Tuesday - January 27th, 2009: 11am to 2:00pm - We began our morning recording session eating Jimmy Johns...yum! You know you work a lot better when your concentrating on your instrument instead of your stomach!
We made a quick sound check of the drums just to make sure things hadn't changed from yesterdays session. I swear there are 'Sound Gremlins' that come in when your sleeping and screw with your stuff...what was a good sound one day...sucks the next. But, everything still sounded sweet...So we began.
Again, Russ drum Takes were solid...all the parts were there. We did three more Takes of the song. Take 7 was getting there, the timing was good...but Russ was unhappy with the drum fills and he felt that he had better Takes in him. Take 8 was rock solid! The best to date and the keeper. We both listened to it and decided this was the one we were going to use. 
After everyone is satisfied with the Final Take of the song...I like to let the musicians record one or two more and allow them to do whatever they want...take all the chains off and see what complete spontaneity brings forth. So, Russ went back to his room and did one more take. Take 9 yielded some pretty interesting stuff that I will use to spice up Take 8. So...after 9 takes of 'Here Comes The Night', the drums are finally done. (I do believe this is the most take Russ has ever done on a song!)Russ suggested a Thunderous Tom Tom part going into a breakdown after the bridge. So, he down tuned his low tom on his Ludwig kit and out into the hallway we went. Right outside my studio door way, I have cathedral ceilings, the acoustics in there are amazing.
I told Russ I wanted him up on top of the stairs as high as he could get. He was a bit afraid of how to keep the drum from falling down the stairs...as well as himself. I told him not to worry about it, that he would think of something. Up he went... I took a long boom mic stand and jacked the CAD microphone up into the chandelier lights as high as I could get it. The drum sounded amazing! Thunderous is what we wanted and THUNDEROUS is what we got.
While we were recording I wanted to get a few shots of Russ up on the stairwell... well...umm...Sorry...Russ... Who said being a musician isn't dangerous? Thank God I have business liability insurance! Don't worry folks...he was okay! You have to remember Russ is a train professional...but please don't try this at home!
Tuesdays recording session was highly productive and a blast! I don't think we both laughed as hard as we did when it was all over. I think we both had tears in our eyes!
Until next time, Shawn
