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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_opKEXY9B4

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NIGHTWISH SUMMER CAMP DIARY (week 30)

Good day everyone!

It`s 9 am. and I`m sipping my morning coffee while reading the latest NHL news and writing this down. When did I turn into a blog-writing computer-geek?
It`s been very hot, we`ve been struck by a never-seen-before heat wave for the past few weeks and I can`t recall when was the last time I wore socks or slept under sheets. No complaints, though, water sports and boating never felt so glorious as during the past days.
We got something done in the arranging - the - new - songs - front, too, even though the 35 C - rehearsal room isn`t the most alluring place just now.

The "Nukkumatti" song, as we call it, is among my top favorites of the new stuff, a pounding, twisted and chorusless ghost train ride is sure to bring a smile to your face. At least it has done so to everyone who has heard it. Danny Elfman goes humppa.

Then we took over a song which was more or less tailor-made for Troy. Loads of pipes to battle / to jam with Emppu and a raving c-part which was born after 10 pints of ale and loads of Old Toby. One of the cheerier tunes of the album, and a nice little cloudbuster.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos!

Song #8 takes us to whole new territories. Something completely different from anything we`ve ever done. All of us need to find new ways to play our instruments and use vocals for that piece. A terrificly challenging and mind-expanding song. I can`t wait to hear Anette and Marco sing that one.

On Sunday night the fellas from Northern Kings took over the campsite. We had agreed they can come and share our rehearsal facilities since they have a couple of shows coming up. Tony (Kakko) and Kai (Hahto) greeted me with 2 bottles of Yellow Tail which we enjoyed by a still lake at dusk. Finnish hippie-geezer-national-scenery - romanticism at its best!
Thanks guys for visiting, we`ll meet soon again.

Time to dive into Marco`s vocals today. And maybe for song #9. And that 5kg trout that`s been avoiding us for the past week.

Will write more soon (or somebody will), all best!

Tuomas


TOP 5 / Week 3


1. The weather
2. Longhaired hippies naked in the nearby forest
3. Solving the mystery of where the hell all the fishes are
4. Epcot`s Illuminations - soundtrack
5. Zombieland - the movie

[Serena]

Anette madre por segunda vez!!

Dear blog readers and Nightwish fans:

It is for me so wonderful to tell you that yesterday, July 30th at 16.28, mine and Johans son was born;=)

He was 52 cm tall and his weight was 3930 gram.

We have tried to get him out the natural way since tuesday and used different methods, but like with my first son, I didn´t get enough strong contractions so it was decided to finally get him out through a c-section.

We all are just fine but still in the hospital where we are resting and just being so happy to have this beautiful and precious boy with us. Life is so wonderful and I am so, so happy and just floating with joy;=)

Enjoy your evening!

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Menudo centollito :-D

Fotos del summer camp
http://www.nightwish.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=196

[Serena]

Another week passed by, another week of rehearsing, song-shaping, sweating, boating and fishing. The happiest event naturally was Anette having a baby and feeling fantastic with the newborn! Our congrats and blessings for the whole family!

Songs # 9 & #10 took shape last weekend. The #9 - one explores Zimmer-territories shamelessly with the chorus taking us back to our roots. Emppu`s favorite part of the whole album, I reckon. I`ve always had problems with short, simple - structured songs but this sounds very promising even to my cynical ears and heart.

Last song put together will be the last one on the album, an insanely ambitious piece. I assume it will be close to 20 minutes long. Uncle Walt`s spirit is already haunting in every note of this song. Still needs some arranging, though.

We have only one song left to practice after the monster song, an acoustic piece in the vein of "The Islander". Ennio Morricone meets Christy Moore. Emppu and me need loads of Guinness, some fine single malt and a windy day to bring this one alive. And Troy`s pipes & bodhran, of course.

Marco also sang demo vocals for almost all the songs so they start making more sense and so that Anette would be able to hear the vocal melodies and the pacing of the lyrics. I deeply enjoy this process of building the songs slowly together, weaving stories out of thin air, and it`s almost always the vocals that finally wake the songs up.

Yesterday I drove to Lappeenranta to play keys to Kotiteollisuus` new demo. Great stuff coming up from that front, too!

It`s about 3 weeks before we start recording the demo so now we have time to put final touches into the songs and perfect them the best we can. It`s fantastic not to be in any hurry for a change!
Which reminds me, time to go catch that trout.

Take good care everyone!

Tuomas


TOP 5 / Week 4


1. NW demo w / Marco`s guide vocals
2. Esko Valtaoja
3. Kitee - Sotkamo 2-0 / playoffs starting soon
4. Edward Scissorhands - the movie
5. Alfred J. Kwak

[Serena]

When checking the pictures from our summer camp, one might think that it's all about fishing, watersports and boozing. That's actually mostly true... but we have gotten something done here musicwise too! And hey, we never said this is a music camp, it's a SUMMER CAMP!!! =)

 

Last weekend Marco abandoned us three here to take care of his responsibilities with Tarot and Northern Kings. We decided to rehearse the last piece, a monster of a song and to go through parts of the other songs that we yet didn't feel 100% satisfied with. We came up with plenty of little tricks that bring some needed final edge to the songs; some overlong fills, little breaks and some little time signature changes. The last song turned out to be a great tune that would have enough parts for three full songs, but which still forms a tight entirety of fast riffing, slow, beautiful mood and heavy-duty-rhythm.

