Back in 1991, I purchased a Tascam Porta Studio. It was the entry level four track cassette version but I pushed it to its limits. It unlocked a creative stream that saw me writing and recording the equivalent of nine albums over then next two years.
I started to record and took the name Rough Spots as my fictional band. It summed up the sound of the music I was recording. Solid but with rough spots. The band had three fictional members, each with one of first, middle or last names.
At first, I had no drums so the songs were mostly acoustic guitar/folky sounding. Then I picked up a used Dr. Rhythm that I programmed to create a virtual Keith Moon, John Bonham or Ringo. Unfortunately, all the music store had was the Electronica
version so all the songs have the sound like the 80s New Wave never went away. A few songs were covers but 98% were songs I wrote, usually in one sitting.
As time went on, I added more instruments. A Chicken Shaker (a plastic egg filled with BBs), a children's harmonium and others. The flood gates opened when I got a Casio synthesizer. Suddenly, I was able to add strings, brass and piano.
So why nothing new in 15 years? Unfortunately, life got in the way, I grew up, had kids and my recording studio became a nursery. It was some time ago and the trade off was well worth it, but those couple years were an incredible learning experience.
With the Tascam being an entry level four track, I really had to learn basic ways of creating additional tracks much like the early pioneers. To add tracks, I would bounce the four tracks to two. I then had two new tracks for additional tracks and vocals.
Sometimes, I would bounce it again, so I ended up with 8 tracks. It was very low-fi as there was no equalization.
Click on the playbuttons to start the Yahoo! Media Player. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording them.
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| Track |
Album |
Recorded |
| Test of Time |
Alewives in the Basement |
03/92 - 05/92 |
| A "see I'm not so bad after all" song. I can stand up to anything. Easy for a 20-something to write a song like that. And hey, is that cowbell? |
| Lost For Answers Why |
Esoterica |
09/92 - 12/92 |
| Song about a news event at the time where a woman's van was car-jacked. The idiots who did it left her kids and kidnapped her. I saw an news interview with the husband and the children, who were now without their mother. Like most TV news stories, there was no follow up so I don't know how it turned out but I imagine it wasn't a happy ending. |
| Sleep Tonight |
Rough Spots |
12/92 - 07/93 |
| Slow song sung by a person who is looking to protect the young, helpless ones. A number of the songs recorded at this time have spiritual overtones as I listen to them now and I think this is another example. |
| The Kids Are Alright |
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before |
08/93 - 01/94 |
| Recorded this when I was putting together a album of covers. Dr. Rhythm does his best Keith Moon imitation. I added a guitar solo and am quite happy with this version. |
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