Seattle Subsonic

Three Songs in a Year, The Hannah Montana Song, Live Wire, The Length of One Song

August 4th, 2010

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“I think the kick drum needs more … thud,” Doug says as we mix the last song of the three song self-recording that has been a year in the making. It can happen when a band does it all on their own. A different set of elements comes into play when not watching the track meters and the clock at the same time. And these things sometimes mean that projects draw out, they stretch from weeks to months to a year, hopefully not years. We have only three songs though. And we’re finishing the last one, a rocker called Virgil Sollozzo.
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“Virgil who?” I hear you asking. Audiences are the same way so we sometimes say it’s the Hannah Montana song because sadly, even audiences at rock clubs with beers and whiskeys in their hands and bellies know who she is. Hell, the fake title even gets applause sometimes. “This next’s one is called the Hannah Montana Song,” Katy will say. Invariably there will be a “Whoo!” and some claps and cheers.
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I dial in the tone of the kick a little more. It’s fighting with the toms and this song has a lot of toms. It’s a great live tune, gets people moving, gets the heads bobbing and the bodies bouncing. It’s a bit tricky in the mix though since we did of course layer a few extra things that we cannot do live. The bass is really coming through in the mix though, but then that’s me playing bass so I guess that’s expected since I’m doing the mix. Doug is the drummer, and he wants more kick drum. I tweak it a bit. I’d had it cut a little at 160 so I lessen the cut, the same at 400. I bring down all the other drums a couple db and then raise the master drum fader on the mix bus. I hit play again, and we listen. It works.
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“Cool,” Doug says.
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There is indeed a “thud” now. It thumps too. We raise the kick in a little more in the chorus to drive the whole thing even further, add a touch of the frantic. That works too. We’re making progress. The third song will be finished this evening. We play, stop, talk. I bump up the reverb on the snare in the middle spacey part, balance the bass with the newly energized kick, and then we bring the vocals back in.
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“Shot him five times and he’s still alive…”.
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We started this project a year ago in what seemed like the hottest July ever in Seattle. There was no air conditioning at the practice space where we recorded the drums and guitars so we sweated it out. We placed eight microphones around the drums, got those down in a couple of weeks. We recorded tracks and tracks and tracks of guitar to build up the sound. It was never possible for the band to do before while recording in studios and paying the man to record and mix. They made some great recordings, but the guitars were thin. They never leapt out of the speakers as they do now. They rock now. We added the keyboards in the stinking sweat of the practice space too. It was rough in the heat as we dripped all over the guitars and cables and microphones and the laptop. I caught a break though and was lucky enough to stay on Camano Island for about six months starting back in October. We did bass and vocals up there. We got all the tracks down by mid-October, and then were ready to mix. We figured we’d be ready by Christmas. It was just three songs after all.
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Then it happened. Life.
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The self-recorded project often succumbs to it. As a band, we almost did. The fun went somewhere, some place where we couldn’t find it. Practice drew on, mixes drew on. Time drew on. Shit came and went.
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But then something else happened. I almost saw Hells Belles. I remembered AC/DC. I went home and put on High Voltage, track 4, Live Wire, and cranked it. I spoke to the Hells Belles singer after missing their show and she told me she makes a living singing for that band. I missed the show, but I imagined her walking up to a bar to order a beer and instead of ordering breaking into song , “I’m a live wire!” The bartender looks around uncomfortably. “Holy smoke and sweet desire!” I listened to that song a million times way back in eighth grade. Back then it was what made me want to play. And so I played.
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All it takes to settle the soul sometimes is the length of one song.
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“Well, if you’re looking for trouble, I’m the man to see…”
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So I pulled up the months old mixes. Tweaked them, worked them. Finished them. There is nothing at all like playing music. If you don’t, you should. If you do let me know, and I’ll come check out your band. And well, with the mixes finished, and things in the works for a re-emergence of my own band, life is indeed happening. We got it down, captured the musical moment. What could be better?
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Dave
The curious may check out a couple samples here: http://www.davemusic.net/?pg=4&ss=1

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