Comps, premixes, overdubs and an innovation

One thing the Bloodrush production process is teaching me is a new vocabulary. I’ll share a few key terms while updating you on how the process is going.

I wrote about the whole Abbey Road experience a few weeks ago, and discussed my struggle over the vocal takes in particular. In the weeks that followed, I faced an anxious wait to hear how the vocal would sound. The first ‘premix’ (i.e. with all the different instrumental and vocal tracks in it, but not yet tidied up and balanced) arrived from Kris Gorski (who is producing the recording) in mid-August. And, much to my relief, the vocal sounds so much better than I remembered any of the takes sounding. Kris insists that, although it is a ‘comp’ (i.e. a composite of the best bits from different takes), it hasn’t been ‘spliced’ very much.

With that anxiety out of the way, our attention turned ‘over-dubs’; meaning any further elements that we want to record (at home) and add to the premix.

Kris wanted me to record an additional acoustic guitar take, sustaining over the whole track the muted strummed part that I usually play in the first verse. Guitarists usually do this muting by resting the heel of the hand on the strings at the guitar’s bridge, but I found it hard to do that and sustain an even effect for the whole song. So, at the suggestion of my pal Gordon McKean, I cut a bit of sponge off a Brillo pad (the soft part) and stuck it under the strings at the bridge; that worked to maintain a consistent effect, allowing me to play normally but produced the muted effect. I’m copyrighting that idea!

Partly because we hadn't been able to get all the musicians together until the final rehearsal in London (on the eve of the recording), and partly because time was so tight in Abbey Road, we didn’t really manage to finalise and record the electric guitar part in London. So James, Louis and I spent a few hours experimenting with and recording that on Thursday night this week. There’s no doubt that it adds both a lot of depth and sparkle to the premix, which felt a little sparse in places.

We also timed-out on recording backing vocals (BVs) at Abbey Road, and this was something I was really keen to address; partly because I had heard at the rehearsal how good Saskia and Donna would sound, especially when the song builds into its concluding double chorus. Saskia managed to record her BVs at Abbey Road in the days following our session, and Donna home-recorded hers this week. Donna also dropped those into a rough mix for me, and the effect is really stunning; she has added so much soul to the overall sound. Her voice is like a warm, weighted blanket that you just want to wrap yourself up in.

So, by the time that Kris send over the first full mix (yesterday) with all the elements in it, I was already getting pretty excited, and it didn't disappoint. There are still a few problems to be addressed, mainly in the song’s quiet opening section (which relies mostly on my playing and where we also have an annoying background noise bleed in the acoustic guitar track), but I’m pretty sure that we’re going to have a final mix ready for mastering in the next few days.

And I really can’t wait for you to hear it when it is released on October 6th. :)