'The A.N.A.L.' -sessions

Days 34-35, 2-3.12.2008

After doing a roundtrip with almost all the equipment to the Studio Sucks-gig, we kinda got off to a slow start... But to be honest, there's not much to do. These 2 days were dedicated to doing some guitar work, and replaceing some 'almost perfect' tracks with 'perfect' tracks, due to the fact that Antti had health issues. Others than his head, that is.

I know this is getting old, but the fact that everyone has improved in so many ways means that absolutely everything is being poked and prodded, to make as perfect a song as possible. Every track is under a looking glass, and no one is getting away with half-assed shit anymore! The arrangements, the performances, structures, vocal nuances, even a single drum fill or cymbal strike is questioned. This makes the work go a tad slower, and the tendency to be frustrated is bigger, but let me tell you - it's worth it, every inch of the way.

The positive thing is that the confidence in the songs picked to be recorded has not faded one bit. The songs are different from each other (hey - what do expect), but that's kind of the point.

This is one happy studio camper awaiting for the next fine day of recording!

Days 30-33, 10-13.11.2008

Work work work... These few was allocated to vocals and basses. Also some acoustic guitars were fine tuned for the first single you're about to hear... Also a gig fell into our lap on the most perfect time, to get our minds off and to gather strength to the final recordings. Not much is left, 3 complete songs, plus some backup vocals. The focus is slowly but surely shifting to postproduction. Joonas has his supercomputer crunching down some numbers as we speak, and the first song is on the verge of being uploaded for all you poor bastards to enjoy.

But i must warn you - it will be pretty. Almost too pretty. Most of all, it sounds fresh and the song works like a bag of nails.

The gig week is most likely studio-free, only some rehearsing and mixing/mastering. Check back here for updates, because the plans might - lo and behold - change...

Days 26-29, 3-6.11.2008

Nothing mysterious on these few days, just continued on with the process. Vocals were continued a little bit, Face Polish is almost done.

Guitar leads were added to 2.0, rhythm guitars to 'Nimiois' and 'Unholymorbidmättö'. By both Joonas and Janne. Basses were cut to 2.0. This week we'll take stock and see if there's anything that needs polishing and re-recording, and continue on with vocals mainly. Joonas also has some new mixing and mastering tricks up his sleeve, so they will probably be A:B -tested. Asstonic is so close to a release-ready version so the day is near when new Schmorf stuff is out there...

The weekend was free from studio duties, and you know what that means. Schmorf took they're entourage and - like always - created some very weird myths in the vibrant nightlife of Kokkola. If only someone would remember what they were.

Days 23-25, 28-30.10.2008

Mostly vocals on this short stint. 'Asstonic' and 'Egosystem' are both now complete with vocals. Asstonic also contains all the guitars now, which meant a short but intensive rough mix and mastering session for Joonas, our master masterer. I guess i don't have to tell you that the song blasts away everything living from a 10 block radius. Most of the inanimate objects too.

Two days off now from studio dabblings, and next up is more vocals, and maybe some bass and guitar tracks. Simultaneous mixing and mastering, and adding of some keyboards and samples. Were getting there, so hang on for just a few days and you'll hear some new shit!

Just a few words about the progress made within the band. The most noticeable and audible difference will be the vocals. The months that we've rehearsed and played gigs have not gone to waste. Antti has added some VERY clear nuance differences and styles to his repertoire, and the general idea is to go all out on, expecially, the vocals. FYI.

A concrete example on Antti, his vocals and their evolvement: when the vocals where written to Asstonic, they were knowingly done quite difficult, just to make things more interesting. Everybody thought that a certain line was hard to perform, but we went with it. Well, here comes the recordings for this line and Antti cuts it on the first take, and says: 'give me another track and press record'. The guy cuts a second track with backup vocals from his sleeve, without any help from the guitar or anything. On the first take.

Days 21-22, 26-27.10.2008

Guitars were recorded to '2.0' (except for the lead parts), 'asstonic', drums to '2.0' and 'unholymorbidmättö'. A fly was written on with a black magic marker (flies are stupid - get a hand close to them and they fly away, but somehow they are in trance when in presence of a magic marker). Winegums were eaten. This means relaxed but efficient.

It is always nice to notice the steps taken formard by everyone. The whole friggin bunch is more focused, gets things done faster, better, more precise, and arrangement ideas are thrown around by everyone. Working is FUN, so to speak.

