First TX recording sessions :0

The kids keep talking about being in a band, but I keep telling them that being in a band isn’t something you do, it’s something you ARE.  In order to see any kind of results it takes practice - first alone, then with others – and some idea of what you want to do.  They’ve written little chord progressions / songs / improve bases before, but never anything finished in any real sense.  I won’t force them into any direction (don’t want to be Phil Spector), but I did want them to get an idea of the work required, so I asked them to come up with a list of 50 songs that they might want to cover.   We’d pare it down to 3-4 to start, and I’d record/produce them and put some bass and drums down for them over the summer, documenting their progress along the way.

They came up with lots of great songs – from Garbage to Kraftwerk to Van Halen – but much of it was a) difficult to cover under the best of conditions (remember, we’re talking about kids playing guitar and piano, here), and b) a little beyond where I thought their skills are.  So, I asked them to try again, with an eye towards something they could actually PLAY.  They came up with:

   The Kinks – So Tired
   The Police – Message In A Bottle
   Warren Zevon – Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner

These are pretty accessible songs (little piano intro for Roland, So Tired has two simple and interesting guitar lines, and The Police tune will be the wildcard).  So, no problem – what are the constraints?


   We decided the list last week
   Today (Jul 5), they left for Chicago for a month.
   As of yesterday, my new build machine didn’t have any recording tools on it

Hmph.  So, on Monday and Tuesday, while I was trying to figure out the best way to install Sonar onto SSD, the kids were busy cranking out their parts, and we all met in the studio on the 4^th, while Trisha was packing for the trip.

Let’s just say the gear finally started to cooperate, and we got basic tracks down for 2 of 3 songs (the Police will have to wait J).  Nothing but a couple of pics ready to post yet, but may post some versions of this as we progress during the summer.  Maybe some of my stuff, too…

Here’s our little rig…  (nice orange room, huh…)