Labor of Love 2011
Almost every year, my brothers Robert and Bennett make the trip down from Missouri to spend the Labor Day weekend with us here in Austin.
We have traditionally called this weekend ‘Labor of Love’ because the three of us do this because we love it – not because we expect to make any money or achieve any sort of fame by doing it.
Therefore it is done out of love – not out of any expectation for exchange of anything else.
It is ‘Labor’ and we ‘Love’ to do it. And since it traditionally happens over Labor Day weekend, it is only appropriate that we call the weekend ‘Labor of Love’.
As almost everyone already knows by now, making a living in the music business (if you can even call it a music ‘business’ right now) is very difficult during these economic times.
But we have fun writing and recording these songs – which is why we do it.
Here are the two new songs we wrote and recorded this year (as always, right click and choose ‘Save As’ to save them onto your computer):
And two years ago, we added our sister Anita to the mix. Here is the song we did with her:
About three years ago, my brother Marty and his son Ian helped us with one. This is it:
I often wonder if there was no money, would it free us up to do the things we love instead of being forced to do things in order to make money?
That question is addressed in one of the two books I am currently writing – the title of which is TBD at this point. Working titles so far are ‘The Most Dangerous Device in the World’, ‘Adam Christopher’, or ‘The Money Gods’. As I get closer to finishing I’m sure I’ll post more about that later.
But in the mean time, Robert and Bennett asked if I could post the other tunes that we did over the last few years here at Electric LarryLand.
Sure!
Here they are:
Change
Cleansed
Come_Home_With_Me
Edge_I_Wear-Original
Gettin_Busy
Homeless
I_Am_Tired
Nothing_Impossible
On_The_Sly
PassionMoon
Presence_Of_Love
Rag-Da-Funk
Simple_Sheep
Sly_Bone
The_Edge_I_Wear
The_Singer_Is_The_Song
Water_Soft_Rain
Feel free to download them, share them, burn them onto CD’s – do whatever you want with them for your own personal use. All other rights are reserved.
Some of the songs above were written and recorded as early as 2002. Some were done by one or two of us – others by all three of us. And still others were done with brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.
During this year’s Labor of Love we turned on the video cameras and recording the entire weekend – at least during the parts we were in the studio working on the songs.
If you are interested in watching us come up with these songs, you can view archives of the video footage at the following URL: http://www.livestream.com/laboroflove
Scroll down to the bottom of the video and click on the thumbnails to watch the archived video footage.
[UPDATE]
I almost forgot!
Here are the lyrics to the two new songs (with Bennett’s comments throughout):
Change:
==
(larry w/ an ear catching intro)
(bennett / robert)
did you hear on the news?
talkin’ ’bout the deficit.
just watchin’ it burn.
it’s high time that we a grow a set.
it’s fallin’ apart.
shake your head, so what do you do?
did you hear on the news?
we got into another fight.
and what do they say?
“this time gonna get it right”
so, when does it end?
shake your head, so what can you do?
CHORUS: (bennett w/ robert harmony)
if you want it arranged,
it’s all up to you.
and it may seem strange:
Change….when you want it to.
(larry back again w/ more ear popping riffs)
(bennett / robert)
did you hear on the news.
little girl just took her life.
was bullied at school.
decided not to pay the price.
they wont do it again.
shake your head, so what could you do?
CHORUS: (bennett w/ robert harmony)
if you want it arranged,
it’s all up to you.
and it may seem strange:
Change….when you want it to.
BRIDGE: (larry / bennett)
daddy, i don’t like this anymore.
wont you hold my hand!
stop the monsters;
close the closet door.
make it go away!
momma, take me away!
ooooooooo
can you make it better?
ooooooooo
wipe away the tears,
Please?
(listen to larry go!)
CHORUS: (bennett w/ robert harmony)
if you want it arranged,
it’s all up to you.
and it may seem strange:
Change….when you want it to.
(larry)
Do you want it to?
Do you want it to?
(wow! larry just don’t quit!)
