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Rory's Suade Studio Diaries Part 3

2008-06-01 - 1:58 a.m.

Day #4
Morning broke in the secret studio location with The Colonel and I collecting all the beer bottles, red wine glasses, Starburst confectionery and cheese ... apparently all important ingredients in a successful night of vocal recording given the results we had yesterday.

After a morning cuppa we opened the account with me tracking Cheeky Girl, yet another rhythmn lesson from Loz, and with fresh bass pipes things went swimmingly. Tag team, Ian into the booth. The poor lad had a pesky 'A' note elude him for a bit, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the sound of raucous expletives coming from the booth suddenly swapped for pure countertenor tones when the recording loop kicked around again but he got through it and put down some great sounds.

I should point out that as each person sings their part in the booth, the other three are in the control room. Usually it's The Colonel at the helm of the computer, tracking the parts and communicating suggestions back to the 'boothee'. The control room is only large enough to swing a kitten but has 4 guitars, 2 keyboards, 4 computers, 2 desks, 4 chairs a mixing desks and never less than 3 blokes in it. It also smells like arse... Arse and Jelly Beans.

So Glad You're Here, a song written for my son Noah was up next. Ian syncopated his way through this simple, happy tune and came bouncing out of the booth with his common catch phrases 'Siiick' and 'Woohooooooo' and 'ImfeelinggreatcanIdoanotheronecanIcanIcanI?'. His unquenchable thirst for more led to the tracking of a great cover The Colonel arranged - Blue Eyes by Sir Elton.

Meanwhile back in the control room, Loz has one eye and ear on the music we're making, and the others scouring every corner of the internet for popular culture nuggets, the best of which were shown to the rest of us.

And Ian strode from the booth for the last time, the Laughing Policeman was quickly found and played through the studio monitors at full bore. With Loz as said Laughing Policeman's backup singer, the secret studio location and surroundings were subjected to hardcore joviality, much to Ian's approval. He, like all of us have come a long way since recording the last album. In my (humble) opinion:
- Ian has found more aspects of his voice, and is able to use them in recording (when he's concentrating ;P )
- Jacko, with his new found Logic Pro Version 8, is mastering the art of capturing our voices in their best light. On top of this, he ripped out an amazing, pooper busting part on the song Living Enough, be sure to listen out for it, simply stunning.
- Loz, while not singing a whole today, is much more constructive in his critique from the control room. More importantly he's been integral to creation of virtually every song on this record, a testament to his strengthening songwriting talent.
- and me, well I think I'm starting to get this singing thing - how to anchor songs and how to sit in the pocket of the groove

We broke for dinner and a much needed breather away from the secret studio location. We found a Thai restaurant and ordered a bunch of stuff and talked about things other than singing. With our stomachs full we headed back and got a few more tracks done. Which ones I don't really recall ... they were good.

So as the last piece of cheese gets eaten and the tenth last cheese gets squeezed for the night, we're content with our achievements on a record we just busting to get done.

Quote of the Night: "Hey, I just found a piece of Mongolian beef stuck in my arm hair *suck, suck, suck* " - L. Blain

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