Tracking Day Twelve... Drawing To A Close

we write this at the tail end of 12.5 straight days of tracking

exhaustion is rearing its ugly head and the thought of our nice warm and familiar beds at home have never felt so far away

everyone here has been amazing - we have been staying with Eric E's cousin Amy for the last few days since the robbery and it has been a great boost for us to come home to made "beds" and plenty of food in the fridge

Devin has been a serious trooper this whole time, working over 12 days straight without a break and putting up with all of our shenanigans (robots, coloring books, crosswords, etc.) - we cannot thank him, and the rest of the studio staff, enough for their hard work and hospitality

seems to be the same story as always though...

band wants to make record
band plans to track all of their parts quickly and accurately - "shouldn't take more than 7 days" they say
twelve days into it, they're just now finishing tracking

if you multiply that by how long this would have taken, had we decided to go it on our own at home like the last record, then it is unlikely that we would even be releasing this until 2009!

seriously though, it is exciting to know that we are going home tomorrow, but all of us are completely overjoyed at how things sound and are very glad that we were able to pay so much attention to each these songs - we all came up here wondering if certain songs would fit and if we would have a cohesive record and by about day 3 things already sounded so full coming out of the speakers that the songs began to sound and feel like an album all on their own

mixing will now happen the week of November 12th, with Chad and us communicating by phone and FTP server and mastering will be completed on November 21st with us receiving the final product as we are eating our Turkey Day leftovers on the 23rd

please wish us luck on the drive home - somehow Stephen and Ryan made it to STL in 13 hours earlier in the week, but it is highly doubtful that this group of four will set the same land speed record

there are some very exciting things on the horizon and we will continue to update the blog as to the progress of the record

xoxo

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some things that might have slowed us down a bit...

robots!


getting the perfect angle


new Office episodes online


catching mice


the toy bin in the control room


impromptu drum-offs including neither of our two drummers


food!!!!


12 songs + 7 members


cellphone games

...

Tracking Days Eight & Nine, Part One...

keys = done!

we got some super sweet keyboard sounds out of Steve and Kiley at the studio here and it is definitely one of the best "new" things about this record - not that the sounds were bad before, but everything from using the $30,000 piano to running the keys through little guitar amps has just absolutely been a godsend for this new batch of songs

percussion = done!

shakers, tambourines, floor toms, etc.

Mike got a chance to bask in the sunlight as he beat the snot out of a pair of floor toms - there is definitely something about tracking in the front room and getting to see what is going on outside, on what is a very "industrial" corridor, and feeling the heat of the sun - very liberating

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that being said, Eric E's vocals are done on about 6 tracks, give or take a pre-chorus or two
keys are done
percussion overdubs are done

the rest of today (day 9) will be spent doing lead vocals and trumpet

we are hoping to be finished by tomorrow, tracking at least, but that is yet to be seen - Chad and Devin are being super cool about the schedule - in their minds, we are here to make the best record that we can possibly make and something as silly as a schedule shouldn't get in our way - talk about relieving the pressure - it is good to know that we aren't being forced to make compromises on important tracks and that everyone involved is committed to making the best possible record

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we witnessed a classic moment today right outside the studio as we were lunching on our sandwiches from Best Buns...

2 "rival" ice cream trucks hit the same street at the same time - seriously, not since the ice cream vendor at the 1904 World's Fair ran out of cups (and teamed up with another vendor to spawn the "Waffle Cone") has something of this magnitude happened in the frozen dairy product industry - it is one thing for two blue honda accords, or two white econoline vans to cross paths, but for two ice cream trucks, from different companies and ethnicities for that matter, to hit the same street at once is just b.a.n.a.n.a.s. - weird

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tonight we are looking to partake, for the second night in a row, "Half-Priced Create Your Own Pasta" night at The Luna Grill, which is in walking distance from the studio

we ventured out last night, in search of Italian food, and upon discovering that the Italian place was very much overpriced, resorted to The Luna Grill, where Steve, Stephen and Kiley had eaten days before, only to discover the miracle that is "Half-Priced Create Your Own Pasta" night - which happens every week on Mondays and Tuesdays

we are also hoping that we are not as exhausted as we have been the past few days when we get back to the condo tonight, because we are definitely behind on the newest episodes of The Office and this Thursday night may be the first chance we will have had to catch it LIVE on the air, so we gotsta get prepared

Photo Update 2 - Silver Sonya/Inner Ear Day 1 - 10/7

our new home!


2" of gah


production meeting with devin and nick


eric h. playing Joe Lally's [of Fugazi] first bass


as we end most days... catching everyone up on season 3 of The Office