How We Did It This Time

So how are we recording this new album of mine? 

First of all, let me introduce to you my creative partner in crime, my husband John Caldwell. 

We have collaborated on multiple projects in the past: he recorded two of my albums -- Balancing Act and Out Of My Hands, he was also the second engineer on Bering Strait's Pages (that's how we met), and in addition to capturing and mixing my music, he is featured on Long Night that we co-wrote. Besides being an awesome engineer and producer, John is also a very talented songwriter and musician. His solo work include a hip-hop album and various electronica and dance music projects. 

As I mentioned in my post about Nashville sessions, this new album started out as a demo that I was going to record at home to save a bit of money. I thought that I could learn to play that song on a couple of instruments that are similar enough to acoustic guitar, just to add texture to the song (I kept hearing mandolin in my head, it was nagging me, begging to be included), and so I started with mandolin and banjo and practiced a little bit. 

Both instruments were borrowed, both refused to stay in tune, in fact we had to use pliers to tune the banjo, but when we sat down in our bedroom/studio and began to layer the tracks on top of one another, we realized that something totally special was happening. Somewhere between the sheer excitement of playing stuff that was new to me and the way those slightly pitchy, beat up instruments were blending with my lovely Guild acoustic, we stumbled upon a sound that was unlike anything I've ever done before. We kept adding stuff and adding stuff, getting more and more excited about it -- shakers, tambourine, e-bow... My favorite part of that track is the bass. Did you know that if you play gut string guitar like you would a bass and then drop the recorded notes down an octave, they sound just like an upright bass? I didn't either! Once my husband started playing with different effects, I just sat there listening, while in my mind a thought was forming: THIS IS IT. This is the next thing I'm going to do. 

So I asked my Nashville friends to lend me some instruments. One of the advantages of living in this town is that everyone has something to spare. My favorite one is a dulcitar, a chimera of an instrument, I borrowed from my friend and another collaborator on Long Night, Tim Buchanan, AKA Spun Counterguy. I will post some good pics with all the instruments I got to play at a later date. Here's a picture of me playing my hands. Did you know that you can make a shaker sound if you rub your palms together? I didn't.

I also finally got to play some piano which was always a dream of mine. I have this lifetime of unrequited love with the instrument -- Tori Amos being my favorite artist -- where every chance I got to study it, something would inevitably happen to prevent it. I have studied classical music IN RUSSIA seriously for close to 12 years, which normally would mean 12 years of playing piano as a second instrument, regardless of what specialty you are pursuing, but in my case they kept making exceptions to allow me to play acoustic guitar in Bering Strait and count that as my second instrument. As a result I have a combined 2 months of classical piano training, also known as a pathetic and failed attempt. Anyway, you will get to hear what I managed to get out of these clumsy non-piano fingers of mine, when everything is mixed and ready to be heard.

But the best part of the process is making music in pajamas. You should totally try it! This is it for now :)