Studio Diary 5

So, a few more days of recording have past and it's starting to shape up nicely. Had a very productive few days laying down some vocal tracks and mucking around with a few sounds to help bring the record to life. I have two more vocal tracks to do, plus a few backing vocals, and then we have to record any additional instruments (outside of the obvious drums, bass, guitar, keyboards etc.).

Hopefully have some more news soon.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the studio.

See you all soon,

Richard

Midge Ure mini tour + EP update

Good afternoon good folk,

So it's well into October and you're probably wondering how the EP is coming along (well even if you weren't wondering, I'm gonna tell you!). We're on a little break from recording as Fred (studio owner / engineer / all round good guy) is taking a couple of weeks holiday. When he returns at the beginning of November it's full steam ahead to finish the vocal tracks and tie up any other loose ends. We were hoping for it to be finished by now, but it turns out that wasn't a realistic aim. We were doing 12 hour shifts in the studio to try and finish it by now, but we've decided to take a step back and finish it in due course. It has to be right after all. It's certainly sounding great so far though, so I'm sure it'll be worth the extra wait.

Athol and I have just returned from a short 4 date mini tour with singer songwriter and Ultravox frontman Midge Ure. We had a great time heading to Cannock on Wednesday, Whitehaven on Thursday, Langholm on Friday, and East Kilbride on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came and said hello during the intervals and at the end of each show. We clocked up what felt like thousands of miles, but it was worth it for all the new friends we made along the way. Here are a few photos we took on our phones (they're not great, but I thought I'd share them):

Speak soon,

Richard x

Studio Diary - 4

Well we've been in the studio for a few weeks now (on and off) and we're in the middle of a short break before returning next week.

As things stand, I'll hopefully be in a position to finish my vocals next week, and then it's just a case of laying down a few keyboard parts and any additional instruments, plus the final mix.

James and I are making the most of this short break by using it to arrange some trumpet, saxophone, and trombone parts for a couple of the tracks ("Fables" and "The Day I Win") and we're also brainstorming some string arrangements that will hopefully bring one song in particular to life. Fred (studio engineer / all round good guy) has compiled some very very rough mixes of the work we have done so far so that we can import it into our home studios and work on the arrangements.

Finally, just to let you know, I've uploaded a few studio photos to www.facebook.com/rjtmusic. More will be going up over the next few days and weeks.

Speak soon,

Richard

Studio Diary - 3

So, we're getting towards the end of this stint in the studio, and the songs are sounding ace. We're at a stage now where the bulk of the tracks are in place, excluding vocals, and the signs are all there that its going to come out really well. Stuie and Keith have done fantastic jobs on the rhythm tracks, and Athol has produced some unbelievably excellent moments on lead guitar. James hasn't finished his keyboard parts as yet, but what is there sounds great.

We'll be having a week or so off next week, before I can get the vocals done, and then the mixing will follow. Realistically, it'll be towards the end of September before there is anything to play to you, but we're having a great time recording so hopefully that will come across in the final CD.

Must run, will keep you updated,

Richard x

Studio Diary - 2

Good evening folks. Quick update for you.

Athol and I are camped in the studio laying down our acoustic guitar tracks after we finished the bass and drums last week. So far so good. The songs all sound excellent, and the performances of Stuie on drums, and Keith on bass, are brilliant. We have been living off fish and chips (which has it's positives and negatives!) for the past few days. The dangers of booking a studio next to a chippy! :)

Toying with various ideas for EP titles, and will hopefully have something concrete on this soon.

Must sleep now. Speak soon!