Session Log: 12.06.06

Wednesday, 12.06.06: 4:00p - 10:00p
'You Won't Be Long' / 'Take It As It Comes'
Studio: Miriam Audio - Philadelphia, PA
Producer: Jim
Engineer: Pete Donnelly

Mike, Roger, Pete, and I reconvene for another attempt at the backing tracks for the above tunes.

Listening to the rough mixes from the 11.30.06 session, I'm confident that 'Last Trip' is in the bag as far as the backing track goes. I'm still debating whether I like one of the takes all the way through or whether I want to edit between two takes, but one way or the other, we got it.

'You Won't Be Long' sounded as though we might have had it and we started the session by editing together pieces of a couple of takes from the previous session, but there was enough "well maybe that's it" going on to be worth taking another shot and I'm really glad we did.

We cut four new takes, marking Take 3 best through the end of the bridge and Take 4 best from there on out, though Take 4 may carry the day all by itself in the end. I'm really liking this one - it's got a nice, soaring kind of melody that switches between full voice and falsetto, really interesting changes in the drums in different sections, Mike's piano track has that great, old piano sound with a concise, structured solo, and Pete's bass playing is joyous and energetic and makes me smile. I also think there's a lot of room for a harmony vocal throughout and I'm thinking it might be a great place to have Mike Viola come in and have a moment on the record.

So now that we're feeling all good about ourselves, let's turn to 'Take It as It Comes'. As I thought, listening to the rough mixes of the 11.30.06 takes of 'TIaIC' finds us still searching for the right feel in a couple of places, most notably the verses. I had some ideas coming into the session and we dutifully chocked up an additional 9 takes of the tune. Every album has a problem child, and I think we've found this album's difficult birth. I don't know - it feels good, it feels not-so-good. This is a me problem, there's something in the arrangement I haven't figured out yet. More listening and thinking outside of the studio.