I just finished recording a CD for a poet friend of mine, Laurie MacFayden. It turned out pretty well. Twelve tracks, all Laurie’s poetry.

Here are a couple of samples:

I Have Hidden Love

Liar’s Hotel

Pomes de Terre

Later:
Sorry, I meant to come back and say a few more things about this CD – and the fact that this is my 100th Music post.

A few years ago, Laurie won an hour of time at B-Scene Studios from some Raving Poets event or another. She asked me to accompany her on percussion while she recorded her poems. I can’t even remember what I brought, but snare, djembe and shakers for sure. Anyway, the session went great and she wanted to recreate the experience with some new and updated pieces.

She came over with a sheaf of poems on Sunday, November 19th and we spent about three hours laying down twelve different tracks. My arms were still buggered from sprains and tendonitis, so I set up some quick MIDI loops she could read to in the headphones, just to get the mood. I’d then later replace the temp music with something more considered.

Anyway, I kind of thought it would be a shame to restrict myself to drums and percussion. I’ve got a kick-ass synth and soft-synths up the yinyang, so what the hay. To maintain the spirit of our prior collaborations – both in the studio and at the RPs – I would play everything live. I’d get the tone of the piece, find the right instrument, rehearse till I got the appropriate tone, then when I’d figured it out, go back to the beginning and record behind her recitation.

A couple of weeks later, it was all done. I kept the same two buses loaded with EQ, FX, and compression throughout – one for voice, one for all else. That way, there was consistency from the beginning of the CD through to the end. In the buses, I made a point of changing only the FX and panning, and even those very, very little, to maintain the illusion that she was sitting center stage right, and I was sitting center stage left, moving only to get at other instruments.

Anyway, it was a very pleasant and immediately gratifying musical experience. It was especially nice to play keys instead of sticks.

I’ll keep you posted on when the CD will be available.