Composer. Guitarist. Christian.

Very happy to announce that Pre-Sale for the new album ‘More Than Ever’ begins today! It is only $20 and you do get Your name printed on the album, the album is signed by me (Johnny Newman), and you do receive the album before the release date. Additionally, you receive an invitation to a Pre-Release Party.

The album is to feature drums and mixing by Yanic Bercier mastering by Jim Morris (Morrisound) and guest vocals by Ksenia Berestovskaya. Pre-Order the album Here

I’ve spent the evening working on logistics for the Pre-Sale for the new album which begins on Friday, March 5th. I’m co-producing the album with drummer/producer Yanic Bercier and within the next month or two, the music will be sent from my studio to his for drum pre-production, recording, and mixing. This is a very exciting step in my career! I hope to have you all support me in this! More to come soon!

I finished recording all the parts last night for this reconfiguration of an old composition of mine. The vocal text for it is good and presents a good message; however, it isn’t what I’m wanting to project on this upcoming album. So, a new concept and message for this composition is what I’ll be working on over the next little while.

Meanwhile, it’s time to continue orchestrating. I’m coming down to the last three songs I’ll be recording for the album. While I know one of them is “Polly Wants a Rhythm,” I already have most everything I need for it already recorded. There is one composition in particular that I’ve been wanting to record right.. and this morning I found my transcriptions of it from January of 2006 Let’s do this. Opus Santus I: A Calling and a Response

The first part of today’s time in the studio will be spent working on bass parts. I was originally having some difficulty recording these parts; however, I remembered I had planned for the bass to be distorted for this compositions… SO, that’s why that bass-tapping part didn’t sound quite right Here we go!

I’d spent some time re-orchestrating a composition I did at the beginning of 2007. For some reason, back then I thought I was going to be in a Rush-esque trio with me on bass and keyboards with two others for drums and guitar. Well, obviously that didn’t pan out, but I still had a composition from that scenario. I’ve orchestrated all of the keyboard tracks for string orchestra, re-arranged some of the instrumental stuff for more chromaticism, development, and overall punch. This is also a composition that has vocals in it… and while the vocals do pertain to my vision in the music I’m writing now, I’m working on a different theme for these words.

The re-orchestrated parts have been written and recorded; today and tomorrow will involve recording of guitar and bass tracks. As a side note, this is one of the songs on the upcoming album that will have guest vocals.

Hey, just wanted to give a quick shout out; I’ve got a new video blog up on Youtube; It’s definitely got some interesting audio concerning the transformation of “There’s More to Us Than We See Now.” in it worth checking out. Additionally, the February installment of the Johnny Newsletter has been sent out with all kinds of good information about this recording process and excitement about the upcoming album!

One thing about orchestrating a song that has multiple verses, you have to approach orchestrating it in a special way. You have this recurring section of music that has the same harmonic progression and recurring melody performed by the same instrument (the voice). There’s a couple of functional ways of approaching this to allow the music to stay interesting. One way is to do a basic light orchestration for the first verse and to build upon that for orchestrating the following verses. Another way is to orchestrate 3 different variations and place them in order of ‘least to most’ powerful in course of the song.

In the composition I’m working on, I did it in terms of frequency (pitch). I only orchestrated the cellos and violas for the first verse with minimal violin accents. For the following verse, I moved the previous orchestration up higher to the violas and violins with a bit more rhythmic variation while giving the cellos a part that enforces the distorted guitars. And that’s a trip inside my orchestrative mind

After having several days out of the studio, it’s nice to be back in with the direction I need. I spent time today re-recording some guitar tracks that were noise-laden with problems. I’ve got things to a point in that song where I don’t have to be in the studio to work on the rest of it. At the moment, I’m transcribing an old recording of mine that will become song number 5 for the album (that’s right, I’m practically finished recording 4 of the 8 songs that will be on this album). So, after I get this transcription finished, I will begin orchestrating and be on to recording.

Concerning the February newsletter, I’m about to start work on it. I was going to include a timeline audio clip of the song “There’s More To Us Than We See Now,” but I have changed my mind because I don’t want to give it away until the real drums get recorded for it. I’m still working on what goodie to put in the newsletter.. hmmm

I’ve been out of the studio for a few days after standing in front of some important decisions in my music. It’s when you stand in front of your work and ask yourself “Am I glorifying myself, or am I glorifying my Creator?” that really determines what you’re going to do with your life. I’ve spent much time in prayer and I’ve got a better idea of what it is that I need to be doing with my music. So, I think you will see me being more of a composer in the broadest sense of the term in the near future; which means more types of media and creation on my part for an Eternal value. I do look forward to this more valuable and rewarding adventure.