Some vocals were dabbled on too. Microphones were compared, sounds and vocal styles thought about, and the final vocal settings are pretty much done now. This means we can dive knee-deep into them from now on.

One thing that hasn't come up here in the studio diary is the amount of preparation that has been done to this project. That is one big part of why the sound will be better. We are taking advantage of all the potential at our disposal. Playing-wise, instrumentally, techically and so on. Again it has to be said - i can't think of anything that could be done better. Maybe with a 200 000 euro studio, a professional producer and engineer, mixer, masterer - this kind of stuff maybe, but this is not (yet) at our grasp.

Nevertheless - things seem maybe a bit too good. Remains to be seen!

Days 17-20, 22-25.10.2008

Basses are now done to project name 'asstonic', and basses to project name 'hurlutihurluti'. Guitars were recorded to 'asstonic' also by both six-string heroes. Some bad news also, the guitars recorded by Joonas to the very same song were not laid down with the correct settings, so they have to be scratched and re-recorded. Fortunately, it's only a 1-2 hour job, so nothing tragic.

Drums to 2.0 were exported wrong from the software, so they're unusable also. But exporting them again is easy.

Next up is the guitars to 'asstonic', 'hurluti', '2.0', basses to '2.0', and drums to the rest of the songs. And, on monday, vocals. At least to the first 2-3 songs, which will become the net single.

Days 10-16, 15-21.10.2008

Took the weekend off to format the good'ole hard drive, but managed to get some things done on the days surrounding them.

Lead guitars are now a 'check' on 'Face Polish - Disapproval', and drums to '2.0' - a new one in the studio, but has been in the set list for some time now. Face Polish is growing up to be even more a megalomaniacal, epic, grand, massive piece of music than imagined. We have some VERY big keyboards up our sleeves already (from the 'tryout'-remastering of the song, which fell through because we decided to do the whole fucking song from scratch), and next is a total overhaul of the intro. I'm talking layers of acoustic guitars and vocals. Maybe it's the 'More Than Words' of Schmorf? We definitely look like Extreme in their hayday! Where'd that hairspray go...

The first vocal tracks will be recorded on 27.10, and here we also will see some 'firsts'. Namely backing vocals will be added by probably all the band members, but at least Janne and Joonas. And no - not the mayhem you already heard on 'I Am', but REAL vocal stuff. Well, maybe the chaos stuff too, now that it got mentioned... There sure is material to add them to, let me tell you.

And oh yeah, bass guitars were also recorded to 'Face Polish' and 'Egosystem', and some postproduction fiddling were introduced to them also. I have told you this before but i must tell you this again. The initial sound of the band is way, WAY better than before. This doesn't mean the ones before sucked donkey sphincter (well, the really early stuff did, to be perfectly honest...), but there's room for improvement. Didn't know there was (at the time), but there is.

So, all the 'to-do's' are jotted down and being addressed, so the infamous 'Constant and Never Ending Improvement (tm)' is here again. The bar has been raised, now we have to live up to the expectations!

Days 8-9, 13-14.10.2008

Still trying to get the hang of 'studio mode'... The plan is - as you all know i presume - to first get used to all the new equipment and stuff, and get 1 new song recorded, and re-record Face Polish - Disapproval, and release these as an 'internet single'.

The biggest difference to the studio sessions before is preparation and focus. Everything seems to flow a little bit more easily. Of course - the one last nail on the coffin still is yet to emerge - that is Antti, the Dr. Phil of recording. Well, 14.10, he came from under the rock he was hiding at, and started to get back his usual mannerisms and vocabulary. First one to get caught in his verbal abuse was Joonas.

The stuff now caught on tape is drums to Egosystem and Face Polish - Disapproval. Guitars to the former. Half of the guitars to the latter. Also a rough mix and master has emerged, so we are kinda keeping all the plates swirling at the same time, which is not that hard now that we know how. In fact, the end result will be better, because now all the rough edges are in the open and we are able to fix every problem as they occur. If we'd be out from the studio and focusing on post-production, it would be a much different story, if then faced with issues. So a little bit more sensible solution.

Now i have to excuse for the in-depth, detailed revision of our studio philosophies, but i'm sure this is one thing that will be heard on the songs, so you're free to heighten your expectations a tad.

So, this means the bass players (news on this coming shortly...) gets to whip their dicks out next. After that, Antti with his vocals. Then off to keyboards and programming. So we should be having new shit up and running here in a week or two.

