The Anatomy of an Album

If LJ goes bust...

2009-01-06T21:42:49Z

...you'll be able to find me at http://album-anatomy.blogspot.com. Unless you're a freak, and then you'll only find me in your dreams.

Still Rokken, not unlike Dokken.

2008-01-28T22:39:51Z

Yo! So I've not posted here in a long time. I'm actually turning this into my "producer" blog (mirrored at http://album-anatomy.blogspot.com; I'm keeping the LJ for now). This means I will probably keep posting about this project, as well as some other projects and news items.

For posts specifically about this album, go to http://retributiongirl.blogspot.com. Shanks!

Resistance is Futile.

2007-06-24T19:27:56Z

Seriously.

I would be remiss in creating a true reflection of what making this record has been like without addressing the fine art of artistic resistance.

Really, I don't even have to journal about it, because the last few ("few" being the operative word) posts illustrate it.

Now, most of the album is recorded. I'm recounting it chronologically, but I didn't write or record it that way. But to you, my fine reader, you're left pondering..."What's next? What's happening with those vocals? Will there ever be a second song?"

Or maybe you're not. Maybe my lack of approaching the subject has left you with less than stellar interest in my project.

I could use the stock excuses for not being more frequent in blogging. All of them would be true to a certain extent. "I've been busy working on other things."--I have. I launched another site (SVM's corporate production studio), I've had a good deal of projects from some of our favorite clients that I've either been producing or recording for, I've jumped head on into a business coaching program that I've been loving, and, it being June, I've been vacuuming up a ton of animal hair from my couch every day.

But really, to be as completely honest and reflective of the process as I want this blog to be, the real culprit is good ol' resistance. Just like with the recording process, I get a good flow going, then sometimes a little unconscious voice pops up that say, "Nah, you need to chill on that. Do this instead." It's the same voice that talks me into cheesecake when I need to be hitting my Yoga mat.

I'm one of those people that has a hard time making myself and my own work as much of a priority as I make the time and work of others. It's one of the reasons why having a pro coach has been really good for me. Someone else helps me set up deadlines for ME, and I can't use an excuse to scrap it or put someone else ahead of ME in line. I'll have to answer for it if I do.

So, my dear readers, with that admitted and forgiveness given to myself for falling off of the 'flow' wagon, I'm back on the blog. Updates will be more frequent.

On humanity and humility...

2007-05-01T15:36:09Z

Minor disclaimer again that I'm just reminding you folks of: All content, whether I post lyrics, soundfiles, artwork, or any other aspect of this album, is copyright 2007 Dana Detrick, Serious Vanity Music, and all rights are reserved! I'm an ASCAP baby as well, so don't get any silly ideas (it's not like you are, but just in case...) about taking any of these for any sort of use at all without my consent.

I first started songwriting when I was very young. I think I was around ten years old when I really started taking it 'seriously' (as serious as a ten year old can be) and keeping proper spirals and folders full of lyrics with little chords or notes scribbled on them. I'd studied Viola in school, so I felt I was familiar enough with music to make some sort of sense (and really, looking back on these pages, I can still figure out what I meant at the time).

I really loved words though, and I think when I started to teach myself guitar once I was old enough to really absorb it, it was mainly as a way to facilitate the songs I was penning. This was shortly after the spirals started appearing. I'd had a guitar since I was eight, but I can't point to anything other than chaos that I was exhibiting on it. Don't mock though, that's an art in itself.

When I became a proper guitar "student" during the crazy late '80's/early '90's when you did that, lyrics became places to rest between wanky guitar solos. It really didn't matter what you said; in fact, the more abstract or obtuse, the better. The bulk of what I wrote lyrically in college wasn't even in English (which, with the exception of two semesters of French that I remember "J'amapelle Dana" from, is the only language I speak).

But I love words and more importantly, I felt like I once again had something to say. No "oooh baby" songs. Maybe some pretentious crap. But a message was there, and I wanted to go with it.

This has caused my arrangements to really pare down. I almost feel like I'm cheating sometimes. But you have to leave room. You can try to cram it in, but your message gets lost, unclear. Unless lack of clarity is your message.

