Making the first EP taught me many things. For one, my day job cannot support the financial burden of regular studio sessions. I also learned that working with others in a studio setting certainly tests my ability to maintain authority over my work.
Experience informs intuition, you might say, and I was inclined toward an entirely different approach to the second set of songs now known as Chasing the Sound. This time, instead of recording rough demos to serve as guide tracks for the studio, I would attempt to record all the instrumentation at home before booking time in a proper studio to record vocals and mix and master the songs. The new plan cleared several roadblocks for an Old Yarns follow-up by preserving my creative liberty and my wallet. However, I still had the tedious, yet fulfilling, composing and home recording processes to tackle. I spent months tinkering with song arrangements and lyrics. For practice, I recorded snippets of musical ideas and multiple versions of each song before trying to nail down a definitive version of any given song. Practicing and composing with each instrument and patiently stitching together the pieces are all seemingly menial tasks that ultimately yielded a great amount of joy to me.
A part of the process I most enjoy is noting where and when break-throughs occur. The roots of the title track, for instance, trace back to 2007-08, a time when I was beginning to discover the appeal of acoustic music and trying to pick out Empyrium’s “Many Moons Ago” by ear. The song itself wouldn’t see completion until 10 years later, when a chance modulation of a previously unrelated riff fit neatly between parts of the original musical ideas and clearly indicated where the song needed to go. Dissimilarly, much of “Here Stones Arise” began as a series of simple piano figures that I plinked out sleepily one stormy night while coping with a fever and housesitting for a friend. Those themes were later arrogated to other instruments and developed further. To me, moments like these are special because they often are defining and contribute considerably to a song’s character and purpose. From a compositional standpoint, the percussion and bass parts are what I think differentiate these new songs from the previous set. They might be the personal highlights, too. These elements were underused on the last EP and their absence is, in my opinion, apparent in some places. After comprehending just how much these instruments contributed to “Wolf Psalm”, I distinctly recall telling Kristen that I would not neglect these parts on future recordings.
I happened upon SoundWorks while studio hunting in the Kansas City area. Based in Blue Springs, Missouri, its proximity to home not only made it an excellent fit, engineer Andy Oxman also proved to be an ideal and indispensable partner in the project. Before working with any of my music, he requested that I direct him to a few songs that I felt best reflected my production values. My overall philosophy had not changed, so I didn’t feel much need to revise the mix of songs I had previously used when introducing myself to Matt at JTL Group. Tenhi – “Sateen Soutu” Leonard Cohen – “Avalanche” Opeth – “Häxprocess” Sangre de Muerdago – “Xordas” Agalloch – “Pantheist”
Mixing began in early November 2018 and lasted through the winter. We concluded with a final mix/mastering session in late March.
A highlight from those sessions would be building the “choir” vocals for “When the Rains Came”. I outlined a four-part harmony motif for Andy and he proposed an idea for expanding it by recording each voice multiple times, varying my proximity to the microphone with each take. After a bit of experimenting, we decided on layering each of the four parts three times to create a 12-man choir. The result thoroughly exceeded my expectations and is one of several instances I could point to that showed me Andy was the right pick for the job. He was sympathetic to my objectives and only applied his expertise in ways that benefited the original home recordings. In addition to Andy, there are others I need to recognize as essential contributors to this project. I’m grateful to Kari for once again agreeing to create original artwork to complement the music as well as David and Tom at The Green Man, an artist collective web label (https://thegreenmanlabel.bandcamp.com/), who agreed to help me promote the music online. David produced a beautiful video for YouTube and shared the EP with various online music publications to generate interest. So far, the response has been positive, and it has me excited about what the future might hold.
- BN, 2019
Old Yarns
After a few months of researching, I opted to partner with JTL Group to produce the Old Yarns EP. The studios are housed in a nondescript building not far from downtown Grandview, Missouri. Sure, it’s not Rockfield, but Jared and his crew have managed to assemble a comfortable, creative space. The atmosphere is homey and their stockpile of vintage and modern audio equipment is another quality I found appealing. JTL’s proximity to home was another major draw.
Recording began on May 17, 2016 under the watchful eye of Matthew Boda and progressed weekly through the month of July. We concluded with a final mix, mastering session on August 2. In addition to hearing my own musical ideas presented in a semi-professional form, absorbing the actual process of capturing music in a professional setting was another experience I had hoped to have when I started this project. I’ve read multiple interviews, viewed many “studio reports” from my favorite artists and have long idealized or romanticized the recording process. The simple thought of sitting before a condenser microphone, instrument in-hand, amidst the wood paneling and acoustic foam - it’s so invigorating to me.
