NTB IV album "KUDZU" [COMPLETED]

by **ntbullock** » June 29th, 2011, 3:15 pm

Teknology

There's no accident that can't be fixed
There is no slip of the tongue, travel in time machines
And erase all the mean things
Conveyor belts that carry us, from our births until we're dust
The galaxy at your finger's tip
Communicate in broken bits

Teknology, it's gonna be easy

Analog analogies, simply get lost at sea
The moment that is your life, married online to binary wives
And I don't mean to alarm you, but missles falling from the blue
No need to worry, those bombs are smart
They'll never blow us apart

-ntbullock

by **ntbullock** » June 30th, 2011, 1:58 am

When I work like this I slowly drift towards swapping my days and nights. I'm already a night owl, so it just gets pushed back into the four and five o'clocks. I've put in quite a handful of hours today. I finally got enough out of the way to want to give vocals for Stepping Stones a shot. I sang it multiple times. I'll listen tomorrow. Grabbing some grub and a seat and anything else to take my mind off recording until I hit the sack.

I've actually got a bunch of errands to do tomorrow, but I'm still gonna try to put in the hours. I'm sure riding around tomorrow, listening to the CD, I'll come home with a stack of a buh-jillion notes.

by **ntbullock** » July 1st, 2011, 1:29 am

So, my plans changed and my day got out of whack. I didn't get to Stepping Stones, and I didn't work as much on music as I wanted today. I did get in a "half day" with some other tracks, being nit-picky. Some of the tracks are starting to get real close.

by **ntbullock** » July 2nd, 2011, 9:20 pm

Went through the vocals on Stepping Stones yesterday. Back on duty tonight...

by **ntbullock** » July 3rd, 2011, 1:54 am

Spent the last handful of hours patching and singing background vocals. I feel good about it. It's gonna be a terrible time mixing it all, but I think it'll sound good. It's rough-ish now, but I hear the polished version in the chaos.

by **ntbullock** » July 3rd, 2011, 1:52 pm

I hope to get the vocals I did last night for Stepping Stones cleaned up and a preliminary mix of them. It’d be nice to track some vocals for Anchor tonight.

by **ntbullock** » July 4th, 2011, 1:57 am

So today I've pretty much worked on editing and replacing vocals for Stepping Stones. All day.

My personal goal to get to Anchor vocals didn't happen. But, I got plenty done.

by **ntbullock** » July 4th, 2011, 2:13 pm

So here's a clip of Stepping Stones as it is right now. I just added all the vocals the other day, so I'm still tweaking. I need some time away from it to catch things I may be missing.

http://www.ntbullockmusic.com/archives/1101/stepping_stones_unfinished

I also may be collaborating with my film composer, Harry Hansen, to add more orchestration. There's a couple few songs this may happen with, time permitting.

by **ntbullock** » July 4th, 2011, 2:20 pm

So, here's a clip of the older track I've been updating. It's definitely in better shape than it was. This one may be getting some Harry Hansen orchestration as well. Hopefully there's time.

http://www.ntbullockmusic.com/archives/1106/triggerfinger_unfinished

All the clips I've posted need mastering as well, so they don't fully represent the overall sound yet.

by **ntbullock** » July 4th, 2011, 10:29 pm

Starting work at 10:30 pm. Tonight I work on Anchor.

by **ntbullock** » July 5th, 2011, 6:41 pm

Didn't get as much done last night as planned. I did some vocal tracks for Anchor, but wasn't really pleased with the shape my voice was in. She's a fickle beast - always has been. Also, for better or worse, I'm trying to experiment with my vocals in ways that I didn't use to.

I went back in the booth this evening and it's going better. Different feel to the vocals today. Sometimes it's the damn mix in the cans that's making you sing differently. This recording process always intrigues me.