So, since I have focused on talking about technical recording aspects so much so far, I didn't want to leave the impression that this was just another cold, clinical, methodical pop record. All hook, no crook, so to speak.

When I first wrote the lyric to "Retribution Grrl" years ago, it had a much different feel than what it does now. I was in a different headspace, certainly. It's good to rewrite and refresh sometimes. I look back at a lot of the old drafts, and I was so angry, at no one in particular. Through that anger, I couldn't express what I really wanted to (which I'm not even sure I was clear on at the time). I had a lot of false starts, where there's just a stanza on a page, crossed out, left, re-dated with something new crossed out. It was a journey to get here.

What started as an image of an avenger became instead someone who was really just...over it. That living well is in fact the best revenge. That there was in fact some satisfaction in forgiveness, and it had nothing at all to do with that other person, thing, concept.

I could strap on my superhero armor
And be a retribution grrl
I've got enough enemies
To fill my arsenal of bad guys
In my superhero world

'tis true. But who doesn't? Victim or avenger? This is the choice.

But first thing's first
I've gotta quench my thirst
On humanity and humility
The stuff that takes me out of it

It really does come down to "What are you going to focus on?". Cheesy as it is, I do believe in the Law of Attraction, I've seen that work. It's a popular philosophy right now because of The Secret, and I'm sure it will fall back to a more niche group soon enough (that I'll still be part of), but I think currently this is something that represents not just me, but a lot of people trying to rid their lives of what they don't want, in a proactive way.

I could wear a crown of thorns
And be a bruised and battered queen
Drag my cross behind me
Adorned with rock stars, wannabes
And everything in between

Probably subversive in some way (the hairs on the neck will always go up for some of if you use the Jesus symbolism), but it's universal. The ultimate martyr symbol, now with an extra slice of cheese (which any "rock star" reference is guaranteed to deliver), on a whole wheat bun. Now, is it really adorned with "rock stars"? Anyone whose partaken in any local scene, any basement scene, any major scene that actually DOES have what is considered a rock star (which I think is a lost art) in it knows exactly what I mean. And for the rest, I hope I've conveyed it. As writers, we just put it out there. It's only my job to say what I feel. Ideally, people will have some resonance with it. But if they don't, or don't care to try, then they're not the audience for it. That's art.

It doesn't get me off
In the same way as that thoughtful stuff
So I guess I'll let it go
And count my lucky stars again

I don't necessarily believe in luck, but I'm very honest in this verse about how grateful I feel for changing course in my life. But saying it like that doesn't lend itself to music very well unless you're Christy Lane, so instead we have four lines here. There's a dichotomy from going from rock stars to lucky stars that I think conveys some positive imagery amidst a pretty dark musical passage.

Somebody's gonna make you pay
Someday you'll wake up and see
Your crap got you where you are today
But that somebody's not gonna be me

This is really the only part of the old song that I kept, because I wanted a little of the old me in there. This is pretty straight forward angry, and only one of two parts of the where I stop talking about my feelings and really just address someone else. It's what I meant about forgiveness; that it's more about letting the universe or karma take over. It's not about the me in this scenerio. I still wanted some contrast, so this break is in the relative key of G Major from the key of E Minor that the rest of the song is. Not a big leap, but it does give it a bit of a different feel from the droning darkness that I'm illustrating everywhere else.

I go marching again
The voice of all the little girls
I wouldn't expose to me
Even though I'm what they need to see

It's ok to live in this world
You can make it your world

The last line is my other reference elsewhere, and is far less confrontational. It's almost hopeful. Almost. And do you want your little girls to see that there's ugly in the world? Part of having someone learn from your mistakes has to do with exposing them to those mistakes. It's an innocence breaker, either way.

I've seen the worst
Put myself first
This is all about me
I'm so vain I bet this song's about me

Well there you go. I was on a roll with a credible lyric, then I maxed out my cheese card by quoting either Carly Simon or Trent Reznor quoting Carly Simon, in a not-even-close-to-veiled reference to my label, Serious Vanity. I would give you permission to write me off at this point, but I actually am so vain to assert that indeed, it will be worth waiting it out. (I almost inserted some sort of annoying winkie emoticon here--but I'll spare you those for now).

