Are there songs in there somewhere?

Thursday, March 02. Day 4. Long, long day.

Big News. The accordion player called. We booked him and he came in today. We’ve done the accordion session. What’s the difference between an onion and an accordion? Nobody cries when you chop up the accordion. Kidding. It can actually have a very sweet sound – if you put it in the right song, get the player not to sound like he’s playing “Lady of Spain” and burry it appropriately in the mix.

Actually, it won’t be all that buried. We used it on “The Silent Son.” (One of these days I’ll write about each of these songs in the “Noah’s Notes” section.) The arrangement is relatively sparse, yet really very lush. It will end up being 3 guitars, one of them a 12 string, (all playing in different capoed positions), some very light percussion, and the accordion. When we finally played this one back, I could hear a song beginning to emerge.

It is beginning to sound like there are actually songs there. After Monday of this coming week – that would be in four days – it will really start coming together. This first part is just so tedious (have I mentioned that before?) I am not a fan of tedium. All of that exacting guitar work – picking it apart note by note, strum by strum, beat by beat. Percussion – “Which drumstick do you like? This one…or this one?” What? “This one (bang, bang, bang) or this one (bang, bang, bang)” Um…

But, it’s beginning to sound like there might actually be songs in there. I can hear it starting to come together. I can hear the potential. I need to redo a couple of guitar tracks, but overall, it’s beginning to sound…well, you know.

Today we had Rob in the studio all day doing percussion (aside from the accordion break). I didn’t need to go into the studio today. I got to sit in the producer’s chair (figuratively. Literally, it’s the same chair I’ve been sitting in while in the control room). I got to sit there all day and tell other people what to do and make decisions (like, um, which drumstick to use). It made for a very long day.

Tomorrow is a short day in the studio. David and I have to leave at 4:30 for Rock My Soul Shabbat at the Temple. Rob will be back. We need to get my couple of guitar tracks. And David needs to start putting his stuff down (bass and guitar).

Saturday – strings!