Well, we were done with the drums, so no Sharkbite luxuriousness for us this weekend. Still, Castle Ultimate Studios almost feels like home at this point. We've spent so many hours in the various rooms there experiencing however many emotions one can feel while recording. So, it was nice to be back in familiar territory.
Saturday started around noon. After a BART mixup with Peter waiting for me at West Oakland as he had done the weekend before and my reverting back to disembarking at Ashby, the day was underway. First things first: restringing guitars. I know, it sounds like the most fun anyone could be having on a gorgeous, sunny, hot Saturday in the East Bay! And it isn't!
So, once the geetars were all gussied up and sounding beautiful, we started tackling the songs one by one. The one aspect of recording that I always forget--or more likely shove to the back of my brain--is that we use a myriad (Heather would never use the word . . .) of guitars, most of which are Aaron's. And all guitars, no matter how much they look alike, are different. Add new strings (which bend and pull much easier than old strings) to unfamiliar guitars and you pretty much have my worst nightmare.
But Aaron is a great recording engineer and he always has the perfect suggestion or helpful tip to nail a take. It is only one of the many reasons why we choose to record with him over and over again. He also is a pretty phenomenal guitar player himself so he understands what sounds and tones he can get out of the guitars. It's really interesting to watch how easily he locks into a certain sound and then realize it sounds purrrrrfect for that specific song.
Saturday was an 8 hour day and we completed 6 songs. Go us!
Sunday was Mother's Day so we decided not to record and instead fly our mothers into San Francisco and take them to brunch. Not really, silly reader.
We flew in our mothers so that THEY could record the guitars. Duh!
Anyway, due to the sacred day that all mothers secretly wait for all year, our session would begin later that day at 2pm. And of course that gave me all morning to relax and hang out and enjoy the weather. Nope! All I could think of was how those bendy strings were going to feel like wet noodles underneath my fingers later that afternoon. Positive thinking at its best!
Well, Sunday started with a few songs on which Peter plays guitar. I love hearing him play the guitar. He is that kind of guitar player that can make you hear every single note in the chord that he is playing. And he does so effortlessly.
It was at this point during Peter's time under the microphone that I went out to have a smoke. There in the hot sun, I heard Peter playing a chiming guitar to a song that is sort of a dark horse in the running as my favorite song. It was very Unrest meets Nada Surf and it made me smile.
I could go on about the rest of the day but it was more of the same. And how many more wet noodle references do you really need in your day? I thought so. Just take comfort knowing that there will be a wondrous, beautifully toned, chiming guitar floating just above the drums on one of our songs.
- Colin
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