Post by michael on Nov 14, 2005 22:23:33 GMT -5
This is the fourth installment of background stories concerning my songs from "Surface Tension" . I have a long-standing promise to friends and fans to share these details. With this forum I can make it happen.
Please note that these details are mostly pulled from the diary I kept during those days. Here, I will include some details about the recording process, participating musicians, guitar gear used and word for word excerpts from my diary. At the bottom of these pages will be pertinent links.
I will post the diary in it's entirety sometime in the future.
Like Trees In November
Composer: Michael Earhart
Origin of the tune:
In October of 1996 I was commissioned by Rev. Bayard Pratt, then pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas to compose a song for the Christmas Eve service. The idea was to play the song at the end of the service while the candles were being lit, and then to play "Silent Night" with everyone joining in the song. I played that tune at Aldersgate for 4 Christmas eve services before I moved my membership to St. Andrews United Methodist, where I am currently a member and on staff.
In April of 2001 I signed up to compete at Guitar Center’s Guitarmageddon competition. I did this while laughing at myself. I believed as an acoustic performer that I would get nowhere in this event which was filled with electric guitarists, but since I had never competed playing guitar I didn’t have anything to lose. I played a variation of "Trees In November" during the Arlington, Texas store competitions and won the store title! Next stop: the Regional Finals the following month at Trees (kizmet?) in Dallas, Texas.
This song as it is written is not very technically demanding, so I felt compelled by my competitive nature to ‘flash’ it up in order to appear worthy standing next to the electric guitar players. I ended up throwing every tacky, showoff-y, cool sounding technique I could come up with at it! The evening was a lot of fun, the other twelve players were friendly and phenomenal, and Guitar Center treated us like pros. A fellow from Austin won the Regional and advanced to the National Finals. He deserved it, too.
I fondly refer to the flashy version of this song as “Like a Kitchen Sink In May”. I might even record it someday.
In the studio:
"Like Trees In November" was recorded twice, once on August 8 and then on October 22. This song was well rehearsed going into the studio, and each version took no more than 4 hours to complete. I recorded the first version without using a click track because I wanted a free-flowing feel to the tune. Unfortunately, my tempo throughout the song varied wildly, rendering it un-listenable. So, the click track was employed during the October 22 session, and that’s the version that made it to the finished product.
Approximately 3 minutes into the song there is a neat bit of studio trickery, courtesy of Nick Wallace, my engineer. The song shifts to a B-flat-minor-add-9 arpeggio with a flat picked single string solo. I told Nick I wanted to hear ghost notes fluttering back and forth in the stereo field, with the volume ebbing and flowing. So, he sampled the entire single string solo part into the computer, flipped it backwards, processed it through the Eventide and then put it on an available track. He then manually moved the faders and pan controls in real time during mix down. The effect is subtle, almost subliminal; headphones really bring it into focus. I think it’s a totally cool part of the song.
The flat picked solo was ‘borrowed’ from the August 8 session. Even though the tempo was faster than I wanted, we felt the performance was really there. Nick was able to cut and paste the solo in parts, grafting them onto the new recording.
When I perform this song in concert I employ a Boomerang phrase sampler so I can solo over loops. The Boomerang is a great tool.
Guitar talk:
All of the acoustic guitars on this tune were my Taylor 414CE, tuned to a flatted DADGAD.
August 8, 2001-
It’s Wednesday, and today’s session started at 7:00 sharp. The next tune up was ‘Trees In November’, and we employed the ‘one section at a time’ technique with great results. It took all of the session to get the piece recorded and de-bugged, and for the most part I’m pleased with it. After getting the scratch home I heard another couple of places that are going to have to be corrected, and I’ve pretty much decided that a click track is an absolute necessity, even on the songs that I want to have a feeling of ‘free flow’. My tempo on ‘Trees’ is perhaps too erratic. I’ll have to listen to it some more, and closely.
I’ve not used the Boomerang on a recording here yet. I do want to. So far I’ve only employed the Taylor.
October 22, 2001-
Today I re-recorded ‘Like Trees In November’. The original was just too fast a tempo. It’s much better now.
To purchase Surface Tension (featuring "Like Trees In November"): www.cdbaby.com/cd/earhart
St. Andrews United Methodist Church: www.sa-umc.org/
Taylor Guitars:www.taylorguitars.com/
Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon:www.guitarcenter.com/guitarmageddon/
Boomerang Phrase Sampler: www.boomerangmusic.com/
Eventide: www.eventide.com/
Please note that these details are mostly pulled from the diary I kept during those days. Here, I will include some details about the recording process, participating musicians, guitar gear used and word for word excerpts from my diary. At the bottom of these pages will be pertinent links.
