I think the biggest change in me as a person, happened between the age of 24-27(ish). I'm not sure there is much left of the pre-24 year old me any more. I wanted to start a segment on here addressing the pre-24 year old me, in hopes that some of this may also apply to someone reading this. These will be about a variety of different subjects, but I'll keep this one light. The topic- recording.
Hey man,
It's 11 at night, so you're probably at the Vineyard right now working on some of the first songs you've ever written. I really admire the place you are at musically; you've written some very honest things and there are people that want to hear those things. You probably don't know this yet, but it's an amazing thing to be unheard. Your ideas are un-manipulated by the worry of what people will think. Keep that up.
Having been in your shoes, I thought I'd try to give you a few little pointers on the actual recording process. Again, I don't want to influence your process too much, but these things are good to know. Here we go.
1. Careful with the Autotune stuff. You're new to singing, and that's ok. But over-Autotuning things doesn't actually make you sound better, it kind of does the opposite. If you wanna hear some great "bad" singers, listen to The Flaming Lips. Wayne has an amazing "bad" voice. Autotune is kind of like the guy that's gained a few pounds and thinks that by wearing an untucked XL button down shirt, he can fool people into thinking he's thin. But really it's just kind of sloppy. Be proud of your badness.
2. I know you are struggling with mixing these songs, and this may be, at least in part, due to the fact that you are using the church main speakers as your monitors. It's a mono system, and you're trying to mix in stereo. That doesn't work. Spend $50 and get some actual monitors. But hats off to you for attempting the impossible!
3. Don't show any of your songs to that one red-haired guy. I don't remember his name. At least not in front of Lindsay. I think he has a crush on her, and he's probably gonna make fun of your songs to make you look bad. Be VERY careful who you show your demos to. Those comments can stick with you for a long time.
4. One the other hand, you have Phillip as a dear friend. When you need someone to be excited about what you are doing, just show your work to Phillip. He loves music more than anyone you know, and he will always give you the encouragement that you need when you are feeling discouraged. He's loyal to you. It's very important to learn who to show ideas to. If you show them prematurely to the wrong person, those ideas will never have a chance to grow.
5. I can't emphasize this enough- less is more. I know you're spending hours and hours trying to figure out how to EQ a guitar to make it sound like Jimmy Eat World. You may have 10 different EQ's in your chain, but it's not gonna help. If it doesn't sound right coming out of the amp, no amount of EQ is gonna turn it into magic. In fact, I'd say you might wanna go ahead and bypass all of you EQ's and just cut out everything below 200 hz. With the equipment you're using currently, that's probably the best it's gonna get. But don't worry!! In a few years, you won't even use an electric guitar anymore! Start learning the violin.
6. Not recording related, but stay away from Todd when he has his camera. He saves EVERYTHING.
Jeremy
"It's very important to learn who to show ideas to. If you show them prematurely to the wrong person, those ideas will never have a chance to grow."
Yes, I sincerely understand this.
Posted by: Sage Dawson | June 02, 2011 at 12:03 AM
:) loved this post! And I really loved the notes about who to show your ideas to too...good stuff. P.S. You were rocking that mustard suit! :)
Posted by: Charin | June 02, 2011 at 02:14 AM
love this!!! thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: Abby | June 02, 2011 at 11:15 AM
I really liked this segment! great advice :)
Posted by: Aline Correa | June 02, 2011 at 11:27 AM
This post was really important to me. Thanks.
Posted by: Isaac Middleton | June 02, 2011 at 03:17 PM
This was really cool, I hope to see more of these soon (:
Posted by: Kelly | June 03, 2011 at 09:49 AM
You're probably going to hate me for this, but "The Hardest Year" is still my favorite Jeremy Larson song. It has always made me want to cry! Gorgeous. Even if it was mixed on mono church speakers. I love that whole Red & Blue EP.
Posted by: Jtpoe123 | June 08, 2011 at 08:02 PM
love this post.
Posted by: lisa currie | June 16, 2011 at 09:25 PM