New year, new shenanigans.

Have been cleaning up the orchestrations and preparing the tracks while downing red wine and opening presents. Yes, it's the holidays again. Busy busy busy.

Tomorrow it's new years eve and I'm amazed how this album is STILL in production, and that IT IS in fact still in production. Thinking back on the year it's been really rough and tough ride. The highs barely pushed the lows to an acceptable level.

It's bittersweet fun reading up on old journals and production notes as if there would be no force majeure clause in real life, this album would have been completed already. The original plans stuck only in that way that when we finally got somewhere to record and got there in one piece to record, everything went according to plan. Outside of that, everything was batshit crazy and all you could expect was to expect nothing as next week number was as sure as a throw of a dice times another random integer.

If you've missed it, a week before drum sessions were to begin (February), a 17 year old girl set fire to our practice flat and studio (January). I broke my foot trying to escape the flames as I had to jump from the second floor with a already twisted ankle (fell down a staircase a few days before that). That broken foot later healed poorly, and got twisted into a deformed position and developed osteoporosis. This all plus my brain being marinated in painkillers hindered my work pretty effectively the first quarter of 2010. A week after the fire incident, our bass player quits for personal reasons. So drums were recorded in April, when we should have been finishing up guitar and bass recordings, and bass recordings were pushed as far up so we could find a new bassist and have him rehearse all the albums songs for recording plus the old ones for shows. Also, my acoustic guitar got stolen a week after I've recorded the acoustic tracks. Bittersweet luck in a way, meaning, lucky it didn't get stolen before I recorded the tracks...

As I had to engineer, i.e. jump around wiring cables and placing mics with a crutch, it provided pretty much a nifty challenge as using an unexperienced engineer would be more trouble than good, and hiring an engineer costs money we didn't have. Have to pat my back a bit and say that luckily I made such a comprehensive and well done sound plan so I didn't really have to concentrate on technical stuff, just try to get good performances.


But not to moan and rant about our good friends would-ha, could-ha & should-ha, there were also good distractions. As the opportunity to participate was far to big for us to pass on, the Deathstars and Paul DiAnno tours came up by surprise but screwed up some plans. Copenhagen Live gig screwed up our new plans that we made after the arson.

Now, as everything is recorded and I'll start mixing it next month (next year :P), I'm personally amazed how it's still somehow got recorded. As aside from the things I've already listed, to add to the cake all the personal problems like stress, depression, burn outs, money problems and me divorcing my live in wife and mother of my child and moving to a different town broke off my ass and with a shitty leg and things like that didn't really speed up the process.

But as we're tripping down a staircase on memory lane I might as well point out that wading trough shit like that really fueled the concept and artistic side of the whole project. Give some time and a flower might grow out of a pile of shit. The lyrical side really thrived as I wrote the bulk of the albums lyrics during spring/summer of 2010, just during my personally worst period. Even though I developed the lyrical concept and structure from December (2009) onward, like some sort of twisted fortune telling book of life as it really correlated a lot with everything that happened to me in 2010. But with the concept ready, in writing lyrics I just had to fill in the empty blanks. Knowing what every song was going to be about and the experience to express myself better I was surprised how easy it was in the end.

And looking back, taking a relaxed schedule, especially after the fire and all that, was a great, albeit slightly frustrating, move. If we would have just rushed through and tried to run as fast as we could while we were constantly tripped and pushed in the dirt, we'd just have scraped knees and smeared in shit. Frustrating in that sense that we all (the band) live in this "new" Lunar Path, while all of you have just outdated "Broken World" to go by as reference.

Knock on wood, but hopefully this "Finnish Democrazy" is ready next year. On the bright side, if somebody tries to kill us (again :P) and succeeds this time, at least the album is recorded, so someone else can finish it up.

Until then, happy new year and hopefully next year will be better! :D

/Jonas

"Waiter! There's a soup in my dead fly?"

Well well, we meet again for a quick scoop on the latest Lunar Path poop. Yes.

