Tracy at the helm.
I've been writing songs for my next CD, because writing songs is one of my passions, and because a lot of parents have requested I do so - they have heard my first CD "Give Me an RRR!" too many times. They want new material, NOW! So, I'm back at Northern Moon Studios with me Mad City Mate, Tracy Wolters (we're both Madison, Wisconsin boys who moved to Vermont).
We have established an easy going pattern for recording songs. I play Tracy the song I want to work on. We pick a 'feel' and a tempo for the drum machine named Elroy. I will then play my rhythm guitar part. Depending on the song, I will lay down a vocal track or Tracy will record a bass part. Then keyboard parts, percussion and background vocals will follow.
The Virtual Mixing Board.
The song we have been working on is "The Word Pirate" (you may remember the lyrics from a previous blog called "Don't be a Buccaneer Bully"). Elroy was programmed to play a polka at 104 bpm, I played my Takamine acoustic, and Tracy added a piano part that puts me in mind of wild west saloon. We tried a couple a bass patches and the one we settled on was a sample of Jazz great Eddie Gomez (I love his playing on "You Must Believe in Spring" by Bill Evans).
The first vocal take, sometimes referred to a 'scratch' vocal, in this case became the background vocal. I missed a few pick up notes and I went flat on a phrase in the bridge, but there was plenty of attitude that we didn't want to go to waste. It's so easy when you practice at home or play in public, but when you get in the studio, every out of tune note and out of time rhythm is magnified.
The wind screen on the microphone may catch some of the background noise, but the mistakes seem to get through just fine.
It is fun making a song come to life as a recording, but it can sometimes be meticulous and painful work. I am fortunate to have an excellent musician and sympathetic soul like Tracy helping me out.
