Creating "Majik" (The Corona Sessions)

First blog of 2020 and of course, we're all elbow deep in social distancing / isolation. A double edged sword for me as an "essential" worker as shops need to stay open (to prevent riots?) so I have been stuck in a bizarre limbo of work / home / work / home and "Backyard Gothic" is dead in the water on account.

To counteract the boredom, I embarked upon the "Corona Sessions". Creating music is never boring but I do have a very short attention span, so I've had to force myself to concentrate on creating a viable collection of music. It eventually found it's title in "Majik".

Why this title? Because most of these songs were created in a stream of consciousness, particularly the first and third songs which bear the word in their titles. They in many ways wrote themselves, before I realised I was writing them. To anyone who writes books, poetry or music - I'm sure you understand what I mean, but I can't really explain it in words. As the late, great Tom Petty said:

“Music is probably the one real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.”


Amen.

The pictures were taken by my very talented better half and I twisted and distorted them into a cover I thought suited the theme of the EP. The subject matter in the songs is almost nihilist in nature, but I assure you, a pinch of salt is never far from the lyrics I write....

It's currently in the processing stage, en route to spotify / google play / itunes etc courtesy of Distrokid. And the track listing is:

1. Majik, Pt.I: The Man In The Ivory Castle 

2. Throne Ruminations (co - produced by Denika McClean)

3. Majik, Pt.II: The End

4. Who Rules Hollywood?

5. (BANG!) Bombs Are Falling

Stylistically, it's a return to the sound on "Heresy". But with the extra six years experience in the production side (I hope!) It's bigger, more mature and sounds more professional. More importantly, I hope people get a kick out of listening to it, as much as I got creating it. 

Thanks for reading..... and listening. 

The Gunslinger

So have started on a new piece.

 I'm very inspired lately, as is quite obvious, and have to decided to strike while the iron is still hot. I've decided to create a piece inspired by Stephen King's "The Gunslinger".

Back in school, I borrowed the particular book on the promise from my good friend, Tom, that I would love it. He was right, I did! So much I read the entire saga that was borne from the original story and was hooked.

 I am aware (and very excited) for the forthcoming "Dark Tower" offering featuring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. As such, I have avoided any so called soundtrack snippets to the degree that I have no idea who the actual composer is and I don't want to absorb any thematic ideas from it, subconsciously or otherwise.

At the moment, I am approaching it as a standard western, but obviously - it's far from a standard western. I've earmarked a couple of instruments that I am looking at utilising, guitar with spring reverb - an old school western staple, muted trumpets and maybe a little choir thrown into the mix with some nice percussion.

The real work starts tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to starting such a DIFFERENT piece. Keep your ears peeled.

Moonlight, Murder and Roses Part. I: Gypsy's Kiss

A man sits in an old burlesque gentleman's club. He watches a woman perform for him. She has a shock of red hair, pale skin and green eyes. The lingerie she wears is an unusual mix of burgundy red and green.

He knows the woman. Her name is Selena and she is born of a gypsy linage. Unknown to the punters around him, the man is a priest. And he is in love with the gypsy girl. What's more - she is in love with him. The man is drowsy on whiskey. His eyes grow heavy.

Selena leans in for a forbidden kiss when suddenly the priest finds himself awake in a hall of mirrors. Lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, the frame of the hall resembles the inside of an animal's ribcage. Every so often flashes of the dead appear clawing at the mirrors from the opposite side. Then he spots one with Selena. She appears stuck in the very second their lips were about to  meet. He approaches the mirror. Suddenly she begins to move. Her hands reach up to meet her face. She places a finger in either side of her mouth and proceeds to tear her mouth into a grotesque, bloody smile. She then smashes her hands through the mirror, grabbing his face and plunging her thumbs into his eye sockets....

He awakes outside the club. Dazed, soaked, confused and terrified. His only comfort is the sound of the rain in the night as a vixen screams in the distance.

Moonlight, Murder and Roses Part. I: Gypsy's Kiss

Gypsy's Kiss

So am prepping myself into jumping headlong into my upcoming sound and production course by making myself familiar with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), namely REAPER. Pro Tools is the industry standard, but I'm not rich.

It's pretty much how all music is produced these days and it's about time I got with the programme.
I've learned how to employ virtual instrument plugins and am therefore able to create pieces of music by playing my midi keyboard and using the sampled instruments on EASTWEST Quantum Leap Gypsy & Silk. I've not done anything too extreme to begin with as I've started learning the basics such as panning, reverb and track reversal, but here is a new piece to keep me ticking over. It's made entirely using sampled instruments from EW Gypsy and edited and published through Reaper.

