final recording bits

I had a day's holiday on Thursday and went back into the studio with Ali to put some final touches to the demo, which we're so pleased with that we're going to stop calling it a 'demo' and start calling a 'recording', as we feel this infers some greater significance and perhaps even implies that there is a public out there who, although they may not think about it often, do indeed think 'I wonder when the new Assistant stuff will come out?' at regular intervals. Perhaps at 11.30, when they're making the third cup of coffee of the morning. Or after sex.

Although we did do pretty much everything on the last round, we still had a synth line to add to 'What It Means', and Ali felt that my vocal for the same song could be improved, too, so we met up to finalise things. Doing so meant that I got to listen to the songs through, Ali having mixed them already, and I was surprised how good they sounded. I don't know what the 'lead' song is yet; Ali is inclined towards 'I'm Shit', which still sounds a bit tuneful to my ears. My least favourite of the newer songs I've written is 'Drinking With You', so I was surprised to find myself preferring that. All this assumes that our tinkering with 'What It Means' does not identify that song as 'the one' - which I think it did, as it happens.

Adding the vocals was fine; it's probably a bit testing for my limited voice, containing a few too many elongated high notes for my liking, but we definitely got a better take than last time, and double tracked it, too, so for an awful moment Ali played back the two vocals acapella, side by side. A cat's chorus.

Doing the synth line was better. Ali has got a great Jen synth which I really enjoyed playing, even if the chorus with it's fast, dancing finger pattern kept trying to get away from me. Playing with Anne-So's odd, fragmented piano run after the first chorus we misplaced the first note, timing it with the bass drum, which sounded spooky and effective, as if the drum was tuned to the appropriate pitch.

I think the whole recording should be mixed and ready within the next week or so, and I'll post it as soon as possible. After all, you must all be sick of saying 'I wonder when the new Assistant stuff will come out?', during coffee, or after sex.