 

On Monday we took a day off and headed to the lake with a professional fishing team. You've probably already seen some of the catches from the picture section. It's encouraging to see that fishing is not just a matter of good luck. Knowledge and the gear has a big effect on the results. But of course, to catch a real big one you need a little blessing from above...

 

On Thursday we went to see a baseball match of KIPA-90, our local pride. The team played really well, but unfortunately the opponent was slightly better. It's already the end of the season and at the very moment of writing this diary the last game ended in defeat so for us the season is over. But the team showed great potential and hopefully next year we hold the cup.

 

On the weekend we had some friends coming over, including Sami Ví¤nskí¤ and we spent a weekend full of watersports, darts and laughter. The best activity being seated in a "doughnut"and going with full speed behind the boat. You know it's real good when fun and pure terror meet in a midway... I also finally got myself to try water skiing with just one water ski, and to everybody's surprise I nailed it on a first try! What a mighty feeling it was! JIHAA!!!

 

Now we are taking time off until Thursday. Once in a while it's good to take some distance to the songs to have a fresh view.

 

Take care now, bye bye then!

 

Jukka

 

 

TOP 5 / Week 5

 

1. The mighty sportsman with just one ski!!!

2. Taking over the last song

3. Fishing trip with the pros

4. Feeding Harri "The camp spider"

5. Ruska - lingonberry wine - for exquisite taste!

[Serena]

Nueva entrada del diario: (esta vez junto a Kovalainen)

Well, there hasn`t been happening that much since the last time Jukka posted the blog. We decided to take a 4-day break from rehearsing the songs `cause there isn`t much we can do to them anymore. Even though every time we dive into them something small comes up; new drum fill here, a new bass line there, new orchestral arrangement hook somewhere, etc. It`s just that we`ve been rehearsing and toying with the songs so much (gotta believe it, just look at the photos of this blog) that everyone here`s having a bloat.

Also since Marco is busy doing his own things until tomorrow and Anette not joining the camp until in 2 weeks, there wasn`t much else for us three to do than..



...To form a new band called The Myí¶tí¤hí¤peí¤. This amazing group of mind-blowing virtuosity combined with a versatile repertoire includes such names as Heikki Kovalainen of F1 Lotus (http://www.facebook.com/Heikki.Kovalainen.Official.Fan.Page) on the drums, and Mr. Toni Virtanen (http://www.facebook.com/apulanta?ref=search) on the vocals. Jukka took over the keys, whereas Emppu and me swapped between guitar and bass to make it a real challenge. Jamppa Lautamí¤ki of the Nightwish website-fame filled the first open backing vocals - position, but there`s still room for more behind the mics. Our setlist now consists of two classics of two bands we`ve been fans of forever (Sukset by Popeda & For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica) but with an intro & outro, Toni`s magnificent speaks in between the songs, a bass solo and fireworks we will be able to put up a fantastic full-lenth rock show anytime, anywhere.

Well, we still have that ballad to rehearse, there`s nothing like seeing a lighter-sea of 80000 people swaying gently to "Nothing Else Matters" or "Winds Of Change".

Check out the video of our first ever rehearsals below. Not quite on the level of the originals, but at least we had fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLz_MJ7oA28&

Heikki & the gang had to leave on Sunday morning but Toni stayed with us for another fishing- and poker-filled day. He fell in love with this place, and might be joining us later on for some songwriting sessions. Maybe the upcoming Apulanta - tunes will have their breeding here..?



After introducing Heikki to the decadent world of bandlife and rock `n roll it was his turn to throw us the bait. He had arranged a chance to try out KF2 & KF3 cart racing vehicles in the track of Ylí¤mylly. A horrendously fantastic experience! A surprisingly physical sport, too. Jukka was by far the best driver of us, timing unbelievable lap times in pouring rain. Emppu and Toni also did ok but I was more of a yellow-bellied plug on the track, losing 20sec per lap to Jukka due to the imprisonment in my own survival instinct.



Anyway, it was a great day and a wonderful, new experience! A huge thanks goes to Heikki, Jani and Hí¤stis for organizing this, and for the 2 mechanics, Mikko & Janne who took care of us on the track.



Back to the camp, diving back into the Nightwish songs with fresh fuel in our tanks. There`s been one song which has been giving us loads of trouble during the past weeks. I feel it has great potential but somehow it just doesn`t work as it should. On Tuesday morning we finally nailed it, giving it a whole new guitar / synth riff with a touch of Van Halen and that was the cure. I also rewrote and simplified the lyrics to the chorus. A song / album is never fully ready, you just have to stop your journey at some scenic place and enjoy the view.



Autumn is here, enjoy the change & take care everyone!