==
Passion Moon:
==
slight wink
glasses clink
warm glance
slow we dance
big room
sweet perfume
soul glide
slip n slide
free fall
echoes call
deep dive
come alive
tempt chance
sharing trance
warm side
soul glide
CHORUS:
answer a passion-moon
in playful lovers tune
enticing motions all across the skin
it builds a warmth attack
’til there’s no holding back
a pulsing rhythm from within
light touch
fingers clutch
slight chase
warm embrace
tongue tied
fire side
soul kiss
swim in bliss
CHORUS:
answer a passion-moon
in playful lovers tune
enticing motions all across the skin
it builds a warmth attack
’til there’s no holding back
a pulsing rhythm from within
BRIDGE: (robert…yes, I said robert!)
come my way
passion play
we are one
in love
free fall
echoes call
deep dive
come alive
sea side
evening tide
soul crave
rushing wave
CHORUS:
answer a passion-moon
in playful lovers tune
enticing motions all across the skin
it builds a warmth attack
’til there’s no holding back
a pulsing rhythm from within
==
The Importance of Intelligibility
When mixing speech, it is best to ensure intelligibility by using compression and EQ on the vocal.
This can be done using an EQ that is adjusted for a clearer sounding voice by increasing the gain at around 3k.
Speech EQ
Generally, I like to filter the low frequencies of the microphone out of the signal by using a high pass filter to remove any ‘bumps’ or other noises that don’t belong there also.
Once the EQ sounds clear and clean on the vocal, I will add some fairly substantial compression to the vocal in order to ‘smooth out’ the EQ that was put on for intelligibility.
I usually choose several compressors set to a very smooth setting and place them sequentially one after the other, or since I own a NeoDynium compressor from Roger Nichols Digital (now called the D4), I use one instead of several.
Speech Compression
The NeoDynium compressor was originally made by Brandon Ware at Elemental Audio but was sold/Licensed to RN Digital in 2006.
I never saw a reason to upgrade from the Elemental Audio versions, so I still use those.
At any rate, by using this compressor I am able to compress the vocal in such a way that it does not sound ‘compressed’ but instead has a very smooth sound to it.
Vox EQ for Body
However, having added high frequency EQ, and filtering the low end down via the hi pass filter, then compressing the vocal, sometimes it needs a tad of low end bump to give the vocal some body.
A little bump around 220 hz does the trick.
Cut That EQ!
EQ is an essential part of mixing used in professional audio work.
Most engineers will grab an EQ knob and start turning until it sounds right. And there is nothing wrong with that approach.
Generally, an inexperienced engineer will ‘add’ frequencies in an EQ device in order to make the track sound ‘brighter’ or give it more ‘body’ or any of about 10,000 terms people use to describe what they are wanting.
Example of #39;cutting#39; frequencies
However, an experienced engineer knows that the first place to start with EQ is to ‘cut’ frequencies.
The reason for this is that generally modern tracks are very ‘thick’ sounding and there is too much audio data for the amount of sonic space available. Cutting frequencies tends to ‘clean up’ a mix to allow for tracks to live together in harmony instead of fighting each other for space.
Another good practice is to roll off sub-bass frequencies in order to clean up the low end and make room for the Kick Drum or Bass Guitar.
Hi Pass EQ Example
I do this almost always for anything that might have sub-sonic frequencies that do not really need to be there for the track to sound right.
An example would be a vocal track… rarely (if ever) does the voice produce anything that is usable or necessary in that range. So using a ‘Hi Pass’ filter for vocal tracks is very common practice.
Example Background Vocals EQ setting
Finally, when cutting background vocals, it is a good idea to run them through a common group channel and EQ that group channel so that you conserve the amount of processing done by the audio computer and to place the background vocal parts in an area of the mix that does not compete with the lead vocal or backing tracks.
Notice that I have chosen to use both a ‘Hi Pass’ filter and also a ‘Hi Frequency Shelving’ EQ for the background vocals.
