Back In The US..SR

Loaded with Audio Files, Video Rushes,  and a pocket full of memories, Bob and I have left the building. A week ago Monday, December 8th. we recorded at Abbey Road. Still having a hard time believing we actually did it. It wasn't just a great dream was it? 

We have hours of video, thousands of pictures, a huge diary of words. All will be disected. Blog posts will be made. A DVD pressed. A booklet printed. A single release party in February or March in Tacoma. Yes, you will hear the songs. Yes, you will see what we experienced. All in good time...all in good time. These things have to be handled...delicately.

More things posting your way. Stand by.

It's Gonna Take More Than A Day...

The experience of recording at Abbey Road was just incredible. Both Tim and I began to sum it all up today, recounting the events of Monday as they took place. There's a lot to tell, and it will probably not be until we return to the states that we can begin to relate it. In the meantime, here are some photos of us having at it in Studio Two, Abbey Road Studios, London, NW8....

12 Hours and Counting

We started the day at a "Beatles Day" in London. A lovely little affair where vendors of Beatles-related ephemeralia sell stuff to collectors. Very small, but lots of nice stuff. Tim grabbed an Abbey Road case and I grabbed its matching wallet.

Then, we got back to the area near the hotel, sought out a pub, and had a late lunch with a couple of pints. Next, rehearsal for a couple of hours. It's clear we are in only a little over our heads, but I think we can pull this thing off. Particularly if Paul McCartney just happens by the studio and agrees to sing everything.

We are retiring early, and are intending to be at Abbey Road at 9:30 Monday morning (that's tomorrow as I write this). Knowing this, you can see clearly in this photo just how it is affecting our rehearsals...

More after the session!

Crossing Shots Enlarged

Click the shots for life-sized versions!

We Have Arrived

Boy have we arrived. Wasting no time. After we checked into our hotel we high tailed it so fast to Abbey Road that we created a wind vortex that is still hovering over the entire St. Johns Wood area. Upon arriving at the crosswalk we had what has been a surreal scene, so burned into our psyche, staring right back at us in living reality. Incredible feeling of a goal accomplished. Crossing the street was another story. London drivers move fast and on the left side. Our first attempts were in the dark and without cameras.

Saturday. After a proper English breakfast consisting of No Muffins, we headed out on a day of Beatle sightseeing on our own. We started out by heading back up to the Abbey Road crosswalk. But on the way, we realized we were right near Paul McCartney's house at 7 Cavendish in St. John's Wood. So, a photo opportunity. Next, it was back to the Abbey Road crossing, this time with a camera, to get some shots of us crossing the road, which you can see over to the right.

We were still in need of Beatle fixes, so we headed to a couple of Beatles stores. A couple of T-shirts and posters later, we were

 hungry. On the way out of the second Beatles store, we found a postcard for Sticky Fingers Restaurant - Bill Wyman's (Rolling Stones bass player) place. Couple of burgers and we were ready to move on. Check out the shot of Tim outside Sticky Fingers.

We decided to head over to the site of the old Apple Records building at 3 Savile Row where the Beatles performed their rooftop concert (and no, we didn't get to the roof). Tim snapped a shot of me.

Then it was off to Picadilly Circus... we were surprised to find the entire area closed off for a holiday celebration. We were in the mood for some celebrating! The remaining shots are of Picadilly Circus.

Everest

I have never climbed an actual mountain. A hill or two, yes...Everest no.  So it comes at no surprise to finally "put up" or "shutup" for our climb has come. Accordingly, Bob and I are packing our tents, goggles, boots, and gloves for our assent up Everest... (Abbey Road Studios) (For those of you real Beatle nerds, you understand the Everest/Abbey Road reference. If not, you have some googling to do). 

Chris Bolster has been assigned as our recording engineer in the famed Studio Two. (look him up on AbbeyRoad.com.) He has a brilliant resume, and has engineering experience on projects for McCartney, Lennon, and a few other hundred people I'm sure you've heard of. And now...Chris will get to add "Tim and Bob" to his curriculum vitae.  

In our few e-mail exchanges with Chris I suspect he is as gonzo for audio gear as much as Bob and I are. Hmmm let's see here...3 guys in a famous huge recording studio with all the best new and old recording gear...why its going to be a NERDFEST!!!! Chris even eluded to recording in Mono!!!! I love this guy and I haven't even met him yet.

So for those of you still awake, we depart for England December 4th. Arrive the 5th. Pace nervously in the Abbey Road Crosswalk December 6 and 7th. Arrive at EMI, Abbey Road Studios front door at 10am December 8th and begin our 12 hour (or 720 minute or 43,200 seconds) of mountain climbing at it's best. 

