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EXTRAS
NAT'S STUDIO DIARY
Friday 24 October 2003
Location: Steve Bond's house
Recording: The Greatest Game, Folded In Half
Begin recording the drums and bass today at the Steve Bond ranch. Mr Stafford Chater is already there when I arrive just after 12noon, chatting away with Drew Panic on the porch, while Jim & Bekk show up a little later. All the boys are still battling colds, so Lemsip and Cold & Flu tablets are in abundent supply, confirming The Bank Holidays' status as one of the most pharmecutically indulgent bands in Perth.
The lounge room doubles as a recording room and Chatesy sets up his drums in there. Drew gives him a hand to tune up the 1963 Pearl President drum kit while I pluck an 'a' note on the acoustic guitar for his reference. He also blu-tacs the loose badges on the drum toms so that they don't rattle. Meanwhile, Steve calls out the number labels on each microphone lead and Jim scribbles down notes about where they are going.
Once Steve and James get a bass sound (which is very nice!) we start on 'The Greatest Game', with me playing a guide track on 12-string guitar, and Bekk singing guide vocals consisting of both the question and answer vocal parts. We're all in the control room with Steve, while Chates is on his lonesome halfway down the other end of the house. A-waaah!
We are beginning to hit our straps by take 4, where we attempt a fun version, AKA the 'nudist camp' version, which includes several wildman fills from Chatesy. After a short recess, we return for take 5 (the boot-camp version) in which Chatesy produces his best ever drum fill, which remains amazing even after ten listens.
When 'The Greatest Game' is deemed to be grandios, Chatesy and Bekk head down to the shops for food. They return with fruit and stories of a German man selling hot dogs and sauerkraut on the streets.
Work starts on 'Folded in Half'. Take 1 is pretty uninspirational, but again take 4 and 5 is where the magic happens. Between takes there seems to be several outbursts of harmonica playing eminating from the drum room. We end up settling on a final and best take somewhere around the 'chasing after crabs at Point Peron, but then the crab tries to bite you' version. Don't ask.
As the hot lemon drinks and paracetemol wear off James begins to get tired, but Steve manages to extract the necessary bass notes out of him, using his "I'm not telling you where the 2 second punch-in will be" technique. If you don't know what a 'punch-in' is, don't worry - it's an extremely common yet tedious studio technique which is only nearly as tortuous as it sounds (for a better explanation please read the preface to this diary).
The action winds up about 6pm. Until tomorrow...
NEXT >> Nat's studio diary - Saturday, 25th Oct 2003
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