The Recording Process

The Recording Process http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:55:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Home Away From Home? http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=2015783 Miles and I had to book a hotel in Missouri for an upcoming trip. We looked at online reviews of some hotels in the area and got a good laugh. Check these out. How about this little gem: "Infested! :(" The customer service displayed by the hotel staff was excellent. However, I have killed three spiders, two of them brown recluse, and it has only been thirty minutes! This was the best one: "Nothing Sweet about the ************* Plaza Inn & Suites!" The hotel is outdated, which on its own isn’t a problem, however the front desk staff was unhelpful and joked of drinking prior to coming in to work her shift that day. My stay was for 2 nights. On the first night, there was an incident involving a room and someone breaking a full pane of glass in front of the room, not to mention the drunken obscenities being shouted. The second day, there were local residents at the pool indicating that for $5.00 the front desk attendant allowed them to swim in the hotel pool. There were occupants, whom I firmly believe to be residents of this hotel, grilling out on charcoal grills in front the entry way to their rooms. Additionally, after returning from lunch on Saturday, we were greeted by an angry mob of shirtless, caucasion men, in the parking lot armed with wrenches and other tools chasing after a lone African American male… not to mention the gang of onlookers cheering the men on. The entire scene was completely ridiculous and dangerous! Needless to say, we booked our stay in a different hotel than that one. But we have resolved to check online reviews before we book any hotels in the future. It would be a shame to miss out on a laugh that good!     Miles and I had to book a hotel in Missouri for an upcoming trip. We looked at online reviews of some hotels in the area and got a good laugh. Check these out.

How about this little gem:

"Infested! :("
The customer service displayed by the hotel staff was excellent. However, I have killed three spiders, two of them brown recluse, and it has only been thirty minutes!

This was the best one:

"Nothing Sweet about the ************* Plaza Inn & Suites!"
The hotel is outdated, which on its own isn’t a problem, however the front desk staff was unhelpful and joked of drinking prior to coming in to work her shift that day. My stay was for 2 nights. On the first night, there was an incident involving a room and someone breaking a full pane of glass in front of the room, not to mention the drunken obscenities being shouted. The second day, there were local residents at the pool indicating that for $5.00 the front desk attendant allowed them to swim in the hotel pool. There were occupants, whom I firmly believe to be residents of this hotel, grilling out on charcoal grills in front the entry way to their rooms. Additionally, after returning from lunch on Saturday, we were greeted by an angry mob of shirtless, caucasion men, in the parking lot armed with wrenches and other tools chasing after a lone African American male… not to mention the gang of onlookers cheering the men on. The entire scene was completely ridiculous and dangerous!

Needless to say, we booked our stay in a different hotel than that one. But we have resolved to check online reviews before we book any hotels in the future. It would be a shame to miss out on a laugh that good!

]]> Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:55:00 GMT 52D59069B627563B8A92C05FFA231127 "Walk Through The Pages"... has arrived. http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1830986

