Saturday saw another delayed effort for the core (minus Tom) of the band. Due to a client emergency for John, he was delayed until about 5 on Saturday. I arrived in the pub at 1 but managed not to get soused and to play at least 10 games of pool. My pool game is back on form and the governor (well stand-in) of the pub, Gavin, kept me honest (and I did likewise). The Leather Bottle in Wimbledon has the single best pub pool-table I have ever played on, anywhere. It is a proper full-size one as well, just like the one sitting in my parent's basement in Maine.
Anyway, once John showed up, we had another drink, as well as a nice dinner. Upon return to his studio he worked on put together a decent rough track (using Logic's in-built instruments, his guitar, and keyboard). We then proceeded with a bit of rehearsal where he got me to nuance the lyrics to make them sound better when recorded: things like holding the end of the line longer to ease transition were worked on, in minute detail. Then it was onto the studio and recording, with a realisation in the end. We did several takes, including at least one recording of me whingeing about the chorus (which I bloody wrote). Towards the end of our time in the studio, after a recurring problem of overly nasal recordings, we discovered a problem. As I was recording I was drinking tea with lemon instead of my normal wine. Alas, it meant several trips to the bog. It was during one of these that John heard me singing my lyrics in the middle of my range.
After little convincing we decided to move everyone down an octave. This will mean that at least two of us won't have to deal with the upper-limits of our vocal range. This will mean less strain and the voice, thus less nasally singing. After all, we are rock band, not Britney Spears!
We should have a rough MP3 today for us to listen to and, (at least in my case), cringe. Hopefully the vocal team will be able lay down their vocals with aplomb on Wednesday.Then we get to move on to the next song...
We are still having troubles finding a reliable and suitable guitarist. Wonder what it would take to get Mike over to lay down some of his sweet licks.
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