[Jon S.]

Released today.

https://jonsilberman.hearnow.com/duality

[lbpesq]

Hey Jon, always good to see you around here. Just got home from an outstanding jam and saw your post. Wow, five albums! I’ll give the new one a listen this weekend. I think I need to catch up on a couple of others, too. Here’s something recent from my band, Dead Enough, with a great sax player sitting in:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Lv6-_XJM8mI?si=Ar8wciVmBMCwa1iV[/youtube]

Bill, tgo

[Jon S.]

Thanks for your kind words, Bill, and for sharing your video. If I may say, I'm also a fan of inviting sax players to sit in with us on Eyes.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/4iMf3QuD83A?si=Y5-yEoNomfbOD6Nz[/youtube]

[Tennessee Jedi]

Hey Jon

The last few years Ive really been getting into recording at home.
Im kicking myself for not exploring that part off making music sooner.

How are you recording your stuff ?
Home studio ?

Ill check out your album today

[Jon S.]

Hey Jon

The last few years Ive really been getting into recording at home.
Im kicking myself for not exploring that part off making music sooner.

How are you recording your stuff ?
Home studio ?

Ill check out your album today

Thanks. I hope you dig it!

I recorded all of my albums in pro studios (the first two at 6 String Ranch in Austin, TX; the last three at Gizmo Recording in Silver Spring, MD).

I'd thought of getting into self-recording but upon researching the hardware and software needs and considering the necessary education and learning curve to do it well, I realized, my true musical loves are songwriting, playing, and singing, not engineering, mixing, or mastering.

So, I decided to put my time into the former and my money into paying pros for the latter.

I also understood from the start that the guys I play with otherwise are not suited for working with in the studio. The musicianship skills needed to excel in the studio are in a class by themselves.

My modus operandi is to do all of the singing, and almost all of the guitar playing, myself and hire the best possible studio pros for bass, drums, and the few guitar parts I know to be beyond my own ability.

An example of the latter are the occasional slide guitar parts on my songs, e.g., the slide guitar on the song, Caught in the Current, on Duality. I come into the studio having worked out those parts myself in advance. Then I demo them for the studio guitarist to play perfectly. (May I add, I played the lap steel parts on Inconvenient myself. I figured it was time to learn the skill!)

There are exceptions to the studio pros only, rule. For example, on the second of the two examples below, I asked two close friends to join me in the studio to lay down the Indian flute and djembe tracks. It wasn't seamless but they pulled through for me in the end. I'm quite happy with the outcomes.

I said that, moving from album 2 to album 3, I switched studios. I had several reasons for doing so.

One was that although I learned so much from my producer for the first two albums, I felt, moving forward, that I wanted to produce myself. I'm not a pro. This is my avocation. It should be a joy to do.

And so it goes.

Here's an example of the difference between the same original song of mine produced and recorded first by a professional producer, and afterwards again by me.

For the initial version, all I'm doing is singing. Everything else - everything! - is computer generated. The producer cut my guitar playing out of the track completely.

For the followup version, there is not one bit of computer generated anything. Everything you hear was played live by a musician. And you can hear my guitar parts clearly.

I love songwriting and recording my original music. It is the most fulfilling musical endeavor for me!

1st version: all the instruments are computer generated via apps and plug ins:

https://youtu.be/c5TX_2iRkLI?si=bsbglkEgLpwWT_uT

2nd version: all the instruments played live by actual musicians:

https://youtu.be/zSh8DO2IPSc?si=31OiTK4VIm_uhv2V

[lbpesq]

I prefer the second, live humans, version. But then again I'm an old fart.

Now get off my lawn!

hehehehe

Bill, tgo

[Tennessee Jedi]

Jon

I wasn't expecting to hear you do all the recording in the studio as that can be quite expensive - and you have a decent catalog going also.
I like how you prioritize your strengths and weaknesses and go from there.

I can't sing but do write lyrics and so Im some what dependent on others.
I like having my friends add to my creations - I think it takes them to another level.

We just gave our buddy a Mac for the holidays (so he could do some recording) - we both agree that nothing kills the creative flow worse than " tech probs ".
I def agree its great to have some pros to just elimatnate tech stuff.

Our band recorded a 5 song record ( ? ) at a studio during the pandemic and I found the whole thing to be a little intimdating.
Im hoping we do another one though.

For now Im in the basement ( The Hole ) working up stuff w GarageBand.
Im always telling my musical friends to get into home recording.
I never really played bass or keys before but now they get my juices flowing.
Its those things that others are missing out on.

I used to write stuff w a bassist and a drummer and just bang stuff around ; it was the only way at that time I could really come up w stuff.
I love being able to bang something out fast on the Mac and I find it can get me real inspired.

Next step is getting my buddies kit mic'd up and exploring that kind of process.

I still play w bands but I have to say the creative process of writing songs is quickly becoming my favorite musical outlet.

Thanks for sharing Jon.
I checked out your music and I was really impressed w the quality of the playing and production.And that deep catalog of songs.
I should be asking about your creative processes but maybe that's a question for another day.

peace
Tom

[Jon S.]

Thanks again, Tom. A couple of quick followup thoughts.

It does get expensive in the studio. But we all prioritize our expenses. Many friends drive BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, etc. Others have bought boats or Harleys. My main car is a Honda CRV and, other than traveling with my wife, music is my passion. We can't take it with us! My last three guitar purchases, a Danelectro Hodad, Schechter C-1 Platinum, and Epi LP (that I later traded for an Epi Casino Coupe), cost me under $500 each. All I've done is taken the money others spend on top tier cars, boats, motorcycles, and boutique guitars and amps and spend it instead on studio time. It's mostly simple prioritization.

Regarding singing, may I say - and I'm not at all exaggerating this now - learning how to sing is the single most valuable musical endeavor I've done apart from picking up the guitar itself.

There was a time when I would have said that I can't sing, either. Then, one day about 15 years ago, the band I was in at the time lost our singer and we couldn't find a suitable replacement. Someone had to step forward and give it a try. No one else would so I said, OK, I'll do it.

Frankly, I was terrible at first. But equally frankly, I sucked the first time I picked up a guitar, too. There's a learning curve with everything. I found that the more I sang, the more comfortable I became and the more open I was to doing it more. Know, also that, between Autotune and Melodyne, many vocal errors can be easily corrected in the studio. (I've used both - Melodyne is more natural sounding to me so it's what I prefer.)

As for the creative process, I've done a bit of research into this. It seems like the advice is all over the map and every artist is different. For writing melodies and chord changes, it's hard to generalize. But for the lyrics, here's my consistent experience: decide up-front what it is you want to say and the lyrics will flow. Also, what works in prose doesn't always translate to poetry or lyrics. They're two separate processes for me: 1st draft the lyrics; then adjust them by playing and singing the songs a bunch of times and making corrections before recording them.