We spent nearly a year writing and recording our new album, “The Truth is in Me.” As the demos came along and we got a sense of what the record was going to sound like, we found ourselves experimenting more with sounds, instruments, and technology.
We tweaked knobs, added filters and envelopes, and tested effects.
Then we found that when we constrained ourselves, we freed ourselves to be more creative during recording.
Rather than creating the whole song at once, we’ll write just a verse and a chorus. It helps to at least have an idea of what the song is about. Then we’ll build layers around that that match the tone of the song. Finally, we’ll finish the lyrics.
Demo-ing
First of all, the demos for “The Truth is in Me” were started in Garageband iOS. It’s easy enough to use and there are some pretty great sounds that are similar to our own instruments.
Once we’d gotten the song ideas fleshed out, the plan was to move everything over to our digital audio workstation. That would allow us to have more control over every single piece of the song.
The problem is that we ended up spending more time “controlling” the sound than we did making the music.
The Future is Here
Then Nick received the iTrack Dock by Focusrite as a gift from his wife. Talk about a game changer.
With the iTrack Dock, GarageBand, and FinalTouch Mastering for iPad, we had everything we needed. We were able to get back to focusing on our songs.
Our entire album was recorded, mixed, and mastered on an iPad. An iPad!
On our first EP, we used two computers and a whole rack of hardware.
Seriously, we were blown away at the capabilities of 1 piece of hardware (the iTrack Dock) and an iPad and some apps. What used to take a room full of equipment to do, could now be done any time, anywhere.