If I Say So v0.1 - The Skeleton

To kick off our series on Agile Recording, we're going to take a look at the skeleton of If I Say So. Last Thursday, Kurt (guitars, vocals and primary songwriter), Robert (drummer and publicity) and I, (engineering and bass, when they make me play it) got together to break ground on the next project, Any Port in a Storm. We wanted to jump right into things, so we set out to record the skeletons of as many songs as we could, starting with If I Say So.

Since Any Port is a very organic and emotional set of songs, we feel it quite important that the recordings of those songs feel the same way. For starters, we've previously been recording songs to a click track or synthetic drum track, ensuring a consistent tempo. That isn't going to work for these; they need to be more fluid. As such, we decided that the skeleton would consist of drums, guitar and vocals played together in one take and without a click. While it's likely that none of the tracks will wind up on the final mix, it should give us an outline so that we can later dub individual parts while retaining that fluid feel.

Here's the track, warts and all, in a very, very rough form. There are a few missed cymbal crashes, a missed chord in the second verse, and some weird fluttering with the drums (particularly the kick), but the essence of the song's entirety is in place, so this is a suitable starting point.

If I Say So v0.1

By the time we got this take, we'd already been at it for a good forty-five minutes. A lot of the early takes were spent figuring out process, getting Kurt and Robert used to playing together in this setting and putting the final touches on drum rolls. They were finally getting it when I turned and said, "you know, that's good - now slow it down." Kurt was reluctant, but finally relented when Robert pointed out that it would make the song much "dirtier."

I hit record and the two of them immediately began fighting to set the tempo, but Robert held firm and finally got Kurt to slow down. On the next take, they locked from the start, and I'm very happy with the result. It's passionate, it's sultry, it's slutty - exactly what I want for this song.

Take a listen. The next installment will be up Thursday morning, when we'll discuss See You On the Other Side. I'll be going in depth about how we record drums, where that kick flutter came from, and why a missed crash hit isn't anything to worry about.

- E