]]> Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:09:36 GMT DE7E139D74707510068BAEDBBDCF6024 CD design for "Walk Through The Pages" http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1771248   We are getting more and more excited about "Walk Through The Pages". We were excited even before we ever went to Nashville to get the tracks cut, when all we had was the words, some rough demos, and a rudimentary idea of what the album would sound like.   Then in December when the tracks were recorded and we'd heard the music and kinda knew what the album was going to sound like, we were really excited.   Then in January, when we got all the vocals recorded and got to hear the rough version of the CD without any fine-tuning, we were ... oh my... I don't think excited is the right word. To tell the truth, for me, the excitement for that stage hit after we'd been home from Nashville about a week and I'd caught up on some sleep. :)   After we were home from Nashville and we had to come up with the CD insert material, we got even more excited. We spent days poring over Bible verses, trying to pick just the right ones for each song. We edited our edited edits on our introduction to the CD, going back to rudimentary English and trying to remember the proper usage of colons (Miles would SO have a joke here), semicolons, commas, possessive, apostrophes, quotation marks, spelling numbers versus using numerals... it was a blast.   We had to do a photoshoot for the CD... you can tell we were excited about that phase too, cuz we took about 1200 pictures.    And today, when the finished CD cover was emailed to us, we ... well, really, I mainly feel like dancing. Don't have time do that, because company's coming over this evening and there's work to be done, so I vacuumed instead. :)      Those are the actual Temple steps... Miles took pictures when he went to Israel, and McClearen Design Studios, our graphics design agency, took those pics and photoshopped Miles in. Cool, huh?   We're also very excited about debuting this album at Miles' fifth annual homecoming. And we're not the only ones -- we've had two churches tell us they're bringing a bus, strangers calling (from as far away as Kentucky) asking for directions, and more people than ever before telling us that they're coming for sure. We may have to seat people in the choir loft! I can't wait to see what God does with the homecoming concert and the album. We are getting more and more excited about "Walk Through The Pages". We were excited even before we ever went to Nashville to get the tracks cut, when all we had was the words, some rough demos, and a rudimentary idea of what the album would sound like.
Then in December when the tracks were recorded and we'd heard the music and kinda knew what the album was going to sound like, we were really excited.
Then in January, when we got all the vocals recorded and got to hear the rough version of the CD without any fine-tuning, we were ... oh my... I don't think excited is the right word. To tell the truth, for me, the excitement for that stage hit after we'd been home from Nashville about a week and I'd caught up on some sleep. :)
After we were home from Nashville and we had to come up with the CD insert material, we got even more excited. We spent days poring over Bible verses, trying to pick just the right ones for each song. We edited our edited edits on our introduction to the CD, going back to rudimentary English and trying to remember the proper usage of colons (Miles would SO have a joke here), semicolons, commas, possessive, apostrophes, quotation marks, spelling numbers versus using numerals... it was a blast.
We had to do a photoshoot for the CD... you can tell we were excited about that phase too, cuz we took about 1200 pictures.
And today, when the finished CD cover was emailed to us, we ... well, really, I mainly feel like dancing. Don't have time do that, because company's coming over this evening and there's work to be done, so I vacuumed instead. :)

Those are the actual Temple steps... Miles took pictures when he went to Israel, and McClearen Design Studios, our graphics design agency, took those pics and photoshopped Miles in. Cool, huh?
We're also very excited about debuting this album at Miles' fifth annual homecoming. And we're not the only ones -- we've had two churches tell us they're bringing a bus, strangers calling (from as far away as Kentucky) asking for directions, and more people than ever before telling us that they're coming for sure. We may have to seat people in the choir loft! I can't wait to see what God does with the homecoming concert and the album.
]]> Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:55:00 GMT 07F18E902728CF7F131CE2E8000C5D49 CDs http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1730667  One part of the recording process that I hadn't ever really thought of was CDs. Where do CDs come from? Where do they live? Don't they just magically appear on artists tables? I discovered the truth yesterday.  They live in our house. And this is literally only a fraction of what we'll have before the year's out. This is 3000 CDs. They're going to be joined by another 2500 when we reproduce "Walk Through The Pages". And those 2500 will be joined by another 2500 when we reproduce "Blood Kin".  In Miles' words... "So when you come to the house, just pull up a box and sit down!" One part of the recording process that I hadn't ever really thought of was CDs. Where do CDs come from? Where do they live? Don't they just magically appear on artists tables? I discovered the truth yesterday.

They live in our house. And this is literally only a fraction of what we'll have before the year's out. This is 3000 CDs. They're going to be joined by another 2500 when we reproduce "Walk Through The Pages". And those 2500 will be joined by another 2500 when we reproduce "Blood Kin".

In Miles' words... "So when you come to the house, just pull up a box and sit down!"