Tuomas





Top 5 / Week 6



1. The Myí¶tí¤hí¤peí¤

2. Cart Racing with those machines from hell

3. That one bad riff finally cured

4. Matti Ijí¤s: Katsastus (for the 100th time)

5. Timo Rautiainen: En oo keittí¤ny enkí¤ myyny

[Serena]

So, this week I finally came to the camp site to do some vocal recordings for our demo. Me, Johan and our baby arrived late Monday and it was a very long trip to get here from home. I didn´t want to fly with the little one so we drove up to Stockholm which takes 6 hours, then the ferry from Sweden to Finland for 17 hours and finally driving here in Finland for 6 hours. Puih, quite a trip but worth it;=)

When we came to the camp we were greeted by Emppu and Tuomas and it was so nice to see the guys again. It´s been a long time since we did the show in Hartwall where we met the last time. The other guys, Marco and Jukka, are in America so they were unfortunately already gone.

The first day here, Emppu recorded his last guitars and then he drove back home after being here 2 months and I just rested after the long journey and enjoying the beautiful place. The camp is deep in the forests and lying so incredibly beautiful with a big lake to look out over where the sunsets are just amazing. All the colours are there when the sun goes down - purple, yellow, white, blue, pink, orange... and now autumn is slowly coming so the trees are changing their leaves and it´s a perfect temperature for sitting out by the fire in the evenings. And we also have a little pet here, a tiny "house-mouse" to keep us company.

Wednesday morning we started my recordings and we have recorded 3 songs per day and 2 the last day. All in all 4 days to record all the songs. Ever since I got the very first instrumental demo Tuomas made I have felt that this album will be something very special. The songs and themes Tuomas has put together are really varied, interesting and there are elements that haven´t been used before. Still it´s Nightwish and also going back to some roots from earlier albums. Vocally for me it´s much more varied since I use my voice in more different aspects than in DPP. Tuomas for sure knows my voice and range now.

We have also done some barbecuing, the boys have been fishing, I have watched a good movie Tuomas recommended - The Martyrs. Disturbing and as usual I got so scared that I woke up a couple of times that night and heard sounds everywhere;=) We have also had friends visiting and the week has gone far too fast. Having my baby with me when being here has worked really well and he has been so kind and charming the whole time. Good boy!

Now I really long to hear how the album will come together with the orchestra, choirs etc, and already now I feel I long to do my actual vocal recordings which will be done in March next year.

 Take good care everyone!

Anette

[Serena]

Karting con Kovalainen

http://vimeo.com/15217141

[Serena]

Que simpático!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qow2_eZrXOc&

El bebíé es la niña de Jukka!

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Grande Marco! aunq despuíés de ver el siguiente video me han entrado dudas... :016:

Marco cantando Bad Romance de Lady Gaga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JjMBsh8x_g&feature=related

[Serena]

Jukka ha actualizado el diario que llevan por facebook para informarnos de que ya han empezado las grabaciones de la baterí­a:

Drum recordings - The Beginning!

After spending an intensive summer camp on Finnish countryside and putting a final touch to the demo, we started recording the drums for our next album. We gathered together yesterday and set up the drums and all the recording devices. Today was mostly spent just perfecting the sounds. Just like with our last album we got some back-up from Mr. Kai Hahto (Swallow The Sun & Wintersun), who is known to be able to conjure godly sounds by tuning the drums. The legendary duet of Mikko Karmila and TeeCee Kinnunen are taking care of the engineering again. Tonight ended with a complete take of the first song, so the recording session has now officially started! Jihaa! Cheers, Jukka

Traducción

Despuíés de un campamento intensivo en la campiña finesa y de darle el toque final a la demo, comenzamos a grabar las baterí­as para nuestro próximo album. Ayer nos reunimos todos e instalamos las baterí­as y todo el equipo de grabación. Hoy pasamos la mayor parte del tiempo perfeccionando los sonidos. Igual que con nuestro anterior album contamos con la ayuda de Mr. Kai Hahto (Swallow The Sun & Wintersun), quien es conocido por ser capaz de conjurar sonidos divinos afinando las baterí­as. El legendario duo Mikko Karmila y TeeCee Kinnunen se están ocupando de la ingenierí­a otra vez. Esta noche acabó con una toma completa de la primera canción, así­ que las sesiones de grabación han comenzado oficialmente ahora! Jihaa!



Saludos,



Jukka

[Serena]

All the drum tracks are recorded!

I usually find recording sessions stressful and just want to have them done as fast as possible, but this time it was all different. The whole session was extremely relaxed and we didn't hurry at all. We took the time to try some different approaches to some of the songs and didn't make any compromises. As one of the pictures shows, Tuomas literally whipped the very best out of me. But I'm sure he did it with love... Songs have again a massive variety and mood changes from lunatic circus to a hazy jazz club. It was a great challenge to try to get the right touch to each of the songs, but my "humble" opinion is that we nailed it. Today we finished the session by recording witch drum to the starter of the album and by playing brushes to a classy ballad in the spirit of David Lynch. Drums were recorded to ten songs all together and it couldn't have been any better - perfect location, great guys around to work with and some excellent music to be created. Now it's time to raise my glass and say "cheers" to the guys. It's Emppu`s turn to give his contribution to the album and I'm sure you'll hear something of him soon. Yours, Jukka