Mine goes to 11.

2007-04-30T19:09:55Z

As I mentioned prior, my thoughts for what I wanted guitarwise for this track were going to be a sort of stripped down jangly, indie rock thing. I managed to have a happy accident though, that not only changed the feel of the whole song, but really gave a cohesiveness and direction to the whole album.

Now, tube purists will HATE this, but I don't care. I'm not a tube purist, and I have no problems admitting it. I prefer recording with my Line6 Flextone II Pro because it's a lot of amp with very, very low noise. Note: never, ever direct in record with it. Just because you can, does not mean that you should.

What I intended to use for this first electric track was the '63 Vox AC-30 setting I'd plugged in for some of the recordings I was also doing for Post Orgasmic Trauma. I was playing my '93 Telecaster (everything cranked to the highest end settings, thus giving me that jangly, half way painful feel I was wanting). I mic'ed it with a RODE NT1 about 12 inches off of the speaker, to add a little bit of the room.

I recorded it, but damn, it ended up a little beefier (and crunchier) than I wanted. It was strangely effective, though. A little "Even It Up" from Heart's Bebe le Strange. I double checked my notes...a-HA! Not the AC-30 setting, but in fact, I was using the 50 Watt '68 Marshall Plexi setting (uh yeah, I THINK that might be a little beefier. Other guitarists can quit smirking at me now). This particular setting has a lot of boost on the EQ across the board, plus a little bit of reverb, which I like. I used to be a very dry tone person, but now I'm charmed by reverb a little more.

So, with what was just supposed to be my high-end track to accentuate the changes, I needed to change my approach to my "chug" rhythm tracks. I wanted them darker, but now that I'd gone a little crunchier on the high stuff, they were going to live in a space deeper than what I'd invisioned.

I went with my 2006 PRS Custom 24 (highs boosted) through the '60's Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (think Hendrix), with mids and treble boosted and a little reverb, once again. I kept the NT-1 12 inches off of the speaker still, and doubled the track for an even bigger tone. This is the result. A little less Hendrix, and a little more Siamese Dream era Smashing Pumpkins. For an older sound, it was strangely modern, especially given what I'd originally been going for.

The end result, all together, is this. Still a loose mix, but I'm getting happier with it.

Vocals and solos. Save the fun (and excrutiating hell) for last.

Strapping on My Superhero Armor

2007-04-11T15:54:10Z

Minor disclaimer that I'm sure I'll post again at some point: All content, whether I post lyrics, soundfiles, artwork, or any other aspect of this album, is copyright 2007 Dana Detrick, Serious Vanity Music, and all rights are reserved, suckas! I'm an ASCAP baby as well, so don't get any silly ideas (it's not like you are, but just in case...) about taking any of these for any sort of use at all without my consent.

With the song "Retribution Grrl", I'd like to say that it started with this really powerful lyric that was going to be the driving force for the rest of the album. Not so. It was a long series of drafts and redrafts and scratching out and careting in and a big frustrating mess. But more on that later.

What started the whole thing for me, the guitarist, was a drum beat. Now, I'm not a good drummer. I've had a set of vintage Camco Oaklawns (similar to this set but it is not mine) since I was 14, and at one point, was a decent player. I didn't stick with it, though, and I suffer for it now when what's in my head wants to get out, and my body won't cooperate.

So I eventually built this rhythm using one shot loops (for those not familiar, they're recorded live drum sounds, not synthesized, but that are able to be programmed in a sequencing/looping program). It was very sterile, and almost sounded synthesized the way it lacked the human energy that this song really needed. It worked for the meantime, and allowed me to put a pedal E piano part with it as this underlying drone effect.  Here's what it sounded like: Retribution Grrl, drums and piano 1.
See? Sterile. I really didn't want to play portions of it and loop myself, because I wanted something with a little more power than what I can deliver. And since I decided that ALL instruments have to be me on this, hiring out wasn't going to work, either. Then I had an "Aha!" moment one day, and set up the NT1 about two and a half feet away from the tom on the set (roughly about 4 feet high), just to capture some of the live ambience. I thought I took a picture of this setup (I've found the digital camera to be a necessary aid in studio memory), but alas, you will just have to envision it.

