From the Maple Leaf Recording Studio Sessions, for the upcoming album "Handsnaps and FingerClaps"
He said he could always tell the sound of a song assembled in the studio, or polished onstage.
She had never been in a recording studio. She was used to hearing her voice get lost in the music onstage. But she had never felt so naked having her vocal track recorded. Like walking on a tightrope, no throwing out a highwire out in front of you, creating something solid to reach stretch out of you. One wrong note, and this weak (rope bridge?) will fall out from beneath her.
She felt like Indiana Jones.
She felt like Wile.E. Coyote who would begin to fall only at the mention of gravity. (But her gravity was her FEAR. The Shattering Glass. The drop of sour milk that would curdle everything. The opposite of his smile. And all she wanted to do was to make him smile)
He was sweet and helpful, getting her to relax. Allowing her to record a bunch of songs they had no intention of being serious about. All the showtunes she loved, that would bring out her laugh, her natural playfulness. He had a sense that if he spent a certain ratio of warm-up time to recording time, everything would work out.
He had her pick 5 songs that she LOVED. Easy, fun, beautiful songs to record for posterity. Easy being the key word. He wanted to save those, even if just a portrait for himself. Like taking out someone's picture, and caressing their smile. He knew every facial feature as she went through her motions.
She wanted to be a Broadway ingenue or comedienne. He just wanted her to keep smiling and sing lullabyes to him.
From The Carpenters, "Rainy Days & Mondays"
He said he could always tell the sound of a song assembled in the studio, or polished onstage.
She had never been in a recording studio. She was used to hearing her voice get lost in the music onstage. But she had never felt so naked having her vocal track recorded. Like walking on a tightrope, no throwing out a highwire out in front of you, creating something solid to reach stretch out of you. One wrong note, and this weak (rope bridge?) will fall out from beneath her.
She felt like Indiana Jones.
She felt like Wile.E. Coyote who would begin to fall only at the mention of gravity. (But her gravity was her FEAR. The Shattering Glass. The drop of sour milk that would curdle everything. The opposite of his smile. And all she wanted to do was to make him smile)
He was sweet and helpful, getting her to relax. Allowing her to record a bunch of songs they had no intention of being serious about. All the showtunes she loved, that would bring out her laugh, her natural playfulness. He had a sense that if he spent a certain ratio of warm-up time to recording time, everything would work out.
He had her pick 5 songs that she LOVED. Easy, fun, beautiful songs to record for posterity. Easy being the key word. He wanted to save those, even if just a portrait for himself. Like taking out someone's picture, and caressing their smile. He knew every facial feature as she went through her motions.
She wanted to be a Broadway ingenue or comedienne. He just wanted her to keep smiling and sing lullabyes to him.
From The Carpenters, "Rainy Days & Mondays"
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