- I have started work on my song Don't Compare by recording the guitar with Matthew. I'm still not entirely sure how I want to produce the song so I've made the decision to record it in the same way my band and I play it live - I love the energy we all bring to it and I felt that I didn't want to mess around with what has become a staple of my live sets if I wasn't 100% certain what I wanted to do it. So in the next few weeks I'm planning to get the bass, cajon and vocals down and I might add a few decorative pieces (electric/pads/strings) to it if I have time, but I won't be changing the core of the track.
- In the same session, I managed to get the guitar down for a love song I'm working on as well (working title Don't Go Quietly). I was initially really set on the chord progression (which flirts between two key signatures) but Matthew said the song reminded him a little of Randy Newman and suggested we use a diminished chord in the chorus. I was initially skeptical but we went with it anyway to see how it would sound and I ended up really loving it. I thought it was best to keep the original chord in the first half of the chorus through - mostly because that chord helped to tie the chorus key back into the verse key.
- I started work on a song that stemmed around a few small guitar motifs that my boyfriend played for me a while ago (below) - I already had the verses and choruses that followed the melody lines of the guitar but I felt the song still needed a bridge section. I experimented with changes in feel and time signatures but I didn't feel it fitted in with the rest of the song. Eventually, I was singing a few small motifs to myself a cappella style and realised that they actually fitted pretty well. I went along with them and wrote lyrics that fitted with the sentiment of the track.
- I initially recorded the guitar with Carron on quite a small and distorted amp - I enjoyed the sound at the time but I began to find the sound quite flat. We chose to re-record on Carron's Fender Blues Jr amp (which I LOVE) and it helped the song to come to life.
- When my boyfriend first started playing the main guitar motif, I remember him and Carron jamming it out whilst she started hitting the body of the guitar as a form of percussion. I've been set on having this in the track pretty much since I started turning it into a song and Carron and I spent time recording the percussive guitar this week. We used one smaller guitar with a matte body to make the higher frequency sounds (emulating the snare/cymbols) and a bigger guitar with a glossy body to make the lower frequency sounds (emulating the kick/snare rattle). The drums aren't entirely cohesive but I really like that effect - it makes the track sound more human.
- I spend time re-recording the guitar in Trouble in Paradise, also on Carron's Fender Blues Jr amp, and I feel the song is done. There isn't anything else I would like to add or take away.