And savoring every second of the expedition I assure you.) 

Details shared as they become available and postable.

_Tim

Two weeks and Counting

Bob's pathos...

We're getting down to the wire. Who'da thunk that it would almost be a year to the day that we started putting together this crazy idea. The songs we're recording, "Don't Blink" and "It's Girls" have gone back and forth between us about a hundred times. Arrangements are taking shape. Vocals are, er, um, vocals. Sorta. 

So, in two weeks and three days, we are boarding airplanes in each of our home towns and heading to London. We'll meet there on Friday, Dec 5th. Then we've got two days to get acclimated and on Monday, December 8th, we're in Studio Two at Abbey Road Studios.

Gulp.

Gulp again.

Starting next Monday, I will be intensely prepping for this. I need to get to the point that I know every bit inside and out. That way, when I get to the studio, I can relax with the parts rather than having to concentrate on playing them.

Guitar parts. Vocal parts. Bass parts. Thank GOD Tim is playing the drum parts. They're the parts that are going to be right.

SO, we've got 12 hours in the studio. First 2 will be setting up and finding sounds. Down to ten...

Next, putting down the guitar tracks. That should take another 2 hours or so. 

Next up, drums. Tim will knock these out in 1o minutes. 

Down to 5 hours and 50 minutes left.

Next, bass. Add another 1.5 hours (that's 1.4 for my part - Tim will get his down in 10 minutes). 

Down to 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Vocals are next. Gonna need about 4 hours for these.

20 minutes left to mix. No problem, cuz we are working with a pro!

WHOA! Whatta ride.

Gettin dizzy!!!!

Old' Yeller

Less than 60 days before recording and I'm freaking out. And I'm freaking out over a variety of things too numerous to list here. Most are trivial. One isn't. 

I can't sing. I lack "on-key" unless flat is a key. Talk about surprised. I had some vocal abilities in a previous life, where did they go? I made a comment to Bob that I used to sing in a band. Hearing this remark, my wife immediately corrected me and said "You didn't sing...you yelled". Admitting you have a yelling problem is the first step. Okay, I admit it. I was a yeller. So...I am pulling out all stops and if necessary a checkbook to have a few personal voice coaches see if I can at least get back to "yelling on key". Roland comes over tonight. He gets free pizza, beer, and nightmares for my vocal assessment and prescription.

Lyrics finished. Music finished. Final touches being worked out. Getting closer. And Getting Better All the Time.

Rehearsing In Tacoma

It's seventwentyfiveam on octoberseventh. I am just waking up for the second day of rehearsals for our December 8th recording date at Abbey Road. 

I flew to Tacoma after a busy few days in San Francisco attending the AES show, where I picked up a minor cold. But the excitement of these rehearsals has been keeping my cold at bay.

Yesterday, Tim and I got together at his studio and worked on vocal arrangements for his song, 'Don't Blink.' I believe we have the song in very good shape, so we put down the basics for a scratch track. This morning, we'll put down those basics for my song, 'It's Girls' and then we'll start an actual dry run of recording both songs. Since we have to record and mix both in one day at Abbey Road, this will be a good test and a challenge to stay focused on what we have to do.

Our voices are a little rough, but are better than I thought they might be. I think we've both been singing more this year than we have in the past 20 or so, so voices are getting stronger. And the songs have really come together. They are strong, and have strong arrangements.

So, now the challenge is to practice them to the point that they are second nature to allow us to not have to worry about the parts at Abbey Road, but let us just relax into playing them.

Easy, no?

Anyway, I fly out tomorrow morning, back to Rochester until we convene in London 4 days before we are scheduled to record. Plenty of time to practice all of this.

And you know what? It'll be on us in no time at all and it's entirely possible that Tim and I will be sitting at this very table having lunch...

Twelve Eight o Eight

Finally. After months of delay and mild procrastination I announce with jubilation, Tim and Bob have a studio recording date at Abbey Road. TaDA.... December 8th!!!!!! 

Finally!!! This year has dragged on with endless bothersome things like...work...which got in the way of THE recording session that won't be denied. But no more. We go.

Yes, December 8th we show up at the front door of #3 Abbey Road with our little guitars and drumsticks in tow for a full day of recording like a Beatle.

So, be a friend would you and pass the Pepto, as Bob and I are now both officially queasy. The reality seems to be sinking in the gut region. And we thought this would be a breeze. We are not even close to being ready. But we will be. Will we ever.