Going back in the booth...

by **ntbullock** » July 6th, 2011, 3:16 am

So tonight I went back to drudging around in the Anchor session. I got a good bit done on backing vocals. I'm still not completely pleased with where I'm at with it, or the fact that I've felt that way for the past three days. Tonight is the best I've felt, but all in all it's gonna take more time; probably more time than I've given myself to be done with the EP. I've contemplated leaving this track off the EP before, but I'm seriously thinking about leaving it off. That way I can take more time with it and make sure to try out some orchestration with Harry. On top of that I'd like to record a simple acoustic version and release the two of them together in the weeks after the EP is completed. It's such a personal song that I'd hate to rush the process that already has its inherent difficulties obvious to me.

Tomorrow it's back to Daft and maybe Made To Break.

by **ntbullock** » July 6th, 2011, 10:52 pm

The preamp is warming. Time to patch some vocals on Daft.

Also, there's a facebook page that was started for me awhile back. I've rigged it to catch all my updates from ntbullockmusic.com.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NT-Bullock/118088061536113

by **ntbullock** » July 7th, 2011, 2:56 am

Another seven hour day at the helm. The Daft session went really well, I felt. It's been a minute since I've heard it and although it needed some touching up, it was all progressive today. I need to add another instrument for certain touches, but I'll do that tomorrow. That's going to take a bit of exploring/experimenting. I may be to a point to post a clip before the weekend is up. It depends on tomorrow, really.

by **ntbullock** » July 7th, 2011, 5:37 pm

"For What It's Worth"

You have been there thick and thin

You have been right there when

No one else would step in

Time and time and time again

Don't you tell me you're afraid

I won't believe you

You say you're tattered and your frayed

I'm counting on you - and you on me

For what it's worth, I always loved you

We have been here before

We have passed through these doors

Needle's eye we have strained

Our souls may rearrange

That doesn't mean we've changed

It just means we've questioned

What it is that makes us tick

Not denying progress

-ntbullock

by **ntbullock** » July 8th, 2011, 1:32 am

Worked on Daft. Experimented with instrumentation. Added some. Trashed most. It may be enough to fill in some spots. Will listen tomorrow. Fragment sentence. Clip tomorrow.

by **ntbullock** » July 8th, 2011, 4:39 pm

So here’s Daft as it stands. I won’t get to work on it again until Sunday. I’ve got plans tonight and out of town for the night tomorrow. I’m trying to get a new CD for the car burned with all these updates before I hit the road tomorrow, so I can make mixing notes. Off to work on Made To Break a little…

http://www.ntbullockmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Daft_unfinished.mp3

by **ntbullock** » July 9th, 2011, 11:52 am

Got a new CD burned for the short trip. Worked on Made To Break and did some mixing/cleaning late last night. It's not quite there yet, but closer hopefully. Back to work on this late tomorrow.

by **ntbullock** » July 11th, 2011, 12:59 pm

I made it back last night and started on the notes I made during the trip. It's gonna take me a full day's work to finish up the rest, I'm sure. This week is hellaciously good for paying gigs, so the music will have to slow until Saturday. I still think I can get this out this month. That's the goal.

by **ntbullock** » July 13th, 2011, 1:15 pm

Busy, busy week with work, but I spoke with Harry about Stepping Stones. It was a compliment to hear that he just wanted to replace what I've already done string-wise with better samples and also some real violin. That's awesome. I spit some versions out so he can replace what I did. I'm excited to hear it. Hopefully he'll be able to get to it this week. What a pal.

by **ntbullock** » July 15th, 2011, 8:10 am

Got the latest version of Stones to Harry yesterday; one without strings and one with just strings, so he can replace them. I'm hoping that those will just sell the song even further.

My work week has been extremely swamped. I'm working 10-12 hours a day and not getting near as much sleep as I'd like. Early next week I should be able to devote some time to recording; even though I'll still be pulling double time to do it. My days aren't going to be remotely un-busy for a stretch. Off to work.

by **ntbullock** » July 17th, 2011, 2:08 pm

So this has been a beast of a week. I haven't had this much work at once in quite some time. One of the clients has been a nightmare. I'll leave it at that. I still have a couple more gigs to finish up post work on after today, but I plan on easing back into the music starting tomorrow. I'm a little behind because of said nightmare. At least Harry has been working on Stones. There's still a ton of work to do on the EP, but it is a little more downhill from here. That's a good feeling.

by **ntbullock** » July 19th, 2011, 7:56 pm

So, I've started easing my way back into this thing here. I've got two more client projects on my plate to finish, but I've got more time than I've had this past week.