'Nuff bullshit, now to harass the bass artists!

The kickoff, Days 1-7, 5-12.10.2008

Oh my friggin' christ, this one got off to a HUGE start. Meaning the first day(s) went to fucking around with computers... Why? To display the DIY-punk-attitude, we thought that the best way to do it was to do EVERYTHING by ourselves. With a capital E. This time it means setting up our own studio, complete with equipment and everything.

As the shit was set up, we got to experiment with guitar sounds, and this time we have the opportunity to get the best out of every instrument. Now - having heard the first draft of the first song (including drums, 4 tracks of guitar and a VERY raw bass track), it sounds amazing. Gets the juices flowing. Fuels the motivation, so to speak!

The drums are recorded in a kinda... different way. The sounds are played back through software, but all the notes are laid down the old fashioned way. Drumsticks, pedals and so forth. Everything is done to honor the music, though, so if this sounds bad, also the sounds will be acoustically produced. This remains to be seen, but the initial feeling is definitely positive.

The songs will be recorded more 'chronologically', meaning one song at a time. This is also an experiment, to keep the focus on the particular song. So don't you even think that we're not trying to improve everything as we go along!

The songs to be recorded are even more varied than before. There's faster stuff, more mellow stuff, more mosh parts, more latin music (you'll find out...), and the band is pretty much psyched to cut the tracks to get the shit out to everyone! More info in news about the formats and everything. Now off to recording some more!

'Metaschmorfosis'-sessions

Mastering the Metaschmorfosis, 9-xxx.02.08

Mixing and mastering the 5 (6, including the instant masterpiece by this new and exciting, up and coming band called Alfa Omega & the Päissääns) new songs, we kinda wanted to kill ourselves with work. This meant learning both mixing and mastering ourselves. The bright idea was that we know what we want best ourselves. Albeit it took many, many hours of learning new stuff from scratch, it paid off.

I'm writing this on 18.02, and only one song is finished, but i might say that learning these new things was worth it, hands down, no question. The rest of the songs are done to a degree of 60-95%, but they all sound like we invented ourselves again. The sounds are of better quality, and the wonders we are doing to the songs actually makes them better by far. Sure there are different elements being added that we didn't plan, but this is what we signed up for! It's nice to know that you can surprise yourself in a positive way!

This much i can say, if the 4 other songs live up to the standards of the first one, we are in for something great. Don't think for a second that you've heard it all, there's quite a few curveballs coming your way...

'Alfa Omega'-weekend, 1-3.02.08

Well, here we go again, it's studio time at Lahnakoski Records, again. Studio virginity with schmorf needs to be popped for Janne, too, so the recording engineer/producer/singer/songwriter/studio psychologist Antti, and the guitar heroes gather on Friday at Lahnakoski records to fuck around with guitars and vocals.

The goal was to get as much done as possible, guitar- and vocal-wise. With brand new equipment, the first day - as expected - went to finding the Holy Grail of guitar crunch and re-grasping the wonders of digital recording. 'Shall we do it immediately or with a computer?' was a very popular phrase.

Antti - being famous for getting the best out of performing artists with his psychology tricks - continued along the path much tread, which was to piss the guitar players off so much that they couldn't stand watching him, so they had to play the parts correctly right away. Because 'Love is in the air, and flowers everywhere!'.

Blood boiled, nerves got wrecked, personalities shattered and bonds got cut to tiny pieces, and the result was 5 rough tracks:

*The Rift
*Urban Chaos Committee
*I Am
*Oblivion
*Metaschmorfosis

On the last day of recording, Sunday, the drummer came along with the crew, which meant no one could stand being sober. So we corrected this too. As a result, a new band was formed! This totally new and unique concept is a tribute band to schmorf, that'll never play any of the schmorf songs. This band records and/or composes it's own songs drunk. Otherwise, they're just not this band's songs. What is the band called, i hear you ask?

Alfa Omega & The Päissääns.

In fact, the first day of it's conception, it immediately struck immortality and recorded it's first evergreen, called Koira. Don't worry, you will hear it, sooner or later. And you better wish it is later.

As we now add things up, we'll have an EP coming soon, featuring the 5 tracks recorded at these sessions.

