We’re stepping out into our first recording foray as a band. Do the words ‘easier said than done’ come to mind? Well, they should.
First of all, the both of us have very different backgrounds when it comes to the process of recording. Josh has a bunch, since he has a history as a rock star (did you know he played bagpipes for Flatfoot 56?). Stasia - has slim to none. The main thing she knew about recording is that it involved chaining oneself to a click track (kind of like a newfangled metronome, for you old school types) and enduring excruciating shame of the highest order.
Since beginning the process, she has found that the click track is your friend. It helps you stay on beat, and people tend to like that sort of thing when it comes to music. Also, even though making mistakes is something that everyone can hear her doing pretty consistently, she has wisely chosen to surround herself with folks that love her anyways.
That said, the following metaphor for the recording process came up in the car the other day (and a fine, blustery Chicago day it was). Recording is a little like surgery. You have to separate each strand of the song out and lay them down next to each other. The click track is kind of like a grid, helping you line it all up. But the odd thing about that is that when the songs are first being created, they don’t grow in separate, easily detangled strands. They grow together, kind of like two trees, twisting around each other. So trying to get each separate tree down without the other is just plain odd.
Also, from what information about surgery is available to us on TV shows, it would appear that you need to look very closely at what you’re doing. It’s almost as if you need a giant magnifying glass to get a really good look at all the guts you’re messing about with. (Again, ‘from TV’ is the operative term here.) Well, recording turns out to have its own magnifying glass, except it’s for your ears! Every little sound and misstep is glaringly obvious, which can make a person feel like they should really just hand in their band badge. But again, when one has surrounded oneself with people that genuinely love one regardless, it smooths many a mistake over.
All that to say - we’re recording our first album! In a for-real, professional studio! With a for-real, professional sound engineer! We’ll keep you updated and well fed with information you didn’t know you needed!
