THE ALARM goes off and we don’t have much time to get up dressed and. on the road to Chem19 studios in Blantyre.
A breakfast stop at McDonalds in Balloch and then onto the studio where Paul’s waiting for us.We haven’t seen him and Emma for nearly three years…and it’s five years since we were in. Chem19 – mixing the live album back in 2017.
We have a busy day and get three of the eleven tracks mixed. It’s actually good progress as these are the most involved ones, so should be plain sailing (famous last words) tomorrow (Friday).
Margaret leaves us early evening to pick up Les from a nearby train station – she’s combing to stay for a few days and we have a family weekend coming up.
They get back just as Paul and I are finishing up for the day and we hit the road home. Back tomorrow…
Last day of recording before we head to Chem19 to mix with Paul Savage…
UP at the crack of daw to get into the studio and re-record some tracks. I get everything ready before my regular Thursday morning guitar student arrives – a little later than usual as she has car problems…and changed to Wednesday this week as I’m not around tomorrow.
There’s time to get a little recoding done before a Zoom session with another guitar student then i get back to the tracks.
I take a break and make air fried banana blossom – AKA vegan fish – for lunch and have it buns with lettuce and home made tartare sauce. It’s surprisingly good!
I’m struggling to get the remaining songs down and try first one way, then another…then another to get it down but it’s proving to be a challenge.
Somehow I get pretty much everything done by the time we take some dinner to Betty and Joe’s. I excuse myself after we eat and get back to the studio to prepare all the .wav files to take into Chem19 studios for mixing tomorrow and Friday….
STRAIGHT into the studio – there’s a whole list of stuff to record, re-record and edit…and with only today and tomorrow to go before mixing, I’m running out of time. Or at least I feel I am.
A quick lunch break takes me back to the house to make a haloumi wrap and put together a quick shopping list for Margaret. I also need to chase the factor about some repairs in Glasgow. Long story.
I keep pushing on in the studio and make some pretty good headway. I need to have a minimum of carry over to tomorrow as I need time to drop in the drum and fiddle tracks that should (hopefully) arrive later tonight and get all the audio files ready to take to Chem19 on Thursday.
Another break for an hour’s walk and fresh air then I’m back in the studio until well after 8pm when Margaret gets back with the shopping. We eat then Margaret comes to the studio to listen to the work in progress.
After much listening and discussion there’s one track that needs re-recorded form scratch, one that needs a new vocal (which is gonna be hard to get right!) and one , sadly, the one with cajun accordion, is getting binned.
It’s after midnight when I check incoming files and drop in the fiddle tracks on Loch Lomond (Home) and drums for Devil May Care…I go and have a nightcap before bed….
THERE’S a custom leather airtag holder to be finished off and sent out. I get that done before breakfast then go to the studio and set things up to cary on the recording sessions.
After a mid-morning session with one of my Zoom guitar students I get back to the recordings.
The guide track on the ‘new’ version of Whisky Trail needs replaced with proper banjo and vocals…and I need to try and comp together some of the cajun accordion takes. After spending way to long on it I decide to move on…it may be that this doesn’t;t see the light of day. If I have time after getting the priority tracks finished I’ll revisit it.
Before I know it, it’s 7pm and time for another Zoom student which is followed by an off the cuff livestream into my Wildcats’ Facebook group.
Margaret has dinner ready then I head back to the studio. Still a lot to do before Thursday – and I’m getting stressed as I don’t have the drum tracks yet…and Jamie’s fiddle tracks have been garbled by some kind of sample rate conversion…. I need a dram…
I’M up at 7am and feeling pretty rough. After a quick bite to eat and a coffee I hit the studio to get a couple of tracks recorded before Jim comes at 9am.
I’m just finished the first when he rocks up…it’s only 8.30am. FFS!
We get a coffee and a blether then hit the studio. First job is harmonica on Stick to Your Guns…but I haven’t recorded the vocal yet. I throw down a rough guide over the guitar track I recorded yesterday and Jim gives it his all.
The cajun accordion isn’t as straightforward. My early morning, hungover recording is not a great example of consistent timing and the ‘lazy’ banjo doesn’t really provide any regular beat to guide Jim who’s not long taken up playing the accordian.
I decide to re-record and make it faster and give it more of a beat. That helps a lot and soon we have enough down for me to build the track later. I’m gonna have to try and re-record the banjo and vocal parts too.
Jim heads off and I get busy making a custom leather airtag holder for an Etsy order…then I have a nap!
In the studio i make a few attempts to re-record the banjo part of the song we were working on earlier then we take a walk along to see Barbara and drop of some stuff.
Dinner is carnitas and we watch our pal Bill’s livestream before an early (-ish) night…
WE’RE going out for a joint birthday celebration dinner tonight – I’m 58 tomorrow and Margaret’s birthday is next week…that means I have a lot to get through in the studio before we go!
Although I’m pretty much done with all the writing, there’s a lot of arrangement, tweaking and recording to be done before we go into Chem19 studios on Thursday to mix the album. Plus, my pal Jim’s coming to record some blues harp and cajun accordion at 9am tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I need to get the tracks he’s playing on recorded!
