New ‘IDIO’ CD by Citadel guitarist, Rejyna
Pre-Released Digital-Only at CDBaby.com
Looptober 1st (October 1st)
REJYNA – IDIO – LINER NOTES
Contemplating a new release, I wondered if there may be some song seeds in my ‘audio journal’ of snippets. Always endeavoring to keep creative juices flowing, I have amassed an enormous library of musical ideas created spontaneously during rehearsals and sessions.
To record an album (before I owned a looper) I’d use a handheld audio or video recorder to capture spur of the moment ideas. Later, I’d sift through them, looking for pieces that spoke to me most to take through development – first musically developing them on guitar, then lyrically; finding phonetics, then matching those sounds with words and concepts. The goal is to make demo guides for future conventional recording sessions. It can be a tenuous, time-hogging, expensive endeavor.
More recently, instead of my former way of capturing inspirations, I’ve been using a looping pedal, the DigiTech JamMan Solo. It’s like a foot-controlled recorder; you record yourself playing, and then it repeats that phrase while you add layers of accompaniment on top of it – storing each variation as uncompressed wave files in memory spaces on an SD card.
I use this pedal extensively in my live shows, rehearsals and jams. Once it is full, I transfer those files to my computer so I can again fill it up with ideas. It has become my song notebook.
I realized I had over 2500 snippets. I was surprised that the sound quality was good and that my musical execution of various parts were acceptable to me as ‘final cuts’ – at least in the spirit of being improvised spontaneously. I did not practice or pre-write anything, it was all written and recorded on-the-fly.
I set about stitching and massaging a few of these ‘loops’ using SoundForge software, then stem mixed the music and loaded it onto my DigiTech GNX4 workstation to write lyrics and record lead vocals.
In all my other releases, songs were honed and rehearsed, solos and lyrics and accompanying instrumentation were all developed over time and with lots of rehearsing before going to the studio to record. But this release is just the opposite – improvised, on the spot, no do-overs, no punch-ins – just my inner voice saying “wow, this is a cool riff, I wonder what I can put with this” – and then getting lost adding, subtracting, layering and experimenting and fast filling up those memory ‘slots’on the JamMan.
I could say these songs are ‘accidental’, but I see all of my art as discoveries. I rarely ‘intend’ anything. My ‘artisan discipline’ is to grab the tools (guitar, paintbrush, pen, mouse, etc.) and let it come out of me – restricted by neither conscious effort nor aim for predicted result.
I also approach the creation of lyrics and vocal melody with this ‘hands-off’ approach. I first sing along to my song, not using words, just sounds and phonetics. Looking for vowels and unique syllable potentials, I record these mumblings onto one track and then study them for actual words that match. After finding those matches, I have a skeletal framework for what the message and balance of lyrics will elude to.
Often times, the sounds of the music will lead me to a ‘picture’ and I’ll write using phonetics towards the goal of ‘painting that sound picture with words’ – such as Mandolian Mirage, which sounded like a song about the desert to me or Jorie Green Thumb, whose sounds conjured images of my mom in her garden. Other times, there will be words that come to me during the initial recordings, as in Beyond My Back Door or Too Long Gone. When I listened to the music of Android Pageant, before it had that name, it sounded like a parade of robots to me, hence its name. And then there’s Quacky…
Whether I’m able to arrive at coherent or relevant musical/lyrical results is a risk I enjoy, especially in contrast to contrived process of theming intentionally.
I was really just noodling between songs in rehearsal when these nuggets presented themselves. No sophisticated equipment, just ‘one takes’ on a mono pedal recorder, stacked and layered in various combinations. I was ready to release this as an instrumental CD but my mom wanted to “hear me sing more” – and a few others who heard the first mixes confirmed mom’s advice. I am glad I listened to the counsel of my mentors – this was fun to write.
The title ‘IDIO’ came to me after studying a graphic I made using symbols for ‘record, play, repeat’ electronic buttons. I noticed the arrangement spelled IDIO – so I looked it up and it fits my approach to this release perfectly; distinctive, personal, unconventional, informal unique…
And for the gearheads (like me): At the time of this recording, I used one JamMan Solo pedal connected (fed) by the FX send of my mixer so that all channels going thru the mixer (voice, guitar, drums) could be sent to the looper and brought back into the sound system through a discreet channel on the board. I played my 1980’s Ovation Balladeer and Yamaha APX500II thru a 1980’s Boss GT3 multi-effects board. I also used a Tyler Mountain Ovation-style electric mandolin. I sang backing vocals and most chorus/looped lines thru an ATM73a Audio-Technica headset mic, the lead vocals were sung using the Shure SM57 (that I’ve had since high school) into the GNX4 – my mikes are routed thru a DigiTech Vocalist Live Pro harmonizer/effects unit. My mixer is a Yamaha MG82cx and my drums/percussion are played on a Yamaha DD-55 electronic kit. No drum machines, sequencers or synthesizers are used on this recording except for the use of my Godin Freeway SA synth guitar thru a Roland GR-20 for some additional sounds on ‘Jorie Green Thumb’.
I hope you enjoy the adventures collected here; my goal is to inspire others to tap into their own creative inclinations. Instead of waiting for expensive gear, big budgets, approval of others, or the time when everything is ‘just right’ – I purport an axiom relevant to this release:
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
[T. Roosevelt] – in other words, act now – in word, deed, art, sight, sound or voice – the how is our choice.
CD Pre-Sale Link will be: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rejyna3
Rejyna will be touring to promote this album and the release of her DVD from the 2013 Looptober Tour.
Catch one of her shows:
10/10 – The Royal Room – 5000 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle , WA, 98118 – 8PM
10/11 – The Analog Cafe – 720 Southeast Hawthorne Bl., Portland, OR, 97214 – 5PM
10/12 – Milagros After Hours – 1465 Siskiyou Bl., Ashland, OR, 97520 – 9PM
10/19 – Tannery Arts Center – 1050 River St., Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 – 10PM
10/22 – DiPiazza’s – 5205 E Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach, CA, 90804 – 6PM
rejyna.com – citadelband.com
Follow Rejyna on Facebook, ReverbNation, ArtistData, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud and more.
All Content is c. Rejyna Douglass-Whitman/Citadel/Whitman Enterprises
Citadel is a Registered US Tradename, Used with Exclusive Permission
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