1. Percussion
2. Flamenco Guitar
3. Lead Violin
4. Dulcimer (listed as Cimbalom, but I'm too used to the other word)

I reversed the track halfway to give it a creepy, dreamy feel and segued back in to give it a measured ending.

Click here for a listen -> GYPSY'S KISS  

Thanks for listening.

END OF DAYS Part I: The Witching Hour.

So, a rundown on the new piece. Well, I finally finished it and it's a first for me too, using computer software to create some of the instrument voicings. I didn't use a DAW though. I merely played the midi keyboard in real time plugged directly into the multitrack. The software I used was the stunning "Quantum Leap SILK" from Eastwest Studios.

 It contains genuine live instruments, painstakingly recorded note for note and in various styles. The instruments focused on are from China, India and The Persian Empire. I incorporated the keyboard, the actual duduk (this was interwoven with the SILK interpretation) and the ravish sitar pedal played with "Selena" - my home made strat. It was recorded in this order:

1: Persian 30 Piece Strings - Bass (Silk)

2: Warm Strings (Keyboard)

3: Sitar Drone: (Guitar & Pedal)

4: Sitar Lead: (Guitar & Pedal)

5: Duduk: (Silk)

6: Duduk: (My lungs!)

They were then bounced to a stereo track to make room for:

1:Timpani (Keyboard)

2: Persian 30 Piece Strings - Lead (Silk)

3: Persian 30 Piece Strings - Harmony (Silk)

4: Sarod - (Silk)

5: Sequenced Bass (Keyboard)

6: Distorted Guitar (Guitar & Pedal)

Just looking at the above list reminds me of the effort it to to create such a relatively short piece of music. I may hire out an orchestra one of these days, lottery jackpot win pending!

You can listen on the link below. Thanks for taking the time to read this and listen.

END OF DAYS Part I: The Witching Hour

GIRLS WANNA ROCK!

Today I recorded someone else's song, It was awesome.

I am always scared of messing with someone else's work but I was given the blessing of free reign on production, so I cut loose on certain elements. The person in question is a lady I've known nearly 12 years, who is prctically a sister to me. We met through her husband - one of my oldest and dearest friends, and the three of us are obsessed with music. Suffice to say, we hit it off from the start.

We were always saying we should record something together, but the opportunity seemed to slip us by. Never in a bad way. There was always alcohol or some other vice that always interrupted our train of thought. Not that the three of us ever complained! One evening I received a random text telling me to check my email, so I did and what a wonderful surprise. it was 2 minutes and 26 seconds of a song, performed wonderfully, courtesy of this lady and her guitar.

I was immediately inspired. I set to work on mapping out the instruments, moving chords around and trying not to defile the original creation. I had a chorus type thing that I'd not yet used but thought it would fit seamlessly into the song. With her blessing I went nuts, even giving myself a guitar solo spot. Why? Because "Rock 'n Roll" that's why! She arrived excited and a little nervous. I was nervous myself. I'd not really recorded anyone else's song to such a degree and had been working blind on it to such a point that I could only describe it in sounds. But today, she would hear it. And she was pleased with it.

The hard part was about to happen. We had a number of runs through it, just to get the form of the song. I was conscious to make her at ease. This was her song, it would be done on her terms. The nerves were apparent on the first couple of runs! I called her a mouse. She then took the challenge and fucking nailed it to the wall. We then tried the old school vocal double tracking. I never copy and paste, it's soulless in my opinion. So she sang it all over again and it sounded awesome. We then tackled the new part, which was done in baby steps. We just needed to "FEEL" it in the song.

I was thrilled by the end of it, so much so, that I spent the entire evening adding the fairy dust to it.
The biggest issue for me was a phantom buzzing from the microphone which at times is still audible but is not a huge issue for me, as I freely admit that I'm an amateur producer! Thank you for an awesome recording experience, Tiffany. Already looking forward to the next time!

Here is the song: FAITH (Hear Me Calling) feat. Tiffany Cruickshank

No guitar hero....

Wow, I've been away for some time! I hadn't forgotten this place. More neglected it, really. I treat it like a sanctuary to give the hamster in my head some well needed R&R and he's well overdue. I've just been quite busy as of late, juggling weddings and jobs......

