This is probably the most ambitious thing I’ve tried yet, in terms of arrangement, on my home recording set up. The tune came to me whilst I was cycling to work, the idea for the lyrics has been kicking around since I was on holiday in January 2007.
This recording marks the debut of my new toy, a bass guitar that I bought for the princely sum of £20.00!! I was planning to borrow a bass guitar for this recording, but Elmo from China Dogs offered me this, and at that price I could not say no. It’s a really quite horrible looking thing, made by Stagg but it plays & records okay, just don’t think I’d want to be seen with it in public.
To me the song sounds quite Hollies-esque, especially in the vocal harmonies, though I really was going for an ‘XTC/Dukes Of Stratosphear’ kind of feel, especially in the bass part. I’ve never recorded a song in which I’ve indulged a really noodly bass part, so I threw every note at it that I could.
Having recorded the basic track, it occurred to me that the middle-8 would suit a Beach Boys type of arrangement, so I added in an extra middle 8 and dropped out the drums, re-recorded the vocals in falsetto and added a block of vocal harmony, although I have no qualms in admitting that I cannot arrange vocal harmony layers anything like Brian Wilson would.
In an attempt to get that ‘Carol Kaye bass’ sound I stuffed a huge lump of foam rubber under the strings at the bridge, rolled the tone off, played it with a pick and added a bit of reverb. I think it’s pretty convincing.
Please let me know what you think, I do appreciate that the song has a rather strong element of pastiche about it, is it any the worse for that?
Instrumentation -
Rhythm Guitar -Peavey Generation XP
Lead Guitar - ‘Vintage’ Les Paul copy
Bass - Stagg Fusion Electric Bass (twenty quid, yes!)
Organ - Yamaha PSS580 home keyboard
Drums - Courtesy of the Boss BR-864’s internal drum machine.
Tambourine - nicked from the Strand Theatre 11 years ago.
When Your Luck Runs Out
More information
Added on 2 February 2008
Credits and thanks
This is probably the most ambitious thing I’ve tried yet, in terms of arrangement, on my home recording set up. The tune came to me whilst I was cycling to work, the idea for the lyrics has been kicking around since I was on holiday in January 2007.
This recording marks the debut of my new toy, a bass guitar that I bought for the princely sum of £20.00!! I was planning to borrow a bass guitar for this recording, but Elmo from China Dogs offered me this, and at that price I could not say no. It’s a really quite horrible looking thing, made by Stagg but it plays & records okay, just don’t think I’d want to be seen with it in public.
To me the song sounds quite Hollies-esque, especially in the vocal harmonies, though I really was going for an ‘XTC/Dukes Of Stratosphear’ kind of feel, especially in the bass part. I’ve never recorded a song in which I’ve indulged a really noodly bass part, so I threw every note at it that I could.
Having recorded the basic track, it occurred to me that the middle-8 would suit a Beach Boys type of arrangement, so I added in an extra middle 8 and dropped out the drums, re-recorded the vocals in falsetto and added a block of vocal harmony, although I have no qualms in admitting that I cannot arrange vocal harmony layers anything like Brian Wilson would.
In an attempt to get that ‘Carol Kaye bass’ sound I stuffed a huge lump of foam rubber under the strings at the bridge, rolled the tone off, played it with a pick and added a bit of reverb. I think it’s pretty convincing.
Please let me know what you think, I do appreciate that the song has a rather strong element of pastiche about it, is it any the worse for that?
Instrumentation -
Rhythm Guitar -Peavey Generation XP
Lead Guitar - ‘Vintage’ Les Paul copy
Bass - Stagg Fusion Electric Bass (twenty quid, yes!)
Organ - Yamaha PSS580 home keyboard
Drums - Courtesy of the Boss BR-864’s internal drum machine.
Tambourine - nicked from the Strand Theatre 11 years ago.
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