Mixing it up, Days 22-25, october 2007

These few days were the most painful by far of the whole studio experience. The reason for that is everything sounded great on-the-fly, but there was no reference point. So even if something was weak with studio monitors, it could run over everything else, when listened to in your own peace and with the equipment you are used to. So here comes one studio lesson again:

Get used to a portable device and drag it along with you to the place of mixing, so you actually can compare your shit to the rest out there.

The first drafts sounded great at the studio, but listened to at home, they honestly sucked monkey's penis. So, no good. But as the process went on, some bigger and smaller breakthroughs later, we have a baby of our own! Now we have to groom and feed the baby by putting it in a cage and poking and prodding it with electric-shock -inducing things, and make it a nice, fully grown, hormon-overcharged freak with extra limbs and shit!

So, is this it? Are we done? _______(insert deity here), no! The first 3 songs are now finished, and there's 10 more to go! Now we take a timeout and get used to the sounds, and if there's something we could do better, we hit the drawing board again! Well, studio in this case.

Days 20-21, 22-23.8

With only vocals and keyboards remaining, we focused on the latter. Sound experimenting and recording was the deal here. By the way, the keyboard artist on some of the songs (recorded these two days) is Matto, our former keyboard player! A very nice reunion indeed! We also jotted down some 'live' arrangements for the songs, so Matto can visit us and the people as a guest star on gigs also!

Here I also have to remind you that all this studio time is allotted not just for the 3 song single, but for the whole album.

The inventory right now is as follows: vocals remain. These will be recorded when we have the opportunity to return to the studio, which is reserved for other projects for the time being. So the recordings will be done in 2-3 weeks.

Days 18-19, 15-16.8

Nothing superspecial, rest of the guitarwork was recorded, and preparing for the gig this week.

Days 16-17, 9.8 and 13.8

9.8 thursday was vocals day. A total of 3 songs were started and finished vocal-wise. This means we've finished 5 songs, they're only to be mixed and we're home free! Why do i point this out? Because 3 of these songs will be included in the first release, a 3 song single, titled 'Choice'. More on that subject in NEWS.

One of the more avantgarde tracks we got to really fuck around with the vocals, expect that! On a spot, there were 7 simultaneous vocal tracks, one of them performed by the drummer. I kid you not. There is something sinister on it's way...

On friday we decided to remind ourselves what it was like to actually play at the same time, without mixing consoles, displays, computers and all that involves studio. Just one big ball of noise devouring all matter within a few miles. Ah, the bliss!

On 13.8 we took an inventory (again) of the tracks and noticed that not much was left. This is what we call 'good news'. One of the mammoth projects is about to be finished. But still some guitar work were done on this day, doubling (read: quadrupling) of 2 songs. After some equipment hassle, again. It's confusing when the guitars are rattling and humming the bad way (sorry U2) without any reason. But after a few headscratches we solved the problem.

At this point, guitar doubling remains to be done on 3 songs, vocals on 8-9, and keyboards on 4. If we don't get overly interested in rehearsing before the next gig, we should be able to finish recording this week.

Studio exit too soon! Days 14-15, 7-8.8.2007

Once again, we blinked too soon! Listening to the songs (and doing a little bit more background research) we realised that the songs were not ready. Sound familiar? You bet!

Well, the opportunity knocked once again and the equipment were moved to another location. And. we still had the vocals to record, so we decided to perfect the songs some more. Day 14 was 'guitar day', and here's a bomb: 12 tracks were recorded. For the more technical of you: these tracks were guitar doubles. And triples. And quadruples. So, be warned, the crunch is going to grind your brains to a bloody pulp. Also keyboards were added to 6-7 songs.

Day 15 some guitar tracks were doubled also, and vocals to a few songs were recorded. This means a hint of a deadline is starting slowly to show. A few weeks is a rough estimate. But we will keep you posted!

Days 10-13, 23-26.7. 2007

These last few days we just worked as hard as we could. Came in early and went home late. An odd way for us to do stuff. Usually we do something totally opposite.

The last day we just listened to the stuff, made notes and came to conclusions of the sound of the band. Also this part was unusual, as we were on the same page all along...

We still lack vocals, and some of the programming and/or keyboards. Now the process is to listen and decide how, what and where (the keyboards/programming, that is). One song had to be scratched for now, but that will be completed as soon as possible. Only guitars and vocals are missing from it.

