In This Life

Today I recorded the final lead and harmony vocals for Reverse. We also did some editing/mixing with Army of Myself and Reverse. It ended up being a solid 9 hours in the studio...only a couple more weeks of this :~?

Wow tonight was crazy...we were in the studio from 7pm until 12:30am! But...we finished recording the bass tracks. I still am amazed that Mike got through 8 bass tracks in 4.5 hours- Always, Chasing Ghosts, Lose You, Arcadia, Things Will Never Be the Same, I Know You're Out There, In My Experience, and Days by Minutes. Insanely awesome!

Today was the first day for final vocals. It was a nice 7 hour day in the studio :) I recorded the final lead and harmony vocals for Army of Myself. Prior to that, Rick and I worked on soundproofing the recording booth...so it was a lot of fun!

We finished up the guitars/string pads/organs on the remaining songs: In My Experience, Days by Minutes, Things Will Never Be the Same, I Know You're Out There, and Arcadia. We still have to finish the bass tracks, and we're going to have a string player come in for a couple of tunes. Things are going well though, and we'll begin the final vocal tracks next week! :)!!

Today was a nice 12 hour day in the studio. Mike came in to begin laying down some bass tracks. We completed the bass for: At the Dance, Hurricane, Summer Days, Reverse, and Army of Myself. Then Bobby came in after and added acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, sting pads, and organs to those songs. I'm so excited about the new life of my songs...it gives me a certain freshness as I hear this songs with new instrumentation. I'm sure that will be helpful as I start vocals next week :)!!

We finished the final drum tracks today- Hurricane, At the Dance, Summer Days, Reverse, Things Will Never Be the Same, I Know You're Out There, In My Experience, and Days by Minutes- in 5 and a half hours!! Then I had a 2 and a half hour break. I came back for another 4 and a half hours to the studio, and we had Bobby in to begin recording acoustic and electric guitars as well as some string pads/organs. Bobby recorded on: Chasing Ghosts, Always, and Lose You. So it was a long day in the studio, but it was so cool to hear the other instruments giving a new personality to my songs :)

Today we began final drum tracks with Greg. We were in the studio for about 5 hours or so and recorded 5 tracks: Chasing Ghosts, Always, Lose You, Army of Myself, and Arcadia. He has really provided the sound, experience, and energy that we've been looking for. His ideas and his ability to leave space for the other instruments is great. Things seem to be back on track!! :)

We began drums on Friday. We also recorded drums on Sunday. It's been challenging & frustrating trying to evoke the right kind of vibe from the drummers, but we've been working to get the right feel. I still struggle to label my music at the present time...and it's visible that it doesn't fit a label exactly, as it has been hard to get the drums right. But we will get them spot-on in the next two days here!! :)

I spent time in the studio on Friday, June 19, and Tuesday, June 23, developing the chord charts for all my songs, which will be used by the instrumentalists when they come into the studio. It's nothing major, but it is a necessary part of the process.

I only spent 3 hours in the studio today, but it was a rigorous 3 hours! We listened through all 13 piano tracks once more. Then, I re-recorded scratch vocals to better fit the final piano tracks. This was a lot of fun, but it most certainly left my voice tired at the end...after all, it was about 60 minutes straight of vocal recording. Well, it's good for getting my voice into better shape. :) Now I have a week off...which will be filled with work, exercise, and a little bit of relaxation. I can't wait to be back in the studio...although it looks like I will be taking an evaluative role next Friday as we will be having some instrumentalists in the studio to play on my songs!

Alex

Today was another 9 hour day in the studio with an hour lunch break. I recorded the final piano tracks for the rest of my songs: "Always", "Hurricane", "Summer Days", "Things Will Never Be the Same", and "Arcadia". After that, we listened to all the final piano tracks (13 of them to be exact) to make sure we didn't miss anything in the editing process. I'm pretty tired, but I can look forward to a lighter day in the studio tomorrow! :)

Alex

Today was a really long day, but a productive day! I was in the studio from 10am-7pm, but at least I took an hour to go to McAlister's for lunch with Rick. We recorded and edited the piano tracks for seven of my songs: "Chasing Ghosts", "In My Experience", "Days by Minutes", "Army of Myself", "Lose You", "At the Dance", and "I Know You're Out There". Despite being in the studio for so long, I'm experiencing my second wind because of all the progress we made today! I'm hoping to finish all the piano tracks tomorrow. But for now, it's time to spend some time with friends!

