Jeremy Larson

Making A Living- Jon Foreman

Jon Foreman is someone I've been following since highschool.  I've followed his career from "The Legend Of Chin" all the way until we collaborated on a remix last year for his song, "Yet".  Well, I use the term collaborate loosely; I wrote some string parts for it.  He has a lot of wisdom, and I always listen when he has something to say.  Today he wrote a little essay over at the Huffington Post about making a living.  You can read it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-foreman/meaning-of-life_b_874934.html

Enjoy!  Thanks for reading.

Jeremy

June

When I was a piano major at MSU, I remember there was a semester where Dr. Peter Collins (head of the piano department) started performing a Beethoven sonata once a week.  So every Friday in Ellis hall he played one of these masterpieces, and he performed them in chronological order.  We were required to attend at least two of these.  Now, I'm not sure if you are familiar with the entire catalogue of Beethoven's piano sonatas, but this was an amazing feat, and a rare opportunity for music lovers.  How many of these performances did I attend?  Just two.  I don't think that I understood the magnitude of this challenge at the time.  And frankly, I'm not sure anyone else did either.  The performances were poorly attended.  

Thinking back about my college experience, I only have two regrets.  I wish that I would have practiced much more.  And I wish I would've attended every single one of those recitals.  The amount of work that it takes to perfect such large scale pieces is unfathomable.  It took me an entire semester to learn the "Waldstein" sonata, and it was an average performance at best.

So, my good friends in Sleeping At Last have been attempting a large scale work this year.  Don't jump on me for comparing a modern band to Beethoven, I understand they are different.  But the amount of time they've invested in Yearbook is also unfathomable.  In case you haven't been online in a year, they've been writing/recording/releasing a three song EP every month since October, and will continue until September.  I talk to Ryan on a regular basis, and he is ALWAYS working on this project.  I know that you are bombarded with a kazillion songs a day, so adding three a month doesn't make a huge difference in your iTunes library.  But this is a project in which the scale is virtually unmatched by anyone else right now.  Ok, Son Lux did an album in a month, but not much else comes to mind.  Support Sleeping At Last and the work they are doing.  They are dedicating an entire year of their lives to writing and recording this project.  (Ps. I played some cello on their latest installment)  You can buy it here:

http://www.sleepingatlast.com/

Thanks for reading.
Jeremy 

Switching Focus

Elsie and I had a long conversation a few months ago about my "job".  I had considered my "job" to be writing music, and selling albums.  If you are a musician, you probably understand that this is a little bit stupid.  Musicians don't really make much money off of album sales, especially these last 5 years or so.  I had considered my "side job" to be writing string arrangements and production.  By the end of our talk, I realized that I had it completely backwards.  Music composition and production is a much better paying job than trying to sell albums.  I needed to switch my focus a bit.

Since then, I've been rethinking where I want to go with my career as a musician.  I know I want to keep writing songs, but I need to be a little more realistic about it.  I'm not a "band" and I never have been.  Real bands go on tour and sleep in their cars.  They live on the road.  That is not for me.  I like my own bed, and I like being in Springfield.  I'm going to continue writing songs- in fact, I just finished signing a publishing deal today with an independent company (!!!).  But my focus for this year is going to be more on music production, and arranging for other bands.  I feel that it's every bit as good of a creative outlet as writing songs.  We are working on a new website that will have samples of all of the work I've done over the last few years, along with a price list.  So, with that said, if you are reading this and you are interested in hiring me to arrange/record some strings for your music, or you need some production work for your band, just email me!  My email is band@jeremylarsonmusic.com .  Thanks everyone!

Jeremy

PS.  If you want to read about some of the writing/arranging with other bands I've done recently, you can find a few of them here: http://jeremylarson.typepad.com/jeremy_larson/collaborations/  There are many more, and I'll try to get a better list going soon.

String Things

Since I last blogged, I've recorded over 175 tracks of strings.  It's nearly 2 in the morning, and I was planning on doing an in-depth post about recording strings.  Instead, I'll give you the abbreviated version.

First of all, I will not be much help in giving tips about how to record "group" strings.  Second, I'll add that this is not the "right" way to do things, it's just the way that I do things.  I record all my string tracks alone in my studio.  I use a Neumann M 149 for this, and I run it into a Trident 4T preamp.  But whatever you have will probably do just fine.

For Starters...

1.  I keep the mic about two feet away from the violin/viola etc.  Remember, your microphone is an "ear".  Does the violin sound nice three inches from the strings?  Then don't put the mic there.

2.  The biggest hindrance to a great string track is the performer!  (And possibly a cheap instrument).  I've been battling both of these things for years now.  I'm a much better player than when I started, but I'm still playing a pretty cheap violin.  It takes a lot of finessing in my playing to get a good tone.

Other Considerations...

If you are like me and are attempting to make an orchestra out of one player, there are some road blocks to get through.  Every orchestra is made up of many different players, and many different instruments.  I am one player, and I have one instrument.  You can get into trouble with what's called phasing (you'll probably know it when you hear it) and overall, your "orchestra" will probably sound a little weak.  So try the following:

1. Sit in a different place on different takes, so that your angle to the mic changes.

2. This is one that string nerds will shout me down for, but it's what I do.  Use the wrong instrument for the part if possible.  By that, I mean record the violin part on the viola, or play the viola part on the cello on different takes.  This only works for certain parts, since these instruments fall into different ranges.  This trick gives me a way to add new tones to my tracks.

3.  Add some MIDI or fake strings to blend with your real strings.  It will add a much needed texture to your strings.  

4.  Reverb is my friend.

Like I said, at some point I may go into more detail with this process, but I have another long day tomorrow.  Thanks for reading!

