The last little pieces of the recording plan fell into place this week, as I got a double bass player, and some of the additional vocalists into the studio. I’m spending a few days not listening to anything now, so I can go back with fresh ears and hear what I’ve done over the 11 days in total that I spent tracking in the studio. Perhaps fresh ears will point out something I need on a track that I’d not previously planned on, or thought of, or will pick out something that was recorded that maybe doesn’t work or fit as well as I thought it would. Regardless, I’m taking a break from it all, and listening to other music that I love.
Meadhbh was up on Tuesday to do her parts for me and even managed to remind me of a harmony part that I’d completely forgotten which she had demo’d for me nearly three years ago. I also added her voice into the mix where I’d been building up a choral texture of my own voice. I wanted an additional vocal timbre in the mix to better clarify some of the lines and to highlight some of the detail in the arrangements that I thought were getting a bit lost with just one multi-tracked voice.
Later that afternoon, some of the :fund:it backing singers landed in to track their parts. There had been a few cancellations over the previous weekend, but at that stage the studio time had been arranged and worked around all the dates and times that had been sent to me. It’s a pity that some people had to cancel last minute, but those who arrived and sang had a great time in the studio. I made a last minute change to what I wanted them to sing on one of the tracks, and wasn’t fully sure myself if it would work on the song or not, but the part sounds really wonderful and makes me smile so much. They got to see the studio, and have a look around the control room. Tracking some parts for a second track they really got to see how some parts are put together in the studio, and see how I put together some of the vocal arrangements.
On Wednesday George was in the studio to add double bass parts on some of the tracks. Damn, but that is a sexy instrument. It really helped add some more depth to the tracks it was on. Prior to this, the only bass notes have been from the piano parts, and I wouldn’t say my left hand is my strongest to be perfectly honest.
One of my favourite things about this whole process has been hearing what other musicians have brought to the songs – I’ve had ideas, or parts, or rough notions of what I wanted, and seeing how they interpreted all that was nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. Sometimes frustrating too, but always rewarding in the end. At times it was just sheer great fun.