Now there's pretty much nothing left to record soon. Finished off Tuukkas lead guitars last Monday, recorded some backing vox stuff on Tuesday. I've been dicking around with a lot of samples and cheap drum-machines and generally creating weird soundscapes and stuff like that. Played guitar with a bow yesterday, lots and lots of distortion and delay, sounded really weird. Like a demented cello echoing in an asylum.

Now there's really not much left to record. Like, really really. Weird that I can finally say that, soon I can say that everything's recorded. Weird. It's taken a long time to record, not because it's been difficult, quite the contrary, it's probably been the most easiest record to record. Scheduling it has been a nightmare because of all the uncertainties in all of our lives this year. My divorce and leg injury, the fire fucked up our schedules pretty bad, bassist change, everything...

Now we've just have to record some background vocals with Jesse, wait to get the guest stars tracks... and yeah, that's pretty much it.

Then I'll start to compile this monster into mixable sessions. Now it's approx 100-120 tracks per song. Just the basic elements (drums+keyboard+guitar+bass+vocals) is just +80 tracks. Rest is additional instrumentation, efx and various talking samples.

Have to pre-prepare most tracks, do some sub-mixing. Managing that many tracks with a small 2 year old basic mac mini with Pro Tools LE is nearly impossible. Lucky I got the PT extension for this project so I've got some more tracks to use. Not enough tho, but workable, better than the basic track amount in PT LE. But even though if the machine could handle +120 tracks in the same session, my brain could not.

So for now the time schedule is (about);
December
-Wrap up recordings, prepare the (seemingly endless) tracks for final mixing

January
-Final mixing
-One week mixing 4-8h per day, one week listening in different stereos, thinking about the meaning of life and does this bassdrum sound more like a grape or an apple... Then fix mixing and repeat...

February
-Final mixing / Sending off the tracks to be mastered
-Stressing like a mother on her childs first day of school, "bird is flying from the nest" etc. yaddayadda. Until I finally press "send" and off to mastering it goes. Out of the frying pan and into the fire :P

March
-Getting mastered. Get the final master depending on the mastering houses' time schedule and/or queue... I have a couple places in mind but haven't settled on which yet.

Then it's just to twist arms with who will release this monster. Something we've been working on already and a few prospective choices have been added to the thinking cap. But we're still looking for a label to release this!

After it's mastered and done, it's basically out of our hands, depending on the label/distributors release schedule.

So patience... Yet again.

I'd so like to just leak it "whoops" so people would hear it, but I know some people would hang me from my balls if I did that :D

This is the closest I can get, a crappy bootleg of "Thin White Lines";


That gig was actually that songs debut too, btw.

/Jonas

The subtle difference between a smile and a grin depends on what you are thinking of.

Recorded backing vocals and acoustic guitars last week and finished off some loose ends here and there! Now I'm in the process of recording some additional keyboards, some guitar leads here and there, i.e. wrapping up recordings!

My goal is to finish off the recordings this year, so I can begin mixing in January. A lot has already been pre-mixed in stems and is ready to be glued in with the rest. In general the original, unprocessed sounds are 80% what It'll sound like. So mixing shouldn't take that long when the mixing process consists of mainly balancing the instruments and fine tuning sounds.

Did a promo mix and a demo mix of the whole album a few months back. Have got some great feedback from some friends and industry people already. One, whom opinion I have high regards of because his experience and technical knowledge, was amazed how good it sounds.

And I have to admit, with the risk of smelling my own farts here, it does really sound good. The songs and sounds will blow away anything we've done before, easily.


Recorded lead guitar and "crunch" overdub-guitar with a DIY tube amp kit head, UralTone Jr. Very simple, for dummies-, all tube head, with just preamp, two master and a tone controls. Stick a tube screamer in front and a Les Paul and you'll be sailing and wailing all night long on the high seas of searing lead tone.

With that head I'm using an old English FAL 2x12 cab. Really obscure seventies crap. In crap I really mean crap, but it works!

