From the Studio - Take 18

Getting closer!

As of last night we have something recorded for all of the ten songs originally scheduled on the album. (I say "originally" because there is a strong possibility we'll be adding a bonus track. More on that later)

So last night's mission was to get Chris in and record his drum parts alongside Danny. He's playing drums on three of the songs: "We Prepare the Way," "Your Love is Deep" and "Draw Me Close." We started with "Draw Me Close." For both this song and "Your Love is Deep," there was already an acoustic track to play to. This proved to be a challenge, as Chris is used to being the one keeping the time. After a couple of attempts, we decided to move on to a faster song, so we switched to "Your Love is Deep."

This fared a little better, but still took a couple of takes to get it "just right." Chris was learning what the rest of us had discovered through a lot of hard experience: when it comes to recording in the studio, less is more. We had to work on his beat, first to match it to the guitar rhythm, and to simplify it. Finally, he had one great take, with just a couple of places that it could be fixed up. One final take, and it sounded perfect.

We moved back to the first song. This time, with a plan in his head of how to tackle it, it went much easier. Chris and Danny did one more run-through, and then tracked bass and drums perfectly.

With some time left, we decided to go for the last song, "We Prepare the Way." A couple of quick minutes to warm up, and the guys nailed it in one take. Outstanding!

So, next week will be some electric and piano, and recording the bonus track. Hopefully, that will do it for the bulk of the music, and we can hand the project over to the vocalists the following week. If we can wrap up recording by Thanksgiving, there's a good chance we can get everything mixed and mastered in time for Christmas.

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