]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:30:00 GMT 6E06CAB09CAE8FB634785D9A75824E32 Listening. http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1724321  We're (we meaning Unc (James Pike), Umma (Kim Pike), me, Miles, and Tommy & Anna Smith) ... we're sittin' here in our living room after dinner, listening one more time to the music that has occupied our time, thoughts and prayers for not just the past week, but ... Well, for me, it's been ever since I married Miles. For Miles, I'm sure it's been longer than that. This time, though, we're listening with Miles' radio guy, Tommy Smith, and his wife Anna. Listening this time, not trying to decide whether or not a particular song should go on the album, or what key a particular song should be sung in, or exactly what wording a particular song should have -- all that has been decided. We're listening this time, trying to decide which of the 12 songs should be released to radio. "Walk Through The Pages", an easy listening song with a potent message written by Miles' dad, James Pike, or maybe "Pigs Flew", a song that makes you smile just to hear the title, or "Ragged Edge", one of my personal favorites (which... I only have 12 favorites in this album), or any of the other songs. We've heard this music all day, every day, for the past week. Gotta admit, at times for me, it got a wee bit old hearing the same line for the tenth time... fifteenth time... twentieth time, and sometimes even more times than that. But sitting here, listening once again, I am struck all over again by the message of the album. It makes me want to worship, hearing about God's redemptive plan even as Adam and Eve chose sin over their Redeemer... hearing about God's purpose that was displayed in the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul... hearing about God's faithfulness in Daniel's life as well as in our own when we 'take it and leave it at an altar of prayer'... and I could go on. God's grace in using Jonah despite his disobedience, God's great love displayed in giving a fallen world His only Son... well, you'll just have to listen to the album. (That or read the book)... I'm giving it all away! So much work goes into the making of one album. For my part, trying to keep on top of booking, and picture taking, and recording videos, and uploading videos and pictures, and staying awake, and being in a strange place, and trying to be a good wife on top of it all, I kinda forgot a little bit just what we were doing. Sitting here listening to the almost finished product of all the work, it comes back to me. We did it, and we are doing it, for our God. His love for us staggers us, and we want to sing these songs about Him back to him and to other people so that they will see and feel and hear a bit better Who He is and how He loves them. That's why we did it. That's why we'll keep on doing it. For those who are curious, looks like we're going to be releasing "Teach Me To Love Like That", another one of my personal favorites ;). I'm convicted every time I hear this song. Which, now that Miles has recorded it, is going to equal a lot of conviction in the coming years.  We're (we meaning Unc (James Pike), Umma (Kim Pike), me, Miles, and Tommy & Anna Smith) ... we're sittin' here in our living room after dinner, listening one more time to the music that has occupied our time, thoughts and prayers for not just the past week, but ... Well, for me, it's been ever since I married Miles. For Miles, I'm sure it's been longer than that.

This time, though, we're listening with Miles' radio guy, Tommy Smith, and his wife Anna. Listening this time, not trying to decide whether or not a particular song should go on the album, or what key a particular song should be sung in, or exactly what wording a particular song should have -- all that has been decided. We're listening this time, trying to decide which of the 12 songs should be released to radio. "Walk Through The Pages", an easy listening song with a potent message written by Miles' dad, James Pike, or maybe "Pigs Flew", a song that makes you smile just to hear the title, or "Ragged Edge", one of my personal favorites (which... I only have 12 favorites in this album), or any of the other songs.

We've heard this music all day, every day, for the past week. Gotta admit, at times for me, it got a wee bit old hearing the same line for the tenth time... fifteenth time... twentieth time, and sometimes even more times than that. But sitting here, listening once again, I am struck all over again by the message of the album. It makes me want to worship, hearing about God's redemptive plan even as Adam and Eve chose sin over their Redeemer... hearing about God's purpose that was displayed in the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul... hearing about God's faithfulness in Daniel's life as well as in our own when we 'take it and leave it at an altar of prayer'... and I could go on. God's grace in using Jonah despite his disobedience, God's great love displayed in giving a fallen world His only Son... well, you'll just have to listen to the album. (That or read the book)... I'm giving it all away!

So much work goes into the making of one album. For my part, trying to keep on top of booking, and picture taking, and recording videos, and uploading videos and pictures, and staying awake, and being in a strange place, and trying to be a good wife on top of it all, I kinda forgot a little bit just what we were doing. Sitting here listening to the almost finished product of all the work, it comes back to me. We did it, and we are doing it, for our God. His love for us staggers us, and we want to sing these songs about Him back to him and to other people so that they will see and feel and hear a bit better Who He is and how He loves them. That's why we did it. That's why we'll keep on doing it.