My fucking MXR Distortion+ broke down in the last minute, damn shame, was going to use it for crunch stuff. But the tube screamer does a VERY good job. Really like that pedal even though I'm just using a cheaper tonelok version, that isn't even mine. Borrowed it from Ari, our ex-bass player. Used my Gibson Les Paul Custom for all lead and crunch stuff as usual, it has some amazing sustain and the vintage pickups are just perfect for a singing and smooth textured tone.


After a few weeks I'm off to England again to relax with my honey bunny gf, so we'll try to wrap up recordings as we speak as I'll be returning in mid December and then after that Christmas fucks up our schedules anyways. But there's not much left anymore. Thank science. Some small stuff here and there, Tuukkas and my lead guitars, some additional backing vocals with the guys.

Hasn't been hard to record, the contrary in fact, but it's been a scheduling nightmare. Because of the amount of stuff to record and interference from our own normal life schedules (as we have to have day jobs etc.) and then throw in all the arson stuff, complications with my leg, Janica gets the flu just before scheduled vocal recordings. Force majure stuff basically.

The goal is to record everything before new years, and after that, 1-2 months of mixing, then off to mastering. After mastering, the final release date depends on who's going to release this and their schedule! :P

I'll also start looking into album cover art...

The album has 15 tracks (one intro and one instrumental) and running time is about 61 minutes. Packed with goodies and suprises! :D

/Jonas

Zombies are great girl/boyfriend material as they don't want you for your body, they only want you for your brain.

The studio mixing room has been moved! Had loads of problems with the old mix studio, lots of bass reflex problems and other annoying noise leakage. But now problems solved!

Mixed a promo version a while ago, and have got lots of feedback from industry people and close friends! Looks good!

Even though I'm smelling my own farts here, I just love the new stuff! Have listened to the album already like 3 times a day and don't get tired of it. Usually you get tired of it when you're working on the same songs for a long time, but I've been working on this one for one and a half year already with sound planning etc. paperwork, and listen to recordings and early mix demos since spring, but still no. I like this record very much, it's also very personally important to me. Working on it worked as a mental crutch for me as this year has been seriously shitty for me (arson, no flat, Ari left the band, divorce, etc etc). Of course there's been good stuff too, like getting Jesse into the band, Copenhagen Live 2010, but nothing has worked as good as a mental crutch than this album. To be able to compress and blend in your own feelings and spew them out like that is unique and effective way of therapy.

The whole album concept worked as a sort of device to turn the page in my own life. Pondering on the concept and writing lyrics forced me to re-evaluate my priorities and values in life. Don't know how well that translates to others, but for me it was definitely a cathartic experience writing and producing this record.



I actually have nothing more new or exciting things to say, just thought I'd update it for the heck of it and something. Well. Poppycock. Going to England again after a month. Coming home a few weeks before Christmas. Yep. That will be fun. That's all. Thank you and good night!

/Jonas

The Subtle Art of Sound Manipulation in Controlled Enviroments According to Philosophies of Chuck Norris

Now all the bass is layed down! Got a pretty solid and nice sound from Jesses rig!

Very nice stuff, there's truly a groove going on! Excellent playing! A+ to Jesse!!

Jesse used his five string Sadowsky bass, fingerpicking -> Aguilar DI -> blend in a Ibanez Phat Head -> Aguilar amp head -> Aguilar cab. Four tracks, clean DI (for lows), dirty direct out from the head, Shure SM57 on the cabs tweeter and a Shure PG52 on the speaker. Pretty simple and straightfoward setup and very What-You-Get-Is-WHat-You-Hear approach as usual, i.e. no amp sims or any trickery.

We also used a fretless bass on two songs. One was completely with a fretless, the other one was a small fretless-bass solo overdub. Otherwise it was all about the Sadowsky. Very good bass, the DI signal is straight out of the box perfect. Can imagine you could easily record with just the bass, no amp and it'd be perfect without any eq or trickery! Awesome preamp in the bass!

Now it's just to record the backing vocals, some additional keyboards & guitars, organize and tidy up the orchestral arrangements and then it's just the mix! Got a little bit started on it when I did a 2 song promo demo off two songs.