These past few months have shown me just how tedious recording can be, but I found it rewarding nonetheless. Pursuing the best take for each instrument, trading ideas with Matt between the sound booth and the engineer’s station, and patiently piecing together the final product are all seemingly menial tasks that ultimately yielded a great amount of joy and what will become long-lasting memories. Singling out individual or personal highlights is somewhat challenging as I made a point to absorb every aspect of each step, or at least as much as I could. However, I feel there a few standout moments worth noting. The first would be when I played my demo tapes for the JTL staff during our initial meeting. The homemade renditions of my compositions are certainly unpolished, but I think that they omit a unique atmosphere and accurately convey the spirit of the project. Their response to the music amused me. Terms such as “unusual” were tossed around and I found myself feeling strangely pleased when this group of producers and engineers told me that they had not heard any other music quite like mine.
The sessions that included tracking bass and banjo are personal highlights. I’m particularly pleased with the dimension these instruments added to their respective songs. The airy, distant quality of the banjo greatly enhances the atmospheric nature of “Heritage” and the undulating bass lines that appear in “Wolf Psalm” add a layer of darkness and unrest, just as I hoped they would. From a production standpoint, numerous musical traits and philosophical or metaphysical concepts influenced my vision for how this music should sound. For one, I really like the sound of vintage equipment. I’d hoped to include as much analog warmth on these recordings as I possibly could. Before committing a single note to tape, I gave Matt a mix tape of songs that I felt conveyed the sort of ambiance I would like to capture with these songs. The mix tape included:
Leonard Cohen – “Avalanche” Tenhi – “Rannalta Haettu” Comus – “The Herald” Vàli – “Et Teppe Av Mose” Opeth – “Nepenthe”, “Häxprocess” Bert Jansch – “Avocet” Nick Drake – “’Cello Song” Agalloch – “Pantheist” The warmth and depth is what I like about these recordings. There’s sort of a lush, earthy quality there and I really like that the music does not sound pristine and overly polished. I also hear multiple layers and open space. The instruments are not all jammed up a few inches from your ears.
Another considerable source of inspiration is the Norwegian concept of koselig. The term is used to invoke a sense of intimacy, warmth or contentedness. It may be construed as the cozy feelings one might have whilst relaxing in the comfort of a cabin on Christmas morning, sweater-clad, a mug of coffee in hand. To me, the word evokes images of winding wooded paths, the smell of pine, and the chill of autumn. This is the sort of atmosphere I’d like my music to exude. These are the images and emotions I would like to conjure.
Looking back on it all now, with these new recordings playing in my ears, I feel as though I have accomplished my goals to a certain extent. It’s a small victory and it was hard won. Matt and I struggled with differences of perspective and vision from the project’s onset. Our musical interests rarely aligned and if there were one lesson I would take away from this experience it would be to emphasize the importance of seeking out and working with an engineer or producer/engineer with similar musical background.
The push-pull relationship between Matt and I that I’m describing undoubtedly benefited the music in certain respects. However, I feel his unrelenting propensity to whittle down every song to a radio-ready, three-and-a-half-minute mash-up left many strong musical ideas unused and a large amount of territory regrettably unexplored.
Several of the original songs on my demonstration tapes surpassed 8 minutes in duration and indeed this resulted in the music feeling a tad over-wrought in some areas, but I feel it is almost excessive to trim so many passages from songs that were by design intended to be meditative. “Accessible” in the sense of pop sensibility was rarely a notion that rarely received much of my attention. It was quite simply not my goal with this particular set of songs and I worry that some of that original intent – naïve as it may be – was lost during their realization.
We also failed to see eye-to-eye on the use of automated voice tuning and other forms of digital studio manipulation that seems to be so prevalent nowadays. Matt was inclined to use this sort of equipment as a fail-safe against sour notes, regardless of whether the music needed it. The human element is something I prize highly when it comes to music and I strongly opposed the integration of these “tools” for the sake of perfection. My sentiments are similar when it comes to midi-instruments, although we did find some limited use for them on this EP. Retaining the organic integrity of a recording is a high priority for me.
These pages, for the most part, summarize my thoughts and feelings surrounding this project. Overall, I’m satisfied and now I feel I can fully look forward to sharing my work. My plan currently is to upload the tracks to an online streaming service and make the music as available as I can. If the release garners enough interest, I may also consider commissioning a limited pressing of CDs. Kari, my sister-in-law, has been working on creating some original artwork to complement the music and Kristen captured a handful of quality images while I was in the studio. I think the final product will be something I can take pride in.