My name is Salli Edwards and I am a singer-songwriter based in Melbourne, Australia. It’s my pleasure to share my experience working with Tunedly on my recently released album Revolving Doors.
I have been writing songs for many years and it has always been my dream to record an album. As a solo artist, however, this meant I have always had to rely on playing with other musicians to get the fullest sound for my songs. It was always a logistical challenge to get the right people, find some availability within their busy schedules and book time with a recording studio. When the pandemic hit and stay at home restrictions were enforced, it made this problem even more challenging.
Over the past year, spending many months in ‘lockdown’ (as we called it here in Australia), I found myself writing new songs. Being home most of the time without all the distractions of day to day life gave me the time and focus to finally revisit my dream of recording my songs and releasing an album. But how do you do this when you can’t physically go into a studio to record with other musicians?
Finding Tunedly was a godsend. The online music collaboration and recording platform presented the solution to all my problems. Not only did it take the logistics out of booking musicians and studio time, it also enabled me to record a professional-quality album from the comfort and safety of my own home. After reading about their services on their website, I thought I would sign up and give them a go.
Before proceeding with a full album, I decided to try them out first with a couple of songs. Starting the process was so easy and simple. I uploaded a rough demo of my song "Falling Deep into the Sea" (the latest single from my album), recorded on my iPhone with just me singing and playing guitar, along with the lyrics and chords. I also included some instructions and references as to how I wanted the song to sound.
Selecting the project manager and instruments was a lot of fun. I browsed through the profiles of the musicians and was incredibly impressed with the calibre of people they had available from all over the world. Their roster is so overwhelming; in fact, it was sometimes difficult to choose who to work with!
When the guitar track came back for me to review, I was absolutely astounded. The guitar sounded exactly like how I was hearing the song in my head when I first wrote it, but a hundred times better. I had a similar experience hearing the piano track for my song "How Was I Supposed to Know" for the first time. I actually got goosebumps as it was just perfect. I found that the project managers and musicians totally understood my vision and were on board with the references I had for the songs. They took my song ideas to the next level and produced quality results beyond anything I could have imagined.
I knew straight away from hearing these first tracks that working with Tunedly was going to be a very worthwhile and successful venture. I then proceeded to gradually start sending the rest of my songs for the album.
One of the biggest highlights of working with Tunedly was being able to collaborate with the project managers and musicians, who are seriously among the best in the world. The quality of the musicians on their roster is second to none and I felt very privileged and honoured to have such talented and experienced professionals play on my songs.
It was great having a dedicated project manager for each song. Even though we were working online and not meeting in person, it felt like a real collaborative connection and I enjoyed every step of the process. It was fun sharing ideas about references for my songs and the treatment for each instrument. I would describe what the song was about and what inspired me to write it, and what kind of feel and vibe I was looking for. The project managers and musicians took all of this on board and made every effort to achieve the sound we wanted.
All the musicians I worked with were very open and accommodating. I found I hardly had to request any changes as they always nailed it! Not just in terms of the musicianship and accuracy, but also the way they were able to convey the emotion for each song. This isn’t always something that can be achieved being in the same room, let alone in a virtual environment.
Communication with the project managers was always good and timely. The message board on the platform enabled me to see what the musicians were up to and I was always excited to receive a notification about a new track being uploaded for me to review. Another excellent feature is being able to hear WIP mixes of the songs at each stage so you can already get an idea of how the finished product will sound as each instrument is being recorded.
After all the tracks for each song were reviewed and approved, I then sent my vocal tracks to start the final mixing and mastering process. This is where things got even more exciting as you start to hear the final product! My project managers were extremely helpful and patient with the changes I requested. They were very passionate and totally committed to getting the result I wanted for each song. Nothing was ever too difficult. If I did make requests that wouldn’t work, they provided feedback and suggested other ways to fix things.
Overall, working with Tunedly to record my album has been a fantastic experience. They took my ideas and rough recordings of my songs and turned them into a fully professional quality album. I have a product that I can be proud of and one that presents my compositions in the best possible light.
I’ve already thanked the team at Tunedly profusely for all their brilliant work, but I am thanking them again here. A special mention to Chris B and Dusty who were the most awesome musicians and project managers, for their generosity in sharing their talent and expertise each step of the way.
You can listen to my album Revolving Doors (featuring the pandemic-inspired single "Traces") on all music streaming platforms and on my website www.salliedwards.com. (All the tracks were recorded with Tunedly, except for two remixes which are older recordings.) My website also has some examples of my rough home recordings to give you an idea of how the songs sounded before and after. I think the results speak for themselves!
Link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6niaCiR1nvv2SYAH7NpBj1
Link to Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/salli-edwards/1163564721
Link to YouTube: https://youtu.be/0ipQ935j2ik
