My daughter’s family came visiting over the weekend; she has two kids, an 8 year old boy, and a 6 year old girl. At some point, after going to lunch, swimming, and generally hanging out, my grandson asked if he could have some “alone time” with me. His sister had gone to a bridal shower with my daughter and my wife.
Well, what could make me happier?
I asked what he’d like to do, and to my complete surprise and happiness he said, “Can we record a song in your studio?”
“Yes we can!”
Just throw me in that briar patch, bre’r rabbit! What could be more fun?
He’d visited my studio on earlier visits, but never really was all that interested in doing anything in it. He’s taking guitar lessons now, but he’s VERY shy about playing in front of anyone. So I figured it’d be a good idea if we messed around with a drum track. After a while we did something he liked. Then I asked if he wanted to do the bass part.
Turns out my bass was too big and heavy, so I showed him how to do a very simple synth bass line. We laid that part down after he practiced it a little. So far, so good.
“What should we do next, Mr. Producer,” I asked?
“Ummm...how about a trumpet?”
A trumpet? Well sure, no problem! I have every sample library known to man, I guess. So I pulled up a trumpet sound, and we laid down a little horn section.
He next asked if I could play a guitar part, and that took about a minute (wasn’t a long song!). I’d play an idea and he’d say whether he thought it was a good part, or I should find another part. I think he was too easy on me, because he liked all the parts. Easiest producer I’ve ever worked with!
Then a synth part to double the horns. He picked a synth sound he liked on the Prophet 12, and I showed him how to mess with the filters, resonance, mod and pitch wheel. So he did that while I played the part. LOTS of mod wheel work.
He was too shy to sing anything. So I handed him a shaker, put the cans on him, brought over a mic, and he laid down a shaker part. The cans were HUGE on his little head. But he had the biggest smile on his face! Cutest thing ever!
I said that if he wasn’t going to sing, we’d need some kind of melody. We went through a lot of instruments looking for the right thing, and ended up with a B-3. I tried out a few very simple melodies, and he picked the ideas he liked. I was still thinking maybe he’d sing the melody once it got sorted out, but he was SO shy. So we left the organ part in place.
Then I showed him how we mix, and what all the buttons and controls do. He got to move the faders in the DAW and press the buttons, and he liked that a lot.
We were running up against his bedtime deadline, so this was a pretty quick little project, but somehow we got a fast mix done, and I emailed him an MP3 of the tune.
No doubt his parents, who thought spending time with me in the studio was a sweet and wonderful idea, were quickly disabused of that notion when he wanted them to play our little song over and over and...over on the 6 hour drive back to Chicago!!
His sister wasn’t interested in the studio this time, but I hear she’s going to take singing lessons. So I’m betting that pretty soon we’ll have a singer for our little band.
Well, what could make me happier?
I asked what he’d like to do, and to my complete surprise and happiness he said, “Can we record a song in your studio?”
“Yes we can!”
Just throw me in that briar patch, bre’r rabbit! What could be more fun?
He’d visited my studio on earlier visits, but never really was all that interested in doing anything in it. He’s taking guitar lessons now, but he’s VERY shy about playing in front of anyone. So I figured it’d be a good idea if we messed around with a drum track. After a while we did something he liked. Then I asked if he wanted to do the bass part.
Turns out my bass was too big and heavy, so I showed him how to do a very simple synth bass line. We laid that part down after he practiced it a little. So far, so good.
“What should we do next, Mr. Producer,” I asked?
“Ummm...how about a trumpet?”
A trumpet? Well sure, no problem! I have every sample library known to man, I guess. So I pulled up a trumpet sound, and we laid down a little horn section.
He next asked if I could play a guitar part, and that took about a minute (wasn’t a long song!). I’d play an idea and he’d say whether he thought it was a good part, or I should find another part. I think he was too easy on me, because he liked all the parts. Easiest producer I’ve ever worked with!
Then a synth part to double the horns. He picked a synth sound he liked on the Prophet 12, and I showed him how to mess with the filters, resonance, mod and pitch wheel. So he did that while I played the part. LOTS of mod wheel work.
He was too shy to sing anything. So I handed him a shaker, put the cans on him, brought over a mic, and he laid down a shaker part. The cans were HUGE on his little head. But he had the biggest smile on his face! Cutest thing ever!
I said that if he wasn’t going to sing, we’d need some kind of melody. We went through a lot of instruments looking for the right thing, and ended up with a B-3. I tried out a few very simple melodies, and he picked the ideas he liked. I was still thinking maybe he’d sing the melody once it got sorted out, but he was SO shy. So we left the organ part in place.
Then I showed him how we mix, and what all the buttons and controls do. He got to move the faders in the DAW and press the buttons, and he liked that a lot.
We were running up against his bedtime deadline, so this was a pretty quick little project, but somehow we got a fast mix done, and I emailed him an MP3 of the tune.
No doubt his parents, who thought spending time with me in the studio was a sweet and wonderful idea, were quickly disabused of that notion when he wanted them to play our little song over and over and...over on the 6 hour drive back to Chicago!!
His sister wasn’t interested in the studio this time, but I hear she’s going to take singing lessons. So I’m betting that pretty soon we’ll have a singer for our little band.
