Production Journal: February 6th & 7th, 2009

Song(s) in Production: 'A Working Man's Tune' Recording Sessions

Friday - February 6th, 2009: 11am to 5:30pm - Let's try this again. Rich and I arrived at the studio right at 11am. Todays agenda was to record a Low F Whistle part for, 'A Working Man's Tune'. First thing...eat! We grabbed Jimmy Johns and sat and watched Peter Gabriel videos... One works better with a full stomach. Well...maybe not so good for a flute player.

We spent the first hour or so finding the right spot to record the flute. First we tried my drum room...great for close miking...but sounded very dead. Then, in my vocal booth...sounded decent but a bit on the boxy side. Third we went out into the hallway where I have cathedral ceilings...sounded great...but a bit to much reverb. Then we went to the live room...here it sounded really good. Then I sent Rich packing on up the stairs. After playing a few notes Rich's eyes lit up! Lastly, we went down the hall to the foyer...great sound, but a bit to much reverb. So, up the stairs it was.

After getting the Rich in place I put the Cad E-200 mic up on a boom stand even with Rich and about 4 to 5 feet away from him. It sounded really good! Of course...Boggie showed up and wanted to sit in on the whole recording process...how can you say, 'no' to Boogie?

Went went through each part of the song...taking anywhere from 5 to 10 takes of each part. That Low Whistle is a bit on the temperamental side. Tuning it and getting the right amount of air pressure can be a bit tricky. Especially on a full stomach! We recorded the intro...verse break...chorus breaks...and the final ending. We spent sometime writing a second theme for the factory workers section.

The song is about a Deep Sea Fisherman and a Factory Worker and how they both due their respective jobs in order to provide for their families. Rich had written a beautiful melody for the song. I wanted a different theme for the second part of the song. So, Rich started playing around with ideas...and I heard him play the first theme backwards...I loved it. With a bit of re-writing he had the Factory Workers theme. Back to recording...After we felt we had good takes of everything, we went back and recorded a factory whistle blowing in one part. I tried to get Rich to create Sea Gull sounds for one verse..but after awhile we abandon the idea.

Over 60 takes later the Low Whistle part was completed. Thank God! I think we were both tired and ready to go home and veg. Our minds were fried...at least mine was. Now, all that is left is sound effects and backing vocals.

Song(s) in Production: 'Loves A Two Way' Recording Sessions

Saturday - February 7th, 2009: 11am to 1pm - This coming Monday we plan to cut the drum tracks for this song. To date there was only music...no vocals yet. Russ wanted me to get the vocal parts recorded as to give him a guide on the parts of the song. So, that was todays goal.

I spent the two hours recording...two lead vocal tracks. They sounded decent, whether I keep them is yet to be determined. I also recorded 6 back ground vocal parts, which to my surprise sounded pretty good. It took me a bit to find the harmonies I wanted. But there is enough information for Russ to know where he's going. Recording session scheduled for Monday, Feb. 9th, 2009...11am.

Until next time, Hutch

Production Journal: January 28th, 29th, and 31st, 2009

Song(s) in Production: 'A Working Man's Tune' Recording Sessions

Wednesday - January 28th, 2009: 5:30pm to 10pm - I prefer sessions that start early evening and go until whenever they get done. Usually the whole process leaves me in a kind of fog, to where it's dangerous for me to operate any heavy machinery. After evening sessions I can just go home and crash...just not literally.

Anyway...I began this session by laying down a click track in 6/8. Once that was finished I began recording acoustic guitars. I laid down two different takes...because the song is in 'F' I was capo-ing the guitars on the third fret and playing it in 'D'. But, the guitar part sounded to thin so I had another idea. The first guitar I tuned down a whole step and played the song is 'G' to give it a nice low end and full chordal sound. The second guitar part I played the way I originally intended it to be.

I spent some time chasing down an annoying buzz that I was getting from my guitar...after a slight neck adjustment...it seemed to be very, very slight. I also think it was the light gauge strings I was using, instead of the medium gauge which I usually use.

After both guitar parts were finished I began work on recording the lead vocal track. I went through the song line by line...in order to get the exact phrasing that I wanted. I ended up doubling my vocal part...which took me the longest time...I suppose I need to spend more time singing in 6/8.

By 10pmish...I had made it through about half the song and had to run to catch my buddies band, BPM, playing at Durty Nellies... A productive evening.


Song(s) in Production: 'A Working Man's Tune' Recording Sessions

Friday - January 30th, 2009: 10am to 1pm - Went back to the studio in order to finish up the lead vocal tracks that hadn't been completed on Wednesday evening. You know those studio gremlins that I had mentioned in my previous notes? Well, they were at it again! I turned everything on just as I had it from Wednesday and the mic level to tape was a quarter of what it was. I ended up changing mics and pre amps in order to get the right level again.

Three hours latter the tracks were complete. I burned a demo of it to send to Rich so he could begin work on a low whistle part for the song. Another productive day.


Song(s) in Production: 'Loves A Two Way Street' Recording Sessions

Saturday - January 31st, 2009: 12pm to 2:30pm - I should have stayed home! I spent a couple of hours trying to pitch shift the bass and four guitar parts from Ab to A. The pitch shift worked fine but it completely screwed the timing up with the drum track. For two frustrating hours I had come to the conclusion that I have to just re-recorded all the parts again! A good ten hours of work down the drain! Oh, well...at least I learned something on what not to do next time!