Studio fun

VroomVroom · #1 01-16-2011, 11:04 AM

'Heads...

Great session yesterday. For those kind enough to follow along, this was the last tracking session for my buddy, Rocio's upcoming album. This is really going to be an amazing album, and I can't wait for the finished product...hopefully early this summer.

First, and most important pic - a very special thanks to our man, Pete.

Rhythm Dogs.

One of the charts, complete with chicken scratch.

The arsenal for the day.

And....action!

Mwaaaaaaahhhhh...

Yesterday I learned that there are three levels of fretless hell. First, there's playing complicated music live, with great players. Second is playing complicated music in the studio, with great players and an engineer with absolute pitch. Third is playing a solo melody line (above the 12th fret, of course) on that complicated tune, in the studio, with great players, and an engineer with absolute pitch. I was more antsy than Rex Ryan in a woman's shoe store.

So, from the bass player's perspective, this one is in the can. Lots more work that I'm lucky to witness from the sidelines...vox, horns, percussion, editing, mixing, mastering...all the stuff that makes me very, very happy to just be the bass player.

All told, Roscoes are on four tunes. The fretless on one, and Fertile myrtle on three...

Darkstrike · #2 01-16-2011, 11:23 AM

Good stuff, good stuff all round!

Gotta dig that arsenal.

**nostatic** · #3 01-16-2011, 11:28 AM

Fretless in the studio is nerve wracking. Much easier live when I can enjoy the moment and don't cringe until later when I hear the recording

You play standing in the studio? Interesting. I envy your being able to swap between 4, 5 and 6 on the fly. I played a couple of 4-strings yesterday at the show that really spoke to me. But my brain doesn't seem to be able to make that leap back and forth.

Extra points for frim fram sauce!

**Bipslapper** · #4 01-16-2011, 12:37 PM

Cool Jerry, hey if the Starbucks helped the recording go better than I am pleased!

Thanks for sharing the pics and insight. I too play standing in the studio, although it has been too long for me to be in the quality studio setting like you folks

Have fun as the other players lay down the mojo.

JOME77 · #5 01-16-2011, 02:44 PM

Great pic's Jerry!
lol
Your drummer looks like he had 2 or 3 cups of Starbucks (in the pic of the 2 of you).

That's a great picture!

You've got to make the album available for us Roscoehead Vroom fans ti purchase. I'll gladly donate $$$'s to the cause for a CD. I love the stuff that you guys do.

VroomVroom · #6 01-16-2011, 09:26 PM

Thanks, you guys! Joe, I'll definitely keep you posted. With any luck, I'll have some rough mp3's available soon. As you guys undoubtedly know, recording an album isn't cheap. At the risk of name-dropping, Rocio is doing this in a world-class studio, with a world-class engineer...both of which come at costly hourly rates. She's getting the rhythm section cheap (

) but some of the other players on the record are A-listers, that come at A-list rates. Her goal from day one - which I totally admire - has been to do this right....even if that means taking two years instead of two months.

The really cool thing is that, as the core players on the album, we all work together on 25-30 gigs per year. We've grown immensely, and have added six of the tunes to our live repertoire. This session came together quite nicely as, over the last month, we performed three of the tunes at a few different gigs....definitely a luxury. Personally, I've never worked on a project of this scope. Most of my session work is a function of coming in, reading down a chart, and perhaps interpreting a few different things. This, aside from tracking live with absolutely ridiculous musicians, is a few extra layers deeper. The education and inspiration has been immeasurably valuable.

RocketMusic · #7 01-17-2011, 12:14 PM

Jerry - I've got a serious case of ROOM envy! My gosh, we need a new building badly!!!

We need dedicated studio space, photo booth space and clinic/performance space...

Very cool situation you got yourself into there! Can't wait to hear the final product, put me down for a copy for sure.

CactusmanDoug · #8 01-17-2011, 12:41 PM

Thanks for sharing, Jerry. Although everyone's input is truly great, your threads really lift the interest level on this forum.

...great stuff.

ubone · #9 01-17-2011, 02:45 PM

Awesome Jerry.. I know that you nailed it along with the drummer. I've been waiting for this CD to come out.. I can wait some more....

LilRay · #10 01-17-2011, 02:56 PM

Looks like you had a lot of fun Jerry. Where's the "mystery guest" aka "somebody had burritos for lunch" pic?

God Bless, Ray

lwrthnwhalepoop · #11 01-17-2011, 05:11 PM

Great shots, Jerry. We're all eagerly awaiting the release of this stuff.

I take it by the name on the folder in the third photo that this is Rocio's copy of the score? I see she made an annotation over the beginning of the "D" section ("1st > mute with fists"). This must be where the fretless solo starts...? Just guessing.

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.

My humbling fretless hell studio moment was tracking with a couple of cellists who had impeccable intonation, which contrasted sharply (forgive the pun) with my own Helen Keller-esque intonation. And they were both smokin' hot, so that made it all the worse.

VroomVroom · #12 01-18-2011, 09:23 AM

Kinda' off-topic pics (in that no Roscoe was harmed), but they offer a bit of perspective for the studio.

That's Russell Bond at the board - what an absolute wizard. He's looking for the "groove" button on the console, in an effort to make the bass player in the background sound better.

That's Greg Sankovich at the Yamaha grand, and if he wasn't snapping the pic, you'd see the saxophonist on the right. The drum booth is in the back right corner.

And speaking of drum booth, here's Carlos doing his thing.

Funny mention on the cello. We did four takes of that fretless tune (an absolutely gorgeous arrangement of 'Night and Day'). Three were with a click, and then Rocio ordered the click off...at which point we nailed it. Go figure.

Anyway, there is an amazing cellist who will be on one tune on the album. Wonderful lady, amazing musician. Of course she stops by to hang out for a bit during our second take. Figures...all I needed was a little more pressure.

That 'Food Jam' tune is an incredible blast. My original concept was for a Baby Bass type of tone...just laying it down and letting drums, percussion, and horns do their thing. That'll still happen, but Rocio kept saying, "More!" There are a couple of fun fills in there, I get to spank the 'Satisfaction' horn line - in fourths, no less - and the transition from letter G to H has my homage to Oteil.

If you're interested in the studio itself, here's a link to the room.

JOME77 · #13 01-18-2011, 09:41 AM

That's a very nice studio. Quite an interesting history too.

I'm betting that the recordings are going to sound very good!

Very cool pictures by the way!

I'm betting that a certain CAR JJ Roscoe would have been in that picture had it been completed!

VroomVroom · #14 01-18-2011, 09:54 AM

All good bets, Joe.

RocketMusic · #15 01-18-2011, 09:57 AM

Oh, jeez... and that's just one of FOUR rooms!! Wow, what a nice facility.

VroomVroom · #16 01-18-2011, 10:02 AM

Quick side note for any fellow IT nerds who support Avaya systems....

The international voice - English, Spanish, and German - of Avaya VM systems is none other than...Rocio. And all the recording was done at the Annex.

bobunit · #17 01-18-2011, 10:37 AM

I love the studio shots and that control room is sweet! Heck, the whole studio is sweet!

Fretless in the studio is a love/hate relationship for me. My last experience was a bit of a disaster. Fortunately, the patient and DAW saavy engineer was able to comp the take after multiple passes. Luckily, it was only one song.

lowfreqman · #18 01-18-2011, 11:03 AM

What an awesome experience. I can't wait to hear the final result.

Thanks for sharing!