by Dan | Mar 6, 2017 | Ninja Stuff
The last month has been very productive. While we had hoped to have everything squared away and done by the end of February, we are spilling into March — but there’s enough wiggle room in the schedule that it’s not terrible.
We have eight tracks fully complete now, with the ninth in final mix, on the bubble of being approved for release. That leaves four songs. Two of those are complete except for relatively minor instrumental additions/changes; we have some digital instruments that can be improved or replaced or both, so that needs to happen. The remaining two songs were pretty bare as of last weekend, but now have content all the way through to confirm structure, whether it be bass or guide vocal or piano or some mix of the above. Now it’s a question of “decorating the tree” (or “hanging meat on the skeleton” if you prefer a different holiday). We are each adopting one of those tracks as we build them out, then we’ll swap and finish each other’s work. That will probably take us a few more weeks, but with so many songs done — the first six sequentially, and now very close to the first eight in order — we’re in good shape as the video pitches get underway.
We have a friend representing our biz dev interests, approaching online content producers and distributors about making videos for some of the songs we’ve recorded. While that’s happening, Kat is working on album art (which is pretty darned close to done) as well as a few other visual surprises, including new promotional photos. And weirdly, we are working on getting this very website — which is as clean as a whistle — removed from some internet malware blacklists. Guess there were old issues with WordPress that got us flagged, but after the site was fixed, the flags were never removed. We’re now going to the individual watchdog sites and asking for new evaluations. That’s what we get for running our own website.
While we considered working with outside musicians, we did wind up doing everything ourselves — drums, esoteric instruments, you name it — and we are still working all weekend every weekend, plus some time after work during the week when energy and responsibilities allow — at the expense of our gaming, for sure. But we’re definitely at the point where we listen to the tracks and no longer say “What the hell are we doing?” but “Wow, we did that?” Hopefully you will, too.
by Dan | Feb 14, 2017 | Ninja Stuff
For the second half of 2016, we were basically sidelined by real life. The last two months, we’ve done everything we can to make up for that; the last three weekends have been particularly fruitful/exhausting. We’re also at that crucial time where we feel like we’re getting a lot of great work done…but we still cannot tell anybody what we’re up to. This will all be explained once the project is officially announced and we start promoting it, but trust us — we’re bustin’ our butts here.
The very good news: The first five tracks are as complete as we can make them. Through a friend who has biz skills, we are now ready to approach potential video partners with these songs as our calling card, along with the full (copyrighted!) lyrics and a project overview.
Please cross your fingers.
by Dan | Jan 22, 2017 | Ninja Stuff
Thank you for the suggestions, volunteers, and “I’ve got a friend” messages after our call for a drummer. We’ve decided to move forward with MIDI drums, which will give us the greatest control. Half the songs are completely done in demo form and just need to have their drum sounds upgraded. If anybody likes programming MIDI drums and feels like helping with that, shout — we’ll give you credit.
That said, not only are half the tracks completely tracked, but we’ve now got at least something recorded for all but one song, which we saved for last on purpose. The next few weeks are going to be light on gaming and heavy on working in whatever spare time we have outside of our busy jobs and abnormal normal lives. We are still dedicated to a late spring/early summer release window, and if we finish stuff now, we can give video partners time to do their thing for that same time frame.
by Dan | Dec 26, 2016 | Ninja Stuff
We had hoped to have the whole album recorded by the end of 2016. The second half of the year turned into a crazy time for both of us. Jude had a major scientific breakthrough at work this fall (which then created more work for him, because that’s science) plus he’s raising two small children. Over the summer, Dan traveled to Germany, France, and various US cities for work, then produced a live concert in San Francisco in October, which was exhausting. Basically, the last six months were a black hole for Palette-Swap Ninja efforts. But in reviewing what we’ve recorded and seeking the advice of some pro audio friends, one thing became very clear: We need a drummer.
In fact, we have tried, unsuccessfully, to find a drummer for this project since its earliest days. When we started, we reached out to a fan who’d contacted us two years prior, saying “If you ever need a drummer, call me.” So we did, and he said “Cool, sounds fun!” A year later, he informed us that he wasn’t really into playing, you know, other people’s music, which made his original offer weird. Jude and I approached two drummers we’d worked with in our previous live bands, and while both were supportive, neither wanted to commit. We’ve contacted multiple friends of friends who say they want to do it but then go silent. We’ve talked to professional drummers for hire who gave us realistic estimates of $2000, which is not feasible for a project that will give away for free. And so we’ve chipped away and soldiered on, repeating to ourselves that in order to do this project justice, we really, really need a drummer.
And completely seriously, maybe that drummer is you.
We live in a crowdsourced world; if you want something done right, ask a few hundred people to help you do it. So this is an official call for people who like our music enough to want to be our session drummer for the project.
We are looking for either of the following:
- a drummer with an acoustic or electric kit who can record uncompressed audio files for us to drop into Logic Pro X
- a MIDI drum programmer/arranger who can create and sculpt our digital placeholders into something that sounds dynamic and organic
This is a full-length album, probably 45 to 50 minutes total. We are planning to release this album for free; if we wind up making any money on it, we will share that with our drummer. But we are currently hoping that we might simply find a serious hobbyist who shares our motivations to make fun stuff for free — or at least someone who might have a more affordable fee that we can discuss. Nobody pays their rent with “exposure” so we understand what we’re asking here, but we also never know who’s out there and what motivates them. Maybe there’s a drummer out there who is just as interested in doing goofy music as we are, and might really be inspired by the concept once we let them in on the big idea. Or maybe there’s someone out there who will work for cheap. Let’s figure it out.
We have chosen a release window, and this project is coming out one way or another, but we really want it to come out right. So if you are a drummer/drum programmer or you know a drummer you think might be willing to go under FrieNDA to learn more, please have them send a mail to dan@paletteswapninja.com with links to samples of self-recorded work. It’s a shot in the dark — so please, help us take aim.
by Dan | Jun 21, 2016 | Ninja Stuff
We’re about halfway through the year, and I’m happy to say we have six of the 12 or 13 songs for the album recorded. I have done my “final” mixes on them, and they sound good — I’m not ashamed of them, we’ve nitpicked a few things and corrected them — but I am starting to wonder what they would sound like if someone with more experience mixing on modern equipment gave it a shot. Keep in mind that my audio degree is now about 20 years old, and I got it on the last gasp of all-analog signal paths; digital recording was coming in as I was going out. I also never pursued a career in audio recording and engineering as I’d intended, so I’m more than a bit dusty and rusty. Getting a professional, modern set of ears may cost money, so we’ll see how that works out. (We still plan to release this for free.)
That said, both Jude and I really like what we’ve got recorded. It’s kind of weird to listen to our current MP3 mixes and have them inspire us to keep going, but that’s exactly what’s happening — “Wow, that sounds good, we can’t screw up these other tracks, they all have to be aces!” Now that we have a half-dozen songs in, at the very least, advanced demo stage, we are going to approach more partners who might be able to amplify what we’re doing. I really think that’s worth it, and I’m willing to delay the release if it means getting a good partnership from, say, someone who could make quality videos for some of the songs. That will ultimately determine the final release date.
The second half of the year looks very busy so we’ll be recording as we can, but the results are speaking for themselves.
–Dan