Our Blog will now have frequent postings with up-to-date reality checks. Pull up a chair, as a splendid time is guaranteed for all. 

On a more sombre note, as many of you know, December 8th also marks the anniversary of the death of John Lennon. Most people remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard of this tragic and senseless murder...I was watching football on TV when the shocking news was announced. Click here to watch the first public announcement. 

Memories From Two Different Brains

OK. We have to get this out of the way first... What I said to Tim was NOT that his song, "Don't Blink" had the ingredients to make a "nice little diddy." What I said was "this song is so f#$%^ing full of hooks it's at least 3 hit songs in one!!!!"

I mean, I hate to point out what turning 50 can do to one's memory. Clearly, one of us is remembering wrongly (hint - it's him).

So, the rest of what he says is right on the money. Tim and I had an iChat rehearsal a few weeks ago, which was a blast. We kicked ideas back and forth for "Don't Blink" and came up with a good approach. A couple nights later, I put my interpretation of what we talked about down in Logic and did a quick mix. My vocals were the couple of lines that Tim mentions, repeated over and over with some sort of humming and nonsense lyrics thrown in where there are none yet. I did three tracks - lead and a set of harmony backgrounds - and I gotta say they were absolute rubbish - out of tune, out of time, out of my league. But, thanks to todays modern tools, I was able to bend the recordings into tune and cut them up to make the timing right.

I did my best Beatle backgrounds and, perhaps, one day when the Anthology of this project comes out, you'll get to hear the demos.

I gave my take to Tim, who has been adding some stupendous drum parts. And most recently, he's shown me his "Wall Of Sound" remix with huge drums and bass. It's sounding great!

My tune, as Tim notes, is called "It's Girls." And I did complete the demo in one day - New Year's Day. But in all fairness, it was a song that I'd started WAAAY back in the late 1980s to sing with my then band Personal Effects. At the time, I had a couple of verses and a couple of choruses, and the music was completely different. For this demo, I rewrote the words and came up with an entirely new melody. I had a blast doing the demo, singing at the top of my lungs, and learning how to get those wonderful Liverpool sounds out of my guitar and bass.

The demo ends up sounding like BeatlesBeachboys-amatic - as if you tossed them into a blender and got a surfing on the Thames kind of sound.

So, the next step is for Tim to get off his duff and finish up some words. I've offered to have a lyric rehearsal so he could get some feedback in real time - a real John and Paul approach. I hope he takes me up on it.

Anyway, I think it's clear that we've got two giant hits on our hands. All we have to do is get to England, record and mix them in a day, get them out into the market, get some musicians to tour with, make a trillion dollars and fend off the groupies.

I am looking forward to the England part AND the trillion dollars. I have my own groupies at home...

Time Sure Do Pass Don't It?

Sorry for the long time no talk. So..let's update shall we?

2008 New Years Resolution found me standing in front of the world wide mirror vowing to lose some weight, get into shape...and most importantly starting voice lessons, bass lessons, and writing a hit song.

Well, Nadda. Zip. Nothing. But YES!!!! to the procrastinating!!! I SO rock at that. 

With the arrival of Spring however...progress is about to be made. Not on the weight front..geez...no...but real important stuff like my song. It hath been mostly written but not yet sung. What I mean by that is I lack just a few things...like actual lyrics. Bob has been keen to use several working phrases that now are permanently etched into my feeble brain blocking me even more.  Anyway, my song does have a title which is...drum roll please.."Don't Blink". The song has progressed from my working title of "Don't Stink". 

"Funny, the only thing that separates Stink from Blink is a single letter"  Nigel Tufnel...Spinal Tap

I have had great help and encouragement from close friends Bill Davie and Roland Burdge...both of whom are gifted musicians and even more talented friends. The song passed their smell test and I got a couple of very usable phrases.

Musically, Bob has reassured me that "Don't Blink" contains all the necessary ingredients to make a nice little diddy. Whatever that means...

Speaking of Bob. His song was written on the day he intended to write it and as expected...perfect right out of the can. Titled "It's Girls" this song has all the designated hooks one would expect from a Beatles junkie. I'll let him tell you all about it if he chooses to write a line or two on the blog.  As his designated studio drummer he has instructed me to emulate not Ringo Starr but an automated drummer named "The Remulac 8000" which plays 120 beats per minute in perfect tempo. Plus I hear the Remulac doesn't drink all the beer and steal the guitar players girlfriend after the gig.

Okay gotta jog to the fridge. More later.