More Vocal Updates, Lyrics, and Reverb Nation

Heyas gang,

Some of you will note we've updated our Reverb Nation page to include streaming for two full-length songs, Journey's Call and Forbidden. It's really exciting for me, as the new vocalist, to finally share what I've been working on with everyone. Also, Jester has created lyric videos for the above mentioned songs, available on our YouTube page.

Progress on the rest of the songs has gone very smoothly; having Jon in Canada hasn't proven to be much of an issue since he, Jester, and myself have taken advantage of cyberspace to bounce ideas back and forth, listen to recordings, and share ideas. I'm recording the vocals on my own down here in AZ, but the guys are quick to provide input on the recordings I send them. We're all very happy with the progress, and the mood in the band has never been better.

Probably the best input the guys gave me was on a song called "Deceit", which I had interpreted as sad and soft as opposed to their vision of angry. At first I was uncertain that their idea to record the vocals with more anger and energy would work- silly me! This is metal! Anger generally works in this genre pretty well. So after some email exchanges, chatting, and a few more hours in front of the mic, we recorded that song to a satisfactory level for all, and it's another album highlight for me. In fact, I'd like to share the lyrics with you.

Shifting eyes, rapid blinks, all the wrong cues 

I'd like to believe that what you've told me is true

But dearest, can't you see? 

Playing fool just isn't me

I'm not here pretending 

So why are you,

Oh why are you? 

I can see the lies hiding inside your azure eyes

I won't let this go

I just can't let this go

I've broken through the gates to find the truth that comes too late

So this is really you

I'm seeing the real you

Face the truth

Once upon a time

I loved the way your eyes met mine

A perfect unity of hearts 

And of minds

Don't blame me for this 

It started with a poisoned kiss

Sweetly played my love 

But can you win this time?

At this point we're down to the last few songs, which I'm recording, tweaking, and recording again to get just right. I hope the desperation, the "insatiability" of the album really comes through with the vocals and lyrics, and I hope everyone enjoys the final outcome. It's been a long journey, one that began several years before I joined the team, but I can't wait to bring it to completion.

XOXO
Zoë =)

December Vocal Recording Updates (Video)

The Vocal Writing Process

Happy Springtime!

I know it's been quiet for a while as the vocals progress for the upcoming album. Despite some delays, I'm very pleased to say that we're nearing the final touches. It's a 13 track album with 11 songs finished entirely down to lyrical revisions and other minor adjustments. The excitement is definitely building for us- it's been 4 months since I was handed the instrumental album, and well over a year since the instrumentals were written.

The vocal writing process is a little different right now than it will be in the future; for the next album I'll be working right alongside the guys from the getgo and laying in my ideas with theirs as we build songs from the ground up with a clear idea of the finished result in mind. This album, however, was instrumentally written and recorded before I came on board. I like to call this process of vocal writing "intuitive math" because I draw the vocal melodies in a complimentary fashion from the melodies already present. It's more of an "on top of the music" approach as compared to "entwined with the music" approach. (But hopefully by the end of the process it will seem as though the music and vocal parts were written side by side.)

Lyrics usually come last and all of the songs have undergone major lyrical changes and revisions since I first started writing. Thematically you can expect a lot of desire, a lot of dreaming, and a hint of desperation shared by every member of the human family. The lyrics are very personal to me, but I feel everyone can find messages in them that resonate with a core part of being human. I have my favorites among the songs already; there's a ballad-type piece based on a very central struggle present in today's society, there's a major key "anthem to hope", and there's also a chilling accusation towards the "predators" in the world. The vocal styles change to fit the mood; on some songs you'll hear classical type vocals, and others will have harsher, more belting-type vocals. Also, Duck will be providing male counterbalance vocals with aggressive tones and some really nice "edgier" touches that will solidify the picture we're painting.

Hopefully I'll have some sample material available within the next few weeks. =) Have a lovely Sunday, and rock on!

Love,
Zozo

Vocals Update and Introduction

Heyas! ;) I'm Zoe, and I'm very happy to introduce myself as Insatia's new singer. Jon and Mike and I are hard at work finishing the vocal lines and lyrics to the new album and I have to say, I really enjoy working with them. This marks the start of interesting new things to come, and I can't wait to show you what we're up to. =)

In terms of introducing myself, I'm a soprano originally from Tucson, Arizona, but I've spent the past few years in Ohio attending college. My background is mainly classical, but I'm most inspired by "hybrid" singers like Simone Simons of Epica. It's a pleasure to be on board Insatia with the guys!

Later!

