Back-Up Vocals

Today I got to tag along with the guys for another trip to the recording studio. My goal today was to record the back-up vocals for an old song of theirs, Tuesday. It was my idea to try some harmonies with the song and the singer was all for it.

As Dave and I got out of the car, the band members were all standing in the parking lot outside of the studio. This seemed odd, since they should have been inside setting up the equipment and getting everything mic'ed.

They told us that the producer's computer had suffered a serious setback and we wouldn't be able to work on any of the previously recorded material. They could only record new takes of things, and edit from there.

Luckily a few of the guys had a back-up CD of the June recording session so we were able to pull up Tuesday and work on that track.

I had been fighting a cold or suffering from allergies all week long, and my voice was terribly hoarse. One of the guys joked that I sounded like Barry White. Despite my attempts to heal my voice through gargling, sinus rinses, teaspoons of honey, and lots of tea, it wasn't looking very promising. After a few cough drops, I was ready to give it a try.

Joe set me up in the isolated sound booth with my headphones and a microphone, and we got to work. I sang once through as a warm-up and followed up with the "real deal." After that, I got called back to the production booth where we all took a listen to the rough recording.

It was agreed that the one take was a go, so my work there was done! Just like that, it was over. I stuck around for a few more minutes to shoot some video while the guys did their final warm-ups and adjustments. The energy in the room was very high and it seemed like it was going to be a very successful day despite the initial setback with the equipment.

I left before any of the recording started, leaving the men alone to do their jobs. Late tonight, Dave should arrive home with a CD of the day's results. My hope is that they will have had time to edit Tuesday, and maybe add some reverb to my track to help disguise some of the voice cracks.

Here's a short video from the early portion of the day.