Rick was in the studio last week and did an excellent job on stand up bass! I discovered that no matter how much you plan and prepare there is always the possibility of serendipity sneaking up on you. On “Goodbye Old Friend” we were blown away by the imaginitive ending that Rick had concocted - bowed staccatos that sounded reminiscent of heartbeats (one of the last lines of the song is “…we’re still joined at the heart…”). I sat in the control booth with my jaw on my chest it sounded so cool. When Rick offered to ‘fix’ the ending we were amazed; we were sure he’d done it on purpose. Apparently he’d been practicing the ending in a much simpler way but when he was recording he accidentally stopped too early. Thinking that he’d have to re-do the song or at least punch in a new ending, he started to ‘goof around’. It took a bit of convincing that the ‘goofing around’ was not only staying on the CD, but he’d have to remember it for live performances! Thanks Rick! I guess the lesson here is to stay open to new ideas and not micro-manage the whole operation to death.
Not long after Rick’s recording sessions, Greg came in and over the course of two sessions recorded the drum tracks. Not all the songs have drums on them. Sometimes knowing what to leave out is as important as what to add in. Actually, it’s probably more important. Greg is an incredibly easy person to work with, he is endlessly cheerful and very professional. I have to say I’m a little intimidated sometimes by the skills of the three musicians who helped me with this CD. They have much more ‘technical’ knowledge of music than I do but they are extremely patient and allow me to explain what kind of ’sound’ I’m looking for in my own words, even if my analogies and explanations are a little bizarre. And they tease me constantly about having LSD (Lead Singer Disorder)!
The last of the recording starts tomorrow, when I go in and record the vocals. I’ll also be inviting my good friend Barb Munro to add some harmonies to “Flying with Angels”. We performed this song at my New Traditions Concert and we were so pleased with the harmonies that I just had to have them on the CD!
I am truly blessed in my friends.