Posted by arcticsunburn on 10-17-2002 at00:25:
Hey BD
I sent you the video clip of my band playing as well as my DAmb It contribution (to bigdork@bigdork.org). Let me know when/if they get to you.
Here's the accompanying story which I also sent to BD:
The whole process started at the beginning of September when I decided to start working on a solo project. I got all the tools together, and after figuring out how to plug my amp into the computer, I even started recording some bits and pieces. That's when the whole DAmb It thing came up. Initially I was going to do "Father Explains" with my band, but as the end of September neared, it was starting to look like that would not be a possibility. By that point I had decided to do "Home Permanent" and started working on it alone.
After several grueling sessions, I ended up with 6 guitar tracks, 1 bass, and 1 drum track (I had even attempted to do some vocals as well). My friend/band mate, Adam decided to contribute his talent by playing drums on the track (and in the end, helped me with the vocals). Initially I just had a drum machine going in the back. I brought the 8-track over to Adam's, and he recorded the drums. Then we brought the 8-track back to my place and recorded the drums to the computer. Then we manually dragged and dropped the drum track in time, as we found, we had to do with other instruments as well.
We cut, dragged, altered, and EQed the tracks. We even added a phasing effect to one of the guitars. We actually cut the entire rhythm guitar track and did without it. Then we recorded the vocals.
I have a newfound respect for DA and Terry Taylor. "Home Permanent" may only be three chords for the most part (until it gets to the bridge), but the vocals are technically challenging and difficult! I'm not even talking about range because I can sing most things an octave below without much problem. So, we did the vocals the best we could. Sometimes I felt like giving up along the way. But then we tried not to take it too seriously, and in a true DAmb fashion laughed our guts out trying to sing the bridge. Unfortunately only our out-of-tune vocals are to be heard on the recording.
Ultimately, my contribution is anything but perfect. Instruments fall in and out of time, vocals are flat/sharp or just simply out of tune, and there's also something to be said about the humming of the amp - which isn't so bad to begin with - but cumulatively, it seemed to add up. All instruments/vocals were recorded through the amp except for the drums which went straight through the mike. Cool Edit Pro is not a bad program, but it didn't always seem to do the trick. Perhaps we were rushed, but the results would not have varied drastically had we taken more time. There are just too many flaws to list. However, some of you may have recorded your contribution through a tape recorder, and compared to that we had technology in abundance. And still, I like to think that the track has a certain charm.
Although I was not exactly pleased with the overall result - even after mixing it down - I think I have driven more inspiration from this experience.