I played the basic rhythm and chorus parts sans kick drum (because nothing sounds worse than a sloppy left foot. I definitely didn't want this song to trip over itself for two minutes). The result was a little like this: Retribution Grrl, live drum ambience.

Altogether, I got the effect I wanted, which was a tight drum sound, with the energy of live playing: The whole shebang. You can tell the difference! I could have experimented with adding reverb to the loops, but seriously, nothing can replace human molecules pushing the air around. We're still good for something!

I wanted to accentuate that 'pedal' feel by not making the guitars too busy. I'd been playing this on acoustic guitar during the entire writing process, and I thought it would add a nice crispness to incorporate that in. I mic'ed my old beater Guild with the Pacific Pro Audio LD2ube, which I can't say enough good things about (Seriously, Google it, and you'll see me saying a lot of good things about it everywhere!). It's really the perfect mic for acoustic guitar. I place it just slightly above the sound hole, with a tiny bit of a high shelf, because my Guild can get a touch bassy. I was playing basically a root-octave E, with a little bit of dampening to accentuate the rhythm. Or I could just show you: Excerpt from right before the chorus, into the first little break. I didn't want it to be too dry so I didn't record in the booth. I generally don't like to with acoustic guitar, because we've got a nice natural reverb in the studio.

I was really happy with how it was turning out, and figured this would be a good foundation for a little emo epic. When I started laying down bass and electric guitar tracks, though, things took a different turn. That's the beauty of leaving a little to chance! But I'll save that for now.

Books vs. Paintings analogy.

2007-04-10T19:07:00Z

I've already mentioned that I'm a pretty typical Virgo, and if you've ever dealt with one of us, you know that the method to our madness lies in our abilities to analyze and organize. It's our thing. To a fault.

When I started this project, I organized my list of songs that I'd like included, that were all written around the same time period, so they all came from the same 'space', in a sense. I weeded out those things that didn't seem to fit, compiled the little bits of recordings that had been started but not pursued. In some cases, things would be kept and worked with. In others, they were just ideas that would be built upon, but probably reworked. In yet others, it would be a matter of scrapping them altogether.

Once I had my final group assembled, my brain needed to complete one more task. This is one that I think makes me unique amongst my peers in recording.

For some people, recording an album is like a painting. You lay down the first coat over the canvas, the hue that will be at the visual foundation of the piece, on which all other things will be built out.

I think this is how most people work. The base coat is the drum and bass tracks that create the heartbeat, or the scratch guitars and vocals that will later be replaced, but represent the forms and structures, the bones, if you will.

This is not really me. I'm a writer. I start at the Introduction, and move along to Chapter 1, 2, and 3 with a sense of purpose in my chronology. I mean, you could go from Chapter 1 to Chapter 4, then back to 2 and 3 later, but it wouldn't provide you the same inspiration. Maybe something would happen in Chapter 3 that you didn't put in your outline, that your gut just brought into play as you typed. That would change Chapter 4 in a way you can't anticipate. I don't want Chapters 2 and 3 to just be filler, to get to that pivitol Chapter 4 event. Each matters in a way that makes it part of a larger whole.

That's what I love about real albums. This isn't The Anatomy of a Collection of Songs for a reason. I have a story to tell. I have a path to walk.

So my first step is to decide what my song order is going to be. I went over this probably three or four times over a series of days before I felt comfortable calling it done, then I think I changed it once more before I started recording.

I like how doing this inspires my beginnings and endings. It changes my chord progressions. It gives me ideas of how to juxtapose keys and transition moods. It makes it interesting to see how long you think you can hold a listener's interest. Do I want you at 2 minute intervals? Do I want you to feel like skipping around or repeating? Or do I want you to sit there, headphones on, being taken on a trip with me (or through me, as it were)?