Now, as we look back, again we made some mistakes. Therefore, here is our 'a 8 step system to not totally fucking up'- studio guide:

1. Make a detailed list of all stuff to be recorded BEFORE you go into the studio.
2. Plan how much time is available for each segment. If you have 15 segments to record, make the plan for 20. You always overestimate your abilities and the time available, and underestimate the equipments' capability of jamming up your sessions.
3. Follow the plan. Use the studio from morning to evening. Don't fucking slack!
4. Make sure there's somebody to fill you in at the recorder's seat in case of being sick, food breaks etc.
5. Here's the whopper: LEARN YOUR SONGS. The best way to save time.

So, there it is. As you might expect, this also reflects our experience this time.

Next up is vocals, some spicing up with non-acoustic stuff, mixing and mastering and we're there. The deadline was end of july, but that will not happen, i'm afraid. But we'll keep you posted with the NEWS -pages.

How did it sound, you ask? Like a fucking oversized bulldozer on steroids! It will make your ears bleed!

Days 7-9, 18-20.2007

Here the catching up started. This meant no food breaks, but we managed to get 'deus ex machinae' to our disposal. That is the name of our coffee brewer.

With 90% of the juices flowing in us consisted of caffeine, we started to work. The list of things left to get recorded haunted us and everyone wanted to rip it to shreds, and each other also. But the fact remained, we had to fly. So we did.

Drums were done, so we put all our focus on guitars and basses. And during these 3 days we got from 'half done', to 'almost done'. If my memory serves me correct, about 10 guitar tracks were recorded, and about 8 bass tracks. Guitars include lead and rhythm segments.

20.7 we also started with vocals, but Antti had a bit of a sore throat and flu, so we gave him the time to heal over the weekend. And continued with guitar leads.

Three days remain to finish all the recordings, and we're off to mixing. Three days, and we have 3 bass tracks, about 5 guitar tracks, and vocals to all 13 songs. That's a lot, but nothing that can't be done. Two days off now for everyone, and then one final swift few days!

Days 5&6, 16-17.7.2007

During the weekend we had to make an inventory of where we are in the project. And we noticed that we have a hell of a lot of catching up to do. No problem, just roll up your sleeves and start working.

Rest of the drums were recorded, and one song was scratched. That song has never been played in rehearsals, only the midi file was checked out. Two tracks with this kind of starting status was planned to be recorded. The other one we recorded.

Guitars were the focus of these two days, but also basses were played.

Last week a bonus track was worked on. This song is of the 'now we have to do something completely different before our heads explode'-type. Indian jazz. And i'm scared to think what will happen the next few days...

Days 3&4, 12-13.7.2007

Things are advancing pretty normally, drums, guitars and some fiddling with a bass track... And a bunch of killing time with extremely tasteless and bad humor.

The weekend are used to rehearsing and catching our breath. 11 Drum tracks are complete, 2 more to go. Guitars are done on 2 songs, half-done on 5-6 more, so next week we'll start off with the rest of the guitars and the basses in between when the guitar players' nerves are shattered.

So, one song is possibly added to the project! How many, and which tracks will be included on the album, is still up for debate. Here's the list of songs to be recorded (at this point):

Brainwashing
Empty
schmorf
I am
The Rift
Oblivion
Choice
Urban Chaos Committee
Face Polish - Disapproval
Workingtitle x + 4
Workingtitle 'Sheep on a platter'
Workingtitle 'Egypt in the springtime'
Workingtitle ' Invamopo'

New updates next week!

Day 2, 11.7.2007

This was a day of 'extreme sports - fucking about', and a few positive 'heureka'-moments. We got off to a brainstorm about adding extra elements to the record, and understood that using a click open up a shitload of opportunities, including programmed percussions, ambience, keyboards and other stuff to enrichen the sound. Which is kind of neat, but of course means a lot more work and decisions. But that's no problem!

As everyone had to run some errands during the day, we didn't have the whole day allocated to effective studio time. But 3 more drum tracks and a few guitar tracks also. Some rehearsing happened also, just to make the next days easier and even more productive.

Ideas were put into motion, voodoo dolls were hanged (?), band members were hanged (?!), egg shaker-wars started, meetings were held, listening of the recordings happened, and general enthusiasm was at it's highest. Best possible day at the studio, in other words! Tomorrow we should be flying, i'm sure!

Day 1, 10.7.2007

This is it. Messing around in the studio again. The moments before these projects thing are a bit squeegy, less sleep, preparing for studio etc...

