The Style

This new record is a departure from what you might have come to expect from Maledictis.  It explores totally new styles and moods that are practically a 180° pivot in direction.

The new Maledictis album could be for fans of Nobuo Uematsu, Silverchair, and Chicago.

This new album has some ambitious goals.  One of which is to go where no Maledictis recording has gone before:  no digital instruments.   Everything on this new album is "organic."  What you hear comes from microphones recording real instruments, voices, and amps.  No synthesizers, virtual instrument plugins, or programing. Just humans singing and playing acoustic and analog instruments.

Writing

Maledictis' last single, Breathing In Vain, marks the end of a chapter of depression and grief.  The new album touches on themes of connecting with nature, the relief of treatment, seeking guidance, acceptance, love, facing mortality, and more.

Composition wise, I was able to break outside of the creative box by experimenting with new writing tools.  Software was helpful in experimenting with added-tone chords, where my guitar skills would normally limit my creativity.  It was especially helpful in communicating style intentions to my keyboardist (because I am not a keyboardist).  This is the main ingredient in what makes this album sounds so much different than anything I've ever written before; It's written for piano, not guitar, and I don't play the piano.  

Side A

We found it would be easy for everyone if we divided the production into two chunks.  The first 4 songs (which we refer to as "Side A"), and the last 4 songs ("Side B").  This likely doesn't have anything to do with the final track listing order.
The following posts refer to "Side A" tracking.

Drums

Drums being recorded acoustically is a big deal for us, because it's a first.  On the last two singles, Matt played eDrums, and we sampled that digital information with drum software.  That was easy to do, but the result lacked some subtle dynamics that you'd normally hear if you stood next to a person playing real drums. 
Recording acoustic drums isn't a piece of cake, either.  When you've got eight mics on a kit in a basement, you can get lots of bleed, phase issues, and weird reverberations.

Luckily, Matt has a big basement with an unusually tall ceiling, so the results are pretty great.  Just hearing Matt say how much more enjoyable it feels to play real drums (instead of eDrums) makes the decision worth it.  Plus, Matt is doing all of the drum recording himself, so that's one less thing on my plate.  

Piano

Front and center on these songs is piano.  Anne Van Dussen, who I like to call "Anno Piano," was able to interpret my crazy notations and arrange something a lot more logical.  We recorded on a Yamaha C5 grand piano at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Greenfield, WI. 
Matt and I set up a bunch of mics to record piano, but ultimately a pair of AKG C451B spot mics sounded best.

I suggested to Anno that she take creative liberties, and that the only thing set in stone at this point was the drums.  This led to adjustments for all the parts to follow.  This would become the format for how I would attempt to produce the record:

• Guide the performances to make bold choices while holding tight to previous recorded tracks.
• After a part is recorded, rewrite the parts of everything yet to be recorded, so that it matches any creative changes.

Brass

A few feet away from where we recorded that piano, we also recorded some brass instruments.  Adam Fisher recorded Bb Trumpet and Flugelhorn.  Josh Sevigny recorded Tuba.  Both are music teachers and members of the Lake County Symphony Orchestra.  
I met Adam in 2021 when my daughter started taking trumpet lessons from him.  I met Josh in 2023 when my he was my daughter's music summer camp teacher.   Cool guys.  I highly recommend them for session work if you need some brass.

Strings

Returning on violin and viola is the great Katherine Messer, who recorded both instruments on "Breathing In Vain."  
I was unsure WHERE to record the strings, and wanted to make sure I was somewhere quiet.  Our friend Shane at Shane Olivo Audio let us use his studio.  
By this stage, I was trying to record every instrument in stereo, but as simply as possible.  For brass and strings, I used Shane's Royer SF-12 stereo ribbon mic, which worked well for capturing a realistic and flattering stereo image.  Although, I may do it differently for "Side B."  Loved the ribbons on the brass, but might try something else for strings next time.  And maybe try a more reverberant room.
Katherine tracked all the violin parts first, and then went back and recorded all the viola.  Because "Side A" doesn't have any cello, Katherine is the entire string section on "Side A."

Miscellaneous  

I wanted to include the sound of waves on at least one of the songs, so I brought a pair of Line Audio CM4 mics, a Motu M2, and my laptop to the shores of Sheridan Park in Cudahy, Wisconsin.  Parts of the session turned out really well (when the wind died down and airplanes weren't passing).

Organ has been an interesting experiment.  The most accessible option has been my Sears reed organ, which offers a very "folksy" sound.  It sounds kind of like an accordion or a melodica, which is charming.  However, it's a very different sound than something like a pipe organ or a tone wheel organ.  I haven't ruled other options out, but it has been convenient to record organ parts from the comfort of my living room.
I've also found that adding a tremolo effect to the audio of the reed organ gives the "impression" of a Leslie cab.