I don't know that people think about these things, or that they really need to anymore. It's not even a 'singles' world. You just download what you want, beit one song or five. You can change the order around to anything you want on your mobile devices or playlists. Why waste time on it?

I think the general lack of preference for this is a direct result of our on-demand culture, our TiVos that allow us to watch shows out of the lineup the networks find to fit their demographics. Is that a bad thing? It's certainly not a very creative thing.

So there were my songs, side A, side B. Now THAT truly is a pointless holdout, and I'll fully admit it. I can't think of the last time I saw a duplication plant offer cassette packages (as if there would be any reason to), and vinyl is still not affordable enough for the average indie to duplicate, even for kitsch value. But the balance of it is still important, I think. That you could have two equal experiences with one overall work. I think it makes sense.

But who needs logic, when you've got a good chunk of harddrive space (my equivalent of 'tape rolling' for the rest of this experiment), a big tube mic, and a gut full of angst?

The Concept of the "Practice" Album.

2007-04-07T19:19:35Z

For anyone who may be finding this via a posting that isn't: I'm also femmefrets, and will probably forget on more than one ocassion (as I've already done once), to log out and reply with this username. You've been warned!

So I knew I wanted to have an album done, but I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure where to go from there. I had a huge collection of halfway-finished/sort of needing reworking/altogether underdeveloped songs and recordings that I sifted through, looking for something that stylistically might remotely be reflective of where I'm at now, in my life and creativity. It's not that I didn't want to start fresh writing songs, necessarily. Like a lot of other artists or writers, there's something that nags at me when I have unfinished business looming over my head. I didn't feel like I could start fresh on something new until I finished one of these.

I need a practice album, I thought! Seriously, that was my thought.

I mentioned yesterday that I had been doing some electronica/guitar geek stuff in the beginning, and honestly, that's where I really thought my new starting place would be. The songs themselves are fairly personal and catchy and wouldn't have been difficult to work with. Maybe that was the lesson I needed to learn: lack of difficulty wouldn't hold my interest.

Being a weird Virgo (or typical Virgo, which is how I prefer to think of it), I'd had another more straight forward rock project that I'd contemplated somewhere between 2000 and 2002 (before I'd gotten complete over my head in bands and studio-building) called Retribution Grrl. Despite the completely annoying "grrl" spelling (which I just can't let go of, don't try to make me), it really was a potentially compelling project. So this would be the "practice" album, I decided.

Or so I thought. The more I dug in, the more I realized most of these 12-15 songs, with a little polishing, really DID represent a lot of what I was feeling now. There were a few songs that were far too dark or just generally "blah" that got ditched, but for the most part, a general lyrical refreshing (I swear, no feminine products were used in this process) were all most needed. It was not just a starting place anymore.

So next, the recording process really begins.

The Disclaimer!

2007-04-06T22:39:58Z

Welcome to the very first entry in what will probably be a ridiculously self-indulgent tome documenting the creation and release of my first solo album. I feel the need to expound a bit on why I felt compelled to begin this blog, and what I hope to get out of it (hopefully there's something in it for you, dear reader, as well).

A little background on me: I'm Dana. I'm unknown to most of the world, just like millions of other indie artists. I've been a guitarist, composer, recording engineer, songwriter, and reluctant singer for what is probably a very long time (linear time is for suckers, so I leave that part out). I started my own record label in 1996 (Serious Vanity Music), with the intent of gradually building my studio and releasing my own CDs forever (for ever-ever? Yes.), with little else on my plate.

Then an opportunity presented itself to produce a wacky Duran Duran tribute album, and I put my then post-college angsty lo-fi electronica on the backburner. Insert another big compilation project and stints in three bands with varying releases/recordings/regression, and I end up over ten years later, still without my own damned record. So I decided to change that, once and for all.

There really is no better time to be doing this, as I finally have the studio that I really wanted to make it in (which has proven itself via the work I've done on other people's albums, multimedia projects, and ads). The aforementioned other way I make money has taken the financial frustration out of the mix, leaving me with no bar to reach except my own satisfaction.

But without angst, where will my inspiration come from? Tune in to find out, I suppose.