~Z

Asylum Denied Guitar Solos!

Hey everyone!  DUCK here!

What a proud moment for any guitar player...the guitar solos have finally been laid down!

We will probably re-visit the guitar solos a bit later after the vocals are down to accurately adjust the size and calibre of the solos, but so far so good.  Most of the songs have solos in them of some type - 9 out of the 13 songs have solos as of current.  They range from melodic solos to shredding balls solos.  I don't feel that I am too particularly well at making shredding balls solos, so I like to keep those at a minimum, but I understand the need for them if the song demands it.  I've always felt that the true talent in a solo guitarist is the ability to make a good melodically enhanced solo, and not just some random fast spur of notes.  All that aside, I did the best I could, and hope the magic of the moment makes its way through to the audience.

Here is a video I made of the progress:

Cheers!

DUCK

Let the Synth Begin!

Well Hello there!  Thank you for stopping by!

It's yet another busy day on the INSATIA front.  What ever is there to do when there are no vocals to record or produce?  Synth!  There are still some things that we haven't gotten to yet; namely, synth, guitar solos, and vocals.  In the mean time, we've been tweaking and adjusting the mix, the drums, the guitars – eventually you run out of those things to tweak.  Once they're perfect, there's no going back!  Today officially started the synthesizer, loops and samples part of INSATIA's debut album.  What is all that?  Why does it need to be in there?

Good questions...

What we are adding now, are electronic instruments, sounds, and samples of anything from noises to voices.  A lot of our favourite bands incorporate some level of these elements into their music, and we really like the way it sounds.  Which brings us to why we feel it needs to be there.  Well, it doesn't.  Many bands get to the point we're at and call it a finished product, send it off for mastering and call it a job well done.  Here at INSATIA, we like to make the music a bit more dimensional and layered.  We find that the same song suddenly takes on a new attitude, a new meaning, and even a more complete sound when we thicken it up with keyboards, and/or add in random sounds/voices.

The first track I did is "Torn Asunder", which you'll recognise from the demo, Left Behind (EP).  It's a freshly recorded track with all of the tweaks and mix enhancements, and now with fresh synth, loops and samples to complete it.

Here's a video of me talking about the process a bit more, along with audio from "Torn Asunder":



Cheers!

DUCK

Re-Engineering the Mix

Hey Everybody!

DUCK here with some of the latest.  It's really not too exciting, unless of course you're a nerd.  If you're a nerd then just keep reading, and you may need some time to clam down.  If you're not a nerd, then...well...just keep reading.  Reading, much like eating your vegetables and regular sexual activity are all healthy things.

Jester and I thought we were ready to start working on synth/loops/samples and guitar solos when we popped the tracks excitedly into our cars and exclaimed, "What happened!?"  To the mix that is.  The songs sounded rather awesome on YouTube (you can still hear them up there), and otherwise on our computers, and especially inside of iTunes (with and without the super-imposed EQ).  Somehow, when not being played on a computer, and on a real stereo such as in our cars, poop was flung at our faces from the speakers.  Well...  Something just had to be done.  What ensued were several weeks of trial and error in entirely re-engineering the mix of the tracks.  It seemed endless, but we're really glad that we ended up having the time available to learn where we went wrong and to fix it.

Turns out, I may not have understood audio production as well as maybe I had originally thought.  Simple is the way to go, apparently.  Ha!  Who'd of thought, eh?  We started by ripping down the mix of everything that didn't need to be there.  Lots of extra guitars and plug-ins that I thought we needed.  Turns out we didn't need all that extra stuff, so we took it out of there.  Next we sat down and decided if we liked some of the sounds we recorded months ago.  Then came the fun part.  We changed the electric guitar sound, which took several weeks of amp changes, microphone changes, and "what do we do about the ground noise?" changes.  Next came the drums.  We liked our overhead sound with the cymbals, and we liked the toms.  The kick and the snare just weren't cutting it though, so we replaced them with meatier, heavier sounding drums.  That process was actually quicker than the guitars, believe it or not.  We tried re-doing the toms, too, but it ended up being negligible, so we've stuck with the original toms.

How is it now, you ask?  We're happier.  Happier for sure.  I've made homemade burned copies of the 12-song disc we're calling "Asylum Denied" for the moment, and we'll do some more stereo testing, but I think we've got it.  This week I will proudly start working on the synth/loops/samples as Jester stereo tests the mix a bit more and funnels in some ideas about the synth/loops/samples.  It's nice that we're still making some progress.  Slow.  But still forward.

Cheers!

DUCK