February 29th, 2012 . by Alexander Fisher
I wrote the Speed of Life after a friend was killed along with his family in an auto accident last year. Regardless, it is one of my favorite songs that I’ve written. There is a pause just before the outro that was missing a piece. It was a sound effect of a crashing car. I just put the sound effect in and did a remix. This is closer to what I planned from the start.
Speed of Life
I am uploading “The Wavelength” CD to ReverbNation and am re-releasing it including some bonus material. My main problem was that the piano was buried in the previous mix, and as I said the sound effects. I was hesitant to put the sound effects in, but now as more time has passed, I run less risk of offending someone.
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February 25th, 2012 . by Alexander Fisher
I posted Snowblind, originally by Black Sabbath, a few months ago. It was not completely finished back then but I decided to upload it anyway. I had another project going and I was afraid I wouldn’t get done with it. The song first appears on Black Sabbath’s “Vol 4” album which in my opinion is their best record. I had said I was going to record Snowblind some time ago to someone, somewhere. I wasn’t sure if I’d manage to get it done, but I finally did.
Snowblind
[audio:http://www.linearcanvas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Snowblind BS 20120225_1422mcd.mp3]
If there is one thing I regret in recording this song, is using the the same key that Black Sabbath played it in. My fingertips are intact and I think my vocals could have benefitted from a step or two higher in pitch. Also I used my Stratocaster. Tony Iommi used a Gibson SG guitar, which I think has a much fatter sound. My Strat has a humbucker pickup like an SG, but I still think the sound is slightly thinner. Some other things I notice I just decided to live with, making the American Idol excuse that I’m making it my own. I love that.
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February 15th, 2012 . by Alexander Fisher
I screwed up and deleted this post. But here is the song that was posted in it originally. You Don’t Have To Be was written by Matt Henderson.
You Don’t Have To Be
I am uploading “The Wavelength” CD to ReverbNation and am re-releasing it including some bonus material.
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February 12th, 2012 . by Alexander Fisher
I originally wrote a lot of Bridge To Cross many years ago. I always thought it was too big for any of the tragedies I had known up till that point in my life. I had only recorded a rough guitar and vocal and that was as much work as I ever did on it.
A month after I broke my ankle in 2010, my mother had a stroke. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of the next year with her. As I sat in the nursing home with her one day, I realized I had been writing this song about her for some time and didn’t know it. I knew how this song ended and I hoped it wasn’t true.
Bridge To Cross
After mom’s death, I finished the words and tightened up the pauses some. Basically I used what I had recorded some time ago, with the latest digital retrofit. It sounded OK, but I thought I could do better.
I re-recorded the song in its entirety. I did it all in the last week and tried to do as fresh of an arrangement as I could. Regardless of how many times I had heard it the same way before.
I actually see images of the lyrics in my head as they happened in real life. I suppose that should make me sad. But I still feel lucky that I was able to spend so much time with her at the end. I call it my blessing.
I recorded Bridge To Cross using my Takamine acoustic guitar, Fender Stratocaster, Rickenbacker 4001 bass, Carl’s Roland Octapad, Roland MIDI slave keyboard, Line 6 POD 2.0, on Cakewalk Sonar v8.5 and Sony Sound Forge v9 using my PreSonus Firebox interface. Jill added the groovy vibes. Did I leave anything out?
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