June 15, 2010 - UPDATE!!!

Hey everyone! Coop here (yes, Coop). A lot has happened since Lib's last post. Although I'm no longer performing with the band, Lib and I have been hard at work on the CD.

I'm really excited about continuing my collaboration with Lib, so I wanted to tell you all about it.

Over the past few weeks, we've been hunkered down at the Cooper Cabana Studios in Mount Laurel NJ. We added vocals and a few missing instruments (including a midi track!) to "Make Me A Deal", and today, we finished a demo-ready mix. Lib is providing it to a local dance school that wants to use it in their recital next week (they've been working with an old rough mix). Next on the schedule is "Pretty Baby".

We've also put down the initial tracks of a solo single of Lib's.

My Windows 7 laptop seems to be running great with the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB-2 multitrack interface and Acoustica Mixcraft 5.1.

So...progress.

Hope you don't mind, but a quick plug for me... check out where I'm playing (and with whom) at http://njpariah.com/ and/or http://facebook.com/NJPariah.

c u l8tr!

Coop

Recording session 2/25/10

Back in the studio Thursday night for another session. Once again, it was Bryan behind the board engineering and me laying down vocal tracks. We did two more of my songs which are "Since You Left Me", and "You're The One For Me". I did the lead vocal Line, then layed down three background tracks on "Since You Left Me" and then slid right into "You're the One For Me". Should have been easy, but we noticed a glitch in the song. I think we both started thinking "Here we go again!" It turned out that the glitch was actually in the organ track itself. So with some studio magic...a little cutting and pasting of the offending rifts, Bryan was able to correct the glitch without having to re record the organ track, which was a major victory because we would have had to re do the entire track. Punch ins work if the settings are exact, so to try and punch in after so much time has elapsed would have been incredibly difficult. With that fixed, I put down the vocal line.
So with this done, the remainder of the work on my songs really are three that need horns, one that needs a tuning fix, and some minor editing. Next week, we'll probably finish up "Make Me A Deal" and try to set that up for a release. Slowly, but surely, it will get done. Lib

Recording session 2/10/10

What started out as a night of disasters turned into a pretty productive night. With Coop behind the board, we started laying the vocal tracks for Twinkle in Your Eyes when the computer started gliching again. Coop just about had my hairstyle as he went through a progression of attempts at fixing the problem. We tried moving to another song Just Say It's Over to see if maybe the problem was in the song . Different song, same problem. I almost expected to see the computer go crashing through the engineer room into the studio.After about two hours, Coop tried a desperation fix...what it was I couldn't tell you. I'm a writer, not a computer wizard...and it worked. The glitches were gone. We layed all the vocals for Just Say it's Over, Twinkle in Your Eyes, and It's A Good Thing, plus the guitar solo in It's A Good Thing.
Three songs complete in about two hours. Like I said, not a bad nights work. I'm ready to keep pushing so we can go to the final editing and mixing. I want to get this puppy done and in the can so we can start working on the next one. I feel like we have gotten the problems solved and from here on in, it should be smooth sailing. Next will be Lou turn to lay down vocals on his songs.. Acouple more horns, and we will be finished recording. I know I keep saying it, but the will be done, and I feel like we can finish it soon...Maybe not by th Ides of March like we wanted, but soon. I'll keep you posted. T.T.F.N Lib

Recording session 1/29/10

Well, it is very strange going back to the studio after Harry. This is our first session since he passed away. It is so bittersweet. I feel the need to keep going though. We waited so long to do this, now it is becoming an obsession. Maybe I am realizing that we don't always have all the time we want to do things. I think tonight will be the catalyst to continue pressing on. We are so close, yet there is still much to do.
Tonight is the first final vocal night. Coop behind the board, and I am laying vocal lines to Pretty Baby. We added a tamborine to Harry's cowbell, so I got another chance to jam with him on percussion. For all intents and purposes, Pretty Baby, which is the opening track to the CD is complete and ready for mixing. We began recording the lead vocal line to Twinkle in your eyes, but the computer started hiccupping...a glitch in the system. We worked on it for awhile until we realized that it wasn't going away. We decided that since it was past 1 am, we would end this session. Next week...with a new computer on board...I'm hoping to lay vocal lines for the rest of my lead lines and, if the recording gods are smiling, track the horns for 3 of the 4 remaining songs that they play on. We are on the verge! I can smell a completion date, although I can't see it clearly. Til next week. Lib

Recording sessions Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov.10

Wow! I got a chill tonight as we recorded horns for the second week. John and Mike were wonderful as they blew through four of the 9 songs that they are playing on. A very productive session . We have two of three horns on Make Me a Deal and Just Say it's Over, and three horns on Twinkle in Your Eyes and How it Might have Been (Actually, we added a fourth horn to How it might have been). Lou "bassed up" the CD as he completed the bass work on 11 of the 12 songs. The 12th has yet to be selected, but when we get that far, we'll have just about wrapped it up. I'm working to release Make Me a Deal ASAP, as I have gotten some requests for that recording. I have a guest pianist coming over next week to add keys to Make Me a Deal. He played with the band for a very short time. Family commitments caused him to not stay, but he made a big impression on me when he played my song. I am hoping we can continue the pace that we are recording at, and maybe put some sneak peeks from the board mix out for you to hear.
3 sessions and 3 very productive weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Recording Session 8/13/09

It's been a long while since we last sessioned, but with a hectic summer schedule, and family commitments, it is all we could do. The CD is moving slower than I had envisioned, but at least it is moving in the right direction.
We are down to the last three songs for the CD. We laid tracks for 2 of Lou's songs, "Jacks" and "I Want You Back". Lou, Joe and I laid down our respective tracks with Coop behind the board. " I Want You Back" was an interesting work in that we changed the whole feel of the song, taking it from a country western influenced song to a more R&B flavored song. "Jacks" is a story in a song....think Harry Chapin with a harder edge.
One more song to record and the CD will have all the tracks down. After that comes all the fill in work...horns, extra guitars and keyboards, percussion, and finally lead and background vocals.
Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, we can begin the finishing process on this soon.
Lib

Recording Sessions 5/26 and 5/27

It was Coops turn to get on the other side of the board and begin drumming. It took about 1 hour to set up the mics for the drums,and to get levels on them. So at about 9:15, Coop took his seat on the "throne" and began his part of the recording. Joe and I engineered this session. We got finished takes on three songs that we have played out live: Make A Me A Deal, Just Say It's Over, and Twinkle In Your Eyes. It was a relatively easy session, as Coop has played these songs before, and we just went over different accents and styles. So Tuesday left us wanting more. It was intoxicating sitting behind the board and listening as these songs took on a new life. So we decided to reconvene on Wednesday and see if we could get some more done.
Wednesday turned out better than any of us expected. Coop arrived at the studio at 8, and we went right to work. This session would be slower because Coop had never played these songs, nor has he even heard them other than on the initial recording nights. So we went into play mode to go over how the songs should be played, than a practice run, than the actual recording. After the first song, which was Missing You, we decided to forego the practice run and do a straight record. After all, the worst that could happen would be a re take. For the most part, two takes was all it took to get it done...amazing considering it was the first time he played them. So we moved on. By 10 o'clock we recorded and saved: Missing You, Pretty Baby, Since You Left Me, Your The One For Me, and It's A Good Thing. A very productive session. Joe came in at around 10 and was pleasantly surprised that we were sitting around with a cold beer ready to go over the nights work.
Next week we should be doing percussion overdubs, maybe beginning the brass, and maybe laying down lead vocal lines...we used a rough guide vocal track for recording. So, until then ciao. Lib