I haven't had much time to do anything musical until I revisited "MAMA". I won't go over the subject matter, as it's all contained in that particular post. I originally envisioned it as a simple guitar over an ambient backing. But then I added drums and the rest followed naturally.

Now, I'm no guitar hero, my style is more fluid than technical and the only scales I recognise are found in the marine world or a bathroom. I leave the shred type stuff to the cosmic guitarist disciples of Steve Vai et al, and do my thing. Kind of like taking the line for a walk.

This recording was a little different for me. I rolled back on the treble for a change. I always feared the tone was less expressive without treble and over compensated with it - which in hindsight, left the guitar sounding quite shrill. So this time, I rolled the tone pots all the way back and left the volume up full. Also, I plugged straight into the board and with exception to some reverb, there is absolutely no processing done to the signal at the finish line. It was simply my Burns pick-ups equipped Strat - BSM Silicone Treble Booster pedal - Tech 21 Liverpool V2 pedal - Boss CE 5 pedal - 8 track. My vibrato is something I've worked on a lot recently and I am particularly pleased with it in the upper registers. So just in time to celebrate Mother's Day - Here's "Mama":

I've Met More Monsters (Than I Have Met Heroes)

A third track has been completed for the new e.p. It has a decidedly U2 esque sound, though it wasn't my original intention. I'm a huge Brian Eno fan and the ambiance he helped create on "The Joshua Tree" is phenomenal.

It was a challenge and a half to create this song and it's huge "WALL OF SOUND" chorus was a herculean task. There was countless overdubs, bouncing and panning whilst trying to figure out a higher harmony to the original guitar motif.

I wrote these words about 14 years ago and found them in an old sketch book. It was like meeting an old friend and the words are exactly what I was all about at that time. Angry, scared. embittered, heartbroken and still wrestling the tail end of puberty. It's fitting that this will share the e.p. with "Magpies...". The two tracks are yin and yang, subject wise so it makes a nice balance lyrically. You can listen to it HERE

I hope you enjoy it,
Phil,

PHIL McCLEAN - Movie Composer

The world and it's mother knows that I'm a failed movie music composer, or am I....?

I love movies, good and bad! If you HATE a film, there's a chance I found something to like about it. Chances are that something was soundtrack related. Could be any genre but I'm easy when it comes to that. If it sounds good to my ear, I'll take it. With the continuing and ever worsening blandness of today's popular music, I tend to take shelter in soundtracks. Not that I'm a total oaf towards new music. You just have to dig a little deeper to wade through the auto-tuned, Simon Cowell sponsored crap we seem to be drowning in nowadays.

Anyway, you may not know I have done a VERY short movie soundtrack for an American film by a gentleman called A.J. Bangs. It was a fun experience. I had put up on my old MYSPACE account, a header of "Free movie composer for hire". No idea why really. Clearly that days cocktail of weed and beer (Ah, crazy youth!) went to my ego, and practically a day later, this guy came knocking, so to speak. he told me the story, sent me a rough cut and described the mood. He asked for an end piece that really made no sense to me as the mood was very different than he envisaged. But I concurred and created the music. He was genuinely pleased with my efforts. Said that he was looking towards a professional cut of his film. So I sent him different variations on the music. He promised me a dvd and a credit, then the emails stopped. He has been silent since then online. Though traces of his (once?) online existence are there. The music itself has resurfaced in various songs of mine to date.

For all I know the man could be dead now, but thanks to him I finally got a movie credit. So technically I succeeded at soundtrack composing. I made it, Ma. I really made it!
The film can be watched on this link HERE   . 

Thanks for reading.

Faith: The Music Box

I have already begun the story at philmccleanmusic.com and it is called "The Music Box". But I have yet to complete the piece, which at a little over a minute's duration is a bit of a joke that I haven't. But the music is there, the vision is there but there is something off about it that I can't pluck out of the air. Maybe I'm over thinking it. It's probably due to how pleased I am with "Heresy" and also how I don't want to retread the same story.

