7Nov/111
The Swear Jar
I just realized that my old album wasn't on my new website. Mea culpa. This album was written, recorded, mixed, and mastered in 28 days during February of 2007 using Pro Tools 6.7 via an M-Audio Delta 44, FL Studio, a KORG Triton 88 Extreme Workstation, and various guitars. A little rough around the edges but I'm pretty happy with it overall, especially considering I was holding down a full time job as a game developer while recording this.
The Swear Jar by RegularGonzalez
November 7th, 2011 - 20:20
My thoughts on this album upon listening to it 4+ years later…
Sideshow: I’m not sure I realized it at the time because I recall being pretty drunk when I recorded this song, but this is obviously a The Knife style parody.
Falling: I used to have such a lovely falsetto. Oh puberty, what hath thou wrought? Anyhow, I was a smoker back then so I think my voice was a bit wobbly on this album in general.
Sushi for Slave Girls: I’ve always loved this song. This was the first recording I made with my first real electric guitar, the Schechter Diamond Series. Coming from an acoustic guitar background, I really had no idea what I was doing so I just pressed the distortion button on the amp and went to town. The name came from some random conversation in a car.
Drinking While We Sing: My tongue-in-cheek attempt at an irish drinking song, featuring a newly purchased bhodran drum. This song taught me about the conundrum of having your friends impersonate drunken bar singers. If they don’t drink, they may not sound drunk. If they drink, they may not remember the words. Still a fun little ditty.
A Case of You: I think this is what would happen if Matthew Sweet joined Fountains of Wayne. Not a bad pop song.
Canto Ergo Sum: I don’t like the piano sound on this. I would have preferred a live piano but I didn’t have access to one at the time. I should re-do this with live instruments.
Anticrunk Superstar: My old buddy Chris subbed in on this one. The loop is sampled from Bela Fleck’s classical music album. The beats and synths were all done on the Triton.
Everything I Know About Vikings: My vocals are a bit strained here, but I’m happy with the piano — kinda like an 80′s version of Ben Folds Five maybe? I wish it was live, once again, but I think the drums hold up well for being finger-tapped on the Triton.
In French: This is me at my most poetic and tender. I think it speaks for itself.
Unified String Theory: This was the last song and I really wish I had more time to work on it. It has tempo and note errors and I wanted to make it longer. Oh well.
Final thoughts: As my first real album, made mostly by myself in my bedroom after work, it’s not bad. The next one will be better, especially since it will be recorded on better hardware in my new home studio.