Studio Sessions Underway….

So we finally made it into the studio in an attempt to capture some of the ideas we’ve been gathering from the Sunday Shows at Nectar’s. The product of our first true creative session on (Friday, July 31st) in the studio can be heard at www.myspace.com/silentmind. The track is called Art is… The plan from here is to play a few more Sunday shows at Nectar’s then head into the studio to work on new music. The Sunday shows have been amazing tools to assist the creative process. Now with Multi-track recordings we can go back and pick apart the infant themes and start reassembling ideas into compositions with more intricacy and substance.

Life has been busy recently, but we’ll try to keep the updates coming.

Can’t wait…..

Josh

Silent Mind Old Originals

I just began mapping digital beats for the older Silent Mind songs that are usually played as a trio. The idea is to play around with the structure and put a new spin on the music that we already know. This will hopefully help with the transition into the new realm of composition we are exploring.

I’m siked to regain some confidence in my music making ability. Sunday definitely pulled the rug out and then kicked me while I was down. Now I can’t wait for the next show….

The addiction is setting in….

Week 1-7/12/09-Checklist

So we had a few gems….mostly in the idea category as opposed to the music of the performance. The result is the weekly checklist of what needs to happen for the next show this Sunday (7/19/09).

Week 1 Checklist-
-simplify/diversify electronic beats
-focus on creating song progressions with instruments and vocals rather than the digital beats
-create basic beat maps for old Silent Mind original songs
-save ambient soundscapes for the computer vs. the bass and guitar
-create some sort of sound transition to be played between songs
-Appreciate the subtlety of the beat compositions
-Immediately commit to defining parts to the song with the bass, guitar, and vocals
-F%$K typical naming systems- i.e. verse, chorus, bridge, etc.
-Think of song progressions in sections and dynamics- i.e.-section A has small, medium, large dynamic parts
-Balance the levels in Ableton Live 7 from track to track
-Figure out how to mix and match beats with midi foot controllers across songs
-Work on vocal harmonic improvisation- I need to sing low harmonies to give Jamie room to explore his higher range
-I need to sing more in general and focus on playing the bass instead of being consumed by having to control the digital beats
-Figure out a way to program the tempo changing feature in Ableton Live 7 to a slider on the midi keyboard
-Use multiple instrument mute controls programmed to the midi foot pedal to create “off the cuff” dynamic changes within a single clip in Live 7
-Think 1 clip of music per section of the song in Ableton Live 7- less to think about

The list goes on…

Any more thoughts Jamie?
-

The Show Recap

Whoa….The show was an eye-opening experience. I thought we had a lot to do before we played last night. Now I have 3 pages of notes about what to change before next Sunday. Another very busy week ahead. I’m hoping to post our first clips of audio from the show some time in the next couple days. We pulled a mono board recording so the clips will be in the raw.

I’m planning on getting in the habit of posting the list of post-show thoughts each week and also any advances we make between shows. The lists will hopefully start showing up in the next few days.

Hope to see you on Sunday. Send us some feedback about the new audio on www.myspace.com/silentmind

Thanks,

Josh

1st Rough Compositions Posted

Compositions to review! Come one and all. Unfortunately the music is posted on our soon to be revamped myspace page at www.myspace.com/silentmind.

I posted 3 tracks today (Track 1, Bump Bum, and Yahweh). They’re at the bottom of the audio player. Send us some critiques, comments, thoughts, etc. if you get a chance to listen. The collaboration has begun….

Show Sunday at Nectar’s 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

Music Collaboration

Here’s a site with some interesting ideas in musician collaboration. Anyone used any of these?

http://tinyurl.com/nvl6lx

Hello Music Blog World

Jamie here,

Just sending some energy out to get this thing going. Josh explained all so well that all I can add is that we look forward to all your help in this process. We can’t wait to start the residency at Nectar’s and hope to see musicians and fans alike contributing to this process of community involved artistic creation in a time that is needed more than ever.

Cheers,

Jamie

silentmindmusic is alive….barely

Hi Everyone,

This is the newly formed blog for the experimental rock band Silent Mind. My name is Josh and my cohort who will also be posting is Jamie. We’re about to start a new music creation process that involves everyone. The plan is to expose our entire process in the studio recording a new album from beginning to end….and beyond (more to come as we figure out how to do this.) As of now, we want to incorporate audio and video into the blog as a way to exchange ideas and gather feedback from you. Basically, we want help inspiring this new process. We have a residency every Sunday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Nectar’s in Burlington, VT starting this week (7/12/09). The shows are essentially a breeding ground for new ideas which we will be recording and editing down to our favorite clips to be posted on the blog. Along with these sound bites from the shows you may run into audio files of digital ideas that are in the works. All of this, along with your feedback will contribute to the genesis of the album.

Talk to us. Let us know what you think. Do you know other musicians who are doing the same thing? We want to expand our musical community and circle of collaborators. If you’re in the Burlington area and you want to participate in the Sunday sessions, drop us a line and we’ll set it up.

You can also get in touch with us via twitter @cleavus …that’s me

and @jamiebbright …that’s Jamie

we’re planning on using the tag #silentmindmusic to get things going. Lots of characters, but we gotta start somewhere.

check out the ever-stagnant myspace page @ myspace.com/silentmind

More to come…

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