The Linear Canvas
This journal is about the wrongs and rights of the world, as I see them.

The Linear Canvas

My Newest Recording – Wipe Away The Tears (remix)

December 30th, 2011 . by Alexander Fisher

Martha Butcher FullerI wrote Wipe Away the Tears back in 1994. My mother-in-law, Martha Fuller, had just passed away and I realized some lyrics I had written a few years before would be perfect for what I was getting ready to create. If I could find the original lyric sheet, it would have tear stains on it, I know.

A man from Germany e-mailed me a few years ago and told me Wipe Away the Tears was the greatest song he had ever heard. It may or may not be great, but I know it’s pretty special to me.

Wipe Away The Tears

I decided to remix the digital tracks I had recorded a few years ago as I am planning a new album release including this song and felt the previous mix was just not good enough. I’m not even sure this mix is the one, but it’s getting better.

I wrote the music and lyrics. I performed all the musical and vocal parts.  I played my Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and a Takamine acoustic guitar on the recording. I played bass guitar on my Rickenbacker 4001. The drums are my Ludwig’s. I played the tambourine as well.

I recorded this song on my Fostex VF16 digital multi-track a few years back. I mixed and mastered this song more recently on my desktop computer using Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 Producer and Sony Sound Forge v9 software.

 

My Newest Recordings – The Old Prisoner (re-post)

December 26th, 2011 . by Alexander Fisher

Image_00012The Old Prisoner isn’t really a new recording or even a remix. It is just one of my favorite songs that I’ve written. I decided to re-post it because I think it kicks butt. It’s a little bit outlaw southern rock, folk rock and hard rock. That kind of sums me up as a musician really.

I wrote it thinking about my uncle, Hurshel Kelly and his life growing up in eastern Kentucky. It’s about needing to escape from a reality that can become a confinement to some, but liberation for many others. The prisons that I refer to are more a metaphor for the chains and shackles that we constrain ourselves and others with. Sometimes the same prisons become very comfortable and we long to return to them, regardless of the reasons we are driven from them originally.

The Old Prisoner


West Jefferson (Ohio) High School Choir, 1968-69 – Do You Hear What I Hear?

December 25th, 2011 . by Alexander Fisher

West Jeff town hallMy brother in law Ron Fuller from West Jefferson, Ohio brought over an audio CD made from an LP record that was created by the West Jefferson High School Choir in 1968-69 that he was a part of. There are several good songs on it, but as it is Christmas I thought I’d post this song from that recording, Do You Hear What I Hear?

I think the recording seems professionally done and the performance is top notch. Much better than I’d expect for any high school choir. I believe Ron said his cousin Jeff Fuller was involved in that process. Except for some crackling from the LP surface and 40 plus years of wear, I think it sounds pretty good. I ran it through a pop and crackle filter and did a volume maximization. It does sound a little bit better.

Do You Hear What I Hear? by the West Jefferson (Ohio) High School Choir, 1968-69

[audio:http://www.linearcanvas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Do You Hear What I Hear-WJHS Choir.mp3]

My Newest Recording – Why Do I Have To Leave This Place (remix)

December 21st, 2011 . by Alexander Fisher

Real Bucket TruckI wrote and recorded Why Do I Have To Leave This Place back in November of 2009. I had gotten laid off from my job as a cable TV construction supervisor and was rehired a month later as a field tech. This song was completed in between those two events. At the time I felt like the world was caving in on me, and was wondering what I was going to possibly do next? I was glad to get a good song out of the experience and also to not lose my job after all. It was the same pay, so what could possibly go wrong?

Fast Forward nearly two years and three surgeries later…

Why Do I Have To Leave This Place

When I recorded this song I was still using my old recording system. I really hadn’t quite figured it out yet, although most of it was in place by then.

I was listening to the previous mix of this song and I realized it needed a remix. I removed some effects, I found audio that could be deleted and I also tried to spread the stereo image out a little more. But the major problem with Why Do I Have To Leave This Place was several of the original recordings were digitally saturated, i.e. distorted. I don’t know why, but for some reason I had the recorder’s inputs set too high and the result were snaps and pops in the original tracks. Using computer software I was able to eliminate many of the problems. I can still hear a few pops here and there, but considering what it sounded like before, it is a major improvement.

I am going to re-release the best of my last two CD’s on the internet. I am working with an online service called ReverbNation to market my music to radio and internet music stations. I assume that means iTunes  too, but I won’t hold my breath until I see it with my own eyes. I will have to start working on new cover art. I have a possible new title already and I have an idea for the cover too. All the rest of the songs had been mixed with my more up to date techniques. Now this one has been too. I think it sounds better. It always rocked. It just rocks without the crackles and pops now.

I wrote and performed Why Do I Have To Leave This Place. I used my Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, a Rickenbacker 4001 bass, and my Ludwig drums. It was originally recorded on my Fostex VF-16 digital multi-track. It was most recently processed using Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 Producer and Sony Sound Forge 9.

 

A Stranger in London, Ohio, Trying to Buy an Ice Cream Cone

December 20th, 2011 . by Alexander Fisher

A Stranger in London, Ohio, Trying to Buy an Ice Cream Cone.
visitor: Where can I get an ice cream cone around here?
native: Well, there’s Takacs’. That’s the old Dairy Cream.
visitor: Where is that?
native: Well it’s next to the old Kroger store, right by the old Ice House.
visitor: Where is that?
native: Well they tore the old Kroger down years ago and put a medical building there. But it was across from the old Lawson’s store.
visitor: Where is that?
native: Well they renamed it Dairy Mart for some unknown reason, but it was next to the old Burger Chef, right about where the old lumber yard was.
visitor: Where was that?
native: Well the old Burger Chef burnt down. But they had a Rax Roast Beef there for awhile, but it finally closed and then like I said, the building burnt down.
visitor: But where was it?
native: Well that was next to the old Bonded station on the corner.
visitor: I’ve never heard of a Bonded station, what is that?
native: (annoyed) Well they call it Speedway now. Hey don’t you know nuthin’?
visitor: I’m a little confused. Maybe I should just get a map. Do you know where I can get one?
native: Well you can probably get one at the new Wal-Mart.
visitor: Thank goodness. Where is that?
native: Just past the old Rink’s store.