Last summer, when I should have been working on the album, I spent some time remixing "Pushover." I had originally thrown this tune away as a misfit, but surprisingly I got a lot of positive feedback on it, and eventually it kind of grew on me. This new mix is much improved, so I'm posting it here.
The bare tracks were just awful. I cleaned up and remixed the vocals first, followed by the bass, which (if you ask me) drives the whole tune. Since I don't own a Rickenbacker 4001 like Chris Squire does I settled for my cheap Fender bass through an overdrive plugin. Then I edited out every bit of extra noise I could find and slapped noise gates on everything.
When mixing I try to set everything where it's supposed to be and not "ride the faders" at all, but this time I used some automation stuff to weave the guitars in and out a bit. There's a lot of guitars in this mix -- two acoustics and four electrics, not counting the intro guitar and the pretty arpeggios that come right after the bridge. My point is: this was a hard song to mix. :)
The end result is a more ballsy mix, IMO. I like it. :)
For the curious, this song has something to do with being worried that others mean to do you harm, when in reality no one's really paying attention.
Lyrics -- and a bonus -- after the jump.
Pushover
[audio:demos/scottandrew-pushover_060707.mp3]
Did you read this far? Cool, here's an instrumental version you can sing along to:
Turn, you're always turning away from us
as if there's nothing here you can trust
the hardest thing to learn
is you don't have to be such a trusting soul
I know you don't wanna give control
to anyone anymore
And I believe it's good for you
to see how the world don't slow down for you
and I believe these words are true:
no one's gonna waste their time
waiting in line just to push you over
Strange, yeah here comes the change again
you know it's not gonna let you win
it's a complicated thing
and here come the kids with their brand new bag
but no one's coming to burn your flag
and I doubt they ever will
And I believe it's good for you
to see how the world don't slow down for you
and I believe these words are true:
no one's gonna waste their time
waiting in line just to push you over again
And you know a little uncertainty
won't set you back
yeah a little change in the world
is not gonna set you back
it's not gonna break your back again
And I believe it's good for you
to see how the world don't slow down for you
and I believe these words are true:
no one's gonna waste their time
waiting in line just to push you over
waiting in line just to push you over
waiting in line just to push you over again
dit dit dit da da da da
dit dit dit da da da da
dit dit dit da da da da
I've been shopping for a new bass guitar all month. I love playing bass, but I know almost nothing about them. Plus, there's the small issue of not wanting to spend a lot of money. Like $300 or less. This complicates things.
After spending hours trolling bass forums and Craigslist, last weekend I picked up an 1981 Peavey T-40 from a guy in Tacoma who collects them (he had four T-40s and was selling off two). They don't make them anymore and they're just on the edge of "vintage," but they're not exactly rare.
The T-40 is built like a tank. I read somewhere that Peavey used firearm design for inspiration, and I believe it. Everything about it feels weaponized. It's also way heavier than any other bass I've tried. The intonation is great, and I'm only beginning to grok all the tone controls.
It's got a few dings and scuffs -- which I prefer to think of as scars.
The original heavy bronze strings were too hurty for my soft, delicate hands, so I replaced them with some DR Lo Riders, and now I don't cry so much when I play it -- which is a lot. Play it, that is. I'm a little obsessed with the T-40.
I must give it a badass-sounding name. Suggestions?
Back in late 2006 I got together with Creeping Time to record some live tracks in their rehearsal space. We basically set up mics and went for it, no overdubs. Michael and I had an idea to release an EP with the tracks, but it just didn't come together for various reasons.
I recently found the CDR with some of the sessions on my desk. Here's the first take of "At The Airport" which also happens to be the most delightful, IMO.
I love harmony vocals, the thicker and more layered, the better. I've been listening to a lot of older mixes as I clean up my recording computer, and I thought it would be fun to post some snippets of isolated harmony vocals. Some of them sound really weird floating by themselves like that.
A lot of these are yeeeaaahs and whoaaas and stuff like that. I compiled them into a single track here:
Also, Matt Leung at Vassar College interviewed me last week for his radio show The Technology Beat. We talked at length about Creative Commons, the role of "free" and alternative licensing in music. You can listen online (it's Episode #2) here.
I forgot to mention that Save You From Yourself was on the Top Sellers list at CD Baby all last week, thanks to the Demo Club members who picked up advance copies there. I've gotten a ton of extra traffic as a result, so if you get it from CD Baby maybe it'll get back up on that chart and hang awhile longer.
Well, today is the day, people. Today we push Save You From Yourself out into the big, wide world. Good luck, little album!
CDs are now available at Amazon, CD Baby, and directly from me via Paypal. You can also stream all ten tracks in the Store and pick up different digital formats there, too. (iTunes and the rest are running late, sorry.)
Demo Club members can get a big discount by logging in. As always, let me know if something goes wrong and I'll try to fix it ASAP.
The bonus goodies for buying more than one copy are still in effect! Amazon is not going to give up your email address to me, so if you purchase from them, you'll have to email me a copy of your receipt (just delete any private info first). CD Baby usually notifies me within a day or two.
Done and done. Thanks everyone. Time to get started on the next one!
On the eve of my new album release, I'd like to share something special with you: my first hate mail!
"I herd [sic] a few songs. What is your goal in music? Was not impressed. Another guy who plays guitar and thinks he is the next big thing. Is there anyone out there with their own unique style? You sound like to [sic] many other commercial artists. Stop cluttering the web with your junk."
"Some love em', some hate em'! Ugly? Maybe. Unique? Undeniably! Collectable? Unquestionably!! Read the acounts of how people felt back in 1958 about the original flying V, be honest now, don't you wish you had one of those?!? New, Unused Condition. Mahogany body, set neck, unique headstock shape, (2) 57 classic pickups, one volume control, a three way pickup selector switch."
This audio work by Scott Andrew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
I've been shopping for a new bass guitar all month. I love playing bass, but I know almost nothing about them. Plus, there's the small issue of not wanting to spend a lot of money. Like $300 or less. This complicates things.
Oh wow, a