As I've mentioned before, our band is working on recording a new CD. We are not the type of band that is looking for a record contract - I really can't imagine the label that would be looking for us! But we do have a fairly sophisticated audience. Until recently, recording for them would've required that we go into a physical studio with ProTools software, mics that we were afraid to breathe on too hard and soundproofing everywhere. We would then shut the door on the outside world and record. Things have changed since then. The software and hardware required for quality recording have become drastically more affordable. We have some of the required sound engineering skills in the band and some on loan to us from the guy who is adding our percussion tracks (he is AMAZING). All in all, it might take us longer than if we devoted ourselves to (paid for) studio time, but it is more consistent with the band dynamic. So, we got together for dinner on Tuesday and listened to what we have done so far. Then we added a few more tracks.
Recording is still a bit strange for me. My best musical work is usually "in the moment"; I like to be aware of what everyone is doing around me and then add my voice (literally or figuratively) to that sound. In recording, I may only be hearing a small fraction of what I typically hear live. And, once I'm done, I have to listen to what I've done and decide if it is "good enough" to keep. Yikes! But it does give us a second opportunity (building the song for performance is the first) to take the songs apart, examine the component pieces and then put them back together. Believe it or not, these few pieces of paper might be among the top ten things that our band would save from a fire right now!
By recording this way, we are also allowing ourselves the luxury of time together without an audience. Funny things happen when our band spends this much time together hearing each other in our headphones. For example, this little burro will probably have its picture somewhere on the CD. In fact, the studio space(s) in which we record this CD will probably be named after him. Why? I can't explain it - and I was there! I don't know if I can even count all of the times that he has come up in these sessions so far. Somehow, he has become the touchstone for this CD. Did I mention that funny things happen?
As I've mentioned before, our band is working on recording a new CD. We are not the type of band that is looking for a record contract - I really can't imagine the label that would be looking for us! But we do have a fairly sophisticated audience. Until recently, recording for them would've required that we go into a physical studio with ProTools software, mics that we were afraid to breathe on too hard and soundproofing everywhere. We would then shut the door on the outside world and record. Things have changed since then. The software and hardware required for quality recording have become drastically more affordable. We have some of the required sound engineering skills in the band and some on loan to us from the guy who is adding our percussion tracks (he is AMAZING). All in all, it might take us longer than if we devoted ourselves to (paid for) studio time, but it is more consistent with the band dynamic. So, we got together for dinner on Tuesday and listened to what we have done so far. Then we added a few more tracks.
Recording is still a bit strange for me. My best musical work is usually "in the moment"; I like to be aware of what everyone is doing around me and then add my voice (literally or figuratively) to that sound. In recording, I may only be hearing a small fraction of what I typically hear live. And, once I'm done, I have to listen to what I've done and decide if it is "good enough" to keep. Yikes! But it does give us a second opportunity (building the song for performance is the first) to take the songs apart, examine the component pieces and then put them back together. Believe it or not, these few pieces of paper might be among the top ten things that our band would save from a fire right now!
By recording this way, we are also allowing ourselves the luxury of time together without an audience. Funny things happen when our band spends this much time together hearing each other in our headphones. For example, this little burro will probably have its picture somewhere on the CD. In fact, the studio space(s) in which we record this CD will probably be named after him. Why? I can't explain it - and I was there! I don't know if I can even count all of the times that he has come up in these sessions so far. Somehow, he has become the touchstone for this CD. Did I mention that funny things happen?
1 comment:
This one makes me smile - no, grin! How fun. And one of the pages is "Things that I made up" ? ? ? And I don't care why or how he got there, the burro is really cute.
Post a Comment