Friday, June 25th, 2004:
11:30 AM
At work, began whistling a tune I had never heard before.
11:32 AM.
Wait, this is kind of cool, I should record it.
11:33 AM
Sang melody in to Sony Mini Recorder.
Shortly there after, came up with basic chords and wrote them down.
11:45 AM
Wrote initial chorus lyrics.
12:00 -12:15 PM
Wrote initial 1st and 2nd verse lyrics (over course of a few hours, tailored a few lines as the song idea coalesced in my head).
1:30 PM
Wrote melody and lyric for bridge idea (and sang into mini-recorder). No chords yet.
4:00 PM-6:42 PM
Fired up Pro Tools and Reason.
Created tempo map, and simple “bum bum cha” drum machine part to keep time. (usually use click, but had general idea of what I wanted drum part to do, so wanted initial scratch guitar and vocals to jive against that.)
Laid down initial scratch track of vocals, and 3 guitar parts based on this dark guitar tone I discovered on a previous demo. (I’m REALLY digging this guitar sound).
Played parts all the way through potential final structure.
Went to dinner, watched Miracle, and went to bed.
Saturday, June 26th, 2004:
9:15 AM-10:00 AM
Began writing the drum part.
10:00 AM-2:00 PM
Created new bank of drum sounds for the drum parts. 6 snares, 9 hihats, 3 kicks, 6 cymbals, etc. Imported new sounds based on some drum hits by Mr. Elvis Levy (during our last recording session). Tweaked, shaped and set up these sounds in my bank of samplers.
2:00- 3:00 PM
I need a break! Lunch, while watching the extra features to Miracle. Herb Brooks was an amazing person.
3:00-3:45 PM
Wrote and recorded bass part. 2 takes for coverage.
3:45-7:00 PM
Tweaked drum part as song needed, made some lyrical adjustments and resang elements of song.
8:00 PM-11:00 PM
Fahrenheit 911: One hot dog, ketchup, spot of mustard, jalapenos, relish. One industrial vat of popcorn, buttered; one double xl of Mr. Pibb. Mmmm…hot dog….
12:00 AM-1:00 AM
Back home; channel surfed. Sleep.
Sunday, June 27th, 2004:
10:00 AM-12:00 AM
Reviewed song, began some rough mixing. Then, lunch.
1:00 PM -3:30 PM
Rewrote elements of 2nd verse lyrics and recut vocals. Doubled chorus melodies. Recut bridge vocals.
Added trumpet intro to song, Added keyboard part to 2nd half of bridge. Rewrote some drum fills here and there. Made slight changes to drum sounds.
3:00 PM-8:00 PM
Began mixing. Took a break around 8, came back and finished with rough around 10:00 PM. Hungry, tired, burned myself a test cd for the morning drive.
Song’s called “Say What You Will.”
Good night!!!
