More photos from Friday, June 24 sessions

 

Jane and I sitting on our stairs practicing "Right Here" with the vocal group.

My Fender 30 amp was once again stationed in the bathroom, so this is me sitting on the toilet (not using it!) setting the tone before recording "Sinner's Child."

Doug Wilde at the piano. Make sure you watch the Canada Day show from Ottawa—the musical production, composition, and arrangement is Doug's!

Jane testing her mic upstairs for "We Want Peace."

Tannis "I-can't-stop-smiling" Slimmon ready to blast away the ending of "We Want Peace."

Dennis Gaumond getting ready to record "Right Here" with us. That's the attitude!

Nik Tjelios, the master of a million wires, mics, and headphones taking a lunch break on our deck. "I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

Rich Langedijk, gravelly lead singer, basking in the challenge of singing a lower fifth harmony.

Apparently, Tannis' smiling is contagious! No, the fenced area behind her is not for containing unruly drummers, it's a net for peas to grow up.

All photos by James Dean.

More session photos

Here are some photos from Friday, June 24.

Just a few of the many headphones we used last weekend.

In the 70s, I took the body of that guitar, and wired it to a makeshift turntable on an old washing machine motor. I got it spinning and poured paint on it!

Heather MacRae (now a Doctor of Naturopathy, so get in line!), brought her home made spring rolls and other goodies. She's the inspiration for the song "Right Here," which I wrote for her wedding. Great singer, too.

Jesse reacting to Adam's ignerrit groove.

Tannis Slimmon, Guelph's Queen of Smiles.

Tricia Brubacher getting ready for video duty (and vocal duty the next day).

Adam Bowman reacting to Jesse's stoopit bass riffs.

Doug Wilde loading up lunch—fresh greens from the garden, cous-cous salad, hummous, veggies, edamame, spring rolls, and-I-can't-remember-what-else.

The last recording day

We had 20 people here today! Roll the credits . . .

Jeff Bersche: vocals, tiny anvil whacking
Laura Bird: vocals-on-the-go
Adam Bowman: stupid drums and ignorant percussion
Tricia Brubacher: vocals two steps back and video
Mike Driscoll: hopped-up vocals and rock smacking
Dennis Gaumond: vocals and stump thumping
Rich Langedijk: vocals and tie-dye-influenced post-hitting
Jane Lewis: maitre d', vocals, video, cuteness
Janet Lewis: maitre d' cuisine, ginger cookie goddess, the adult in the house
Heather MacRae: Naturopathic Dr. of Cuisine, vocals
Tannis Maynard-Langedijk: vocals, muffled guffaws
Joni NehRita: D9 vocal coolness
Stu Peterson: vocals with significant "Huh!"
Tannis Slmmon: vocals, 4" x 4" dropping, joyously colourful outfit
Guy Stefan: vocals and maul-on-wedge syncopation
Nik Tjelios: maitre d'ingenieur
Jesse Turton: maitre d' grunté, bass
Sam Turton: maitre d' funkée poulet, vocals, guitar
Kate Vanderhorst: Maitre d' photographie
Jan Vanderhorst: vocals and second stump, video

Jane's mom Janet arrived first and the kitchen moved into full gear. Nik arrived next and started setting up to record "Pilin' Line" outside in the back yard. The weather cooperated, and we succeeded in recording it and the final song, "Just A Little Bit."

Woo Hooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Exhausted and happy. Here's a still from the raw video—more to come in the following days.

Group from left: Jeff Bersche, Tricia Brubacher, Laura Bird, Jan Vanderhorst, Stu Peterson, Dennis Gaumond, Tannis Slimmon, Mike Driscoll, Rich Langedijk, Guy Stefan, Tannis Maynard-Langedijk, Jesse Turton. Front: Sam Turton, Kate Vanderhorst.

The second last recording session

The house was full today! We banged off three songs, and had photographer James Dean from Toronto documenting the day, along with Tricia Brubacher and Heather MacRae shooting video. Here are a few shots from the festivities.

This is Jane shooting James shooting Tricia shooting Jane with Jesse on bass and Doug at the keys.

Doug running through "Sinner's Child," and Nik conferring with Adam.

Sam conferring with Adam on an aspect of "We Want Peace."

Jeff Bersche in a jovial mood prior to screaming his lungs out on "We Want Peace."