The tracklist is also 99% ready as is the album title! Spent some time in York, England, where my gf lives. As I was strolling around town, listening to "Fair To Midland", the title popped up in my head. Voilá! Eureka! Carpe diem! Perkele!

I won't tell you what it is yet! :P

Some song names to chew on (of songs we've played live so far); "Thin White Lines", "The One Behind The Mirror", "Promise Me", "Drag Me Down To Hell", "Walls Are Whispering", "Nothing To Regret", "We'll Be There" and more...

Sorry to tease you guys and girls but more info when it's 100% :P

/Jonas

Lemmy Kilmister is God of Rock N Roll and Whatnot or How To Defy The Laws of Tradition In Conjunction with Gravity's Constant Pulling Teeth Scheme

Thought I'd update the blog a tinsy winsy bit since I've been really really busy lately and haven't had the chance to do so for a while.

The lead vocals are recorded. Great stuff. Was a really really tough month (June/August). Recorded the vocals in Porvoo. My day went something like this;

7:30 am - Wake up, drive my kid to kindergarten
8:20 am - Home again, back to sleep
9:00 am - fall asleep
11:00 am - alarmclock wakes you up, snooze
11:30 am - coffee, breakfast
12:00 am - read email, check facebook etc.
1 to 2 pm - go trough last nights lyrics
3 pm - go pick up Janica
4 pm - in Porvoo, pick up food
5 to 6 pm - start recording
8 to 10 pm - best results, "gold time" as we get into the whole production
11 pm - stop recording
12 pm - home again, eat something
1 to 3 am - write new lyrics for songs that's about to be recorded
4 am - try to sleep
repeat

Pretty much 1,5 month of that, every day. Some day's we didn't get much done, some days we got loads done. At the end I started to see daylight hallucinations because of the insomnia that schedule caused to me, but we got those goddamn vocals done!

That's the way I like to work too, it doesn't matter if some days are bad. Working on your own schedule, we can truly concentrate on getting the right emotion and articulation on tape and not just be a slave to the clock.

The lyrics we're done on such short notice because most of the vocal melodies were still under construction when we originally started the recordings. But let's not go into that finger-pointing game :P. The only reason it was possible for me to write the lyrics like that, was because I've worked on the lyrical concept since December 2009 and knew exactly what every song was going to be about. Some even had real song titles before a line of lyrics were written. Just had to gather the words and put the stories into sentences.

The last weeks my Pro Tools 002 started to brake down, constant power harness failure and overheating issues. Shuts itself down randomly. Then we'd have to wait for 15-30 minutes and try to start it up again. Those problems ate up a lot of our schedule too.

And it was hot like hell. Probably the hottest summer, and no AC (because of the noise), small cottage, closed headphones etc. So it was pretty tough :)

From the vocal side, the only thing missing is the harmonies and background vocals in general.

/Jonas

Can I buy A Vovel?

First weekend of vocal recordings done. Total sum is the lead tracks and some double tracking for three songs (demo names; "saiskoollalisaaperunoita", "delausbiisi", "skitbyxa"). And boy am I tired. Holy shit shittery shit shit shitonastick. Stress, heat, constant work is really eating me and melting my brain.

Otherwise everything has went well. The new vocal mic that I bought for the band, Neumann TLM103 is perfect, just precisely what I wanted. Very detailed but still relatively neutral and natural sounding. Didn't want much coloration or other fancy pantsy crap, just a good relatively high end but affordable working and natural mic.

The only problem we've encountered other than the basic human fatigue is overheating gear. No ac once again, and this time it's so bad that my pro tools 002 overheats. In addition, it's a 2004 model with the infamous power harness issue. So the two last days we've had to pause for a half hour, open the top and let the 002 power unit cool down. :S

Today it's my free day so I've been busy editing and preparing the recorded tracks :)

We'll continue vocal recordings for this monster after tomorrow...

For now I'll pop open Spotify and listen to some classic 70-rock. Foghat, Janis, ZZ-Top, Sweet, Jefferson Airplane etc etc and try to relax a bit.

/J