To Bee Or Not To Bee

So, we are one month into our new Simons & Van Buuringen project and things are progressing very slowly. At least that's how it feels to me. We actually have a couple of ideas that get messed around with, but chances are that none of them end up on the album. And maybe all of them will. Or maybe there will be no album at all...I am just not excited enough about my own ideas and find it hard to add anything exciting to Van Buuringen's excellent guitar tracks. Maybe the time that is needed for this project is just lacking.

The recording sessions for the new 9SC album are still underway, although most of what Adrian can record has been recorded. So now it's mainly up to the other guys. The rough demos are already sounding pretty good. This can only get better with all the other contributions and some more time spent on the mixing. But my part (the button pressing) is almost done. It has been fun and interesting in equal measure. It's not often that you get to witness other people's creative process. And to witness how Adrian got from a guitar riff, a result from what looked like just messing around, at the end of one recording session, to a 13 minute track at the end of the next session, is just impressive.

Anyway, we, Simons & Van Buuringen that is, need more of you guys to like, or maybe even love us over at Facebook. So should you come across this blog entry, most probably by accident, then visit us over there. You know you wants it.

Hope Found

So, initial ideas have been exchanged in the Simons & Van Buuringen project. Now it's time to work on each other's stuff (and maybe come up with a new idea or two). It's interesting having to find a new way of working on music. When collaborating with Edwin in the past I wrote virtually completed tunes and left some space for him to add guitars to. Now I have to learn to let go of an idea sooner, so he has more freedom to add something of his own. This is actually not a bad thing, because it keeps me from having to work on an idea for weeks or even months.

On the other hand I have to approach Edwin's initial ideas like I have done in the more recent past with my remixing. Which is, anything goes, even those directions where I head off in completely unexpected territories. Ofcourse, eventually Edwin has to like what I have done. But I shouldn't restrict myself to sticking close to the original idea, which was my initial thought.

Anyway, we will see. First of all there is another 9SC recording session on Sunday. It looks like Adrian keeps coming up with new song ideas. Double album, anyone?

A start is a start is a start...

Ok, so the new Simons & Van Buuringen project is underway. Edwin has sent me a short piece, also to demonstrate the sound quality of his acoustic guitar recorded by his new mic. That's actually a promising start. I even managed to put something together, although I have to put some more work into it before sending it off to him.

We also decided to upgrade our DAW software to make exchanging Cubase projects a bit easier (or so we hope). A good enough excuse for me to upgrade to the latest (and for the first time) full version of Cubase, which should give me a couple of extra toys to work with.

Last weekend I also assisted Adrian Jones (the third weekend in a row) with his recordings for the new Nine Stones Close album. That one is actually starting to take shape (and a nice shape it is). I think that him collaborating with keyboard player Brendan Eyre on the writing is going to bring NSC to the next level by introducing some different elements to the music. Not that Adrian wouldn't be able to write a great album on his own. Anyway, visit their site and facebook page every now and then to see how things are progressing.

Busy...

I have just uploaded what could be my last ccMixter related remix of the year. It is called Ghosts Of Lees and you can find it on the ccRemixes page.

Last Saturday I had an interesting meeting with a certain guitar player and we have outlined our plans for the album we want to release next year. I am pretty excited about this, because I look forward to focus on a consistent body of work in stead of creating the odd remix every now and then. I will keep you posted on anything related to this new project.

I will also try to assist Adrian Jones during the making of his band's new album whenever and wherever requested. From what I have heard so far the new album could end up being even better than Traces.

The End Is Near!!!

Happy New Year!!!

I have uploaded a new remix yesterday. But don't worry should you have missed it, because you actually haven't missed a thing (but you can always check out the ccRemixes page...).

Anyways, what's up for the new year? Well, I really want to start working on that collaboration with a certain guitar player. Which ofcourse doesn't mean that it actually is going to happen, but I do think that we must be able to come up with something (even) better than our last (and first) effort.

But first I will be visiting Nine Stones Close's Adrian Jones tomorrow for a day of recording for their new album. I might even push a button or two myself.

Btw, here is my top 10 albums of 2011...

01. nine stones close - traces
02. jolly - the audio guide to happiness (disc one of two)
03. projected twin - earth to world
04. paatos - breathing
05. steven wilson - grace for drowning
06. adrian belew - adrian belew's e for orchestra
07. face tomorrow - face tomorrow
08. fovea hex - here is where we used to sing
09. memories of machines - warm winter
10. opeth - heritage