Day 0: Sunday June 20th 2010
Recording hasn’t started yet, but the tension is steadily building up inside.
This afternoon Dim, Pep and Nils loaded all gear into the car and shipped the lot to Basement Studio.
We also put together the drums today, to save time. What we do today, we don’t have to do tomorrow! Right? And we’ve got a sneaking suspicion that there will be plenty of other things to do this week.
The studio is an absolute treat…it’s like we’re recording in our livingroom. And Ernst van Wageningen is a truly excellent guy.
Nils has put together a recording-schedule. Let’s hope it’s a realistic one so we don’t run into trouble.
Maybe friend Bart van Sprundel will help us out with mixing the album. Now there’s something to look forward to. He has also given us a couple of excellent tips…yay!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Summer. Tomorrow marks the beginning of Children of the Fall…for real!
Day 1: Monday June 21st 2010
09.00
Nils: OMG what a terrible night…and now it’s time to get this show on the road! Rock! Kick ass! Scream! I can’t imagine I will be a very nice guy this week. Things have to be perfect!
11.00
We’re done putting down the drumsound. That means we can start recording. Let’s see how far we can get with recording the drumtracks today. 17 tracks for a drumkit…doesn’t make sense really.
17.00
What a magnificent day! Every drumtrack that’s in CotF has been recorded…A-bloody-mazing!!! Really an incredible job by Dim…he was totally focused and hammered down his bpm’s flawlessly. Well, except for the time when he lost his 6/8th in the toilet.
Poor Dim. He will be so bored the rest of the week.
By the way, it looks like the majority of the bass- and keyboardtracks are almost done too. Let’s say 75%. Weird, isn’t it? Oh well, it’s probably good for the ‘live-feel’ of the album. Wouldn’t wanna over-produce it!
Day 2: Tuesday June 22nd 2010
10.00
Nils: Don’t think I’m going to get any sleep this week…meh…got way too much adrenalin flowing around inside.
Today we will be recording the rest of the basstracks en the first couple of guitartracks. Dim and I will be drinking coffee, have a smoke, drink some more coffee, have a cigarette and maybe make some comments on the music…
12.00
Olav is doing his thing right now. As we thought…not a lot of bass re-work needed. Just a couple of difficult riffs and clumsy mistakes (really?) that need fixing. Curious how the bass is going to come out of the mixer…big and up-front hopefully.
Meanwhile Dim is packing up his drumkit. Strange that we’re already done with the drums. Fortunately for Dim we’ll be recording vocals later on in the week.
15.00
Pep’s on a roll this afternoon! Besides the vocals, the guitartrack is the only thing that has to be recorded from scratch. It wasn’t possible to record the guitar while we were taping the guidetrack…amp-issue.
So now we have a studio filled with amplifiers. Different amps for different sounds. And Pep is using a bit more guitars than is good for him…for every different sound a different guitar…niceness!
Day 3: Wednesday June 23rd 2010
14.00
Yet again a wonderful day. Pep has been putting down the last guitartracks and the rest of the day will be will be filled with recording the lead-vocals.
Both Pepijn and Dimitri are doing their thing, with one tiny difference…Pep is saving his voice. He doesn’t smoke and is drinking water with honey. Dimitri on the other hand, is doing his utmost to smoke his voice a bit more raw. Doesn’t seem to be working yet.
19.00
Nils: We’re getting some samples on the album too. I’ve just recorded my children as they were playing in the schoolyard. Nice little atmospheric thingy. I wonder if it will work out in the song.
It’s really remarkable how well this week is turning out. Everybody is doing their thing and it all seems to be playing out nicely. Hardly any discussions and only useful changes to the music. See…preparation is everything!
And Ernst is the best. He’s really helping us out in every way. It’s a true joy to be able to work with him!
Day 4: Thursday June 24th 2010
10.00
Nils: Right…today is my turn. This morning will be dedicated to the keys!
Listening back it turns out that there is not a lot that needs changing. Just a couple of extra choirs, a little soundeffect or a solo here and there. I’m playing as ‘loose’ as I can. Backed by my mates and maestro Ernst the music just seems to pour out of my fingertips.
16.00
Recorded more vocals in the afternoon, but we also recorded the song Children of the Fall, on an antique ‘hand-pump-organ’ or ‘folded-revival-pump’. Where Nils played the keys and Olav took care of the airflow. The best thing about it was that Pepijn did the vocals while we were recording the organ. That way there was a lot of interaction, which worked out great for the ‘feel’ of the song…awesome!
Dimitri and Nils did the same thing on These last few days. Only with piano and vocals obviously.
It turns out that Nils’s recording at the schoolyard fits Fading Out surprisingly well. We also found an excellent rain/thunder-sample for These last few days. Friend Ernst just threw it underneath and…spot on! It’s a peculiar week.
Day 5: Friday June 25th 2010
10.00
No Olav today…bummer! But, he’s got obligations at home. We’re all feeling a bit strange on this last day.
14.00
Pepijn squeezed out the last lead-vocals for the two Another Truth parts. Turned into two awesome songs! Dim and Pep are now working on the backing vocals.
15.00
The original version of CotF that Nils and Olav wrote a couple of years ago, had some off-beats and cross-rhythms at the end of the song. To recreate that vibe Dim and Nils have been whacking away on a china cymbal, an iron pipe and an ashtray!?! Sounded like total chaos…we’re all wondering if that is going to make it onto the album.
19.00
Nils: That’s all folks. Chey Veck’s first serious attempt to record a full length album.
What an amazing week this has been. And what a joy to be working with such a great group of friends.
And now we’re totally drained, but happy!
Yes…well…and now it starts. Mixing, mastering, artwork, you name it. And then we will let it fly into the world.
All our gear is back in our own studio, which we will be cleaning and rearranging next week.
Right now Dim, Pep and I are thoroughly enjoying a beer and a smoke on the grass outside our studiodoor.
23.55
Nils: Just got back from a listening-session of the raw tracks with Olav. Yes, we are happy with the results.
Let’s go. To the future…and beyond!
Well done… you’ve made it all the way to the bottom of this diary! Any suggestion on how we can improve next time? Share your thoughts!