For those who are curious, looks like we're going to be releasing "Teach Me To Love Like That", another one of my personal favorites ;). I'm convicted every time I hear this song. Which, now that Miles has recorded it, is going to equal a lot of conviction in the coming years.
]]> Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:55:00 GMT FDCB6FF570DA47FA25457FD189BE7C08 Gettin' Ready Today... Movin' Out Tomorrow http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1718966 The recording stage of "Walk Through The Pages" is officially done. We're heading on back to Texas in the morning. It's 11pm now, and we're going to be hitting I-40 in about 5 hours. We'll be listening to the rough tracks of what got done this week all the way home, I imagine. Miles asked me if I'd learned anything from my two stints in Nashville. I told him that I had. First, and most important, I learned that grapefruit and cold pizza are a bad combination. The jury's still out on whether grapefruit and hot pizza are likewise disagreeable. Second, that donkeys' main form of communication is the tritone, which by the by is the foundation for diminished seventh chords.  The recording stage of "Walk Through The Pages" is officially done. We're heading on back to Texas in the morning. It's 11pm now, and we're going to be hitting I-40 in about 5 hours. We'll be listening to the rough tracks of what got done this week all the way home, I imagine.

Miles asked me if I'd learned anything from my two stints in Nashville. I told him that I had. First, and most important, I learned that grapefruit and cold pizza are a bad combination. The jury's still out on whether grapefruit and hot pizza are likewise disagreeable. Second, that donkeys' main form of communication is the tritone, which by the by is the foundation for diminished seventh chords.
]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:10:34 GMT 1D3A9FE2B6C6F5E978E1ACB521DE969D Pictures... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1718824 Created with <a href="http://www.flickrslideshow.com">flickr slideshow.
Created with flickr slideshow.]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:40:00 GMT 7CD5AFCBABE686097B1F7A00584A85BB There's no place like home... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1718007 We're heading back to Texas tomorrow and boy are we glad. Last night Miles and I had been fast asleep for a couple hours when ... Soft! What noise from yonder yapper's mouth doth have its genesis? It is the sound of doom for our lovely lovely sleep and the start of wrath in my heart against said yapper, which must needs make mine husband's hand alight on the phone and forthwith phone the front desk in terrible and wrathful declarations of the injustice of a dog having murdered our peaceful slumber. Shakespeare would cry. Translation: Miles had to literally hold me back from going out into the hall to take care of a dog that was yapping, or die trying. So the dog yapped. And yapped. And kept on yapping for what seemed like... way way way too long. :) So we watched a Bogart movie, and by the time it was done, the yapper had either been put to sleep, or fallen asleep. Tale of the yapping dog aside, we're here at the studio now. All the songs for "Walk Throug The Pages" have been finished, and we're just busy listening through them, making sure everything is recorded just so-so before we head back to Texas tomorrow. We just listened to "The Ragged Edge", and it is absolutely (and I don't use this word lightly) fabulous. We're heading back to Texas tomorrow and boy are we glad.

Last night Miles and I had been fast asleep for a couple hours when ... Soft! What noise from yonder yapper's mouth doth have its genesis? It is the sound of doom for our lovely lovely sleep and the start of wrath in my heart against said yapper, which must needs make mine husband's hand alight on the phone and forthwith phone the front desk in terrible and wrathful declarations of the injustice of a dog having murdered our peaceful slumber.

Shakespeare would cry. Translation: Miles had to literally hold me back from going out into the hall to take care of a dog that was yapping, or die trying. So the dog yapped. And yapped. And kept on yapping for what seemed like... way way way too long. :) So we watched a Bogart movie, and by the time it was done, the yapper had either been put to sleep, or fallen asleep.

Tale of the yapping dog aside, we're here at the studio now. All the songs for "Walk Throug The Pages" have been finished, and we're just busy listening through them, making sure everything is recorded just so-so before we head back to Texas tomorrow. We just listened to "The Ragged

Edge", and it is absolutely (and I don't use this word lightly) fabulous.