Jeremy

Just So You Know Who You're Dealing With

It's not really earth-shattering news that you can find music for free online.  I guess I shouldn't have been very surprised to find that my music was going to eventually make it's way on to the illegal torrent sites eventually as well.  But about a week ago, my name starting popping up a lot on Twitter from illegal torrent sites.  Yes, I have a saved search function on Twitter to sends me notifications when my name is mentioned- a little self-centered, I know.  

So I saw a tweet from a site saying that "They Reappear" was available as a free download, and ended with "Please RT!".  Over the next couple of days, a whole swarm of these sites started posting the same thing.  Now, I'm not going to get into what I believe about the ethics of torrent sites.  I've heard people argue that record labels rip off the artists, and torrent sites rip off the record labels; like a strange balance of power.  But I rarely hear of anyone trying to justify ripping off an independent artist.  In my case, if you buy an album of mine, the money goes into my paypal account, and I pay bills with it.  Bandcamp takes a small percentage.

I was feeling a little annoyed, so I messaged the first site that posted the download since they seemed to be the ones that got the ball rolling.  I explained that I sell music and it's part of my income.  When they suggest that people download it for free from them, I lose money.  I went on to say that I wished that someone could steal small parts of their paycheck so they could understand how much it sucks.  Yes, that was a bit rude, but I believe it was understandable.  A few hours later I got a message back that basically said, "Don't worry, I don't think anyone is interested in your music anyway".  

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I messaged them.  It's not that I thought they'd reply with a full confession of wrong doing, but maybe at least a "Sorry about that, we'll take it down".  Instead, I got a snide response that seemed to suggest that I had overstepped my bounds.  If you are on one of these torrent sites, just take a moment and think about the people you are supporting there, and the ones that you are not supporting.  

By the way, if you are broke and can't afford my album, you can listen to the whole thing free here:

http://jeremylarson.bandcamp.com/

It will even play on mobile devices!

This blog post was not intended to spark a debate on this subject.  It was also not intended to make you feel judged for having illegal downloads on your computer.  If you're reading this blog, there's a 99% chance that you actually bought my album.  Thank you!  As I mentioned before, you are the reason I'm able to do this for a living.  I owe you my gratitude, and a new Fort Christmas album...

Thanks for reading.

Jeremy

Italy

Today I came across this photo from my trip to Italy with Elsie back in 2008.

Seems like so long ago...  You can't tell, but this is up about 10 stories, and that's water out below me.

Jeremy

Fort Christmas Song #1

In case you are new to this blog, or my music, I started a fun side project last year called Fort Christmas.  It actually has nothing to do with Christmas, but was named after a tradition that Elsie and I started a few years ago.  If you look to your left and scroll down, there are a few Fort Christmas songs on one of the players.  You can hear more songs at http://fortchristmas.bandcamp.com/ .  

I realized yesterday that I haven't actually written a song in nearly a year.  "The Leave Behind" was the last song I wrote.  It was one of my goals for this year to finish a full length Fort Christmas album.  Starting a new album always feels like starting your freshman year of high school.  You're trying to decide who you want to be.  I remember trying out several different personalities going into my freshman year.  "Am I cool?" "Am I unique?" "Do I have anything unique to say?".  Same thing here.  I've had lots of false starts with this new album; mainly because I was having a hard time creating the "image" of what I wanted this to be.  Every lyric that I wrote was combated with imaginary criticism from music elitists nerds.  But yesterday came the breakthrough.  I realised that my ego was acting as the biggest music elitist nerd.  A bully.  And I needed to get over myself.

I reminded myself why I was doing this in the first place.  I wanted to write songs that document the first years of Elsie and I's relationship.  And I wanted it to be fun.  On the EP, I wrote about our first date, a road trip, starting a new business, dancing at a wedding, and getting engaged.  It only seemed fitting that the first song for the full length album would be about our wedding day.  I should be able to finish it up today.  Nine more to go.  Thanks for reading.

Jeremy

(Photo by Chris Bown)

Our Wedding Video

Our beautiful wedding video, by Brandon Goodwin.

Elsie & Jeremy | May 15th 2011 from Goodwin Films on Vimeo.

Brandon was also the one that did my first live DVD.  Talented guy, and a good friend.

Jeremy

Letters To My Younger Self: Recording

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

Paper Route Collaboration

A few years ago, I was having dinner with Elsie and I told her, "I think I'm gonna start reaching out to some bands that I've never met, and ask them if they need any string work."  Up until that point, I had only worked with people that approached me, and came to the conclusion that I should branch out a bit.  The first person I emailed was Ryan O'neal from Sleeping At Last.  The rest you probably know; we worked on lots of music, I had the honor of being a groomsman in his wedding, BFF's forever etc.  But I guess I was feeling so good about my new friendship with the SAL boys, that I never actually reached out to anyone else about collaborating.  That is, until about two weeks ago- i.e. the week of my wedding.

I wasn't really expecting to get a response when I emailed Chad Howat of Paper Route.  At least not right away.  Shortly after, Chad wrote me back and said they had a song they might want to send my way.  "Do you have time this week to work on it?".  "Sure." I said.  It didn't take me too long to remember, oh yeah, I'm getting married this week...  So in-between wedding errands, I'd sneak over to my studio and knock out some strings.  I sent them the final draft the day before we left for our honeymoon, and I think it turned out great.  They actually put my string track into a promo video for their album, it comes in around the 1:45 mark.

PAPER ROUTE / 1 from Micah Bell on Vimeo.

It's been so much fun working with these guys.  Big thanks to Chad JT and Gavin for being so easy to work with.  The new stuff is sounding AMAZING!  And thanks to everyone else for reading.

Jeremy