Chris Brooks: axis recording diary

News:
17-02-2009:
Chris posted a diary on myspace of the on going recording sessions:

"Axis..." recording diary Days 1-4
January 20, 2009
Yesterday was an exciting day for me as we began the recording process of my forthcoming solo album "The Axis of All Things" (due May 09).

We're expecting a total of 4 days tracking Peter McDonaugh's drums at John Romeo's home studio in Kellyville NSW, though at the rate I think we're going the last day might end up being for editing and choosing the best of alternate takes.

Day 1 (video coming at a later date) was used for setting up the mics and channels on the computer, setting up and mic-ing Pete's kit, getting sounds, and laying down takes of three songs: "Axis...", "Feeding the Myth" and "Not the day nor the hour", the last of which we got one take of before calling it a day. "Axis was easy - two takes and a drop in and that was it!" "Feeding..." was almost the same story, maybe three takes.

Pete is bringing a very cool style and set of ideas to my songs. He knows when the song can be better, and he knows when it's perfectly fine. There's a dynamic element in each phrase that not even most good drummers have. You could edit, program and sample til the cows come home but you could never get this kind of stuff. We didn't have to workshop any of the ideas before recording because I trust in his ability to "bring it".

There are some killer fills that are very musical. You never have to guess when the next section of the song's coming when you listen to Pete track because even without listening to the guide tracks you know he's building up and simmering down to each section.

John's a dream to work with and we're on the same page. He digs the music and sonically he has way more expertise than I do. It's going to make mixing the album at the end a lot easier having a set of ears that knows more about frequencies and the sonic stuff than my own ears.

Well, that's it for day 1.

January 21, 2009

Well, Day 2 was a blur of frenzied drumming by Pete as we knocked over an incredible EIGHT songs in one 6-hour block!!!

Songs recorded: "Not the Day, Nor the Hour", "Sands of Time", "In and Out of Dreams", "Pulse", "Transfiguration", "Traversing The Blue", "Velvet Claws", and "Open Doors"!!

A mammoth effort, especially since Peter was playing these on the acoustic kit for the first time! In virtually every case we did a "vibe" take to get whatever initial performance came out (no rehearsal just straight into it), and then a second take once Pete settled in and felt happy with what he laid down. Both takes usually ended up with some magic unique to that take, and it's during the editing stage that I'll decide what worked best and go with that.

January 22, 2009

One song was all we had left to do on today's schedule. The song to end the drum sessions is also the song that will end the album; a cover of Kee Marcello's "Hammer's Heart". This song is very special to me because it was a revelation in melodic lead playing to me when I was a kid watching Europe's "Final Countdown World Tour" Video. It's a joy to be doing this song with my own touches to it and Pete breathed air into the drum parts with a very musical and spacious improvised take. Look out for the little Tico Torres tribute (inside joke). It was fun to have my dad Ken sitting in the control room with us to hear Pete finish off his contributions to the album. At 70 years of age my Dad is still a keen drummer and practices for up to 8 hours a day!

With that done and dusted, we decided to get Pete to record a drum solo whilst we had the kit all mic-ed up, and shortly after it was time to load up the McDonaugh mystery machine and give Pete a well-earned night off.

January 23, 2009

Yay - editing! To anyone that has ever spent 4 days editing the drum parts on just one song, I pity you, because THIS is a piece of cake!

What I'm all about with these tunes is getting the human dynamic across, so most of what John and I are doing involves starting with the take that has the most mojo, then doing slight alterations with anything that might have been a tiny bit too far left or right in the wav file. Pete's made it very easy for us in that regard because of the superb consistency of the tracks. He knows where the beat is and he knows how to push and pull in a very musical and creative way, and our job here is to stay true to that, and just polish the odd bit before we track the bass and guitar.

So, in the next few weeks between other work I'll endeavor to get rhythm guitars done before getting my bass players in for some low end madness!
Stay tuned and thanks for the comments and support!'

Comments