]]> Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:50:00 GMT BCFE1252971284181479421B194762EC A video of a small portion of yesterday's background vocal work. http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1714864   Below is the video of recording the track for "In The Cool Of The Day" in Omnisound Studio.

Below is the video of recording the track for "In The Cool Of The Day" in Omnisound Studio.

]]> Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:05:00 GMT 0935380BF22883208D9EDEDFF5324807 Back at the recording studio for the second time this morning... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1714356  Why the second time, you may ask? Well, cuz it was the AM when we left last night, and it's STILL the AM this morning, back at the round wooden table in Tommy Cooper's kitchen. The coffee pot has already brewed two pots of coffee that I know of. Miles and Tommy are in Tommy's office/main room adjacent to the kitchen, listening to "October Harvest", the song that we'll be working on first this morning. Beautiful song, written by Mark Bishop, a lyric that tells the story of Miles' (and my) Aunt Sheila Paris and her husband, Alton Paris. I've not met him yet, but I will someday 'over yonder'. Aunt Sheila and Miles' Mom, Kim Pike, will be singing background vocals on this song before it's all said and done.   

]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:15:00 GMT FF36FA43ED14355BD3D68627FE792119 Coffee, anyone? http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1713093 It's ten(pm) and we're starting our *counting back* um.. well, I forget which number song this is. Not two. Third? Fourth? Something. I figured a post with really big pictures for really caffeinated eyes and really slow brain was in order. When my ability to put words together in an orderly fashion fails (see? I had to sit and think about that sentence for a while before I could figure out how to say it)... my ability to press a button on my camera stays intact. So. Really big pictures. Coming up. Sit back and enjoy.  This is Brett, Reggie and Ladye's son (below). Last time, from what Miles says, Brett was quite the kid. Something about fartville and hanging by his legs around Miles' neck. That kid doesn't seem quite kin to this one though. Bless his heart, he's been here since he got out of school (it's 10 now, case I didn't quite clear that up...), and there's not been a word of complaint. Brainstorming... Cooper's the silent support group for said brainstorming (below). This was Ladye's second day of wearing contacts, and we had a minor medical emergency involving a contact, a damaged fingernail, a singer turned MD, a producer turned medical technician, and a camera to capture it all. Emergency averted/taken care of, we carried on steadfastly. It's ten(pm) and we're starting our *counting back* um.. well, I forget which number song this is. Not two. Third? Fourth? Something. I figured a post with really big pictures for really caffeinated eyes and really slow brain was in order. When my ability to put words together in an orderly fashion fails (see? I had to sit and think about that sentence for a while before I could figure out how to say it)... my ability to press a button on my camera stays intact. So. Really big pictures. Coming up. Sit back and enjoy.

This is Brett, Reggie and Ladye's son (below). Last time, from what Miles says, Brett was quite the kid. Something about fartville and hanging by his legs around Miles' neck. That kid doesn't seem quite kin to this one though. Bless his heart, he's been here since he got out of school (it's 10 now, case I didn't quite clear that up...), and there's not been a word of complaint.

Brainstorming...

Cooper's the silent support group for said brainstorming (below).

This was Ladye's second day of wearing contacts, and we had a minor medical emergency involving a contact, a damaged fingernail, a singer turned MD, a producer turned medical technician, and a camera to capture it all. Emergency averted/taken care of, we carried on steadfastly.

]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:25:00 GMT 44844088D40467CCEBBDF46C6BAB6ED3 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1711839 That's right... snow! Just itty bitty snowflakes, but still! We went out for lunch with Reggie, Ladye, and Tommy, and by the time we'd come back out, the temperature had descended waaaay down. Oh yeah, and speaking of lunch... Check OUT the size of that burger!!! Miles and I together only knocked out half of it -- it's gonna make a killer leftover dinner. The burger alone is five POUNDS of meat. 

