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Notes:
This one all started back in September when I thought
it'd be a neat idea to make some Hallowe'en-y songs for
October's webpage updates. At that time I only had
two ideas:
Want Me For My Brains
that was me being pseudo-cocky but it was really about
Zombies, and Piece At A Time
where I build the perfect girl - Frankenstein-style.
Kinda funny. Also, the key theme here was "don't
spend too much time on stuff. It's supposed to be
fun, not perfect". Remembering that helped a lot.
From there since I didn't care for the first batch of
scratch tracks, keeping only three: the two mentioned
and one that would be I Don't Want To Feed You.
I went back into the MiniDisc Archives and hoped to find
some things I could use (or re-use). From there, I
only got the instrumental
Roaches and
Alien Sex Chicks. Alien Sex Chicks
doesn't exactly make me cringe but the song is about 12
years old now; it was funnier then. I was going to
rewrite the lyrics but due to time, I only managed to
change 2 lines.
I finished the 5 songs just in time for October.
A lot of help in finishing them was the fact that I
picked up a SansAmp TRI AC. Now I can record
pretty much anytime without mic-ing an amp and not
sounding like I plugged in direct. Also, I picked
up a Line6 Roto Machine so I had to try that out too.
You understand.
5 songs totaling 25 minutes didn't feel like enough
to finish off the year. After listening to them I
though about making a song about moving into a haunted
house, as well as a werewolf song and one about being
scared. After sitting down, again coming up with 5
bits of "songs", I ended up with 3 keepers:
Scared,
Get Out and
True Story.
Those got "finished November 30th.
After himming and hawing over the Christmas break, I
decided I wanted a better drum sound. The old S3
was on her way out and instead of replacing her with
just another drum machine, I think I did the right thing
by buying a set of Roland V-series drums. All the
songs had to have their drum tracks redone and that's
what you're hearing on the songs below.
Also, I changed the cover. The original cover's
at the bottom of the page. So here we go, song by
song....
True Story
This was the last one to be finished. I don't know why
but I thought it'd be neat to have the first song on the
"album" to tell a scary story, kind of like a campfire
story and this one sounded like an obvious first-song to
me. Then I had to figure out what the story was
going to be about. I ended up going with the Black
Donnelley story but with only 3 verses, it's not really
about anything anymore.
Guitars:
That's the
Studio in the centre.
That SansAmp makes a Les Paul sound Fender-y; real James
Gang/Yer Album sound even though Joe used a Telecaster.
The bass is the
EB-3, complete with
Octave. Other than that, the
Goldtop gets the solo and there's a Line 6
Roto Machine guitar but I buried it pretty good.
Scared
Just about being scared. Not even being scared by
something, just about being scared. What's scary
is how many guitar tracks there are on here.
Guitars:
The
SG3 through the Line 6 pedal starts it off,
with a Goldtop (later gets the solo) and Studio.
Again, the EB3 through and Octave gets the bass part.
Two double tracked SG3s are panned in each ear with the
riff. There's also another Line 6 track that sort
of follows the bass line. Oh, and another SG3
track that I ponged together with the drum machine
track. It's faint but it's in there.
Alien Sex Chicks
After scaring the pants off everyone, I thought I'd
lighten it up with this one.
Guitars:
The Goldtop is the main guitar (mic'd too) and the solo
is the SG3. I like the front pickup in an SG.
The bass is the Goya. There's also an organ in
there too using the Line 6 pedal.
Want Me For My Brains
This one, I think, is the best thing I've done even
though it's not strong on song. It's just a jam
that built on a bass line playing over a drum loop.
Over-long? Maybe. Some days it sounds like it ends
too soon.
Guitars:
Many. Just the way I like it. And, all of
them are the SG3. Pretty neat. I should have
called the song SG since the EB3 is the bass on here as
well. The organ again is my Yamaha, Costco cheapie
that I've been using for about 10 years (no, I don't
know how to really play a keyboard) put through the Line
6 pedal. Sounds almost like a real Hammond.
Roaches
As I typed earlier, this is an oldie, but back then I
never really finished my instrumentals. I'd have
the theme but never got around to repeating it at the
end of the song. Now, I guess I fixed it.
Still, this thing could have been called anything.
For instrumentals, titles really don't matter, do they?
Guitars:
Yup - that's my
Epiphone resonator (all
chrome too; lucky). I rarely record with it and
maybe should more often. The SG3 through the Roto
Machine follows it. The panned guitars are the
Goldtop (mic'd) and the lead is the SG3 again. The
Goya gets the bassline.
Piece At A Time
This one, to me anyways, I thought turned out well. It
doesn't sound like anything I've done before but it
still does. Hardest bass line I had to play: it's
simple but keeping it consistent is another thing.
I think I got a blooper-less take but I haven't listened
to it that intently. And yes, I know the loud riff
is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's Bring It On Home but
they used to "borrow" too.
Guitars:
The Studio is the main one on here, both the Leslie
guitar panned left and the main guitar in the centre.
The guitar in the right ear is the Goldtop. That's
it though, just 3. Also, the main guitar is a
first take. I was going to redo it but I caught the last
chorus so I kept it. that's why there's a few flubs in
there - a genuine first take.
I Don't Want To Feed You
I was stumped on words for this one. It sounded
like a "sad" topic song so from there I was just singing
along thinking of syllables and stuff, and the title
came out. Then I thought about keeping a caged
animal (going back to the werewolf topic). Then I
thought about holding someone captive like Silence of
the Lambs but that's a bit much so finally it was about
a Mad Scientist's experiments not quite working out so
it's time to pull the plug. Then I tried to make
it into a "break up" song. Cute, huh?
Guitars:
The SG3 is the Leslie guitar, and also the quiet panned
guitars and the last solo. The first two solos go
to the Studio, and the 3rd solo, the
Junior gets brought out, complete with slide.
Why I try and use a major-tuned guitar on songs with
minor keys I haven't figured out yet.
Get Out
This was the song that made me happy that I decided to
make more songs to finish this thing off. This and
Want Me For My Brains
were my favourites. I still don't
know where the riff is from; I think it's someone else's
but it's not on purpose. Once I figured out the
rhyming scheme, the words ended up being pretty fun.
And a lot of references to the Amityville Horror didn't
hurt.
Guitars:
The panned guitars are the Studio and the solo is the
SG3 as well as the Leslie guitar. And again, the
guitar solo is the first take - nothing fancy but I'll
keep it. The bass is the EB3.
And that's it. It was weird to do a whole CD
without the innuendos but that's OK. I'm sure
it'll be back to the usual on the next CD, if it isn't
an instrumental one.
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