out of it, but I have yet to hear the damage with my own ears so far, so I’ll reserve my final call. The video looks reasonably ok – I’ve been assembling a rough-cut, and it’s coming together nicely.
I’m being brief for now, as I’m as tired as a very tired thing, but I’d say it was generally a success, more or less. I’m watching the video recording now, and we seem to have acquitted ourselves reasonably well – and in the face of considerable organisational adversity!
More soon. Thanks to all who came along and clapped & cheered. You rock.
Gig day.
In just over twelve hours we will be taking the stage for our Tassie-prog extravaganza. We ran the whole set at Knotty’s place last night, it all times out pretty much exactly right, and is generally sounding good, apart from a few little stuff ups. I think everyone had a bit of a case of the tired’s last night – it’s been a pretty busy week rehearsal-wise!
My voice thinks so, at least. I started cracking a bit on high notes last night… Ooeer. I made sure I got a good sleep last night, and I’m trying to stay as hydrated as I can today. Ahhh the glamour and excitement of being a rock vocalist. I don’t think it would be the end of the world, but after all the preparations, it would be a shame to mar the evening with throat frogs.
Load-in & soundcheck begins in a little under three hours. Aaarg!
As anyone I’ve been in a band with recently can attest, I have a shocking awful memory for lyrics. Not a useful trait in a vocalist, I’m sure you’ll agree. I’m not sure if it’s a “too much alcohol in my early/mid 20s” scenario, or simply a confidence issue. More the latter, I suspect. I used to be quite good with lyrics – but a couple of tabula rasa moments can really shake your foundations. I can sit and write down the lyrics to most of our songs (and the covers we’re playing tomorrow), but when it comes to actually dredging them up in real-time so I can sing them? And play the keyboard at the same time?
Nope, I don’t have that power.
Thank god, then, for inkjet printers, pieces of black particle board, and gaffer tape. I have a cunning plan.