That's right... snow! Just itty bitty snowflakes, but still! We went out for lunch with Reggie, Ladye, and Tommy, and by the time we'd come back out, the temperature had descended waaaay down. Oh yeah, and speaking of lunch...

Check OUT the size of that burger!!! Miles and I together only knocked out half of it -- it's gonna make a killer leftover dinner. The burger alone is five POUNDS of meat.

]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:05:00 GMT 2870C29D7B326A4F6BA2E68030CDFA7F Back in Nashville http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1711070 After Christmas break we're back at it again here in Nashville at AFAB Recording Studio. We've been here since Monday night, andwe've got two days of recording under our belts so far. Today Reggie and Ladye Love are coming in to sing background vocals on the project. Reggie's here now, singing with Miles. Those two together are a riot. Tommy's busy directing the two -- dare I say -- clowns?  Point made.      

After Christmas break we're back at it again here in Nashville at AFAB Recording Studio. We've been here since Monday night, andwe've got two days of recording under our belts so far. Today Reggie and Ladye Love are coming in to sing background vocals on the project. Reggie's here now, singing with Miles. Those two together are a riot. Tommy's busy directing the two -- dare I say -- clowns?

Point made.

]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:15:00 GMT 7A7731D1E5642D2E3D66F803FFE3E3C9 Last Day! http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1634280  We're getting on the road tomorrow! I'm excited for sure, but I'm pretty sure our car is even more excited. Tommy glanced out the kitchen window while he was making coffee a minute ago, and commented on how low it was riding. The trunk is full of Miles' sound equipment, product, clothes, and stuff we didn't have room to take with us when Miles took me away to Texas last December. The back seat is full of our luggage, more Christmas gifts, books, sewing maching (thanks Mom!), and all the odds and ends that just kinda got thrown in there randomly. Needless to say, Miles and I both wince when we ride over bumps in the road, wondering if THIS bump is the one that's gonna disembowel our Mazda. Meanwhile, back at the farm, Miles and Tommy are running over the very last bit of "Pigs Flew" -- trying to get that last note juuuuuuuust right. 