This has the effect of making the background vocals sound very ‘airy’ and keeps them out of the way of the lead vocal and other instruments.
The Funkerater
Last Friday I played a gig with Karan Chavis at the Pebble Creek Country Club in Bryan Texas.
Pebble Creek Country Club
The gig was great and I met a bunch of great musicians whom I had never played with before.
After the gig, Karan told me she had a Christmas present for me but she had forgotten to bring it along to the gig. So I followed her and her husband Craig to their home to receive it.
Keep in mind that I have just about everything anyone would ever want when it comes to audio and video production here at my studio, but she assured me that I probably didn’t have this particular piece of gear.
I was curious, so I waited with anticipation as she went into her home and returned with a small thin metal object in her hand.
As she handed it to me I busted out laughing. It was a Funk Logic Funkerator.
Funkerater Algorhythmic Prosecutor
Why would I laugh about this?
Well, ever since 99.999% of all work done on audio and video has been handed to computers, the need for external processing gear has slowly and steadily shrunk to near zero.
This process has had the inevitable result of producing a bunch of blank spaces in the many racks that I have here at the studio. In fact, I have so many blank spaces in my racks now, that I actually make excuses for them.
But now I need not make excuses for at least one of the blank spaces in my racks thanks to Karan.
For those who don’t know, Funk Logic is a company that makes nothing but fancy blank panels. They look really really cool, but do absolutely nothing.
The knobs are labeled as seemingly meaningful names like “The Brady’s” or “Thumb poppin good” or “suck less” or similar. But the knobs do absolutely nothing…
And that’s the cool part!
Now, I don’t have to worry any more about at least one of the many blank spaces in my racks here at Electric LarryLand. I have something that looks cool and covers up all of the miles of wires that I have here.
Thanks Karan!
Four boxes of cassettes with original songs
I’ve been writing songs for most of my life… and when I write songs, I usually record them onto some kind of analog tape. Either reel to reel, cassettes, or micro-cassettes are my choices.
David and I need some more songs for our “Wanderer Awakening” project so I’ve been digging through some of the boxes I have at the studio with tapes that have original songs on them.
Typical Audio Cassette
It’s almost overwhelming the amount of songs that we have to listen to… I guess that is what you get when you’ve been doing this as long as I have.
But it’s been worth it!
There are been some real gems that we’ve found. Most of them, I had totally forgotten about until we pulled them out today… what fun!
The bad news is that my Nakamichi cassette deck died today. So while I was transferring the songs from cassettes onto computer for easier access, the Nakamichi decided that it would no longer work for me.
So my good friend Stan Ginsel came through and is letting me borrow his cassette deck for the rest of the transfers.
Thank you Stan!
David Wilcock is at Electric LarryLand
David Wilcock is here working with me finishing up the Wanderer Awakening project.
We hope to be able to post audio and video podcasts of our work sometime during the next 2 weeks, so be sure and subscribe to our RSS Feed to be notified when we do.
It’s exciting here!
Taking some time off
David has gone back to California and I’m taking a few days off for some much needed rest.
However, I did get to play some guitar for Gary Powell yesterday.
Here is a short video of me and him in the studio:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1052842605805
And some pixes:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41736&l=c7400&id=521064518
Enjoy!
David Wilcock is here (http://www.DivineCosmos.com) recording on our new project
David Wilcock is here working with me as we write, record, and mix our new project “Wanderer Awakening”.
We’re writing new songs, recording vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums, bass… everything necessary to make a national release quality recording.
More to come later.
Larry
SongBirth – 01 – Evolution of a Song
I have been writing and producing songs for over 35 years.
And in all of that time, I have never documented the process.
A few weeks ago I was inspired to setup my video camera and record the process I go through when writing a new song.
My hope is that those of you who watch this might find this entertaining and maybe even educational.
I call it ‘SongBirth’… or Birth of a Song.
For the finished song, visit www.LarrySeyer.com and click on the ‘SongBirth’ link.