These sessions are happening at the Church of the Unholy. The equipment was set up first, which took its time, of course. At first it was the tracks that were screwed up, sometimes cords or talkback were not working, our patented 'laptop'-metronome did not come through to performing artists (yes, now we are forced to play in time!), and those kind of nice wonders of the digital era...

At last, because of schedule arrangements, the drummer had 45 minutes to scrape something together, and lo and behold!, 3 drum tracks were played relatively smoothly, and recorded to the hard drive! This was nice way to start off, and a sorely needed boost for morale.

Next in line was getting a grip of guitar sounds. After a while of screwing with amps, effects, distortions and such, we were ready to press the red magical button! Unfortunately, the path laid before the guitar artists by the drummer was not the easiest, so some gray hair emerged from the heads... At least 1 of 3 tracks were of the easier sort, so things got underway quite well, after all.

Day 1 saw the guitar tracks finished for 1 song, and half-finished for another. We are getting the hang of things, and day 2 will be productive, for sure!

Demo sessions

29.3.2007

Ok, feathers on our hats, ladies and gentlemen. After fighting the windmills of time, we've finally wrapped up the recordings for schmorf's first demo. The last day consisted of vocal recordings, and the rest is mixing and mastering, which is being done as we speak (?). If i said that the band isn't pleased, i'd be lying.

This means that quite a few new opportunities will open and a whole new field of working is now being opened slowly but surely. Next goal is to make a few 'music videos', by adding some of the 'fucking around' clips to the music, that will be a blast, no doubt. Some gigs will start dripping down on people like diarrhea-feces shortly, DVD:s, well, you know the deal. The website will undergo a small overhaul to make some cool and stupid shit added to it.

By tomorrow evening, the first tracks should be up and running also, so check them out!

Days 5-x, 28.3.2007

My sincerest apologies for not updating these pages, but we've been ear-deep buried in recording these few days, and to be perfectly honest, things are starting to get kind of hazy here... Since the rest of the recording is almost only of the digital type, we've been doing that here and there as we don't have to warry about acoustics, miking and such, so some home studioing (did i just invent a word?) has been experienced also. Varying locations, in other words. Some of the guitars and bass we're pushed to track at the church of the unholy (tm), which - with the fire, brimstone and screaming souls - is as always a cozy and warm place to sink into the soft depths of creativity.

Next, let me drop a cent on digital recording. As an idea and in theory, it's the best thing next to sliced bread. In reality, there's no way better to describe hell, as digital recording. Before i get all riled up, let's just leave it at that. If there is willingness, schmorf could set up a workshop with the theme 'madness re-re-re-re-re-revisited again and again - the marvels of digital recording and it's destructive effects on creativity'. That'd be a hoot. 'Computers - you can't live without them, and you can't eat them.' 'Shall we do it now or with a computer'. i have lots more, you wanna?

Guitars and basses were no problem for our performing artists, and neither the vocals for that matter. Only our god's gift to the drumming community came up with the perfect idea of new arrangement ideas in the midst of recording and all the equipment fucking up one after the other. That required some exemplary skills of nerve management, but the results were good. If it doesn't kill you and so forth... Who am i kidding...

As the demo project is advancing, the dvd is being worked on also, but a few weeks to about two months is needed to get in all the planned material, but that is up and coming also quite shortly, so no worries!

The deadline is nearing stupefyingly fast, but we will handle it, im sure. The tracks are just a few vocal lines short of recorded, only mixing and mastering remains. As we are short on time, that has to be done quite fast, but that's no problem. We'll work our asses off these few short days and have tunes up before april, you can call me on that bluff anyday. Stay tuned!

Studio sessions shelved!

Say it ain't so! Well, i have to... After a short meeting we came to the conclusion that we were a little hasty in our movements and got to the recording part before actually completing the songs... So for a few weeks now we've been keeping a close eye on the songs' structures, and making them even better, if possible (ahem..). But now, as we have a few creations of perfection (ahem part 2...), we're closing down to the safe and familiar place called church of the unholy, and finishing the songs. The deadline for the first 3 song demo is 29.3, so that's kind of soon, so let's work!

Day 4, 19.1.2007

First off, again was miking up the drums again, and a little bit of rehearsing, because today was the day to cut the drum track to the most difficult song of them all, a song written by our singer/songwriter/recorder/producer/and so forth, antti. Next, the computer started tilting before our very eyes, so the old proverb 'shall we do it right now or with the computer', became very real. But after some cursing and gentle micromanagement, we got to brass tacks, and finished the job, quite easily i might add. There's something wrong with the world, has to be.