We're getting on the road tomorrow! I'm excited for sure, but I'm pretty sure our car is even more excited. Tommy glanced out the kitchen window while he was making coffee a minute ago, and commented on how low it was riding. The trunk is full of Miles' sound equipment, product, clothes, and stuff we didn't have room to take with us when Miles took me away to Texas last December. The back seat is full of our luggage, more Christmas gifts, books, sewing maching (thanks Mom!), and all the odds and ends that just kinda got thrown in there randomly. Needless to say, Miles and I both wince when we ride over bumps in the road, wondering if THIS bump is the one that's gonna disembowel our Mazda.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Miles and Tommy are running over the very last bit of "Pigs Flew" -- trying to get that last note juuuuuuuust right.
]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:40:00 GMT 5DC2A72E39588134EAE583ADF55F1D9E In the cool of the day... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1633234  "Pigs Flew" is essentially done. At the end, Miles has some really low bass notes -- Tommy said it was the lowest note on the piano -- A. Nice, huh? That's my man. But we took a break from the bass sangin' and started in on "In The Cool Of The Day". Amazing how different this song feels from the McKamey version. I love it. Just like alllllll the rest of the songs on these albums, when I'm thinking about this song alone, I feel like it's gotta be my favorite song of the lot. Then we talk about/cut tracks for/record another song, and THAT seems like it's gotta be my favorite song. I love it that Miles goes on and on about these songs, and exactly why he loves them, and how he's going to get them across to audiences, and what segues he's going to use where... I love it that we've spent so much time praying and seeking wisdom for these projects; I love it that Miles wants God to look good in his music. I love it. "Pigs Flew" is essentially done. At the end, Miles has some really low bass notes -- Tommy said it was the lowest note on the piano -- A. Nice, huh? That's my man. But we took a break from the bass sangin' and started in on "In The Cool Of The Day". Amazing how different this song feels from the McKamey version. I love it. Just like alllllll the rest of the songs on these albums, when I'm thinking about this song alone, I feel like it's gotta be my favorite song of the lot. Then we talk about/cut tracks for/record another song, and THAT seems like it's gotta be my favorite song. I love it that Miles goes on and on about these songs, and exactly why he loves them, and how he's going to get them across to audiences, and what segues he's going to use where... I love it that we've spent so much time praying and seeking wisdom for these projects; I love it that Miles wants God to look good in his music. I love it.]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:21:34 GMT 40F78955445A75DC0D94E1406D681997 Flyin' Pigs http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1632830  "Teach Me To Love Like That" was wearing Miles out, so we took a break from the tenor singin' and brought out a bass song - "Pigs Flew". We all sat back listening to the new track for a bit before Miles even stepped into the recording room. Really, a super super track. Kelly Back just eats up that guitar. Beautiful. Since this isn't a song that Miles has been bringing into his concerts to get him used to it - cuz we didn't have the track - Tommy's fine-tuning how Miles sings the melody.  "Teach Me To Love Like That" was wearing Miles out, so we took a break from the tenor singin' and brought out a bass song - "Pigs Flew". We all sat back listening to the new track for a bit before Miles even stepped into the recording room. Really, a super super track. Kelly Back just eats up that guitar. Beautiful. Since this isn't a song that Miles has been bringing into his concerts to get him used to it - cuz we didn't have the track - Tommy's fine-tuning how Miles sings the melody. ]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:30:00 GMT B5756786BF55E4CC3F1D67241A72BE01 Teach Me To Love Like That http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1632692  "I Am" went by a lot faster than the first song of the day, "Gonna Take It And Leave It". Ironically, "Gonna Take It" isn't even finished you, just the bass and lead vocals have been recorded. Miles and Tommy wanted it cause Miles is comfortably with it and it's easier for Miles to sing bass in the morning. It turned out not quite as easy as they thought. Tommy's words were something like "I think this was the *hardest* song we could have chosen to start with". Now, "I Am" is one of my favorite songs that Miles sings. I just sat back and enjoyed -- kinda wish it had taken a bit longer ;).  ... Tommy's computer just crashed. That happened twice in the studio yesterday -- glad there was a backup hard drive then like we have now. Miles is glad too -- hopefully it saved his last vocal before it crashed cuz this song is hammering away at his voice. Annnnnnd... the word is that it saved most of his last take. Sveetness.

"I Am" went by a lot faster than the first song of the day, "Gonna Take It And Leave It". Ironically, "Gonna Take It" isn't even finished you, just the bass and lead vocals have been recorded. Miles and Tommy wanted it cause Miles is comfortably with it and it's easier for Miles to sing bass in the morning. It turned out not quite as easy as they thought. Tommy's words were something like "I think this was the *hardest* song we could have chosen to start with". Now, "I Am" is one of my favorite songs that Miles sings. I just sat back and enjoyed -- kinda wish it had taken a bit longer ;).

... Tommy's computer just crashed. That happened twice in the studio yesterday -- glad there was a backup hard drive then like we have now. Miles is glad too -- hopefully it saved his last vocal before it crashed cuz this song is hammering away at his voice. Annnnnnd... the word is that it saved most of his last take. Sveetness.
]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:45:00 GMT 81020BA25077C877483919E929E306B6 Still Taking It... Fixin' to Leave It. http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1631491 They're still working on "Gonna Take It And Leave It". Miles always jokes in concert that he gets in the studio and sings all four parts "'cuz I work cheap for myself", but that sho' nuff don't mean it's easy! It's kinda like recording four songs all at once -- in other songs he only has to sing the lead, but in quartet songs he sings lead, then bass, then tenor, then baritone, and has to sing it in such a manner that all four sound like they're being sung together. Izzy is doing her best to soothe his deep despair. I am so glad I'm not the singer. I've uploaded a new <a href="./videos.cfm">video that should give a pretty good idea of what has gone into just one line of this song. Extrapolate from that what has gone into the rest of the song...

