This Tuesday past, we went into the studio to record, and video tape some new songs for a television program airing on the Bravo network.

We started at ten a.m., and were out by five that afternoon with six songs in the can, and about a half hour of interview footage.

Not bad, when I consider that I've been on studio sessions where it's taken that much time just to get the sound of one drum 'right.'

For better or worse, we remain lo/no-tech.

We record everything pretty much 'off the floor,' as they say in studio parlance, which means that we set up a bunch of mics, and all play together as we would if we were playing a show.

Recording in this manner pretty much negates the chance of overdubbing or fixing things after you've completed a song, because even though you can fade certain parts up and down in the final mix, you can't really get rid of them because everything 'bleeds' into every mic.

My vocals can be heard in Alec's bass mic, for example, or Jerome's harp bleeds into my vocal mic…….

It's an old time way of recording old time music.

The down side of working this way, is that you've gotta get things right for the duration of the whole song. Make a mistake, and you've gotta start over from the beginning. No problem if your not pressed for time, but what usually happens if you keep repeating the same thing over and over, is that you eventually lose some of the energy, and enthusiasm.

Additionally, one doesn't have the opportunity to add other parts, or to overdub vocals. What you play, is what you get -warts and all!

Also, recording in this manner, one has the propensity to over-scrutinize the final results. "My voice was a little out of tune in the second chorus"; "I could have played a better solo if I was able to overdub one"; "this fucking banjo is a retarded instrument……."

A certain amount of…… shall I boldly say…….. bravery is required to gather the confidence to say that you're satisfied with the results when you're finished.

……….Or is it stupidity?

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