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 Notes
from the Studio
January 26, 2011
It's taken me a while to get back
into the flow of studio work. In the
slow transition of identity from teacher
back to songwriter, there is a crisis
of disbelief to over-come.
A run of three good days in the studio
has worked a turning of the tide for
me. I remember now that I'm good at
this. I'’s a big part of my work now,
my identity. It's who I am and what
I do. This was a startling revelation
for me this morning, sitting there in
my studio chair.
Confronted by an imposing sonic-cerebral
puzzle of subtle intricacies of sound,
and the infinite and bewildering array
of choices involved in mixing down tracks
of piano, string bass and the human
voice, I was surprised to solve it masterfully.
As an arranger, I knew by listening
where to put strings, and where not
to. I knew to choose the soft, understated
symphonic strings instead of bolder
orchestral ones. I quickly learned by
ear a diabolical progression of complex
jazz chords, and recorded them to intricately
mesh with the existing piano part, ...and
did it with the soft, yet clear and
even hand that touch-sensitive keys
require.
To put it in perspective, I felt
like Jason Bourne emerging from the
fog of amnesia; awed to discover he
can read a room like a psychic ninja
assassin, shoot the ears off a squirrel
from a hundred yards at a dead run,
disable multiple attackers with a fountain
pen, and carry on pleasant conversation
in five languages.
There is a similarly scary set of
professional/technical music skills
I apparently possess. This is good to
know.
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