They're still working on "Gonna Take It And Leave It". Miles always jokes in concert that he gets in the studio and sings all four parts "'cuz I work cheap for myself", but that sho' nuff don't mean

it's easy! It's kinda like recording four songs all at once -- in other songs he only has to sing the lead, but in quartet songs he sings lead, then bass, then tenor, then baritone, and has to sing it in such a manner that all four sound like they're being sung together. Izzy is doing her best to soothe his deep despair.

I am so glad I'm not the singer. I've uploaded a new video that should give a pretty good idea of what has gone into just one line of this song. Extrapolate from that what has gone into the rest of the song...

]]> Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:35:00 GMT 81543F400A81E4E9761486189FA49290 Gonna Take It And Leave It http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1630917  The first song of this session is "Gonna Take It And Leave It", a quartet number that Miles has been singing in concert a lot recently. The videos that I've uploaded that had Miles singing -- he wasn't actually recording. What he was singing is called a 'scratch vocal' -- something the players can listen to and play to. What we're doing now is recording Miles and only Miles. So far we've done the first verse of the song. And now TC is doing his thing, and what Miles and I are hearing while Tommy's playing around on his computer sounds like a CD that's stuck. Miles has this pained expression on his face as he hears his voice over... and over... and over... and over... and over. Isn't it wierd how people just don't like the sound of their own voice no matter how great it is? If I had to pick my own voice out of a vocal lineup, I probably couldn't. "THAT? THAT's what I sound like? Why hasn't someone shot me?"  The first song of this session is "Gonna Take It And Leave It", a quartet number that Miles has been singing in concert a lot recently. The videos that I've uploaded that had Miles singing -- he wasn't actually recording. What he was singing is called a 'scratch vocal' -- something the players can listen to and play to. What we're doing now is recording Miles and only Miles. So far we've done the first verse of the song. And now TC is doing his thing, and what Miles and I are hearing while Tommy's playing around on his computer sounds like a CD that's stuck. Miles has this pained expression on his face as he hears his voice over... and over... and over... and over... and over. Isn't it wierd how people just don't like the sound of their own voice no matter how great it is? If I had to pick my own voice out of a vocal lineup, I probably couldn't. "THAT? THAT's what I sound like? Why hasn't someone shot me?" ]]> Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:35:00 GMT 4CD08562B18D17000BB8C8E0B9841FE2 Day Three... http://milespikemusic.com/blog.cfm?feature=3004600&postid=1630751   Miles and I woke up this morning and felt like the power of gravity had increased about tenfold. Either that or the bed had acquired a force field during the night ... "We're caught in a tractor beam and it's pulling us in! We cannot escape. It is our destiny." Is it early to be slap happy? Yes. Did we escape? Yes. We're here at Tommy Cooper's now, listening to some of what was recorded during the past two days. It is a cold, rainy, foggy day. Izzy, TC's dog, gave us a warm welcome. Miles and I are both "normalcy-sick" I think ... looking forward to getting back to our own house, our own bed, our own toilet (Yes, seriously, our own toilet. We're looking forward to that. Now THAT's saying something.), our own refrigerator (WHY is it fridge, with a D, but when you say REfrigerator, you lose the D?), and totally totally totally our own food. I'm looking forward to sitting in front of the fire in the fireplace, real still, for at least five minutes. Then we can get busy again.

Miles and I woke up this morning and felt like the power of gravity had increased about tenfold. Either that or the bed had acquired a force field during the night ... "We're caught in a tractor beam and it's pulling us in! We cannot escape. It is our destiny." Is it early to be slap happy? Yes. Did we escape? Yes. We're here at Tommy Cooper's now, listening to some of what was recorded during the past two days. It is a cold, rainy, foggy day. Izzy, TC's dog, gave us a warm welcome. Miles and I are both "normalcy-sick" I think ... looking forward to getting back to our own house, our own bed, our own toilet (Yes, seriously, our own toilet. We're looking forward to that. Now THAT's saying something.), our own refrigerator (WHY is it fridge, with a D, but when you say REfrigerator, you lose the D?), and totally totally totally our own food. I'm looking forward to sitting in front of the fire in the fireplace, real still, for at least five minutes. Then we can get busy again.
]]> Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:50:00 GMT 09F8D074666F73FC311FCC2194673371