Sunday February 9
With Les on the road out west a couple weeks with John McEuen, Dustin and I teamed up for several sessions to start laying down my acoustic guitar parts over the rhythm sections we've tracked.
Prior to adding more tracks though, there is always some basic editing work to do on the bass and drums. There is a natural bit of imprecision with human tracks relative to programming beats, and that establishes the “feel” of a track. Every now and then we play a beat a little too much slightly late or early, or hit a wrong note - things that are easily edited, and in our case, usually by selecting another of our 2-3 takes for that short segment. Sometimes we do it because “I liked that drum fill on Take 2 better” - often simply a matter of taste! We edit those rhythm tracks before we add any more layers, so that rhythmic imprecisions don't multiply with successive instruments laying down their parts. Editing is an art and craft unto itself, and Dustin's skills make everything seamless and smooth.
Once we're happy that everything lines up nicely and “feels good”, then we start layering the other rhythm instruments. Because I've been in the same room with Lisa recording her drum tracks, I've done all my basic tracking with electric guitar - even on the acoustic songs because the drums would be heard all over any mics we put on the acoustic. Those “scratch tracks" help everyone know where we are in the song until we're able to add the other instruments and vocals, and if we don't need them in the final mix they are discarded once we're done.
Recording with microphones is another studio art unto itself. Choosing the mics that capture the full range of sound, placing them properly, and finding the best spot on acoustic instruments to place them properly takes some time and trial and error. Humans move around a bit while they play, and it's important to try to get into the same position if you have to get up to get water or use the bathroom, etc. Science helps! Once we've got that set up the way we want, we measure distances and angles, and take a few pictures for reference too.
Dustin and I have worked together a LOT over the past 6-7 years! Once we're set up and ready to “roll tape” we slip into a really easy and relaxed workflow quickly and efficiently. We get a lot done in relatively short order; we'd get a good rhythm guitar on the first take, and then record a second pass as a “safety take" in case we find a moment that didn't sound or feel as good on the first take. Then I'd add another layer with my solos, breaks, fills and the other fancy stuff. I'm actually personally pretty jazzed about how our arrangement of the traditional tunes “Red Haired Boy” and “Salt Creek” are coming together.
We knocked out “Gatlinburg” and “Guitar Man” with its “Bill Cheatham” outro in short order over a couple sessions with my Martin guitar, then did the “Red Haired Boy” suite on the Fairbuilt. Different tones and different playability influence my choices, but truthfully I'm happy as a clam with either guitar in hand, and hopefully you can hear that on the final recording.
More about arranging in the next blog post - another big part of our project.
Dustin has his hands full between the audio recording and filming our sessions for future use too.
That face!
This all seems very complicated.
Let's just say Dustin is NOT a fan of “fixing it in the mix”; let's record it right from the get-go.