Tracking, Day Three

Greetings, good people of the interland.

I didn't have much time to write yesterday because it was a busy one. We only tracked two songs Wednesday (Windows in the World and Don't Give Up On Me) because of all the set up. We didn't even get started until about 2 pm so getting two songs was somewhat of a surprise.

You can see in the video how we're watching Paul and Matt on a monitor. That's because in Paul's studio, the drum/bass room is downstairs. We could talk back and forth via the millions of patch cables and microphones, but being able to see the guys makes it much easier, if only psychologically. Whenever Paul needs to talk to us we can hear him pretty well through his drum mics, but Matt's bass was a direct line so he had to yell across the room so the drum mics could hear him.

We were fresh out of free channels so we couldn't set up a mic just for that, and I made some joke about walkie talkies. Then someone (I think it was Gully) suggested a baby monitor. I promptly called the Osengas (who live about fifty yards away) and appropriated theirs. (Sorry Ella and Sadie, you're on your own. Adulthood is thrust upon us, young ones.) So Matt was able to talk to us without having to yell, plus whenever he felt alone and started crying we heard and came into the room to swaddle the li'l guy.

That night on the way home I mentioned to Ben (we carpool because we live just a few minutes apart these days) that the book wasn't closed on songs for the record, so if he had any song ideas floating around to let me know. He told me about an idea involving some Old Testament stories and I perked up. I worked on it a little bit that night (until 2 am or so) and played it for him the next day. He liked it.

Yesterday (Thursday) we tracked a new song called Rocket, Invisible God, The Good Confession, and All Things New. Four songs is a lot for a day, and we didn't finish up until eight or nine. Just before we left the studio I played Ben's new song idear for Andy G. and he really liked it, which gave me a little more of a push to finish the thang. On the way home Ben and I wrote a little more, and when I dropped him off we agreed to call if there were any fresh ideas.

So that night after folding the laundry with Jamie and wrestling with the kids I signed on to my iChat account and Ben and I finished the song via the interweb. I wonder if it's the first song co-written on iChat? I saved the transcript for posterity.

Anyway, I say all that to say that today we tracked the new song, called All You'll Ever Need, then I've Got News, and Love is a Good Thing. We had a celebratory meal at Ted's Montana Grill (which involved a bison burger with bacon for me) and wrapped the tracking session.

It was a good three days. The Lord knows I've been in some stressful tracking sessions, so it was a great blessing that everyone got along well, the parts were relatively easy to find, and everybody I'm lucky enough to be working with on this album is really, really good at what they do.

Oh, and I went to see the new Harry Potter film with Ben and his brother tonight. I would give you some sort of review but the late nights this week caught up to me and I slept through about a third of the movie.

One thing is certain, though: I missed Ed Harris as Dumbledore. The new guy just doesn't cut it.

AP