The hardest part is the "violining". This is a technique where you feedback an amp and through volume, tone and finger placement, you achieve (or try to) a sweet violin-like sustain to wrap around the melody. But it's not a perfect science and requires the lightest and yet, at times, firmest touch. The slightest artifact, i.e string scrape, can be echoed ten fold if you are not careful, especially when using a form of delay with it, which means a mistake can be repeated which I don't want. The piece is led by a music box motif, with various strings and voices throughout. I want it to convey a childlike innocence with a little bit of an unnerving edge. As the director M. Night Shyamalan said to the composer James Newton Howard of the theme for "The Sixth Sense" It should bring to mind "an invisible animal in the room that you can hear and feel moving around and that you feel threatened by; just as you think you're going to be attacked, it leaves the room".

The two pieces are nothing alike, but this is the same idea I wish to convey, albeit in a less threatening more ethereal manner, if you will. Thanks for reading.


  

Full Circle.

The past couple of weeks have been an entirely forgettable experience for me and it's not getting any easier for some friends of mine who are currently having a very tough time as regards to the often cruel and unpredictable circle of life. I have no more to broach on this subject here, apart from they weigh heavily on my mind and I am sending them love and positive vibes unlimited.

Last year, the FOG had a ball performing for one night, for my better half's birthday. Well it seems to have gone full circle and now we are looking at recording a few songs together again. I am currently in the middle of recording a planned duet called "Murder, They Wrote". It's essentially a murder ballad about a timeless subject. "Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl to other Boy, Girl and other Boy murder first Boy". Good wholesome family subject matter! It's done in a 50's style piano ballad and I may have overcooked the solo. Well if it's worth half doing, it's worth over doing right! All I need is my musical partner's vocals and he will hopefully provide some tasteful guitar plucking too.

Here's a taster:

 

The Final Furlong.

So, it's just finished. My story, "Heresy", is complete and my grin is wider than it has been for a while. The middle eastern music crossed with the rock music idea has given it an unusual yet not unfamiliar vibe and I'm pleased with the result. There are parts of it I feel I could improve on but when I do try to, the results displease me more. So I am pleased with the finished product to a degree, I'll just have to embrace it's little imperfections. As the creator of the pieces, I of course, would notice them and it's likely that only the most ardent listener would notice them from me apart. But it's an achievement and one I'm proud of. The e.p. tells the simple story of a man who questions his faith and his place in our world so much, he isolates himself from all society and in the process loses his mind. I do plan to write the story to follow the songs and leave it as an insert.

Of course this is all that is left to create and thanks to a gifted and highly visual photographer friend who has a stunning setting idea, we will eventually have the entire package. Work and other obstacles (see "LIFE") have hindered us for the moment but we will eventually get around to it. The recording is done, I have just completed the mastering, in my best amateur capacity and now we look forward to the last step in what's been a trying yet blissful, difficult yet wonderful musical journey for me. Thank you reader for taking it with me.

Hi, I'm Phil. And today I'm going to be Freddie Mercury.

Vocal harmonies. They are fun when executed right but sometimes they can go horribly wrong. Freddie Mercury is a name synonymous with lavish multi layered vocals, not to mention the equally intricate harmonies from Brian May. But as an amateur who was given a workman like voice as opposed to a gift from the heavens, can I really expect to produce anything near the level the likes of Queen could do in their sleep? The answer is a resounding "no". But I do harmonise pretty well and have attempted a pretty lavish arrangement on "At the End of the World". The song itself was initially a minimalistic idea based around a delayed guitar pattern, I composed some years back. I have recorded multiple versions of the song which has gotten more layered every time I record it and true to tradition, the e.p. version is now a full blown rock opera-esque beast.

The chorus is accompanied by multi layered vocals, sung in different pitches and tones by yours truly, to attempt to give it an other worldly atmosphere and now, along with a very sore throat, I can feel a little smug and pleased with myself, that is once I get the thumbs up from my co producer later, who should be receiving a message containing the final master in a few hours......  

TECHNOPHOBIA PT II

So, I've changed my mind again. I AM going the computer software route after all. I have ordered two important pieces of my musical puzzle to make this e.p. as professional sounding as possible, provided my ailing laptop can withstand it! I purchased my first ever MIDI interface master keyboard:

And the software to go with it:

It's getting pretty exciting now! The Quantum Leap "Silk" software is dedicated to the instruments of Persia, India and The Far East. They are actual recordings of the instruments by some of the finest instrumentalists in their field and contains variations on all single notes for maximum effect. Probably the closest I'll come to working with the actual musicians themselves. Her ladyship, The Magpie, will have one hell of a headache. I guess I should lock the music room door! Don't believe me, take a look HERE. After the Persian String Section, which I am crazy about, skip ahead to 5.54 to hear the Armenian Duduk - phenomenal. I covered it in my last blog. This is exactly where I'm at musically right now. Thanks for reading!

