New Demo Recording Available

I just released a 7 song mini-album called “the [Sing Free] demonstration recording.” (see the tracklist below for Youtube links to the songs). As the title suggests, this recording is meant to be thought of more demo or set of bonus tracks than as an album that can stand on its own merits.

All of the songs on here have either appeared on previous albums or will appear on the upcoming album “Hydrogen” I am working on. But the recordings here have the songs stripped down to only acoustic guitar and vocals, nothing else.

I recorded this demo about a year ago as a preview for “Hydrogen” and to get a sense of what some of the new songs sounded like. My girlfriend suggested recording some guitar-only versions because she liked hearing them, and I also wanted something to submit if I ever wanted to try and get coffee shop gigs or something like that. I never intended to release it, but I had thrown a couple tracks on Soundcloud a number of months ago.

But I decided to release it now because the “Hydrogen” album has run into some delays and bumps in the road. Since recording the demo almost a year ago I moved back to Albany, NY from California, spent all summer studying for the bar exam, and in October I got a job in Geneva, NY. In Geneva I don’t have ready access to a grand piano for recording, and just recently the computer I use for recording died (fortunately the project is backed up, except for the outline of a new track I was working on a couple weeks ago). In other words, things are moving at a snail’s pace. The album “Hydrogen” is like what scientists say about fusion power; it’s 40 years away, even if they said that 40 years ago. So I figured I would release the demo just to release something.

Anyway, here is the tracklist:

1. The Abundance

2. The Edge of the World

3. Unknow

4. Dorothy

5. (This is My Expression)

6. Ask

7. Sing Free

This recording is very raw. I recorded vocals and guitar simultaneously, which didn’t allow for any mixing (my recording setup only does one stereo input at a time). There are also a couple rough spots. For example, at 2:02 in “The Abundance” there is a note that is horribly off-key (trying to sing a tritone above the root and approaching it with no lead-in was a bad idea). 

That being said, I think it’s ok for the most part. The newer songs are decent, and I think the version of “Ask” that’s here is better than the version on the “Nine Questions” album. Strangely, my voice seems to have changed significantly with age, but in a good way. Listening to recordings of myself between 2009-2012, my voice sounded a lot tinnier (and dare I say whinier) back then.

So I hope you like it. Spotify streams it for free. CD Babysells an MP3 and lossless download for $3.38. Amazon MP3 and iTunes sell it for more so don’t buy it there. Private message me for the free download.

Art:

New Song!! (but also some problems I need your help with)

As I alluded to last week, I have begun to record music again. Over the last few days I put down a new track, called "Unknow," which is the first to be recorded for the forthcoming album Hydrogen (the album from which this blog takes its name). I attempted to record Hydrogen three years and a half years ago, but I soon abandoned it in favor of the album Expression. "Unknow" is one of two songs that caused me to put the entire Hydrogen project on hold, as my attempt to record the song in 2012 produced unsatisfactory results. But this past week I have taken another crack at it, and I would like you to hear it:



This track still has a number of problems, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. The problem stems mostly from the programmed electronic drums. They sound kind of cheesy.

As I've complained before, I don't have a drummer, I don't have drums, and I don't have the resources or equipment to record drums. So my options are to either not record anything at all, or to try and make do by programming electronic drum patterns using software. But if you try to use software to impersonate real drums, this usually sounds fake. Electronic beats usually don't work if they're trying to mimic something real. Rather, electronic beats work best when are trying to sound...electronic. This is usually why I perceive a rock song with fake drums as sounding way cheesier than straight up techno music, because techno is not trying to be something it's not, it's just being techno.

And so that's the issue with "Unknow." The snare-drum-type sound here sounds very synthetic. That was partly intentional. I have a more realistic sounding snare sample I could have used, but I was worried it would sound even sillier because it would just sound like I was trying to trick people into thinking the drums were real. So I thought by using an obviously fake sample, I would clear the air, but instead it also sounded stupid. (On a side note, could the question of how we define "cheesy" be an interesting one for academic study?).

So going forward, what do you think I should do? Should I (1) leave it as is because, you know, it can't really be that bad, can it? (2) try to make the drums sound more "real" even though they're not? or (3) go in the other direction and use beats that are more techno-sounding? As for the last option, since this track prominently features acoustic guitar, I am worried that throwing in a bunch of weird bleeps and blurps will be too much for the song to handle. But at the same time, could that approach be "innovative"?

Probably not. Part of me is tempted to can the whole thing and say "see you in another three years." I think it's appropriate that the album is called Hydrogen because it is a lot like what scientists say about nuclear fusion. It's always coming but it's never here.

The Possibility of a New Recording

I may or may not be starting to record again soon. I suppose it depends on how quickly I find a job, and various other factors. The longer I stay unemployed, the greater the chance of new music coming out in the near future. There is a significant amount of music I want to record. Some of it was written recently, but much was written just prior to my 2013 album Expression, and some dates back even farther to 2007-09.  I'll post updates if new information becomes available.

(meanwhile, here is the stuff you've already heard from me):
www.soundcloud.com/andrewspink

Three new demo tracks.

Check out three new demo tracks:

https://soundcloud.com/andrewspink/sets/the-sing-free-demonstration-recording

I recorded these solo demos in preparation for the album Hydrogen. These songs a more in the singer-songwriter style, and they are a change in style from the Expression album, which was focused more on instrumental rock music. More to come.