Monday - February 17th, 2009: 10:00am to 1:30pm - We began work just like we always have, beginning with a 11:15am sound check. Today's session was going to be a bit more involved then the previous ones. Not only were we recording the drum tracks for 'We The People' but I wanted to shoot a video of the recording process as well.
I spent the first hour and a half setting up camera angles and writing up a chart of the shots I was hoping to get. So, not only was I playing engineer, producer, but now ad camera man, and director to the list. I discussed with Russ that todays session was going to be really fragmented and a lot of stops and starts. Russ was a trooper!
At noon we did the first take of the drum track. Surprisingly, the take was really good...Russ really nailed the track right a way. After the take we sat down to listen to it and discuss what needed changing. 12:15pm - Take 2: The biggest notable part of the song was the solo section. Although the ending solo I wanted Russ to play a ride cymbal part, which needed to be changed.
12:30pm - Take 3: This take yielded many good fills going into and out of the solo breaks. For the most part the take was tight. 12:55pm - Take 4: On this take we finally got what we wanted in the ending chorus, ending solo, and ending outro. At 1pm - Take 5: I wanted a bit more information to use for the editing process and the ending to the Take was really tight. With all the takes I got what I needed to complete the master drum track.
The whole experience of recording and filming the session was challenging, yet a lot of fun. There were plenty of moments of comedy to be found. That evening as I watched the footage that we shot, I had the idea of making a short film about the finally weeks of recording of the new album, 'We The People'. I plan to shoot the next two weeks of sessions and then get to work putting together a small film. I'll keep you posted...Until next time, Hutch