Hmmmmm.....

As I've already covered, I was considering using computer aided effects to help my demo. Upon research I was hit by the unmistakable stench of techno rip off. Best sticking to doing the entire thing in my own human signature. This is not admitting my defeat to technophobia. I have done the research. 

TOYS, TOYS, TOYS!

We all need them, some have a handful, some have a truckload, some have big ones, some have average ones, some have little ones. Some like to play with theirs all by themselves and others encourage others to play with theirs.......enough of the innuendos! Anyway,

I am referring to effects pedals. All important parts of a guitarists "sound". There's a healthy debate between analog and digital but that's a debate for another time. Personally, I prefer analog but they are more than my budget allows so have some digital effects from BOSS and Electro Harmonix thrown in for good measure. Take a luck at my decidedly spartan rig for the 5 track e.p. that I will be commencing recording work on in a few weeks:

The Super Bender is brand new, delivered today. Hand built in Barcelona, Spain. Based on the Tonebender MK II, a legendary 60's fuzz pedal. When coupled with the treble booster, the sound is incredible. As you can see the setting, I keep it at a low "attack" level as the booster pedal, though quite noisy turns it into a CREAMY fuzzy sustaining monster which has already earned it a permanent place on my rig. The Chorus and Delay are practically staples for almost all guitarists. The Ravish Sitar, I've already blogged about. The Boss '63 Fender Reverb was an essential yet impulsive buy! My amp has no reverb and this particular pedal has a lovely Fender Spring reverb effect found on the rockabilly sounds of the late 50's and early 60's - think Dick Dale, though I don't utilise it for that, more for a slight bit of a "Hall" effect and it sounds great.

You're already familiar with the other two by now:

Interestingly enough, a fellow muso asked was it not a bit of a challenge as regards to not having any tone dials on the amp? It was a good question, but as I replied, chances are there's one or two on your guitar. "Touche!" was the reply. This is the guitar set up. My next post will be on the equipment I'll be recording through. If you're not asleep already! With a picture of the keyboard. And a picture of my bass. Because bassists are musicians too. Not necessarily human but still....... Just kidding! Thanks for reading :)

TECHNOPHOBIA!

Yep, it's true. I am a technophobe. Don't get me wrong - I know my way around a computer, such as switching it on and transferring files etc. But if I am presented with an interactive program or application, my brain switches off and I become angry or bored and start to drift off.........ooh a piece of string! I put this all down to the spreadsheet torture forced upon me in school. So as regards to a genuine interest in computers, I was a late bloomer!

But as music moves on, I must move on too. I have decided that the only way to make this E.P. perfect, will require the use of computer wizardry. No, not to manipulate the recording (no pro tools, EVER) but to add a little embellishment to my pre recorded material and improve the production quality accordingly. This will be expensive and time consuming due to needing 4 things:

1. A program to do this. To suit my sound I am looking at "East West Quantum Leap Ra". Est 180 Euros
2. A new dedicated laptop - There's alot of info in these programmes. Est 350-400 Euros
3. A Midi Keyboard - 100 Euros.
4. TIME, MONEY AND PATIENCE.

*Sigh*

Getting there!

A professional recording needs a professional set up and I am just about there! I've long sung the praises of pure tube amps over solid and valvestate and yesterday confirmed I have made the smartest purchase of my music loving life. As you will already know, on a whim after viewing endless demonstration videos I went and bought a Mooer AC Little Monster.

This little 5 watt amp has a power tube (EL84) and pre amp tube (12AX7) and runs hot enough to fry an egg on it after a while. I received my Vox V110NT cabinet yesterday and whilst initially having reservations about lack of bottom end the quickly dispersed when I plugged in! What a fantastic combo. I used my Hagstrom Deuce (F) guitar with humbuckers plugged into a BSM RM treblebooster on the top boost mode and found THE tone! The one I had in my head all these years but couldn't quite nail it. It sounds phenomenal! The Mrs tells me she hasn't seen me as happy in ages. Well I'm always happy but now I'm grinning like a six year old with their hand in the biscuit jar.