Alex

Today was a LONG day! I was only in the studio for a couple of hours, but I worked earlier in the day. Rick, my sound engineer, and I spent the first part of the session talking about the general CD project. Then, we recorded and edited my song "Reverse". I'm completely exhausted and plan to go to bed early tonight because I'm in the studio tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday all day. But I know I'll find the energy to do this! After all, recording this CD has been a dream for 5 years!

Alex

Today, I went into the studio to record my final vocals for "Sunrise" (the song I wrote when my mom suddenly passed away last September). It was a tough day. As you can imagine, there were a lot of emotions. Recording is one of those things where you just can't fake your emotions. Quite frankly, I was sad about my mom's death in the studio today when I came in. So the initial takes of my vocals, although good for the most part pitch-wise, were dragging emotionally. Thankfully, I had Eileen, Ashley, Ann, Natalie, Emily, Katie, and Amy (Gosh, that's a lot of estrogen!) to help me shake the negative energy and remember the positivity of the song. We finished recording my vocals around 5pm, which was good considering we started around 3:30 or 4pm. I'm very happy with the final product. Now, "Sunrise" awaits being mixed. Once that happens, I might just post it on here for your listening pleasure :) Well, I must get some rest...it's a long day tomorrow...work at 7:30am and then recording at 3pm.

Alex

Hello everyone,

Today was a very awesome day! I went into the studio to work on the recording for "Sunrise". I wrote this song for my mom when she died in a tragic home accident in September 2008. At the time, I was studying in Spain when this happened, and so I wrote this song on the airplane ride home to the States for the funeral. I actually sang it at her funeral (I'm still not sure how I held it together during that song).

Now eight months later, I am finally having the privilege to record it. But this recording is extra special! Paul Tate, talented Catholic Liturgical Music composer, played piano. We also had professional musicians on guitar (Bobby Fisher) and bass (Jack Boh). And finally, the St. Henry District High School Chamber Choir (who backed me up at my mom's funeral mass) sang backup vocals. Today, we recorded the piano, guitar, bass, and backup vocals. In the coming weeks, I plan to record the lead vocals.

It truly was a fantastic experience to be back with the wonderful people that were there supporting me in what was the most difficult time of my life!

Keep your eyes peeled for another update. My recording planning meeting is tomorrow!
Alex

Today was my very first day in the studio. We did scratch track recordings for all the songs. Now a click track will be developed for each song...to give a guiding tempo. Next week brings with it a planning meeting to develop the master plan and some recording as well! Can't wait to update you more!
Alex

After so many summers of intending to work on my CD and not having the time, I will be doing it this summer. It is my Number 1 Priority!! I will be meeting with my recording tech this week to develop a schedule for recording this summer. Ultimately, I'm looking at an end-of-summer release date. I'm very excited to have this opportunity...finally after years in the making. Wish me luck, and I'll be sure to keep you posted along the way.

Today, I worked on picking out the songs for this CD with the help of my good friend John, who acts as my musical advisor. Here's what we decided on:


Days by Minutes track list:

1. Reverse
2. Chasing Ghosts
3. In My Experience
4. Days by Minutes
5. At the Dance
6. Always
7. Army of Myself
8. Hurricane
9. Lose You
10. Things Will Never Be the Same
11. I Know You're Out There
12. Arcadia

Summer Days
Sunrise


Of course, we may make changes along the way...but this is proof that the ball is rolling.

Can't wait to update you with more!
Alex

To my family, friends, colleagues, professors, and acquaintances:

As I've traveled around the country and around the world, I've had the privilege to meet so many amazing people...in many cases even develop deep friendships. Of course, distance can make it difficult to maintain these bonds. And I realize that this trend will continue to repeat itself time and time again as I continue traveling. To battle this unfortunate tendency, I will use LiveJournal as my update mechanism. I hope you enjoy my updates, and call or email at any point.

Right now, I'm finishing up my study abroad experience in Spain. I will be returning to the States in 2 weeks. Until then, you can find updates on my Business School Blog page: http://business.louisville.edu/blog/?author=58

I look forward to keeping you all posted on what's happening in my life.

Sincerely,
Alex