Stormcellar Band Home Page

Getting final input on Psych Surf and By Myself.

It's the minor tweak stage, then I reckon release'em as singles.

Mr Wizard thinks I oughtn't release two singles in the same timeframe for reasons that I can only see as based in 20th century thought. I don't think anyone gives a hoot as to how/when a song comes out, nor do I think there's a 'right' way to do stuff at present.

I'm guided by when the thing is finished, at which point, release the thing into the wild.

Here's where we are at:

Next Album Candidates

• waiting on a message from bob -released as single

• liquidator -released as single

• morning flame -released as single

• 2 week millionaire -released as single

• the fix is in -released as single

• The Duke - released as video

• The King Is back -released as single

•  Crossfire - -released as single
  
  
  EP Candidates

• Go Down Easy - released as video

• i disappear (unplugged) -released as video

MIXING

• solace - mixing

• robin trower thing -mixing

• don't lie to me - mixing

• where I am - mixing

• heavens on my shoulder - mixing

• psychedelic surfer - mixing

• the yearning - mixing

• liquidator remix - mixing

• by myself without you - mixing

As I can't answer the question of what goes where yet, i'm fixing to finish the songs and then work the rest out later. I think there's gonna be a flurry of work in the quiet end of year/early new year period

Singles are easier because album tracks have as they're played alongside other tracks so it has to sound cohesive which means doing so detailed mastering work and I am such a neophyte at this stuff.

There's no time demand for completion other than the fact that we like to work at this speed and there's plenty of other material that would benefit from some attention, which happens when we finish one lot of songs and move to the next.

I find the Greenhouse process fascinating, as the songs develop at their own pace and come out when they're ready. Gathering the seed ideas and nurturing them has produced some good work over the years and it's more like we're recognising a process than choosing one.

Expect a couple of singles soonish :)

Long trip this weekend. 1400k's round trip-ish, that's 870 Freedom Miles for our US cousins.

I got soo many photos and vids cos Theo was doing the driving. I love the scenery of New South Wales. I have a soft spot for it. I am likely to use them in a video cos that's what i do ;P

Production Update:

Mr Wizard reviewed the Bass parts, all tick tick tick. Noel is a legend.

That means mixing is on in earnest. I reckon I am getting towards done on Psych Surfer and By Myself Without You - oh yeah the boys want it out as a Stormcellar release...oki i guess.

After I have had a chance to decompress after the mini tour I'll post some of the current WIP's.

Nutshell is, I wanna finish 'bigtime in newtown' for this album. That's aspirational, the actual product will be whatever it is when we think we're done. I get that.

Pics from the tour on our socials fb etc, more to come in due course.

This coming Fri/Sat/Sun the whirlwind mini tour is coming to the northwest of nsw! COBAR/DUBBO/PORTLAND

Sunday at the peanut butter...i mean pyrmont bridge hotel 3-6pm

Bah. Some technical problems, I was pitchy, I kinda rushed at the end of the drum session tryna get a vocal done and don't know how I missed it. ARGH. I don't like my takes. ARGHH!!

Also i think i liked the microphone we used to record the guide track better than the large diaphragm mic. Bah part 2.

Also? Cymbals. I've been trying to get Theo to play the cymbals separately for mixing purposes, we've done it before and it works well but Theo doesn't like the less-than-live vibe so yesterday that suggestion was not well received (i.e: Nope).

Problem is, I have 6 tracks of room/overhead and smash mics that are overwhelmed by cymbals, so they're unusable. I am cutting out all the extras between hits on the snare/kick and tom mics. It's a fair bit of work. I have had to trim, gate, eq and then use a frequency analyser to find and remove the extra SHHHHH noise.

Theo's response was the Ben knows how to get a great sound. Of course, Ben isn't mixing this...

For 'by myself', Paul S. sent me compressed files with some very loud amp noises so I am filtering and processing like crazy. Because Paul's out of commission, if I want to release this thing in a timely manner I gotta go with what's there.

When I add the extra SHHH to some parts of the track where the guitars are already a little low fi, it starts to get messy.

My online mate Mix Engineer explained how the Pro's are using MIDI and samples to keep the frequencies clear, where the drummer plays but the actually sound is replaced by a clean sample mapped to each hit.

I am kinda tempted....

But really? I am mostly miffed at myself for flunking the vocal takes. The drums were the main objective and the vox were an add on after we got the drums done but I did not do a job I am happy with and I think i'm gonna have to try again.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/recording-mixed-116722930?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link