Waves Of Torment/Waves Of Tall Men
Saturday, February 18, 2006
I can't help myself. When I do something I need to share it, tell everyone about it. I have a big mouth. Example: I was told yesterday that I've been successful in my application for a new position at work but was asked not to tell anyone until the HR manager could send out the official email. I told the first person I saw. Oops. I've held off a week and now I'm letting Small Pulses and Sixteen Cranes out. But first...!
Left of this are some candid shots from the Manzuma photo day last Sunday. What a lot of fun it was to play with the Estey outside and a big red balloon! Starting at the studio, in the courtyard, we did Estey and Mirror, Tea Party on the Lawn and Up and Away in a Big Red Balloon. Studio carpark corridor was Toy Instruments, studio inside was Typical Symmetrical Manzuma with Lights. Then to Boondall to Get All Wet, but none of those photos are there. (It was the first time I've been in a pool fully clothed as I've never been one to impulsively jump in or allow myself to be in a situation that could result in being pushed in. My mother will tell you, self preservation is my guiding light.) Mr Robert Braiden was the official photographer, but all of these images are by Log; avoiding work to play with us. When Vanessa and I are finished boiling down the 400 photos we expect to have about 4 that we'll use. And maybe more that we can use over the next couple of years. It was nothing like illegally walking all over an aeroplane late in the afternoon but was fun just the same.
Back to music! As I said in the last post, working full time has its drawbacks. We've now done 2 sessions on Sixteen Cranes and have generated only 2 minutes of music and used up all the lyrics I had written for the song. Nevertheless, I'll treat it as a demo for the purpose of this post. I have some major concerns with this song and think it's going to need some equally major surgery to bring it up to scratch. The intro sits at about 8 seconds at the moment and despite Vanessa and I wanting a song that "just comes straight in" I do think it's too short. I also think it needs a little more space between sections, some SM58 vocals run through a distortion pedal and some more general fucking-with-it type things.
Like all of the new songs, I'm still growing my relationship with this one. And that's one of the main struggles with 'pushing forward'; we were so set with the Serpent songs and they sat for so long that it's challenging getting to know new songs that are different. I console myself by saying it's good and as it should be. Have a listen...
Sixteen Cranes Demo Sample (Chorus Tail & Verse 2) 820kb
Small Pulses Demo Sample 1 (Verse 4, Chorus 2) 766kb
The plan with Small Pulses is to go theatrical. I'm going to record a heap of sound effects to match what's happening in the lyrics. It'll all be very literal, obvious, heavy handed. I'm going to, of course, replace the keyboard piano with Jason's white grand piano and I'd like a string quartet in there too. I'm keeping the atmospheric stuff aswell. Glenn said he liked the frailty in Vanessa's voice on this version. I do too, but it's not frailty, it's uncertainty ("Which note is next??? Oh my God!!!! I don't know which note is next!!!!").
In the Ash post I mentioned our Peter Jackson-ness. I'm now discovering a connection with some of the new material, in particular the two songs that this post covers. The lyrics in these two songs actually mean something to me. There is meaning in most parts of all the words on Hollows, but in particular Sixteen Cranes and Small Pulses. And it's funny where inspiration can come from. Last Sunday night I was buggered and needing to watch TV (I've explained my TV habits to some people and they don't seem to understand but agree it's healthier than needing to watch all these shows every week). I watched Law & Order SVU. Enough said; but (in another contradictory moment) it is funny where inspiration comes from.
Maybe if I put the words "Sweet" and "Eros" on this page people will read it?
Left of this are some candid shots from the Manzuma photo day last Sunday. What a lot of fun it was to play with the Estey outside and a big red balloon! Starting at the studio, in the courtyard, we did Estey and Mirror, Tea Party on the Lawn and Up and Away in a Big Red Balloon. Studio carpark corridor was Toy Instruments, studio inside was Typical Symmetrical Manzuma with Lights. Then to Boondall to Get All Wet, but none of those photos are there. (It was the first time I've been in a pool fully clothed as I've never been one to impulsively jump in or allow myself to be in a situation that could result in being pushed in. My mother will tell you, self preservation is my guiding light.) Mr Robert Braiden was the official photographer, but all of these images are by Log; avoiding work to play with us. When Vanessa and I are finished boiling down the 400 photos we expect to have about 4 that we'll use. And maybe more that we can use over the next couple of years. It was nothing like illegally walking all over an aeroplane late in the afternoon but was fun just the same.
Back to music! As I said in the last post, working full time has its drawbacks. We've now done 2 sessions on Sixteen Cranes and have generated only 2 minutes of music and used up all the lyrics I had written for the song. Nevertheless, I'll treat it as a demo for the purpose of this post. I have some major concerns with this song and think it's going to need some equally major surgery to bring it up to scratch. The intro sits at about 8 seconds at the moment and despite Vanessa and I wanting a song that "just comes straight in" I do think it's too short. I also think it needs a little more space between sections, some SM58 vocals run through a distortion pedal and some more general fucking-with-it type things.
Like all of the new songs, I'm still growing my relationship with this one. And that's one of the main struggles with 'pushing forward'; we were so set with the Serpent songs and they sat for so long that it's challenging getting to know new songs that are different. I console myself by saying it's good and as it should be. Have a listen...
Sixteen Cranes Demo Sample (Chorus Tail & Verse 2) 820kbYeah. Still needs some work. Some vocals need to be redone, but that's my fault for setting the gain too high. Slide needs to be redone, but that's my fault for hitting the high notes too hard. Do you like it? Moving on to Small Pulses. This is a real demo. This was done in only an hour a week and a half ago. I just needed to get it out of my system; the idea had been there for weeks and weeks. It was not my intention to actually like the song but I do. And Vanessa's poor articulation in the chorus (it's only poor because she was reading the lyrics for only the 2nd time as she was singing the song) has seeded an idea that'll help the song heaps. You don't know what that is and I'm not telling you. Listen now...
Small Pulses Demo Sample 1 (Verse 4, Chorus 2) 766kbThe plan with Small Pulses is to go theatrical. I'm going to record a heap of sound effects to match what's happening in the lyrics. It'll all be very literal, obvious, heavy handed. I'm going to, of course, replace the keyboard piano with Jason's white grand piano and I'd like a string quartet in there too. I'm keeping the atmospheric stuff aswell. Glenn said he liked the frailty in Vanessa's voice on this version. I do too, but it's not frailty, it's uncertainty ("Which note is next??? Oh my God!!!! I don't know which note is next!!!!").
In the Ash post I mentioned our Peter Jackson-ness. I'm now discovering a connection with some of the new material, in particular the two songs that this post covers. The lyrics in these two songs actually mean something to me. There is meaning in most parts of all the words on Hollows, but in particular Sixteen Cranes and Small Pulses. And it's funny where inspiration can come from. Last Sunday night I was buggered and needing to watch TV (I've explained my TV habits to some people and they don't seem to understand but agree it's healthier than needing to watch all these shows every week). I watched Law & Order SVU. Enough said; but (in another contradictory moment) it is funny where inspiration comes from.
Maybe if I put the words "Sweet" and "Eros" on this page people will read it?
- posted by Tim at 10:56 AM -
Hey, that'd be sweet! :)
By 
, at
March 11, 2006 10:06 PM
Wouldn't it just! SWEET EROS, SWEET EROS, SWEET EROS. Wait til the robots pick up that one, eh! Congrats on being all flowery; I'll expect a bouquet when we launch.
By 
Tim, at
March 15, 2006 8:10 PM
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