I arrived at Parlor Productions around 9:30 yesterday morning as some of the session players were chatting in the parking lot before load in. Producer and co-owner Larry Sheridan gave me a tour of the studio and introduced me to everybody as they set up.
By 10:10, the band was ready and all the players came into the control room to review the chart that band leader and co-owner Robin Ruddy had prepared the night before. Larry said he and Robin had an idea to change my chromatic walk-down so the music didn’t follow the vocal melody but instead supported it, and give the song a more contemporary feel.
He played my ‘work tape’ (guitar-vocal home demo) long enough for the group to hear the part he was talking about. Then there were ideas bouncing around left, right and center; all spoken in the Nashville number system, which I understand on the most basic level. But what I know of it is kind of like grade four French: je vais, tu vas, nous allons, discotheque... But these folks were in speaking their mother tongue. I knew what they were talking about, but I wasn't keeping up with the conversation!
Once they reached their conclusion, the guitarist played it for me to sing along with and I agreed it was a great idea. There were now three chords instead of my original four, and an Em that I hadn’t played there before. A little change, but it made such a huge difference, especially to me since my old way is kind of carved into the brick that holds my head together.
Then the band went back to the live room and got set to run it. Drums, bass and electric were in the main room. Keyboards were in an isolation booth, acoustic guitar in another iso, and I was in a third to sing the scratch vocal. The pro singer would be in the following day.
Here’s the team:
Bass: Spady Brannan
Drums: Mark Beckett
Keys: Jimmy Nichols
Electric: Kerry Marx
Acoustic: Robin Ruddy
Engineer: Matt Legge
Assistant engineer: Micah Tanner
Producer: Larry Sheridan
Band tracking
Larry asked if I wanted to build gradually or start big. I said big and Mark counted it in. There was one hiccup on the bridge and another at the end of the double chorus. But they hadn’t even listened to the whole song at that point, they were just playing from the chart! We talked about those dynamics for a few minutes and how to best support the vocal lines there. Then Larry played those parts of my work tape again for reference.
Take one was done before I knew it and take two followed after a few more comments from Larry on transitions. After that, Kerry, Robin and Spady punched in to tighten up a few bits each. Jimmy punched in for a couple of piano fixes and then added a B3 organ.
I’ve read about and heard oodles of people say “you’ll be amazed” at the
level of professionalism and musicianship in Nashville. But it’s an
entirely different thing to experience it first hand with your own song.
Vocals
By 10:45, the band was done and I was chatting with Robin about the
singer she booked. I didn't have time to hear any samples or choose
anyone because the booking came together pretty last minute. So it's
pretty cool that she unknowingly got the same guy I'd already booked for
Friday on another song at another studio!
Singing the scratch track along with the band felt like a surreal karaoke experience. But listening to someone else record the real vocal was whacky on a whole other level.
I'm by no means a great
guitarist, so it wasn’t so strange to hear somebody play it better than
me. But I consider myself a singer, and these lyrics have only ever
been sung by me. I think that’s the biggest part of it. Although I’ve
edited them a fair bit for commercial pitching since I wrote the first
version for my parents’ anniversary years ago, they’re still quite
personal. And I’ve never heard anyone else sing them. So it was pretty
whacky to hear Matt Dame sing everything just a little bit different than I do. And the quality and control of his voice is really something
else.
When I opened the control room door, he was already making his own custom shorthand notes over each word as yesterday’s rough mix played with my scratch vocal. Vertical bars like numeral ones signified the downbeat. Numbers at the end of a line were for the chord it ended on. And there were all sorts of squiggles that he said couldn’t be explained, but meant something to him.
 |
| Parlor Productions, April 24, 2013: Matt Dame singing This Old House by Michael Lake |
Once at the microphone, he did one rough pass and we had a quick listen to that with Larry. Then he did two takes and punched in to redo a few lines here and there. Then he added three harmony tracks with absolute ease and precision for every tiny inflection. I guess all those squiggly lines did the trick!
Mix etc
Obviously, as the songwriter, I’m focused on the music and vocals more so than the technology end of things. But I can’t complete the story without sending kudos to Matt Legge the engineer who kept everything rolling while tracking and especially when reviewing takes and editing. He also mixed it. I left the vocal session at 4:40 and popped back around 7:00 for a
listen. We made a couple of timing tweaks between the vocals and drums,
and softened some P pops. To be honest, I don't know if "we" did that or if "he" did it while I just happened to be there. :-)
Everyone involved was fast, efficient and amazing at what they did. If they weren’t talking precise music theory about the song or recording it, then they were joking around and making it one of the most relaxed atmospheres I’ve ever been in.
So, I know it’s my first toe in the water, but you can definitely add me to the list of people who’ll say you’ll be amazed with the talent and professionalism in Nashville. It truly is something to behold.
My first professional Nashville demo is in the can. Time and money well spent.
