A Visit to the Recording Studio

For the past few months, Dave has asked if I wanted to sit in on a recording session with his band. They are working on their third CD right now and so far, it is sounding pretty amazing. I was hesitant to sit in, not wanting to ruin their momentum, and I always felt like it might be awkward, having "one of the wives" watching.

Yesterday Dave went ahead and arranged for a babysitter, Omi, to watch the kids for a few hours so I could go and watch the band in action. The deal was, I would only have to stick around for half an hour, watch them work, and then I could leave to do some shopping sans kids. Only part of the band would be there anyhow (no drummer or rhythm guitarist), so it was pretty low-key.

At 8:30, we left on our Sunday morning date, first making a quick pitstop at Starbucks for food and fuel, meaning an expensive breakfast sandwich and an iced Americano... and then headed to Solstice Recording Studio in Stoughton.

By the time we arrived, Jason (the bass player) and Chris (the singer) had unloaded and set up all of the equipment. Dave set to work on tuning up while I got a quick tour of the place.

Derelict 80: Chris, Dave and Jason
(Missing: Andre and Rian)

And that's when I spotted the baby grand.

I made a beeline for it, peeling back the thick, dark blanket to reveal a shiny black Yamaha baby grand piano. I played a few notes. It sounded good, really good.

Pitter patter, pitter patter.

I wished I had brought along some music.

Dave asked Joe, the producer, to pull something up so I could get a feel for what it's like in the booth. I requested Lines, a favorite of mine that they're currently working on, which features a catchy guitar solo by Dave.

Joe played around with the levels, pulling some tracks in and out so I could hear the isolated instruments. Having had a digital piano with MIDI and sequencing capabilities, I knew how all of it worked but it was fun to see a professional at work.

I don't remember how exactly it transpired, but Dave started playing Tuesday on his acoustic guitar. I was sitting at the piano and asked what chords he was playing. I started playing along and after a few seconds, the singer joined in.

Before we knew it, it was a full jam session. We ended the song and Chris looked through the glass window into the production booth and said,"Joe, did you get that?"

And that's when we, meaning THEY, decided that it was good enough to record. After ONE time through, ready or not, we were on.

Yikes! Talk about stage fright!!

We recorded the track and then all headed into the booth to listen to the playback. I cringed at a wrong chord that I had played, but they assured me that Joe could "punch it out" and "paste in" one of my other correctly played chords into that spot.

What a treat to get to play with these guys!

Well, gosh! That was a lot of fun! Certainly more fun that going shopping at Ikea. I glanced at my watch and was surprised to see that it was almost 10:00. I had planned to be gone by then!

The guys liked the piano track on Tuesday so much that they, amongst themselves, decided that I should play on their new song, Sinking, as well.

Sinking is an ambient, atmospheric, kind of creepy song with only two chords. A bit Radiohead-ish... slow and in an odd time signature.

We ran through it once and I felt fairly comfortable, despite the difficult timing. Joe recorded the four of us and then we once again crowded into the booth to hear the playback. I wasn't happy with how my part sounded and felt I could do better.

They asked me to record my track alone, with headphones on, while a previously recorded version played into my ears. It was tricky for me because it lacked the energy that I felt when we were all playing as a group and I felt like I was in the spotlight. I don't do well under that kind of pressure.

The guys insisted that they liked it, but I knew I could improve and come up with something more creative. Dave suggested that I could come back another time once I had worked my part up, so I may take him up on that.

I also need to remember that this is just a rough edit. Once Joe adds some effects like reverb and cleans it up a bit, it will sound better. And of course, music ALWAYS sounds better in headphones... not in a tiny recording booth.

In any case, here's a little summary of how it all went down.



I got my five minutes of fame this morning and I can honestly say it was a blast. It was such an adrenalin rush; I don't think my heart has slowed down since.

Then again, maybe it's just the caffeine from my Cafe Americano!