Things are looking up for us after several weekends spent in the studio tracking strings, guitar, vocals and bass for our way overdue album.  We're now done tracking everything except bass, piano and chorus, and we're scheduled to get those things recorded in early September.  For now, we have lots of score revisions and .wav files to sort through before the next session...and we have to round up some good singers.

We have had a slight change in the artistic vision for the album.  Originally, we recorded things in Fulton Recital Hall at the University of Chicago just because we needed a space, and it was the best option we had.  It turns out that the hall is far more than adequate for our music.  It is in fact the perfect place to track our group because of the 30 foot high ceiling, the generally vast openness of the room, and the near entirely wooden interior of it.  It has a natural reverb that works for the strings, and has allowed us to get some eerie screams and nice lead vocals recorded. 

We've tracked things in some different ways than we'd planned also.  After using mic techniques designed for classical ensembles to record the strings, we decided to try these out on other parts of the group, like the guitar, voice and bass.  This has allowed us to capture the sound of  the space, but also to more closely replicate the live arrangement of our group, having everything recorded with stereo microphones from a distance, as well as the usual close up mics. 

On top of all this, I can't think of a more fitting atmosphere to record our music than in a neo-gothic recital hall.  It's a good space with many memories for each of us.  We've all spent quite a bit of time in the space prior to these sessions for orchestra and choir rehearsals, performances, recitals and to attend concerts.  Countless brilliant musicians have performed in the hall, and taught master classes there, from the uber-famous, like Edgar Meyer, to soprano Tony Arnold, to the lesser know (but amazing musicians nonetheless) like jazz sax player Mwata Bowden, and pianist Roger Mosely, and duo pianists Jennifer Maxwell and Svetlana Belsky.  It's got the right vibe and sound and the right kind of history for a group like ours; one that is part rock, part classical, part theatrical, part avant garde. 

Maybe that's why the recordings are sounding amazing.  Maybe that plus the fact that Adam Hubbell seems to know everything and then some about recording.  Maybe it's those things plus the exceptional musicians who have agreed to be part of this group. 

Regardless, the recordings are sounding sick...like totally sick...like the rapture is upon us kind of totally sick.  I can barely stop myself from posting mp3s of songs as I get them from Adam, even the ones that are just the band without voice.  And when we actually get those choir parts tracked...dang...


Mark