Light audio recording is usually done in sections. This song was not. It’s about a diva. It was written, recorded, and released in 48 hours! Over three countries!
Additionally, because of how it came about, the process was a bit different to the usual. Let’s take a look!
1 Diva…: background
I deleted this section to start again. Three times. Because it was turning into a rant. I’ll try to keep it tight.
A contact engaged me for some work. It was a bad experience. Very bad indeed. My contact, it transpired, was a diva. He relied on liars for support. I just can’t help in that scenario.
And honestly, the lyrics of the song cover everything that happened, so there’s no need to repeat it.
Friday evening in New York
So, a week later, I was flying back to my old home of Birmingham, with a short layover in Dublin.
During take-off, I was listening to Red by Taylor Swift. I really like that album. In any case, I had a pen and paper in my hand luggage, and these words just came into my brain, with a bit of a melody to them. So, I started scribbling. And I finished the song in half an hour.
Obviously, when I’m sitting home with a guitar and a song comes out, I can record a demo on my phone. But, I was on a plane. And I didn’t have a guitar. And the other passengers and cabin crew might have been funny about a guy singing a random song into his phone.
I wanted to at least record singing the lyrics, to the melody in my head. So, I went to the bathroom. That eliminated disturbing other passengers.
But, I still didn’t want to cause concern to cabin crew by letting them hear singing from the bathroom. So, I pulled my hoodie up over my head to dampen my singing, even though I definitely would not be singing at full capacity.
I thought to myself, “I bet Bruce Springsteen never had to do this.”
Here’s how it turned out…
1 Diva… recording
Saturday morning in Dublin | Saturday evening in Birmingham
Six and a half hours later, I landed in Dublin. It was a 20 minute walk to my next flight, and I ran it in seven minutes. But, my connecting flight was delayed.
But, it gave me the chance to send the demo to my former bandmates, who I was hanging out with. I told them to bring a computer and guitar and cajon and we could record together. One last time.
We were meeting at my house, which I was in the process of selling. We recorded a lot of music there over the years, and it was the last time any of us would be inside there again. It was the best way to say goodbye.
Lead guitarist, Jimmy Eff, and drummer, Jon, rocked up to my gaff with the following:
- MacBook – something like this one
- Focusrite Scarlett – something like this one
- Gibson Hummingbird
- Shure SM58
- Some instrument cables
- Some microphone cables
- A cajon – something like this one
I was desperately tired. So the lads left me to nap and went for pints. I woke up, figured out some chords for the song, and waited for them to come back.
Step 1: scratch track
Jimmy Eff played sound engineer. Using GarageBand, we recorded a scratch track with just the guitar and vocals.
Usually, we record these individually because of how I save space by using a single input audio interface. But, with the Focusrite, we were able to multitrack and get them both done simultaneously.
Additionally, the vocals were recorded as standard with an XLR cable, and the guitar was recorded using its onboard electronics and plugging directly into the Focusrite, rather than micing it up.
Step 2: cajon
Next, we shoved a mic in the cajon’s hole, and Jon went to work. One take, and bish bash bosh. Done.
Step 3: acoustic guitar
Then, it was time to record guitar “properly.” Rather than DI it like in the scratch track, we miced it up on this occasion. Just like we always do in recording acoustic guitar,
At the present time, due to logistics, we were just recording rhythm acoustic guitar. This was for no reason other than the hassle of Jimmy Eff bringing an additional guitar over.
Step 4: vocals
As I recall, it took three takes. Given that it was my first time “properly” singing the song completely, I don’t think that was too bad!
And that was it for the time being!
1 Diva… Recording and completing
Sunday evening in Piccadilly
The following night, I was staying at Jimmy Eff’s, and we threw down some electric guitar. I think it was his Fender Jaguar HH.
Because time was even more restricted than usual, we didn’t even mic up an amp. We just used whatever plugin Jimmy Eff had in GarageBand. I think it was a punk tone modelled after a Marshall JCM800. Just a rhythm part and a solo.
Next, Jimmy Eff exported the stems from GarageBand, and shared them with me via DropBox. So, I downloaded them, and imported them to BandLab on my Chromebook.
Then, I just went through my usual steps in finishing a track. However, I used my cheap Sony earphones rather than monitors or professional headphones, which I don’t really like doing. But, everybody was in bed and I didn’t want to mess with Jimmy Eff’s setup.
And then, it went to BandCamp!
1 Diva + 2 Liars = 3 Idiots: conclusion
And that’s it. It all happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to note too much of the process.
And Jimmy Eff did most of the engineering anyway. But, here’s the end result. Make of it what you will.
To conclude, I’m as happy with it as I can be.
Moreover, I was just happy to record one more song with Nerve Centre, and in that house in Birmingham.
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