Recording diary, day five: Gimme the Brain!
Sometimes people come into our lives who, after a relatively short period of time, we simply can't imagine existing without. They're the people who don't necessarily change everything -- or even necessarily change anything -- but who manage to totally influence the things you do all the same. They can be friends, or siblings, or lovers, or spouses, or even celebrities (in which case, the term for your relationship may be 'stalker'). But once they're a part of your world, things will never be the same. PS: I recommend not selling your voice to the sea witch in order to be with them. This plan rarely works.
For me, Vixy is one of those people. It's funny, actually, because neither of us really seems to remember deciding to get to know the other; we just sort of did it, and I haven't been sorry for a minute. As a consequence, I seem to spend a lot of time either a) writing songs that will sound good when Vixy sings them with me, or b) writing songs intended to make Vixy turn funny colors. (I submit, for example, the set of 'Sycamore Tree'/'Girl That's Never Been' remixes I did.) One of those songs, 'Oh, Michelle', was also one of the first songs confirmed for inclusion on Red Roses and Dead Things. And that meant that Vixy's assistance on the album was absolutely key.
Following the general chaos of day four of recording, we had both the songs Vixy was actively needed for at least somewhat ready to go. Thanks to my timing issues, the lead vocal line for 'Causes and Effects' needed to be re-recorded, but that was a small thing, compared to the ginormousness of arranging the entire song. With BayCon looming over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to have Vixy fly out to California a few days early and arranged a mid-week recording session at Chez Bohnhoff, thus allowing the Bohnhoffs to have some super-neato Vixy-bonding time (since the plan was that I'd come, we'd record, and then I'd go to work the next day, abandoning Vixy in their clutches).
I like clutches.
The participants:
* Me, on lead vocals and musical direction.
* Jeff 'Heavy-Metal Squid' Bohnhoff, on sound engineering and eventual world domination.
* Vixy 'Cyborg Parrot' Dockrey, on backing vocals and being the best Igor ever.
Also participating, if in a somewhat more behind-the-scenes way:
* Beckett Gladney, on art-geeking and twin-wrangling.
* Casey and Riley Kwinn, on being small boys.
* Maya Bohnhoff, on keeping Amanda busy and hanging out.
* Kristine Bohnhoff, on being made of Kristine-ness.
* Amanda Bohnhoff, on protection of the toaster.
The itinerary for the day:
* Record lead vocals for 'Causes and Effects' (me).
* Record backing vocals for 'Oh, Michelle' (Vixy).
* Record backing vocals for 'Causes and Effects' (Vixy).
Prior to this, of course, Vixy and I had a nice, relaxed, non-recording-based plan for the day, which consisted mostly of being deeply lazy, eating breakfast, and getting together with Beckett and the boys for some nice, mellow hanging out. Since Vixy almost never gets to see Beckett outside of a hectic convention setting, this was an awesome treat for everyone involved. Including me, since I never sneer at the opportunity to get in a little Beckett-time. Seriously, I got Vixy and Beckett on THE SAME DAY. My life is sometimes made entirely of win.
First, though, we had to actually get to Beckett. We were starting in Berkeley. Specifically, we were starting in Kate's basement (and getting there was an adventure in and of itself). Kate woke up early and shared a leisurely breakfast with us before heading off to work, leaving us to figure out how we were planning to get to Fremont. (Before anyone gets grumpy at Kate, this was always the plan.) Because Vixy had a lot of stuff to juggle, we decided to go ahead and take the bus to the BART station. A totally viable plan. Except for the part where the bus...didn't come. And didn't come. And didn't come. And did we mention that Vixy has a natural redhead's complexion and is from Seattle, whereas I have a natural tan and tend to assume that people who need sunscreen are wearing it. Usually, they are. Usually, they're not accustomed to a natural cloud cover.
Vixy turned the best color.
Eventually, the bus decided to grace us with its presence, and we were able to ride it to the BART station, where we caught a Fremont-bound train. I amused Vixy on the ride by letting her quiz me about how the actual geography (as represented by the BART map) matches up to the geography in Toby's world (pretty damn well, except for the part where we don't actually have a Duke in charge of Pleasant Hill). We are simple souls who make our own fun.