Laura Bird singing "we want love . . . "

The happy hosts.

The whole crew (minus Tricia, and James taking the shot) on our deck. Standing left: Rich Lagedijk. Standing right: Adam Bowman. Back row from left: Jeff Bersche, Doug Wilde, Dennis Gaumond, Jesse Turton, Heather MacRae. Sitting on the bench from left: Tannis Slimmon, Jane Lewis. Sitting on the deck from left: Sam Turton, Laura Bird, Nik Tjelios.

The final set-up day

Tomorrow is piano day. I have the instrument on three songs and Doug Wilde is coming from Toronto to lay those down with us on Friday. I booked Paul Wall from Kitchener to do the tuning ages ago, and the poor thing has been shifting sharp—along with all the guitars—because of the damp weather. It’s a beautifully constructed early 40s Nordheimer apartment upright.

Yesterday we closed up the house and turned on the central air (which we rarely use) and a dehumidifier to gently bring the humidity down before the tuning. Right now the humidity outdoors is at 94% and we managed to bring it down to 60% by this morning. The ideal for pianos is 50-60%.

Pall arrived at 9:30 am and got to work. Within an hour he had it sounding great and suggested we hold the humidity at 60% through the recording. Yes sir!

Then I got to work clearing out the house and Jane prepared food. I cleaned up the back deck, rehearsed a bit and had a nap. Energy conservation is key. Jane never stopped in the kitchen, so I hope she gets a good sleep tonight!

I rooted around our garage for work song-type items for rhythm on “Pilin’ Line.” I pulled out some sledge hammers, axes, crowbars, old ball-peen hammers of my grandfather’s—even a little anvil! The boys are gonna have fun on Saturday morning!

 tonight . . .

The gear.

The veggie curry, with the last potatoes from our 2010 garden.

Big group vocal rehearsal

This post was prepared before midnight on Wednesday, June 22, but I couldn't post it because another violent thunderstorm knocked the power out!

This Friday and Saturday are the final recording days, and we saved the most complex songs for last. On Friday we start with three back-up singers and by Saturday afternoon we’ll have nine. Tonight was the vocal rehearsal for this bigger group, which included Jane Lewis, Tannis Slimmon, Laura Bird, Guy Stefan, Dennis Gaumond, Rich Langedijk, Jeff Bersche, Joni NehRita, Tricia Brubacher, and Heather MacRae.

Everyone had checked out their support materials and was ready to go. Tannis, Laura, Jane and I met early and went over “Sinner’s Child,” then Tannis headed off to an evening class.

Dennis, Jeff, and Rich arrived and together with Jane and Laura, we worked on “We Want Peace,” and “Right Here.”

Then Joni, Tricia, and Heather arrived, Laura headed back to Orangeville and we tackled the toughest song of the bunch—“Just A Little Bit.” This one has three groups of three singers each who do very simple but rhythmically complex, interlocking parts. We slowly eased into it by checking each person’s individual parts, each group together, then various sections of the song. Finally we were able to tackle the song as a whole.

As expected, it will likely be the most challenging to do live, but we will persevere!  By the time we left, it was coming together, and everyone left knowing the song much better, with two days more to practice!

Clockwise from bottom left: Heather MacRae, Tricia Brubacher, Joni NehRita, Jeff Bersche, Rich Langedijk, Sam Turton, Dennis Gaumond, Guy Stefan, and Jane Lewis.

A letter to our neighbours

Jane and I created a letter to twenty-four of our “within earshot” neighbours to ask their cooperation with this weekend’s recording. I delivered them by hand today. Check it out:

We’re your neighbours at 238 Kathleen Street, three doors up from the corner of Kathleen and Division.

This is a musical household, and you may have heard music from workshops and rehearsals emanating from our property in the past.

This Friday and Saturday—June 24 and 25—we’re doing a live recording here at our house. 

We're writing to ask, if at all possible, you could get any outdoor machine-driven chores taken care of either before or after those two days. (Or before 10 a.m. on the 24th & 25th). 

Our concern is that loud engine sounds, such as lawn mowers, weed whackers, and chain saws will bleed through and force us to stop. We’re even hoping to record a song with just voices right out in our back yard! 

Your help would be much appreciated.

If you’re curious about the project, check out the blog at

http://samturtonmusic.blogspot.com

Thank you in advance!

Sam and Jane.