Despite a toothache that plagued me over the weekend, I managed to get some work done on the new album, including totally finishing two songs. Here's how it went:
Friday, October 16
Mixed and mastered "Love Thang (Instrumental version)"
Saturday, October 17
Double-tracked rhythm guitar for "Let's Groove"
Recorded three additional guitar tracks for "Let's Groove"
Completed postproduction work on "Love Thang (Instrumental version)" (2:21)
For those of you keeping score at home, that's four minutes and 37 seconds of music for the new album so far, with more music nearing completion soon. I'll keep you posted.
I recently added a second guitar to my arsenal, a black Epiphone Dot. Unlike my primary instrument, the Dot is a hollow-body guitar that produces a rich warm sound similar to a Gibson 335--a nice complement to the twangy treble my Fender provides. While I almost always opt for trebly sounds, I want to incorporate more tonal qualities into the songs I am recording for the new album, and this guitar fits the bill.
This guitar has undergone several modifications since I bought it new. First, I had the truss rod and the intonation adjusted, as shipping without a case seemed to have mucked things up a bit. I removed the pickguard next (the guitar looks way cooler without it), after which I tackled the problem of ugly orange control knobs with a can of glossy black spray paint. End result? A great new second guitar for The Jerrys. Listen for it on the new album, coming in 2011.
Eight years ago, I received my first ukulele as a gift, and I have been crazy about ukuleles ever since. That uke was a Washburn, and I used it to write "All My Afternoons," "Happy Anniversary," and "Polly Urethane." Eventually, however, one of the holes on the electronics plate became stripped, so I put it on eBay and replaced it with the one shown above.
The Lanikai LU-21CE concert acoustic/electric ukulele, made by Hohner, is made of Nato wood (Eastern Mahogany) with white binding and has an 18-fret rosewood fingerboard. My favorite feature is the Shadow P3 pickup system, which allows the ukulele to be plugged into an amplifier (here's what that sounds like).
Whether or not you are a musician, you may want to consider buying a ukulele, as they are easy to learn to play. You can get an inexpensive but playable ukulele for about $30 at Musician's Friend, and that is a LOT of fun for the price. In the words of the late George Harrison, "Everybody should have and play a 'uke' it's so simple to carry with you...I love them--the more the merrier--everyone I know who is into the ukulele is 'crackers' so get yourself a few and enjoy yourselves."
After recording four tracks of rhythm guitar and two tracks of bass guitar for the Jerrys' new cover tune over the weekend, I spent tonight editing and bouncing tracks. The song is Utopia's "Love in Action," and it is only the second song to be recorded for an as-yet untitled upcoming Jerrys release. On May 16, I will be joined by Robert Porche at Rumble House Rehearsal Studio, where, among other things, we will be recording drums and backing vocals for the song (that's us pictured above at Rumble House back in September).
I recently completed all of the instrument tracking for "Emily," the first song slated for a new full-length Jerrys album expected to be released in early 2011. After recording eight tracks of drums, guitars, bass, and percussion, I mixed them down to stereo, and it is to these tracks that I will add lead and backing vocals (of course, I will need to write lyrics before I can do that). In the meantime, however, I have begun writing a second song for the album.
On another note, I put a cool new widget on The Jerrys Music page so that you can listen to full-length versions of any of 19 Jerrys tunes, so check it out now.
My first multitrack recording machine was a used 1969 Akai M-10 reel-to-reel recorder that featured a built-in amplifier and auto-reverse capability. This machine was the only in Akai's M-series (ca. 1960-1973) to have three motors, and it operated at tape speeds of 1-7/8, 3-3/4, and 7-1/2 inches per second.
Before the M-10, I had been using portable General Electric tape recorders to bounce tracks around, so this machine was a nice step up for me. I recorded an early version of "Space Cadet" on this machine--a song I later rerecorded for the Jerrys' debut album, Pop Go The Jerrys.
Welcome to my blog about The Jerrys, a British-influenced guitar pop band from Chicago, Illinois. I'm Jerry Schwartz, and I write, play, produce, and sing the Jerrys' music. Be sure to visit The Jerrys Web Site to listen to and download their music, or head over to iTunes or CD Baby to purchase. Here are the types of things you can expect to find in this blog:
News News big and small concerning The Jerrys
Gear/Recording For those types who pay attention to such things--you know who you are
Trivia Everything you ever wanted to know about The Jerrys, probably more
Cool stuff Miscellaneous cool things
As my time to devote to this blog is limited (I would rather make music than write about it), I don't envision daily entries at any point, but I will post something new at least every few weeks for the sake of fresh content.
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