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"Apollo 18", a mellow spacy original


bats brew

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1 minute ago, Kevin Perry said:

Very nice - we've got a lot of space-influenced tunage going on in this forum at the moment.  And I like it.

ha! space-influenced....

heheh, i like it!

i don't do much slide recording, but i really like to play slide,

so this is just an attempt at my george influence (lowell, harrison, thorogood, etc) 😁

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2 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

Good stuff, why am I not surprised, here Bats. 

Was wondering if it was slide or maybe a lap steel. 

Always a fan, but you know that...

t

oh that ending was kool

THANKS TOM, for listening and commenting...

just a regular slide, a glass slide at that.

i tried to be very calm and nail each note as close to the pitch as i could,

that comes from my listening to george harrison, i believe.

 

that ending....

is just the slides going up and out, and a little synth pad that had a real long delay and repeat on it.

but it felt very spacey! heheh

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On 11/1/2021 at 10:50 PM, David Sprouse said:

Do you just start recording and improvise, or do you do more than one take? Your rock talent runs deep.  I always enjoy your work.  

hi david! 

interesting question.......

when i'm writing, i usually have the arrangement of the song figured out first...and write the drum track.

sometimes it will be complete to start with, sometimes, just a skeleton for arranging.

i'll sometimes use a click track in open areas where i don't know what i want to do;

then, i'll start recording 'scratch tracks' where i literally write as i go.

 

sometimes, i'll bring a song in the studio that is complete in my head... the entire thing, melody, tempo, chord changes, the arrangement.

those go quick.

the scratch tracks sometimes become the final tracks.

 

then, when i get far enough into it to realize a complete drum track and arrangement, i'll practice all the changes, get my head straight, and try for complete single performances for each and every track.

THAT is where the feel comes from.

i do not like punch ins, so i avoid them.

i'd rather trash an entire track for one mistake, and cut a new one, just to get that loose first take feel.

 

with vocals, i usually have to take multiple passes at it, verse by verse, chorus by chorus, because i'm usually trying out different things every time i do a take, and when i get one i really like, i learn it, rehearse it, then go for a long take.

 

with solos, they are often times one off tracks, first takes, where the entire thing is off the top of my head.

when i get solos that are integral melodies, i practice those, and again, try to get entire takes from beginning to end.

 

 

i have written songs like you suggest, where the whole thing is improvised.  just depends on the song.

 

 

on "Apollo 18", the song began with the acoustic track, and an idea, a bittersweet story, to go along with the bittersweet feel of the rhythm track.

i just built everything off of that acoustic track. there was no click, it was all free feel.

very free. like floating in space.

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On 11/4/2021 at 3:37 PM, antler said:

Very nice - great mix as usual.

This one actually gave me more of a cowboy/western feel - sort of like Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive. Great playing!

well thank you antler!

western feel, i get that...

maybe its the slow slide method, seems almost like pedal steel, but not.

interesting observation!

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15 hours ago, treesha said:

Wonderful execution and mood, love your guitar playing as usual. Enjoyed reading about your process. 

why thanks, treesha!

appreciate that.

yea, i like talking about the process, but don't put it out there much unless someone asks.

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On 11/10/2021 at 8:11 AM, mark skinner said:

 I Really liked the acoustics and the way they were captured and EQd.  It was also Very nice the way this song flowed without a drum track.       mark

HEY MARK!

thanks for listening

the acoustics were a Taylor 414, a great big thing that's too big for me!

but it sounds nice...

miced with a Shure KSM44, pointed at about the end of the fingerboard where it joins the body.

 

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