Quick preview / short clips of some of the new album songs.

Note some of the music is unfinished and all of the vocals are not the final versions yet. This is strictly WORK IN PROGRESS!

UPDATED – NEWER VIDEO/AUDIO BELOW. Not fully mixed but closer to finished.

Spachotel RBMDA WIP on Youtube

Another update on the ongoing work on ‘the album’.

The song is the new version of “The Void of the Dawn” which was originally a ‘free b-side’ I gave away with “Last Night of the Year” a couple of years back. That version was written/recorded/mixed in just a few days (and it showed) and I wanted to go back and try to do it justice for inclusion on the album.

At the bottom of this post is a small video clip of me working on the bass part (from a short while ago), which plays along (mostly accurately) to the recently re-recorded bass in the audio, and is a little different to the more basic version on the freebie/demo.

No vocals on this clip, but there are new synth parts and other stuff that is different to the old version. Still got to redo the piano parts. I’ll try and upload some other clips of this song (Working on keyboards, guitar, maybe even vocals) in the near future so you can see how it all pieces together.

Click over to YouTube to see the full sized 720P HD version!

January has been fairly productive so far, having finally finalised album #1′s tracklisting combined with a minor breakthrough in the recording process which is enabling me to get vocals done faster and in a more focussed fashion. I’m currently working on two tracks which pretty much just need the vocals finishing. “All Bombs To Earth“, a song I initially wrote/demoed almost a year ago, has grown into a mini epic and has seen it’s tempo increase from 120 to 125bpm (which makes more of a difference than some may think). Having now added some subtle guitar to the track and other trimmings it’s finally getting close to how I imagined it should be all those months ago. This will be track #3 on the album.

The other track I’m specifically working on (and will be more so next week) is the album opener “Final Beginning“, which is currently one of my favourites (if I had to pick one) and ties in with the *ahem* mini-concept of the album (the lyrics should reveal why, though as a whole there is no heavy concept to the album so it’s a more free affair than what I initially planned which is probably for the best).

I honestly don’t know when this album will be finished, it WILL be 2011 but I can’t say when as I’m taking each track very seriously and recording, mixing, remixing and doing listening tests on a song is like decorating a room in a house, you have to get everything out, and get messy before you can try and get perfection. This takes a lot of focussed energy and time. I’d estimate each track for editing, mixing and testing is currently taking 2-3 weeks, times that by 9 and allow another couple of weeks for outstanding recording and final album mastering, it all adds up. Also have to do a couple of videos before I can release the album so It’ll be a while yet.

To anyone who is reading this and still waiting, and still cares about hearing any of my music, I thank you for your support. I know it’s not easy to give a shit in this day and age when we are literally overwhelmed with information and entertainment to be ‘consumed’ and have more than enough already to get through.

Here’s a reminder of some spacehotel links for the virtually socially aware:

Spacehotel Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/spacehotelmusic

Spacehotel Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54178477324

Spacehotel Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/spacehotel

Thanks for reading

Paul

Another day…, sorry, another Month another preview clip of an album track. This time it’s a jolly little party number going by the name of ‘A Game Called Emotion’. Note there was one lie in that previous sentence.

It’s a preview with a bit of video tacked on this time (not an actual promo video, just some cheap-ass footage I had). Jump over to youtube or watch here, the choices are literally… 2.

(Now removed until final)

The time has come to finally start talking about the debut Spacehotel album. Today I’ve been working on track 10 (which is also the last song on the album) and is called ‘Reality Brings Me Down Again’.

Click play on this flash doodah to hear a preview clip while reading the rest.

(now removed until final)

One side effect of my productivity rising (writing new songs, finishing off mixes etc) is that I find insomnia creeping back in. Been waking up most days at around 4pm after 3-4 hours sleep (the least common type, so I’ve read). I’ve been having bouts of ‘all nighters’ for over 5 years so it’s nothing new to me.

Anyway this is mainly because of lots of ideas currently filling my brain to overflowing about musics, promo vids, the new website etc… so I guess it’s all good in the long run as it means ‘things are happening’.

