Shortwave Dahlia dot org

Jack here with the latest on Shortwave Dahlia. This entry will probably be of most interest to someone curious about the process of recording a song.Last night Ethan Grim and I got together to record guitar tracks for “Red Square”. He went into the process with few firm expectations, and in a more backseat role I tried to only offer an opinion as to where I thought his parts were strongest in each take. Originally, I think we suspected we would make a ‘comp track’ of the best parts from each take—this is a pretty common practice in studio recording—but as it turned out we kept everything. The only real adjustments that were made were in volume in a couple of places and a fade at the very last seconds of one of the parts. There is a remnant of a guitar part I played just after the first verse that Mark and I had decided was a little too drastic, that Ethan ended up playing off of to great effect.

I did suggest we try a third part, a more freeform ‘ambient’ part washed out in reverb. This part sits in the background of the song and manages to highlight some of the harmonics in Ethan’s rhythm parts. It probably won’t be very audible as its own part in the final mix.

This morning, I played with the stereo field of these parts, panning the two rhythm parts slightly to the left and right. I kept the ambient take in the middle.
We will all be getting back together in January to continue recording.

Happy holidays!

P R O G R A M M EThank you for attending
An Evening With Shortwave Dahlia.

Music performed :
Call and Response
Red Square*
The Human Condition
Automata*
Vanity Tax
Song For Vara*
Survival

Personnel (in alphabetical order):
Jack Alberson: synthesizer, voice, programming
Ethan Grim: electric guitar
Mark Simmonds: bass guitar

All arrangements by Alberson/Blanda/Simmonds. Songs denoted by (*) written by Alberson/Blanda/Simmonds

Audio evidence of this performance will be available at http://www.shortwavedahlia.org. If you take any photographs this evening, would you be kind enough to send us a copy? E-mail to admin@shortwavedahlia.org

THANKS ALSO TO OUR FAMILIES
AND THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE/ENTITIES:
Arsonist Radio (Ben, Bionic J and Gann) for playing our music, Helen Casper, Chance, Claire Voyant, Sean Cook, Katja Eichner (for whom this performance was originally intended), Elektrolad, Heidi Ellis, Everyday Neptune, The Family Ghost, Frankie Machine, Tom Holley, Konsumer, Lambic Productions, Noise Choir, Sessions Memphis (for inevitably inspiring us to do something different), J Spacebrat, Chris Stvartak, Twin Pilot

Apologies in advance to anyone we missed.

This performance could not have gone on without the hard work and hospitality of Mark and Melanie Simmonds.

Friday will be a very special day, as it will mark the debut of Shortwave Dahlia as a mobile, performing act. We’re doing a small, intimate gig for some of our closest friends (invite only), and will be debuting some new songs along with what I’m only assuming would be considered ‘old favorites’. That just doesn’t look right, but there you go.

People have inquired as to whether there will be any audio or video recorded of this event, and the answer is this: we’re going to try and record the audio from the show and, if it sounds good enough, we’ll post it on the site (or perhaps excerpts on the MySpace page).

Video’s another story. I don’t see us being able to make a film of it. Never say never, though. You just never know.

JA