We made a decent recording of the Swan piece by Saint-Saens. Margaret easily fell under the spell of Carol, who casts an air of ease and comfort across her studio. She had something of a scratchy throat and her voice wasn't what Margaret wanted but she did 3 or 4 takes and Carol got it. It took about half a day but I recorded the guitar part. It's been interesting using the new software. It was a good thing, because after taking a break and chatting a little about relationships, I decided not to use the click track after all. The music was talking I think. It was saying it needed to breathe and the metronome was choking it out.
I made a right brain switch and felt focused and attentive but not pressured, not looking for doing it right the first time. When that happened I knew it was the right time. I played through it one time and noted a couple of spots that needed watching, then told Carol "this is it" and she recorded me. It went smoothly. But there were a couple of things in the music I hadn't noticed!
At the end where it slows and is more interpretive, I have been playing a Gsus4 where the music clearly shows an Ami7 with an E bass. Never noticed that before! And the final harmonic passage ends on an arpeggiated Emi harmonic series with a G added in the bass - I had always played straight from the D harmonics to the G. It added a few seconds to the recording. How did I ever miss that???
There is more to say but without becoming long-winded I was mostly happy with what I played and Carol seemed happy with it. So we quit while we were ahead and burned it for Tanya.
Tanya came in as part of her helter-skelter schedule right at suppertime after picking up her daughter and taking her to college and just before going to community choir - she had barely a few minutes to dash off a recording! Ever the professional, she didn't waffle or waver and she made the cut. Tanya played 3 times and picked the best one, left for choir. She was there maybe about 20 minutes total.
I got there 10 minutes later after dropping the kids off at karate to find Carol mixing it down. We agreed the voice and flute should be about the same volume, with the guitar dropping into a "support" position. That's when the magic happened. So the piece has Margaret reading the Swan poem, guitar picking it up and the flute taking it away. At the end it sounds like the flute and guitar are in the same room taking cues off each other. It ends gently and if you ask me quite nicely.
Afterwards, I dashed over to Margarets to play it for her. She of course isn't happy with her part. She doesn't like the sounds of her breathing - which is kind of cool sounding I think. It's the Grandma touch! She also doesn't like how she reads a couple of words. I'm not happy with mine, either (a couple of goobers we could fix) and I haven't heard Tanya's report but I have a feeling she won't like her playing either!
I made a right brain switch and felt focused and attentive but not pressured, not looking for doing it right the first time. When that happened I knew it was the right time. I played through it one time and noted a couple of spots that needed watching, then told Carol "this is it" and she recorded me. It went smoothly. But there were a couple of things in the music I hadn't noticed!
At the end where it slows and is more interpretive, I have been playing a Gsus4 where the music clearly shows an Ami7 with an E bass. Never noticed that before! And the final harmonic passage ends on an arpeggiated Emi harmonic series with a G added in the bass - I had always played straight from the D harmonics to the G. It added a few seconds to the recording. How did I ever miss that???
There is more to say but without becoming long-winded I was mostly happy with what I played and Carol seemed happy with it. So we quit while we were ahead and burned it for Tanya.
Tanya came in as part of her helter-skelter schedule right at suppertime after picking up her daughter and taking her to college and just before going to community choir - she had barely a few minutes to dash off a recording! Ever the professional, she didn't waffle or waver and she made the cut. Tanya played 3 times and picked the best one, left for choir. She was there maybe about 20 minutes total.
I got there 10 minutes later after dropping the kids off at karate to find Carol mixing it down. We agreed the voice and flute should be about the same volume, with the guitar dropping into a "support" position. That's when the magic happened. So the piece has Margaret reading the Swan poem, guitar picking it up and the flute taking it away. At the end it sounds like the flute and guitar are in the same room taking cues off each other. It ends gently and if you ask me quite nicely.
Afterwards, I dashed over to Margarets to play it for her. She of course isn't happy with her part. She doesn't like the sounds of her breathing - which is kind of cool sounding I think. It's the Grandma touch! She also doesn't like how she reads a couple of words. I'm not happy with mine, either (a couple of goobers we could fix) and I haven't heard Tanya's report but I have a feeling she won't like her playing either!
Perfect! It's got character.
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