I will post the diary in it's entirety sometime in the future.
Like Trees In November
Like Trees In November
Composer: Michael Earhart
Origin of the tune:
In October of 1996 I was commissioned by Rev. Bayard Pratt, then pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Arlington, Texas to compose a song for the Christmas Eve service. The idea was to play the song at the end of the service while the candles were being lit, and then to play "Silent Night" with everyone joining in the song. I played that tune at Aldersgate for 4 Christmas eve services before I moved my membership to St. Andrews United Methodist, where I am currently a member and on staff.
In April of 2001 I signed up to compete at Guitar Center’s Guitarmageddon competition. I did this while laughing at myself. I believed as an acoustic performer that I would get nowhere in this event which was filled with electric guitarists, but since I had never competed playing guitar I didn’t have anything to lose. I played a variation of "Trees In November" during the Arlington, Texas store competitions and won the store title! Next stop: the Regional Finals the following month at Trees (kizmet?) in Dallas, Texas.
This song as it is written is not very technically demanding, so I felt compelled by my competitive nature to ‘flash’ it up in order to appear worthy standing next to the electric guitar players. I ended up throwing every tacky, showoff-y, cool sounding technique I could come up with at it! The evening was a lot of fun, the other twelve players were friendly and phenomenal, and Guitar Center treated us like pros. A fellow from Austin won the Regional and advanced to the National Finals. He deserved it, too.
I fondly refer to the flashy version of this song as “Like a Kitchen Sink In May”. I might even record it someday.
In the studio:
"Like Trees In November" was recorded twice, once on August 8 and then on October 22. This song was well rehearsed going into the studio, and each version took no more than 4 hours to complete. I recorded the first version without using a click track because I wanted a free-flowing feel to the tune. Unfortunately, my tempo throughout the song varied wildly, rendering it un-listenable. So, the click track was employed during the October 22 session, and that’s the version that made it to the finished product.
Approximately 3 minutes into the song there is a neat bit of studio trickery, courtesy of Nick Wallace, my engineer. The song shifts to a B-flat-minor-add-9 arpeggio with a flat picked single string solo. I told Nick I wanted to hear ghost notes fluttering back and forth in the stereo field, with the volume ebbing and flowing. So, he sampled the entire single string solo part into the computer, flipped it backwards, processed it through the Eventide and then put it on an available track. He then manually moved the faders and pan controls in real time during mix down. The effect is subtle, almost subliminal; headphones really bring it into focus. I think it’s a totally cool part of the song.
The flat picked solo was ‘borrowed’ from the August 8 session. Even though the tempo was faster than I wanted, we felt the performance was really there. Nick was able to cut and paste the solo in parts, grafting them onto the new recording.
When I perform this song in concert I employ a Boomerang phrase sampler so I can solo over loops. The Boomerang is a great tool.
Guitar talk:
All of the acoustic guitars on this tune were my Taylor 414CE, tuned to a flatted DADGAD.
Diary Exerpt:
August 8, 2001-
It’s Wednesday, and today’s session started at 7:00 sharp. The next tune up was ‘Trees In November’, and we employed the ‘one section at a time’ technique with great results. It took all of the session to get the piece recorded and de-bugged, and for the most part I’m pleased with it. After getting the scratch home I heard another couple of places that are going to have to be corrected, and I’ve pretty much decided that a click track is an absolute necessity, even on the songs that I want to have a feeling of ‘free flow’. My tempo on ‘Trees’ is perhaps too erratic. I’ll have to listen to it some more, and closely.
I’ve not used the Boomerang on a recording here yet. I do want to. So far I’ve only employed the Taylor.
October 22, 2001-
Today I re-recorded ‘Like Trees In November’. The original was just too fast a tempo. It’s much better now.
to be continued...
To purchase Surface Tension (featuring "Like Trees In November"): www.cdbaby.com/cd/earhart
St. Andrews United Methodist Church: www.sa-umc.org/
Taylor Guitars:www.taylorguitars.com/
Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon:www.guitarcenter.com/guitarmageddon/
Boomerang Phrase Sampler: www.boomerangmusic.com/
Eventide: www.eventide.com/