Beckett kindly collected us from the station on her end of things, and we proceeded to hie off to the Sweet Tomatoes with the boys firmly in tow, where we had a lovely lunch of salad and soup and baked goods and semi-illicit soda. (I didn't realize Vixy didn't know the cup color-coding, she didn't know the cup color-coding, she tried to drink a soda that hadn't been paid for, there was much grumping from the staff. Then she paid for her soda and all was well. Oh, the drama.) This was when we got our first indication that Vixy was catnip for children, as her presence hyped the boys waaaaaaaaay past their normal levels. It was actually sort of awe-inspiring, although I felt bad for poor Beckett, who had to do the majority of the twin-wrangling. Vixy just looked perplexed, which was cute.
After lunch, we went back to the house to hang out for a little while before it was time to head for recording. Beckett showed us some of the sketches she's done for the graphic novel she's doing with Debbie Ohi (very, very nice), and we all geeked about art and art supplies and music and half a dozen other things before the hands on the clock inevitably told us it was time to go. We stopped at 7-11 so I could get some Diet Dr Pepper (of course), and then we were off to the Bohnhoffs.
At the Bohnhoffs, Maya was just heading off for a meeting that would sadly keep her out for most of the evening -- the sadness was mostly for Kristine, who, with Jeff committed to doing sound engineering, wound up responsible for her baby sister for the bulk of that time. Poor Kristine. I will make it up to her someday. I'm just not entirely sure how.
Our first step involved tossing me into the booth to take care of that pesky lead vocal from 'Causes and Effects', which needed to happen before anything else would really make sense. Apparently, a little break from the song was exactly what I needed, because after a few false starts, I finally started nailing the timing with something like reliability. Also, there was one nice side effect of the original error: it showed us that really, we wanted to keep the slightly-overlapping takes that had resulted from us addressing each verse individually, rather than as a continuous whole. It means that live performance of the song won't quite match the recording, but really, when does it ever? And it sounds amazing.
We ran me through the song end-to-end about five times, reviewed the track, and then did the necessary vocal patches for the three or four words that I seemed bound and determined to hit in as many blazingly incorrect ways as possible. At last, we had a finished, functional lead vocal track for Vixy to work against. EVERYBODY DANCE! Seriously, that is the most down-to-the-wire, most difficult vocal track I've ever recorded. And I'm glad we did it. It's good for things to be hard once in a while. It means you work more to make them exactly right. Believe me, it was worth it.
With me out of the booth, it was time to put Vixy into the booth. This was probably something of a relief, as it meant she was no longer listening to me singing the same verse five times. Now it was my turn to listen to her singing the same verse five times. Turnabout: it's fair play. Only it was a deeply reassuring sort of fair play, because I have yet to ask her to be a part of something that was not legitimately and vastly improved by her participation. Her backing line for 'Causes and Effects' is sweet and sad and wistful, and it really helps to bring the song to the place I hoped it would be able to go. It takes it to the point of being heartbreaking. I love my Vixy so very much.
I love her so much, in fact, that after she finished the sweet and subtle sadness of 'Causes and Effects', I asked her to completely disconnect her brain and suffer through a never-ending parade of indignities in the service of 'Oh, Michelle', also known as 'the song that proves you should never encourage Seanan to immortalize you in verse.' Because there's a chance that I'll actually do it. And then you'll probably be sorry. But only probably.
Vixy's line for 'Oh, Michelle' consists mostly of saying incredibly stupid things in the space between verses. I mean, seriously, if someone wanted to make a talking doll version of Vixy -- you know, the kind with the string that you pull to get them to say things? -- it would sound like this. And thanks to her ability to sound like she's just had a dustbuster lobotomy, I will shortly have an album where the line 'Is that you, Johnny?' is delivered with disturbing levels of sincerity. MADE OF WIN.
After Vixy finished with 'Oh, Michelle', it was time for us to chill. Yay, chillin'. Amanda had been retrieved from the girl next door, and Maya had returned home from her meeting, so the chillin' was a group affair. Jeff played us some mixes from the Bohnhoff's upcoming album, Moebius Street, which were just awe-inspiring, and then I went to sleep on the studio couch, since I had to get up stupidly early the next morning.
Cue stupidly early the next morning. Jeff woke me and drove me to the CalTrans station, where I caught the first morning train to San Francisco. My recording session really ended when I walked through the door and sat down at my desk, leaving Vixy to the tender mercies of the Bohnhoff family...but that's another story.