Next in turn was some reviewing and testing of guitar sounds, and re-recording one song, for some comparison. There was some melodic thing in the air as the guitar players started to realize that is was now their turn to shine. Yeah right. The basses and guitar tracks will probably be recorded one song at a time, not bass tracks to every one of them and then guitars. At least as far as possible, because of our busy schedules. There's only so many places you can be at the same time. All the invitational minigolf tournaments and lego building contests is eating up our time, but success comes with a price. Any publicity is good publicity. We just sit in the back of the limousine and wait for the next PR-opportunity coming our way. Damn, should've not borrowed the learjet to metallica, but what are friends for...

Day 3, 18.1.2007

Third day started off with swearwords and a spoonful of frustration. Surprise, surprise, the drummer had fucked up some of the songs after all, so a few of them had to be started all over. But after a zillion takes, we got them and a few more also, so the drums are all done except for one song, and the 'extra song' (you're in for such a treat), so two is left in the drummer's schedule. Some arguing was happening also, of course, but all of it was coming from the fact that our performing talent is even worse than conceived. Didn't think it was possible, but hey! there's still surprises and mysteries for us out there! Talkback is now working properly, which speeds up things a bit.

After sweaty and heartbreaking drum sessions, the bass player and guitar players got to show their amazing undiscovered talents. Since everyone is more or less a 'studio virgin', it took a little getting used to, but basses and guitars for one song were completed at the end of the day. And after some mixing we got to listen to the rough overall sound of the band. Let me tell you, it fucking kicked ass doubletime. Holy shit, i might say. Guitar sound is something that will kill everything smaller than a horse within 50 meters.

The other guitar player had with him a bag of candy, in where there was only about 3-4 good ones, so we came up with the idea of taking the bad ones out, leaving only the few good ones and sell them with the same price, because like this you'd appreciate them more, as they are so few. Next, the drummer proclaimed that he'd buy at least 10 bags of them. Kinda missed the point, he did.

Day 4 will probably see the completion of drums, and a few guitar tracks. The working method in studio is sinking slowly in everyone. Excitement - frustration - acceptance - satisfaction is the spectrum of emotions you have to go through to get there. And as we all know, we are the emotional ambassadors of all things living.

Day 2, 12.1.2007

The second day was a bit more productive, both from the recording, and 'fucking around'- point of view. But that was to be expected. Except the recording part. We changed the snare to a loaned one, thanks a bunch to matto for that one. It so happened that a piccolo was shitty, so conclusion: throw it out. At the end of the day we had 4, yes, count them, 4 usable drum tracks. That doesn't mean they're any good, but usable. After tuning and mixing and processing and compressing and something more.

We got a nice idea about burning the tab files to a cd so everyone could listen to them on their computer and write schmorf with a pencil on the cover and that's it. Would sound definitely better. The drummer came up with a new kind of cymbal stack, with a broken china boy on bottom and a crappy splash on top. That will be heard on the songs, of course. Every bad idea is a usable one, that's our motto. Tom sounds also caused some amusement among the natives. After some macgyvering (piano wire, bubblegum and a frying pan), we got a sort-of talkback functioning.

During the session one drum stick broke in half, so we found a twig that sufficed, so that will be heard there also. We also got into a conversation that there are many places where you could let know you're in a band, but no-one would confess to that fact, and that's understandable. Lastly we decided to record one more song, as we are ahead of schedule. Do not think we work faster than thought, that's just because worse takes were accepted.

Day 1, 11.1.2007

The first day at the studio was, well, learning, so not much really was done, as was expected... The session started lucratively with some roadie action, by getting the drums and some other stuff from 'the church of unholy', our place of rehearsal, and putting them together. Fucking around with mikes got pretty familiar also, which is fun, of course. We focused mainly on drums, and found what we thought was a very nice drum sound.

The first inner conflict in the band was shown, as the drummer and bass player could not decide if the coffee was good or bad. Problems, problems... Talkback did not function today, so we got some nice one-sided communication, and some screwing around with headphones was witnessed also today.

Lastly, with a skeleton crew (the bass player and only one guitar player, and the drummer), we got around to actually recording something! We got about 3 takes of the short 'schmorf'-song, which will be like a 'display case' of what the band is all about. Next we called it a day, with the goal of getting down all the drums tracks tomorrow... Not going to happen, but let's see!