A new weeeeeek! How did we get on with the recordings? Did we manage or did we fail? Let me tell you that: I will not tell you here. Cliffhanger! But I am going to tell you about a great idea my friend and I had at the weekend.
Yes these are the two idiots that are Marit and Emilia going for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean in October. And yes it was freezing, but we survived it. We can honestly not complain, because we stayed in the water for literally 10 minutes and practised our songs for the recordings... we were sure no one had seen us. Turned out 2 days later the neighbours talked to my landlord about 2 weird people going for a swim in that weather in October. Oh well that must have been us then. Idiots.
The recordings started and we were literally hyped for the week to begin and to finally do some recording. Monday came along and we started working on the song with harmonies that we had recorded on the Friday. It took us some time but we improved steady and were happy with the version. Next one was the english folk song and after I figured out an intro and the piano accompaniement we were ready to record the vocals. To be honest even though it was the first time we recorded that song we were quite happy, but there was something missing. Something that gives the tune a drive and a difference to just the vocals and the piano throughout the whole tune. So after having a look on youtube we found inspirations for a nice fiddle riff/accompaniement and I had something to practise for the next day! We started trying out my tune after that but that didn't really work out. Even though we had a finished arrangement stuff didn't work out the way we wanted and we decided to leave this piece as we were not getting any good things out of the recording. Quite happy about what we managed during the day we went home and practised some more to have another productive recording session the next day.
Tuesday was some day. Nothing really worked out. We had a mental breakdown during lunchtime after going over certain parts literally thousands of times and they didn't work out. Then the mic was not good for the instruments we were using. The acoustics were bad. The sound was worse than the days before. We realized that we had only today and Wednesday to record and only one from five songs was finished. We were never going to manage our goal. We were literally pissed off. Both of us. Not from each other but from how things didn't work the way we wanted. We had food and were still not in the best mood but realized that this is not going to help us in the process. We should focus on what we already managed to do and realize that our goal was maybe a bit too high. Still we had the aim to finish what we planned and do our very best to get the tunes recorded. The afternoon was rather productive and even though the bad mood was still in the studio it cleared later during the day. We finished the day with a brilliant idea of ours to put some extra harmonies in the song we already finished on the Monday. Which meant piano, melody line and three harmonies. Sweeeeeeeeet! I'm very proud in saying that I love our version! In the evening we realized how bad our mood during the day actually was but also realized that this is possibly part of the learning process. Things will not always work out the way you planned them but instead of complaining about it, find a better solution. Something to keep in mind for us next time.
With the bad mood left behind we started the next day productive as hell! I finished my fiddle accompaniement for the english folk song, so that one was done! The song where we added another two harmonies the day before was finished as well. Now on to my tune, we recorded certain parts seperately from the rest and it worked out! Happy me! I heard the full recording of the tune shortly after it and it gave me goosebumps. The accompaniement we created together was so nice I didn't think you could arrange the tune so nicely! So proud of what we did!
Then the song Marit wrote. We hadn't started on that one yet because the lyrics was not finished until Tuesday evening but we were positive and sure that we can make it. I figured out the chords and we could record the piano part. It was a challenge to record the vocals now. It took us a couple of tries and ended up in me recording the piano part again to make it easier to record the vocals. But see how we improved? Instead of complaining like we did the day before we just found a better solution and in the end it worked out! After hearing the result we were content but some extra harmonies would be the cherry on top of the cake. So half an hour later we recorded another two harmonies for the chorus and the piece was done. Marit was happier than ever and didn't think it could end up that nice! Next up we practised the instrumental sets (which now ended up in being two sets with two tunes each) and went straight back into the studio to record them. We had time to record until 5pm and were finished by 4.50pm. I guess we managed quite good there! We went back home and were already reminiscing about everything we managed during the week. 6 tracks in 7 days with only three and a half days in the studio. Not to forget that during that time we also came up with how we would call our little duo, where to upload the music and what our next project will be!
That evening we realized how tired we were. Especially on the Wednesday, we didn't even have a break. I had lunch whilst Marit recorded her part and vice versa. But we succeeded! I think we can be very proud of ourselves and deserve some time to rest now! Keep your eyes peeled for some more details about where the music will be uploaded!
I finished my week off with some tunes in a bothy in South Uist. Food, cider and crackin tunes, is there more you want? I don't think so!
Take care! Cheerio bye,
Emilia X
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