We carry on where we left off, with Blair and I in the small room and Will with Mark in the big one.
First of all I must get the Synth files in Logic converted to audio files so Will can hear the playing to solo. Once that’s done Blair and I start on It’s Late.
We both agree that an electric piano could work, but what kind, and doing what? While we’re mulling this Will arrives and gets started on Blue Like Mars. We can hear him through two sets of walls getting his sound…
We go back and forth – I have Blair play what seems appropriate and I comment. It takes and hour or so before I twig that we might be onto a Christine McVie (aka Perfect) vibe and she is probably my favourite Electric Pianist, along with Joan W. The song seems to want a semi ad-libbed feel, so I let Blair play, and play and play and I make notes and then we listen and assemble what we like. It takes time – a long time – but we get 60% of the song.
I take breaks to listen to what Will is up to. As usual he has recorded 3 parts when 1 would have been fine. But he is finding good parts, the solo in BLM is now great and maybe his other supporting parts could help in the mix… I doubt it, but I don’t erase them.
Blair and I continue on It’s Late and when we seem to be 75% done I check how Mark and Will are getting on – Will and I had some ideas already for It’s Late… but they have done nothing, they were waiting for the Electric Piano file… that’s an hour wasted thanks to rotten supervision on my part… I will not work two rooms with two players ever again…
We plough on and while we complete the piano I have them get started on sounds… by early evening we have a complete piano part. 6 hours may seem a long time to get this together but the part is subtle and the various themes are varied as the song progresses. I’m very happy with it.
Over to Will. He’s recorded one of the motifs we had in mind already but he’s put it all through the song. He thinks it is perfect I do not. Producing one’s son is not easy. He clearly sees songs differently to me. This being the case he’s going to come up with different ideas, ideas I wouldn’t. Just like Quine, really. And I have to be the one to say Thanks But No Thanks more often than I’d like…
While we work on string ideas in the small room I have him get started on the solo. It seems I might be better at tackling the other motif and he’s getting somewhat surly about it…
Blair and I try this and that and eventually I suggest a PolyEvolver patch I edited a few years ago called Elizabeth F. It’s close but B wants to edit the release. In doing so he somehow makes the patch a self playing arpeggio… and it sounds great just droning away. We work more on it, open the filter and have it pay itself and Blair adds keyboard input (thus further opening the filter) in the B-Verses. That’s It’s Late finished, keyboard wise.
I check on Will and he’s very happy with his solo idea – a repeating phrase with a tremolo part underneath. Again I do not agree. It’s great idea but not IT. I have him play some more to finesse the part, the whole time he remains certain that his original idea is best, and I’m sure it isn’t. At least Quine developed a trust in me – when I would have him play something over and then assemble a solo from various takes he was almost always very happy with the results. Not so my offspring. This isn’t that much fun. His ideas are great but he’s never going to play his best when he’s in bad mood. I push it as far as I can and we have a great solo. Really great? Maybe not. More work will be needed. That may involve me and M Schwaber dissecting the part and reconstructing it… we shall see. I get Blair home. He leaves at 4 AM. We are all very tired, which hasn’t helped. I will take a day off tomorrow.
Day 30 – Two Rooms again