I can’t believe it’s already March! I’m happy to report that I continue to be busy with both old and new clients. I welcome Andrew Kuhlman to DBW. Andrew did a self-produced rap song here and since then has shot an outstanding music video that should be out shortly on YouTube.
Speaking of YouTube, here’s a video I made of Paul McCallum and Paul Weitz as they were recording tracks for their new Jazz Duo CD. This was done completely live as I was recording them in Logic. “The 2 Pauls” will be coming in shortly to finish tracking for the CD and we should have something out within the next 2 months.
Why the huge graphic for the new smash hit, “Pizza Night?” Well, for one thing I wrote the song and for another I think it’s pretty funny looking! That’s my good friend, Walt Whitney on the cover. Walt’s also saying “Pizza Night” on the recording. Never had a lesson. I wrote the song at his house on his lap top and then rewrote it a year later in my studio with the inspired direction of his nephew, Connor. Then, Walt and I were talking a few days ago and he said, “why don’t you put Pizza Night on Itunes?” So....I did! It’s a dance/electronic/heavy rock/searing guitar solo song.
Long distance and long time client, Elisa Lynee, released another single (the 2nd in 4 months). Elisa lives in New Hampshire and sends me the rough song idea via email. I then flush out an arrangement that she records her vocals to back east. Through the wonders of the internet we wind up with a finished product! Like her first single, this song’s profits go towards bringing awareness to the Lupus foundation so make sure you buy it today and help out a good cause! It’s available on Itunes now.
Henri Valle is back in DBW for the 2nd time and just finished a second single called “Come Closer to Me” now available on Itunes proving once again DBW is one versatile music production house! This song is in the power pop/dance vein. I did much of the arranging and instrumentation on the track as well as mixing and mastering. We plan on doing an EP this year which should be a blast to do!
Cindy Lora-Renard and husband, Gary Renard’s new CD, “In The Beginning” is now out available via cindylora.com. The CD is a mixture of covers and originals and features some behind the scenes production work by yours truly. Gary plays guitar and sings and Cindy sings and plays keyboards. I mixed and mastered the CD here. On a side note, I’ve been recording Cindy for close to 20 years now!
I just saw an old friend/client this weekend who did a wonderful folk CD with me a few years ago and has since moved to a very small town in Scotland called Alberfiny (population 1900), Linda Dewar. We talked about doing some possible collaboration via the web on her upcoming project. Linda does authentic Celtic music and now lives in a place where many of her heros reside. I miss her but am happy she’s found her home and continues to thrive.
Long time client, Vince Raceanu, is back in the studio collaborating with Dave on a reggae song. Vince typically comes up with the melody and lyrics, emails me the idea after he records it on his iphone and then has me go to town creating a track around it. It’s a process I now have down to a T. The key is that Vince records with a drum loop and sings pretty well in pitch. This is harder to do if one sings it entirely a cappella (but is still possible, just takes longer).
And yes, I have new gear (what else is new...)! I got a cool lap steel guitar for Christmas that I love and just picked up a killer little guitar amp made by Blackstar called the HT5. This amp is only 5 watts but it sounds BIG. It does a decent clean sound but really shines on the slightly broken up to nice crunchy Marshall and Vox sounds and is a nice addition to my collection. I also have been using a device called an “Ebow”. It allows me to sustain a note infinitely via it’s magnetic interaction with the guitar string and pickup. These are not new by any means and can be heard on many famous recordings (U2’s, “With or Without You” for example). I’ve also incorporated my Ipad into my studio setup. I mostly use it as a controller for Logic but am experimenting with it for the actual sounds it can produce with some of the instrument apps out there. It’s a very cool device and I highly recommend them.