I make good progress, although on of the songs – the one I’m hoping Jim can put some cajun accordion on – isn’t proving easy to record and I run out of time before we have to get the bus to the village. That means an early start in the morning to get the tracks recorded before he gets here.
We stop at the Drymen Inn for a couple if drinks then onto The Clachan where Margaret’s booked a table. We have a good meal then Martyn meets us for a drink…we get the last bus home 🙂
My first attempt at sourdough – the rolls look a little wonky but taste great!
LESS than a week to go ’til I take my tracks into Chem19 for mixing….so I’m straight into the studio to try and move things forward.
The morning is spent tweaking what may – or may not – be called Walk the Walk and editing some beats I carelessly added yesterday. Once I’ve sorted out some timing of ‘the hits’ it sounds quite good. Margaret agrees. Whether they’ll stay in the final mix or not I don’t know. At least they’re there if I do want them!
Late morning I take some of the sourdough starter I fed last night and mix some dough to make rolls. I sit the tub outside and leave it to prove.
After a quick lunch in garden it’s back into the studio to get some more guitar tracks down. Normally I record everything live – guitar and vocal at the same time – but for this album I need to keep things separate as there’s some folks contributing drums, blues harp, cajun accordion and stuff. Plus I want to have a bit more creative control over the mix.
There’s a few songs that were released digitally during lockdown that have never been album tracks or featured on a physical product. Folks have been asking for them on CD and/or vinyl so I need to work out if I just wanna remix…or re-record.
Being tight for time, I’d like to just remix but I think it would be better, time permitting, to re-record as much as I can and give us more options later in the process. I might play them better…or they might be crap. Who knows!
It’s quite stressful recording some of the guitar…a lot to do and stay on top of when you’re on your tod and then I have a few broken strings to deal with too!
By 6pm I’ve had enough, shut up the studio and make the sourdough into rolls, cover with clingfilm and leave for an hour for final proofing.
Meantime, I go for a quick paddle and when i get back Margaret’s got the rolls in the oven. They turn out pretty good for a first attempt!
THE final batch of fridge magnets for the village shop goes into production before breakfast then my Thursday morning guitar student arrives for her lesson.
Once we’re done I pack up all the West Highland Way Gifts‘ merch for the shop, do the paperwork and drop it off. I also dash along to Betty’s with a postage label I printed out for her.
After lunch I hit the studio where I record some more vocals and work on tracks for the new album. Just a week to go ’til we’re in Chem19 mixing….
I’d had a message from a Dublin-based pal earlier – he’s in Glasgow today and wondered if we were up for a visit. of course, be great to see him. He pays a flying visit for a coffee early afternoon then heads off and I go back to the studio…
ANOTHER lovely day and we decide to take the big gazebo down – it’s simple enough and nice to have the garden opened up a bit.
I spend the morning prepping audio files and setting up sessions etc with some folks that are gonna add some extra instrumental stuff on a coupla tracks on the new album.
There’s a midday Zoom session with one of my guitar students then another rep form a solar company arrives. He’s less ‘salesy’ than the last rep that came and a lot more – and better – info. One more rep to come tomorrow then we’ll be on target to get three quotes/proposals and be able to progress things with the Energy Savings Trust.
After lunch I hit the studio and lay down a guitar track for another new song. It’s not a priority tho’ – I need to get one more song written and it’s not going well…I wanna do something on the three-string cigar box but it all sounds a bit cliched and to make matters worse I seem to always end up ‘singing the chord’ and/or rhythm.
In the kitchen I put four chicken breasts in to cook sous vide – we’re taking dinner to Betty and Joe later –then go for a walk to try and clear my head. I also need to call JonZip and see if he fancies coming to play a garden house concert in a few weeks time. He does 🙂
I rush home and make a pepper sauce for the chicken. margaret sorts the mash and broccoli then we dash along to Betty and Joe’s for dinner. The sous vide chicken and pepper sauce is a hit!
Great lunch out with a load of music chums…including Kevin McDermott, Rab Noakes and Fraser Speirs. Happy days 🙂
THERE’S a bunch of stuff to get done before we head into Glasgow.
Margaret’s going shopping and I’m having lunch with a group of 20 or so musicians, media and music business pals.
We meet at the Chinatown restaurant at midday – kinda early for lunch compared to my usual routine (1.30pm if you must know!) but it was the only time we could get a booking for a large group. And by the time we actually get food ordered it’s nearly 1pm…then a big spread of dim sum , noodles , wonton soup and all sorts starts arriving.
It’s a great couple of hours then Margaret picks me up and we head for home where I marinade a bit of flank steak to go on the grill later.
I’ve had a message form the village shop asking for stock replenishments so I nip down and see hat they might need…then go back to the office and make sure I’ve enough raw materials to produce the stuff. Some bits and bobs need ordered and should arrive sometime tomorrow.
Margaret goes to see Betty and Joe and I get some work done in the studio then our pal Francis drops by with some sourdough starter and we have a beer in the garden. He’s a keen – and very good – breadmaker.
he’s not long gone when Maragert gets back having been given a lift along the road by Sandy who comes in for a coupla drinks and a blether. needless to say it’s 11pm before I get the steak on the grill…worth waiting for tho’!