I'm finishing up the notes I made before I got busy. Just made one small change to Triggerfinger and Devil Through The Walls, so I know they are getting close. Headed into For What It's Worth and Made To Break. After that I can finally polish off Stepping Stones and then Daft. Hopefully Harry's string section will be done by the time I get back to Stones later this week.

by **ntbullock** » July 19th, 2011, 10:11 pm

My neighbors moved the other day. I can finally turn on my studio monitors. Great timing.

by **ntbullock** » July 19th, 2011, 11:39 pm

So, I actually got a few things cooking on Made To Break. I had a whole list of notes and grievances. I did some re-mixing and changed some of the vocal structures. I think it's headed in a better direction now. I cut an element from a section that now feels a little empty, so I'll need to come up with a little touch of something there tomorrow. I'm feeling better about the song though.

by **ntbullock** » July 20th, 2011, 9:38 pm

So I'm just now getting my work done for the day. My head is throbbing, but I'm going to try and work on some music tonight. Let's see how long this lasts. Not feeling great. I'm burning at both ends.

by **ntbullock** » July 21st, 2011, 1:55 am

Tonight was very progressive. I did some vocal patching in For What It's Worth on a small section. I added some keys to Made To Break, although I may need to add something else; got to sleep on it. I did the few notes for Stepping Stones. That one is whipping into shape quite nicely. Thank goodness because it's been a hassle from the get. I also did some mixing on the studio monitors for each of these songs. Tomorrow I eagerly return to Daft. I've been piling up notes and ideas I need to catch up on. Harry says he might have something tomorrow for me to listen to for Stones.

by **ntbullock** » July 21st, 2011, 3:59 pm

"Triggerfinger"

And we might be able to put out all our fires

But only if that's the only thing that we desire

And all our eyes were peeled for warning signs that never came

And the meek made mild are the meek gone wild, they're one and the same

Tell me I'm wrong, Tell me I'm right, All night long

But in our face could be the fame of fallen grace

And the shots fired ring 'round the world in silence

And they put a dent in the very heart of our innocence

Public pathology and casual casualty, the study of our time

I don't want to be a part of the human race

It's a race we're losing every moment of every day

And I don't want to close my eyes and wish it were another way

-ntbullock

by **ntbullock** » July 22nd, 2011, 1:13 am

I worked for most of the day on various things. Last week is catching up with me a little. I'm gonna go not work on this anymore tonight. I did get some secondary backing vocals in Daft's chorus to see how they sit with me. I did some mixing on the monitors for a few songs. I bounced some out for a new test CD burn that I'll make Saturday. I've still got some vocal patching to do on Daft before I burn a whole new disc.

by **ntbullock** » July 22nd, 2011, 7:37 pm

Spent the afternoon doing more vocals for Daft; just now getting done. Heading out, but I hope to come home later tonight and start mixing in what I just did. The song is getting closer, but I still think it needs a few touches here and there. All in all I'm diggin' the track, though.

NTB IV album "KUDZU" [COMPLETED]

Teknology lyrics.

Days and Nights.

Plans of Change.

Vocals.

More Vox.

Sunday.

Stepping Vocals.

Stepping Stones clip update.

Triggerfinger clip.

China Time.

A Different Day.

Three Days Later.

Tubes On.

Daft Being.

For What It's Worth lyrics.

Slight Progress.

Daft clip.

New Burn.

Busier Bee.

In my stead.

Micro-Update. (tiny, tiny)

Beast Mode.

Back On The Wagon.

Alone At Last.

Made To Fix.

Soldier On.

Progress.

Triggerfinger lyrics.

Need To Not Work.

Daft Vocals.

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