We're two songs closer to our eventual goal. I still need to record my spoken bits for 'Oh, Michelle', but as they consist of 'yes', 'no', and 'yeah, probably', I don't anticipate this taking terribly long. Igor! Bring me the jumper cables!
We have work to do!
For me, Vixy is one of those people. It's funny, actually, because neither of us really seems to remember deciding to get to know the other; we just sort of did it, and I haven't been sorry for a minute. As a consequence, I seem to spend a lot of time either a) writing songs that will sound good when Vixy sings them with me, or b) writing songs intended to make Vixy turn funny colors. (I submit, for example, the set of 'Sycamore Tree'/'Girl That's Never Been' remixes I did.) One of those songs, 'Oh, Michelle', was also one of the first songs confirmed for inclusion on Red Roses and Dead Things. And that meant that Vixy's assistance on the album was absolutely key.
Following the general chaos of day four of recording, we had both the songs Vixy was actively needed for at least somewhat ready to go. Thanks to my timing issues, the lead vocal line for 'Causes and Effects' needed to be re-recorded, but that was a small thing, compared to the ginormousness of arranging the entire song. With BayCon looming over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to have Vixy fly out to California a few days early and arranged a mid-week recording session at Chez Bohnhoff, thus allowing the Bohnhoffs to have some super-neato Vixy-bonding time (since the plan was that I'd come, we'd record, and then I'd go to work the next day, abandoning Vixy in their clutches).
I like clutches.
The participants:
* Me, on lead vocals and musical direction.
* Jeff 'Heavy-Metal Squid' Bohnhoff, on sound engineering and eventual world domination.
* Vixy 'Cyborg Parrot' Dockrey, on backing vocals and being the best Igor ever.
Also participating, if in a somewhat more behind-the-scenes way:
* Beckett Gladney, on art-geeking and twin-wrangling.
* Casey and Riley Kwinn, on being small boys.
* Maya Bohnhoff, on keeping Amanda busy and hanging out.
* Kristine Bohnhoff, on being made of Kristine-ness.
* Amanda Bohnhoff, on protection of the toaster.
The itinerary for the day:
* Record lead vocals for 'Causes and Effects' (me).
* Record backing vocals for 'Oh, Michelle' (Vixy).
* Record backing vocals for 'Causes and Effects' (Vixy).
Prior to this, of course, Vixy and I had a nice, relaxed, non-recording-based plan for the day, which consisted mostly of being deeply lazy, eating breakfast, and getting together with Beckett and the boys for some nice, mellow hanging out. Since Vixy almost never gets to see Beckett outside of a hectic convention setting, this was an awesome treat for everyone involved. Including me, since I never sneer at the opportunity to get in a little Beckett-time. Seriously, I got Vixy and Beckett on THE SAME DAY. My life is sometimes made entirely of win.
First, though, we had to actually get to Beckett. We were starting in Berkeley. Specifically, we were starting in Kate's basement (and getting there was an adventure in and of itself). Kate woke up early and shared a leisurely breakfast with us before heading off to work, leaving us to figure out how we were planning to get to Fremont. (Before anyone gets grumpy at Kate, this was always the plan.) Because Vixy had a lot of stuff to juggle, we decided to go ahead and take the bus to the BART station. A totally viable plan. Except for the part where the bus...didn't come. And didn't come. And didn't come. And did we mention that Vixy has a natural redhead's complexion and is from Seattle, whereas I have a natural tan and tend to assume that people who need sunscreen are wearing it. Usually, they are. Usually, they're not accustomed to a natural cloud cover.
Vixy turned the best color.
Eventually, the bus decided to grace us with its presence, and we were able to ride it to the BART station, where we caught a Fremont-bound train. I amused Vixy on the ride by letting her quiz me about how the actual geography (as represented by the BART map) matches up to the geography in Toby's world (pretty damn well, except for the part where we don't actually have a Duke in charge of Pleasant Hill). We are simple souls who make our own fun.
Beckett kindly collected us from the station on her end of things, and we proceeded to hie off to the Sweet Tomatoes with the boys firmly in tow, where we had a lovely lunch of salad and soup and baked goods and semi-illicit soda. (I didn't realize Vixy didn't know the cup color-coding, she didn't know the cup color-coding, she tried to drink a soda that hadn't been paid for, there was much grumping from the staff. Then she paid for her soda and all was well. Oh, the drama.) This was when we got our first indication that Vixy was catnip for children, as her presence hyped the boys waaaaaaaaay past their normal levels. It was actually sort of awe-inspiring, although I felt bad for poor Beckett, who had to do the majority of the twin-wrangling. Vixy just looked perplexed, which was cute.
