March 11, 2009
Photo by Michael Rauner - http://www.michaelrauner.com
Its 6:45 in the morning. Oz and I are staying at my dear friend Daidie’s house in the Berkeley Hills. Daidie is a big part of this recording project and my life in general. Besides being one of my closest friends I regard her as a business partner. She is the person I talk to every day. When I get my 501(c3)/non-profit status (more on that later I’m sure) she will be our development director and will be a member of the board. She found a third of the funding we needed to do this album. In fact, the funding she got for us paid for the computer I’m typing this on. Thank you Daidie.
Last night in the studio was magic. After we were done with the cello and bass, Bela (my 12 y.o. daughter), Blue (my 10 y.o. son), Seth (best friend/bass player), and I howled over the end of “Coyote”. It was sweet. As the song faded, Blue made “sad dog” whining sounds. It sounds great.
Then we recorded Bela singing with me in the chorus section of “the gates” last night. She and I were facing each other, each with our own mic. It was so lovely. We were smiling at each other as we sang. Our love was palpable. I held back tears. I’m soooo glad that Bela and Blue are on this album.
After that we overdubbed the vocals on “If the Stars Could Sing”. We are keeping the live vocals on every other song on the album but by the time we got to tracking “If the Stars” I was exhausted and we could hear it in my voice. I was hesitant to do it since all the other songs are live but I’m glad we did it. My voice was nicely warmed but fresh last night. It felt like butter. I also learned a good trick. I had a lover of mine join me in the isolation booth as I sang. It helped me a lot. I’m used to singing in front of people (I regard live performance as my primary medium). Having her there lifted my performance.
On that note, the other day when we were tracking, Tom Sepe was in the studio documenting our process on video. When he came into the isolation booth with a camera pointed at me I noticed that I was more comfortable singing the songs. I realized that I’m accustomed to singing in front of people, singing FOR people. When I didn’t have anyone except a microphone and the band (who was in a separate room) to sing for, I was not as comfortable. The camera felt like an audience and I told the story of the song more clearly and I sang better. Good to know.
I must admit that I’m proud of the fact that out of 13 songs on my album, I only had to redo one vocal. I’ve really grown as a singer. There are places where my voice isn’t “perfect”, but as Tom Waits told Seth while they were touring together, “Perfect is the enemy of good.” Or as I say, “We are perfect in our imperfections.”
Today we begin mixing. So exciting.
I’m going to drink my tea, stretch and go for a walk in these hills.