MOOER LITTLE MONSTER AC

VOX V110NT

A good looking combo and even better sounding! Gives me that lovely jangly British sound with a creamy saturated boosted tone. I'm almost done having my techno guitar gear nerdgasm here, I promise. So the point being, I've finally purchased a rig to help me record my songs in a professional manner. My rig is very spartan, unless I'm wigging out with the Ravish sitar, as I'm more of a plug and play type guitarist - (Bsm RM - Boss FRV 1 - Amp), maybe with a Boss Chorus or delay to add some character the odd time,  but I need one more pedal to complete my set up before this journey. A tonebender mk II. (The original Fuzzbox) - think Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck, for those gnarlier tones! I can't afford the actual pedal but the boutique clones are just as good sounding or better than the original IMO. As well as hand made so the build quality is top notch. I'm not a boutique snob but that route, though quite expensive (if you don't research it) led me to finding my treble booster from BSM. It's my favourite pedal and I'd never sell it. Am currently looking at Manlay Pedals. They look the shit and sound better, watch this space and thanks for reading

EXCITING TIMES!

Too many songs to choose from is a good problem, but not a useful one. Have decided to record a five track collection in my best semi professional capacity on my eight track and deliver a listenable, professional and hopefully, enjoyable collection. I finally feel comfortable enough to commit to a project I feel capable of being proud of, regardless of anybody else's views and I'm looking forward to it.

Have discussed in short and sweet with my new, hopefully, co producer (TBC) and he seems keen to help me. He is an old, close friend who is a music lover himself and knows me very well, so I reckon we can throw some ideas around about the eventual sound of this collection. In essence "THE SOUND" will be the rock infused with pseudo eastern European / Arabic sound that has been a source of great inspiration for me of late, and as any songs I have created have all been considered demos so hopefully we can create a demo that is as professional as possible with the time and tools employed by us. I have two working titles: "Anthology Of Guilt" and "In The Garden Of Good And Evil". I will also be discussing themes with a talented photographer friend of mine in the near future. The tracks to be revamped are in chronological order:

1. Empty Quarter pt. I (Rub al' Khali)
2. Just A Man
3. Hand Of God
4. Empty Quarter pt. II (Pray For Rain)
5. We Ride By Night

The production will be as organic as possible with a few tweaks. There will no longer be a direct guitar to digital fx in the 8 track. I will be mic' ing up the new Mooer Little Monster Ac which will be boosted by treble booster at full tilt and the clean and dirty sounds will be as usual controlled by the guitar volume knob.
The only digital effects will be provided by the Ravish Sitar and some reverb added by a Boss FRV 1. The rest will be a reliable mix of old school analog and acoustic sounds. I will document each song on this as it happens. Thanks for reading.

New Song: Hand Of God.

I'm gonna link the song HERE. This was one of those occasions, where everything went right for a change and I was vibing off the sounds I was getting. As anybody reading this is aware, I've been having a lot of fun with Middle Eastern influenced sounds at the minute and though not chronologically posted, this was done and dusted before "Empty Quarter", which is only really a taster of an idea I'm working on.

This song was very demanding, production wise. I operate a Zoom R8 Digital 8 track but forsake the effects part bar panning, the rhythm machine and reverb. So any other effects that you hear are performed through my guitar (electric, acoustic and / or classical), mandolin, bass or keyboard through a surprisingly minimal FX pedal collection. The raga/sitar motif was always in my head, it is instantly knowable from endless punjabi sounds one has heard off the films etc. For this I ran the Ravish Sitar pedal through my Danelectro DC59 guitar in stereo with the drone ringing mainly through the left and the main lead through the right with a little reverb. I programmed a lazy drum pattern (so much less hassle than setting up the electric drumkit) and added a Cort bassline, connected directly through with a tube pre-amp setting. The rock or "RAWK" (does Black Sabbath devil horns hand gesture), if you will was provided by a strat played through an analogue Sansamp Tech 21 Liverpool V2 pedal (think Vox AC30 in a box) and a superb sim it does too. This was played twice and panned a little over halfway between left and right. I added acoustic guitar for the verses and panned it to the right and some clean "Liverpool" guitar panned to the left. The guitar solo was an afterthought, played on impulse which sounds surprisingly good considering I prefer to map them out but ran out of space so it was an impromptu moment played between the "RAWK" take on the left channel. The vocals were just a little reverb and trying to harmonise with myself. All this in two long, trying but immensely fun days.

Have a listen. Massive thanks are in order to The Shape at IT'S ALL RANDOM MOSTLY for his stellar praise and encouragement. Word of advice: If you can dream it, you can do it. Thanks for listening.