Jody Whitesides

Category: In The Studio

  • Third Song Finalized Is In Disguise

    Third Song Finalized Is In Disguise

    Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving in the States. I got to spend time with friends and family which is always a bonus. I got a little sidetracked in getting this demo done (I’ll explain in a bit). However, my third song finalized is In Disguise. Got it done last night.

    First off, last week one of my best friends, Jeff Scott Soto, was in town for a couple of days. He’s on tour with TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra) as one of the lead singers. Nothing like getting a call to come hang out with him and then meet several of the other awesome singers (Nathan James, Dustin Brayley). Monday night was a fun night of bar hopping, some alcohol, and hitting the stage where a blues night open jam was going on. I think we freaked out the band. They took it in stride and we had a blast on stage. The TSO show itself was a sonic and visual spectacle. Go if you can!

    Then the holiday and a couple of days of down time. Leads me a couple of days behind where I thought I’d be.

    In Disguise was a co-writing thing that involved myself, Johnny Elkins, and Lindy Robbins. Being the musical guy in a room with a couple of lyricists that I had just met was a great experience. I played traffic cop on all the words they were putting together, along with coming up with the music parts and helping with the melody. We got a real winner of a tune that came of it. The original demo was sung by Lindy herself – who is no slouch of the singer: She Got Pipes!

    This tweak for my version ended up taking two days. I can’t sing quite as high as Lindy so I had to figure out what key I was going to put the song in. I tweaked the tempo slightly. Then I had to lay down all the parts again in the new key. I put in my vocals and mapped out some of the extra parts that I’ll be bringing some of my TSO singing buddies to sing background on this bad boy in the studio. It’ll be a bit more beefed up, a little more ballsy, and a hair faster than the original demo. In listening back I can also hear some additional parts of some horns and maybe in the bridge a bit of dub bass. Hmmmm…

    Parts laid out.

    Anyway, consider another one down and ready for final flight. Because the third song finalized is In Disguise and it’s a super keeper. Tomorrow has me choosing another song to dress up for pre-production goodness. Stay tuned to find out what song it is and… how soon I get it done.

    — Jody

  • Second Song Finalized Is Femke

    Second Song Finalized Is Femke

    If you were keeping tabs on the song order, you might have noticed that I started alphabetically. However, today I’ve already broken ranks. The second song finalized is Femke. No rhyme or reason why on that, it is what it is.

    In this song I made lyrical tweaks to the second verse. I also made a lyrical change to the first line of the chorus. It now makes a bit more sense to an outsider view about someone you might know and the changes all recorded on the demo. Musically I didn’t find a need to tweak any of the melody. I will be adding a few elements in the studio that are beyond what is in the demo. I keep the arrangement fairly sparse. But instead of drum and orchestral samples, I’ll be bringing in the real thing. More human that way.

    What song will come next and when will it get finalized? Only the shadow knows. For now, you are in the know knowing that the second song finalized is Femke.

    Stay tuned.

    — Jody

  • First Song Finalized Is American Mayhem

    First Song Finalized Is American Mayhem

    The tweaks are beginning to flow. My first song finalized is American Mayhem. So far I’m going in alphabetical order. No rhyme or reason it was the first on the list.

    I got the verses tightened up and made some changes to the lyrics in the chorus as well. I recut the vocals on the demo to closer represent my final goal and to have the new lyrical version around for practice. I’ve added some elements to the music part of the mix as well. I’m looking forward to getting into the studio to cut the final vocal and get the mix completed. It’s gonna be a nice slammin track.

    Stay tuned as more songs are getting tweaked. Which one will be next on the list? Check back and find out. For now, you know the first song finalized is American Mayhem.

    — Jody

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