Oh, I Thought You Said 'Goat Team'

Hi, my name is Ben and I'm completely immune to sore throats and illness.

In actual fact, it would be more accurate to say I feel like shit today - I don't know whether it's just a coincidence that my throat feels like I swallowed a sharp, mucousy cheesegrater overnight after spending the day recording vocals, but if the two are related, I have to admit it seems totally worth it.

I really like recording vocals. Even though, like with playing any instrument, you kind of get good and bad days in the studio, the nice thing is that I'm pretty sure the good are starting to outnumber the bad. Coming from a person who would probably describe his singing as pretty much a 'competent vehicle for well-written songs', it's nice to think that over the last couple of years especially, I've been able to start worrying less about being able to execute what I've written without having to battle with my own voice.

Having said all that, and having now laid down most of my vocals for the album, I would humbly submit that the best part of yesterday was getting to hear Joe, Ellie and Jackie record their vocals. Joe's singing the main vocal on one song for the album, which I wrote specifically for him - there's not much I can describe properly in words about it (you'll get to hear it soon enough), but I can at least say that I'm glad that another song I've written specifically for Joe to sing is turning out exactly as I imagined it would.

On that note, we come to Go Team. This song is going to be great. Again, there's not really much that there would be any point in talking about, except to say that Joe and the girls killed it. The song kind of loosely tells the story of a great night out that we had at the end of last year and I'm very excited about it - it's going to be a bastard to mix properly (especially considering there's more to add to it yet), but when it's right, it'll be very right. Jackie and Ellie are both jaw-droppingly effortless vocalists and to hear them do what they do with words that I wrote made be feel something that I can't really describe properly, but that I think sits next to happiness - a completely different kind of satisfaction and friendship that's born of the moments in the studio where things just work with talented musicians.

I have the feeling I'm going to spend the days before we finish the vocals (assuming I can even talk by then) carved up into four-minute chunks while I listen through the rough mix of Go Team on repeat. Once I've finished the vocals, I'll sit back, take stock and make a proper blog post (with pictures and everything). Until then, I need to go and get some more Lemsip.

YOU ARE UPDATE!

- Ben

Feels Kind Of Like I'm Back Home.

Hi, my name is Ben and I have a USB port where my belly button should be.

Yesterday I actually had to do some real work on this album and do what, out of a limited range of musical skills, I do best. It was electric guitar time!

After primarily playing acoustic guitar for a while, it's all too easy to forget a little bit of where my roots lie - especially when my amp's been sitting at Joe's for a few months and the Les Paul's been suffering some input-related-illness. However, with the amp back at home and the Les Paul sporting a brand new lead-hole, I've been rediscovering some of the reasons why I started playing guitar in the first place. Not that I can tell you exactly what they are, but I can say it always just feels very right. Within a few minutes of playing around the new songs with a properly-powered guitar, all of the parts and noises that I knew I could hear when I was originally writing them are totally there; the intricate, instinctive finger-movements that don't do anything for an acoustic reveal their power on an electric - I guess it's what it must feel like to go from living in a foreign country and having to constantly translate English thoughts into an alien tongue, back to at least being able to think and talk in the same language (even if that's still an imperfect way to express what's going on).

I've been away from home for a couple of weeks doing proper, real-life stuff, which has given me plenty of time to sit and figure out the different guitar parts for all of the songs and if you happen to be keeping score, that's like, score one million for this gradual, extended recording process. Who needs to learn about eyes when you can concentrate on working on your lovely fingertip calluses?

More efficient guitar recording = more arty photos!

By the time I got back, I was raring to go and so yesterday's recording process felt like a very nice release indeed - working through a mercifully-mild hangover (that was totally Joe, Ellie and Kez' fault, not the tequila's), Luke and I loaded up on snacks and got to work. There isn't really much to say about the actual recording bit itself, since it went relatively smoothly. The result, on the other hand, is more worth a mention - we've definitely broken the back of the recording process now and with the majority of the electric parts laid down, the more subtle ideas have started to raise their head. The actual faces of the songs are in place now and when I describe how they're going to end up to people, I don't have to ask them to take quite so much of a leap of faith any more. Synth ideas have started to come out of the woodwork and secondary guitar parts are beginning to take shape. The plan is to record vocals next, then to sit back and work out any complementary guitar parts, then on to synths and the big M&M.

It feels weird, but so good to actually be able to talk about the end of the recording process like it's some time soon. I almost want the recording to not end as much as I want the finished album, just because of how much fun everyone involved is having - as I've bollocked on about a load before, music is a world that's where I've both found and forged some of my best friends and the recording process is one of the largest, most intensely fun countries in it.

OK, so next up: vocals with Joe, Ellie and Jackie. Let's do it!

YOU ARE UPDATE!

- Ben

Beep boop boop beep

See This Is Why I Can Say 'Guitars', Plural

Hi, my name's Ben and I'm currently directing the new Fresh Prince of Bel-Air movie.

Sometimes the sweetest things happen over the shortest time. It's sort of like when you know there's only a short time for something to last, or a short time in which to get a job done, everything becomes a lot more vital and focused. Luke and I had this experience the other day when we recorded the acoustic guitar tracks for the album.

The optician in me abhors this picture. Or should that be aberrates? OPTICS!

It only took about four hours to record all of the parts for eleven songs, which is - even for someone who normally records pretty quickly, if I say so myself - pretty quick. Luke is a master of setting up to record a great sound within a short space of time and as always creates a more-than-conducive environment for people to record in. Aside from being a talented engineer (as well as every other studio role he fills), Luke's one of my best friends - we always talk a load of shit when we hang out (and the thought's crossed my mind that a load of our talks about everything from delay times to astronomy somehow work their way into the music we record) and the sessions always start to feel more like the music happens while we aren't looking. This happened with the acoustic guitars and before we knew it, some bugger had come in and finished all of the recording for us... I like to think this was also partly a result of having intentionally extended the writing and recording process over a much longer time so far than I have done previously. It means that the songs feel a lot more natural and almost habitual at this point, like either I've been playing them for years, or they're simply playing themselves. That can happen, right?

I've been throwing down acoustic guitar parts on my solo recordings for a fair old while, even just to add a bit of depth to the guitar sounds. A lot of the time, there's an extra presence to acoustic rhythm parts that fills out the electric guitar sections and, I think, gives everything a bit more vibrance.

The other nice part of laying down the acoustic parts means that not only is that one great big box we can tick off on the recording process, but I can also use the fledgling drums-bass-acoustic recordings to work on the other final guitar parts while I'm away from home over the next couple of weeks. When I come home, we'll be diving straight into recording those, then it's onwards and upwards to the heady heights of vocal tracking.

Until then, though - I love you all, leave me some comments to read, ask me some questions to answer, spread the blog around... as I get closer to finishing recording  the album, it's going to get even more interesting, intense and action-packed!

YOU ARE UPDATE!

- Ben