After lunch, we went back to the house to hang out for a little while before it was time to head for recording. Beckett showed us some of the sketches she's done for the graphic novel she's doing with Debbie Ohi (very, very nice), and we all geeked about art and art supplies and music and half a dozen other things before the hands on the clock inevitably told us it was time to go. We stopped at 7-11 so I could get some Diet Dr Pepper (of course), and then we were off to the Bohnhoffs.
At the Bohnhoffs, Maya was just heading off for a meeting that would sadly keep her out for most of the evening -- the sadness was mostly for Kristine, who, with Jeff committed to doing sound engineering, wound up responsible for her baby sister for the bulk of that time. Poor Kristine. I will make it up to her someday. I'm just not entirely sure how.
Our first step involved tossing me into the booth to take care of that pesky lead vocal from 'Causes and Effects', which needed to happen before anything else would really make sense. Apparently, a little break from the song was exactly what I needed, because after a few false starts, I finally started nailing the timing with something like reliability. Also, there was one nice side effect of the original error: it showed us that really, we wanted to keep the slightly-overlapping takes that had resulted from us addressing each verse individually, rather than as a continuous whole. It means that live performance of the song won't quite match the recording, but really, when does it ever? And it sounds amazing.
We ran me through the song end-to-end about five times, reviewed the track, and then did the necessary vocal patches for the three or four words that I seemed bound and determined to hit in as many blazingly incorrect ways as possible. At last, we had a finished, functional lead vocal track for Vixy to work against. EVERYBODY DANCE! Seriously, that is the most down-to-the-wire, most difficult vocal track I've ever recorded. And I'm glad we did it. It's good for things to be hard once in a while. It means you work more to make them exactly right. Believe me, it was worth it.
With me out of the booth, it was time to put Vixy into the booth. This was probably something of a relief, as it meant she was no longer listening to me singing the same verse five times. Now it was my turn to listen to her singing the same verse five times. Turnabout: it's fair play. Only it was a deeply reassuring sort of fair play, because I have yet to ask her to be a part of something that was not legitimately and vastly improved by her participation. Her backing line for 'Causes and Effects' is sweet and sad and wistful, and it really helps to bring the song to the place I hoped it would be able to go. It takes it to the point of being heartbreaking. I love my Vixy so very much.
I love her so much, in fact, that after she finished the sweet and subtle sadness of 'Causes and Effects', I asked her to completely disconnect her brain and suffer through a never-ending parade of indignities in the service of 'Oh, Michelle', also known as 'the song that proves you should never encourage Seanan to immortalize you in verse.' Because there's a chance that I'll actually do it. And then you'll probably be sorry. But only probably.
Vixy's line for 'Oh, Michelle' consists mostly of saying incredibly stupid things in the space between verses. I mean, seriously, if someone wanted to make a talking doll version of Vixy -- you know, the kind with the string that you pull to get them to say things? -- it would sound like this. And thanks to her ability to sound like she's just had a dustbuster lobotomy, I will shortly have an album where the line 'Is that you, Johnny?' is delivered with disturbing levels of sincerity. MADE OF WIN.
After Vixy finished with 'Oh, Michelle', it was time for us to chill. Yay, chillin'. Amanda had been retrieved from the girl next door, and Maya had returned home from her meeting, so the chillin' was a group affair. Jeff played us some mixes from the Bohnhoff's upcoming album, Moebius Street, which were just awe-inspiring, and then I went to sleep on the studio couch, since I had to get up stupidly early the next morning.
Cue stupidly early the next morning. Jeff woke me and drove me to the CalTrans station, where I caught the first morning train to San Francisco. My recording session really ended when I walked through the door and sat down at my desk, leaving Vixy to the tender mercies of the Bohnhoff family...but that's another story.
We're two songs closer to our eventual goal. I still need to record my spoken bits for 'Oh, Michelle', but as they consist of 'yes', 'no', and 'yeah, probably', I don't anticipate this taking terribly long. Igor! Bring me the jumper cables!
We have work to do!