More recordings from my home studio ...

[jpfeifer]

Hi Everyone,

I've been busy doing lots of recording in the home studio recently, mostly to help my oldest daughter to create some demos of her songs.
I've been playing guitar and mandolin on all of these, and acting as the arranger and co-producer of the songs. I'm really proud of her song writing and singing! It's been alot of fun working on these songs with her.

I invested in a good quality mic pre-amp which has made all the difference, in getting a more warmer sound for vocal and acoustic tracks. It's a Universal Audio LA-610 (tube preamp and compressor)

Recording, is a lot of work, but it is so much fun.
Please have a listen to our latest tunes "Shipwrecked" and "Audrey's Canvas"
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=1002211

You won't find any guitar shredding on these tunes :-) but I tried to create guitar and mandolin parts that would serve the song.

Thanks for listening. --Jim

[Robert]

Sounds great Jim. How did you record the drums?

[jpfeifer]

Thanks Robert.
For the drums, I'm cheating :-) I use Toontrack EZDrummer. I use the Nashville drumkit and the Latin Percussion kit quite a bit. I really like EZDrummer becuase it allows you to use some pre-arranged patterns and then edit them (via midi) to get just the right feel for your song. It's one of the best options if you don't have the space or equipment to record a real drummer.

--Jim

[Robert]

I use Ez drummer too... ;)
I bought some good midi drum loops from Groove Monkey as well. Makes it even faster to get going! :D

[guitarhack]

Very nice! "Audrey's Canvas" definitely shows some Beatle and brit pop influence. Nice work, Jim and Audrey.

[Blaze]

Well done ,great job ,i love it ...

Bravo to Amanda and Dad on the most beautiful daughter - father project..:applause :applause

[jpfeifer]

Thanks for the nice comments guys!

[aeolian]

Jim, those are terrific songs, Amanda should be proud. Listening to the 2 songs I can tell the care both of you put into recording and mixing the songs, I'm very impressed. Thanks for sharing.

[piebaldpython]

Nice stuff there. Must be fun as heck to create WITH your kid. I enjoyed the playing and singing. Kudos on the recording as the levels are perfect.

[deeaa]

I only have one question - where can I download/buy/acquire it somehow to my iPod? Being a big fan of Aimee Mann & Crow and such, I really dig this stuff...absolutely excellent.

[mrmudcat]

:cool: Great stuff!! Big props for family creativity!!!:cool:

You and your daughter both sound great !!!!:applause

[bigG]

Outstanding, Jim and Amanda! :applause

Professional quality at every step. Writing, recording, arrangements, everything! It's obvious the love and heart that went into these.

I love vocal harmony, and Audrey's Canvas is angelic! I like the way you wettened up the vocals on this one especially!

Three thumbs up! :AOK

[jpfeifer]

Thanks so much everyone! You all are very supportive and I really do appreciate that.

Our goal is to get enough of these songs together to make a complete CD and put them into iTunes (which anyone can do now, if you have a complete CD).

I'm also thinking of entering some of her songs in a song writing contest just to see how they do. I want to encourage her in her songwriting. I'm really enjoying the process of taking her demos and working through the recording/production end. I get to be the studio player/producer guy that I never got the chance to be in real life :-)

Thanks again for all the encouragement on this, --Jim

[bigG]

Jim, I don't think I'd stop at just iTunes.

How about CDBaby, and some of the smaller lables that specialize in this lovely folk/americana/singer-songwriter type of music: Lost Highway, New West, Rounder, Dualtone, etc...even John Prine's Oh Boy! label...and Shout!Factory.

You might consider shopping this around to some of those labels. I'd buy it in a heartbeat! :AOK

[sunvalleylaw]

I really like both of those new ones, and remember liking the earlier ones too. That is just great that you two can do this together. Congrats!

I really like her writing, and your work is of course wonderful.

[baldgit]

songs are great...you are a talented family! really enjoyed listening... Thx Dan

[jpfeifer]

Thanks everyone!

I'm playing with my daughter at an open-mic night event at her university. I can't wait to see how some of these songs work in a live setting. It will just be the two of us, so they will be simpler versions of what we recorded.

--Jim