i gave it another go last night. i think its closer to what i hear in my head.

i guess that’s the problem, when i write a song, i have the entire thing in my head… how all the parts work, how the mix should be, the fades, the everything… but my skills as a mix and mastering engineer are not so good so i have a hell of a time trying to translate what i hear in my head to what i hear in my ears.

this is closer. i wanted this really almost over-modulated distressed quality to the drums, and i wanted them to fill up the entire back ground. i wanted the guitars to be fuller and more airy… i wanted that whole synth string thing to come and go more like a cumulus cloud floating weightless but very present.

so now when i head into the studio to record this for real, i’ll have a better template to work with and the engineer can then hear a closer representation of what i’m trying to achieve. so, this process of demo recording isn’t just “get it down” so much now. i have to get things closer to where i think they need to be.

so, i came up with something that might stick. its called “drifting further home” kind of a “sequel” to the other song “drifting further out” (which was on the last record.)

take a listen. or not. leave feedback, or not.

Download: Drifting Further Home

i’ve posted this to t61, SF and virb. i’ll also probably put it up on last.fm as well, and myspace. man too many sites. sometimes i wonder why the hell i bother. sheesh.

but before i go, i recorded one last song from this place. its called “the oceans a wave function,” and features some weird drums, minimal instrumentation and a rather simple mix. that’s it.

i’m not looking forward to moving, while at the same time i’m quite excited. i just want everything done, and in my new home. i honestly don’t know how quickly i’ll be back up and recording after i move, hopefully not more than a week or so.

in the meantime, check this song out.

what i have now is something i had fun making. some of my appreciation for jazz snuck into this piece as well as my love for lots of guitars, and noisy bits.

take a listen, this song will most likely be on the record.

I was a good kid, and I never wanted to hurt anyone, but the world had other ideas. This song is about realizing that, and seeing that good kid who has died, put to rest finally. He’s done his job and has stood up to so much that its time for him to take a break… let someone else stand guard and take the hits.

Its a song about understanding that you can never go back, and you can’t make it better or make up for the bad in the present. It just doesn’t work like that. There is no making up for a bad past. I’m trying to realize that and writing this piece is just an exercise to help me remember that.

I cleaned up Airport Exit, by taking out some of the muddy lower-mid frequencies from the distorted guitars, which did a lot in clarifying the mix.

The other song that got some attention was Something Not New got a whole new mix, mostly cleaning up the bass line. The apparent loudness is also improved.

These are probably much closer to what will be on the record.

I hate dropping off at airports. I’d rather pick up.

So, I wrote this song, and pretty much spent tonight putting it together. It may appear on the record. Its really different, kind of a mishmash of sounds. I think I like it. Its noisy, a bit confusing. I think it accurately describes where my mind is lately.