I’m currently working on a few new songs, well one written a while ago that I’ve just got around to finishing up, with a view to releasing them as single song releases on iTunes etc. Hopefully filling in the gaps between the 3 track ‘EP’ releases I have planned, and the 2 albums I’m still recording. I seem to enjoy making sure my workload is full that’s for sure.

More details on new song soon (plus perhaps an early video promo clip).

Also while I’m writing this, if anyone is on facebook and wants to add themselves to the Spacehotel FB Group then please do so here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54178477324

And if for some reason you want to add my personal page (which isn’t actually that personal but mainly Spacehotel related) you can do that here:

http://www.facebook.com/paultimson

Thanks for reading.

…and only 4 months in to the year. Well I’m writing this inbetween mixing, actually I’m waiting for a mixdown to export out of my daw into a 16bit file that I can stick on a CD-R and test in the car etc… so as I’ve kept my head down since December I’ve got quite a bit done.

Firstly I moved house, to a much better place with more space to surround myself with my beloved (old) synthesizers… the balance thus far is more towards digital synths but I only hand picked the best of the bunch from the decade that meant a lot to me (the 1980s)… Roland D-50 is a particular piece of joy to me… if you play around with the factory sounds you WILL end up sounding a bit like Jackson’s ‘Bad’ album, or Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow’… slap in some ‘Jarre’ patches and woh.. instant ‘Revolutions’ (Album)… the D-50 was the main ingredient of all of those records and many more (inc some by Duran Duran around that time)

I have to point out though, I did not get it to to play ’80s preset’ sounds or recreate famous songs of the 80s. It’s the powerful synthesis engine that is underneath… it’s not a ‘rompler’ (all samples) you can use some if you want but you can switch them off completely (which most do) and run the D-50 in a kind of ‘virtual analog’ way.. it’s a deep synth that can do stuff and sound better than many modern so called ‘synthesizers’ that are just boxes of sounds and a sequencer… this is a real synth not a glorfied ‘electronic keyboard’ ;)

yeah the D-50 was a massively popular synth around 87/88 and used on.. almost everything.. kinda taking over from the Yamaha DX7 (which I also have now) and preceeding the even more popular (But certainly far inferior as synthesis goes) Korg M1 (which, again, I also have). These were all cheap 2nd hand buys, the DX7 (II-D) in particular was a synth I’d been after since I was a young kid… mainly because it was always on TOTP ;)

I found there is a lot more to it than ‘cheesy’ Electric Piano presets, it’s got some amazing abilites if you dig in… more accurately FM synthesis has. It’s strange and unique and gives and edge to a mix. A real marmite synth here as a LOT of people detest the DX7 as they saw it as a preset machine that ‘killed off’ analog machines but really it’s still a very clever synth underneath and takes a certain type to appreciate it (i.e a giant nerd like me).

Yamaha DX7 II-D

My latest purchase was a ‘virtual analog’ from 1997 ish, the Yamaha AN1x. This synth looks a lot less ‘pro’ next to my other gear but it’s the sound that counts, and it’s very overlooked but very powerful.. it can do passable emulations of Prophet 5, Jupiter 8, minimoog etc.. it’s not a real analog but then it didn’t cost £5k (latest price I saw for a 1982 Jupiter 8 – which is my all time favourite synth btw).

So inbetween fitting my synths in to the room, moving them around, trying to decide which was best on which tier of my (two) triple tear stands (btw I’m going to need ANOTHER stand now which will make 9 available spaces; but I really think I’m done with hardware synths for now), and refurbing my two Roland JX’s (3P and 8P), I’ve also been working on actual music (again).

Currently I’m mixing 3 songs, they are coming along ok… also I’m recording the 12 track album (and have been for some time). Next up will be shooting plenty of footage for my strictly no budget promo videos for some of the songs… at least the sun is pretty much here now so outside filming is once again a possibility! :)

Hope to soon start blogging in more detail about the songs that will be coming out soon…and next time I’ll try not to talk so much about old synthesizers :)

thanks for reading
Paul