Universal Session Over

Finished the session ahead of schedule today, it was supposed to run till tomorrow but we got all the music and percussion parts done for all 14 tracks for the album. Still had a few technical issues with the interface as some of the tracks had a bit of digital distortion which Jon noticed on his laptop when in the hotel last night. Luckily it was only on a few parts but the pipers were a it pissed off as they thought they had a day off today and had been celebrating last night only to be called back in. Yesterday they did the video for Universal and had been tramping up and down Arthurs Seat in full regalia on the hottest day of the years so far. After an exhausting 12 hour day of that, they got back to their barracks in Edinburgh Castle half an hour before they had to perform at The Tattoo. Anyway it didn’t take too long and we managed to finish by 4. Now that the recording stage is over Jon will be writing classical arrangements until a few weeks time before going to Prague to record a full orchestra for the album. The whole album will be done and dusted by the end of September and released in November for a Xmas release…phew!!..Good luck Jon!

That just remains for me to say - What’s the difference between bagpipes and onions?

Nobody cries when you chop up bagpipes :-))

Letter to Jamie

This is a copy of a letter I sent today to Jamie Campbell’s myspace site - (myspace.com/jamicambel). Jamie was fellow founder of Flying Colours, a band we formed in 1980 which was together until 1983.

“Hey Jamie, guess what! I bumped into Pete, our old drummer from Flying Colours last week. It was so great to see him. he hadn’t changed at all, apart from the colour of his hair :-)) He hadn’t realised it was the ‘real’ Simon Cowell we were signed to way back in 1982/2. I reminded him of the time Simon and his pal Jim invited us to dinner at his parents house just outside London. After a great main meal, made with much care, Simon and Jim presented an amazing looking dessert, cream gateau or something similar and a can of cream. When Pete, yourself and I sprayed the cream onto our dessert we picked up our spoons and being in the mood for munchies :-)) scooped a healthy portion down the gullet, milliseconds after that, this horrible disgusting taste hit the back of our throats all at the same time. “EuGHHHHHHHH! We grabbed our stomachs and bended our heads down to the floor. It was far and away the worst thing any of us had ever tasted before. Simon and Jim were suddenly in stitches, it was ****ing shaving cream!!! Pete didn’t initially appreciate this “funny” public schoolboy joke and reacted lightning fast…the next thing I knew I Simon was up against the wall with Pete’s hands round his neck…”ye wee fucking bastard” he whispered at his hand pulled back. I stepped in between them just in time and said “he’s only joking Simon, he’s from Port Glasgow”!! Pete looked at me for a moment and broke into a mad dog grin, Simon turned from red, quickly back to his normal colour, and with a nervous smile he breathed a noticeable sigh of relief … and we all burst out laughing…………….

so I reckon I saved Simon Cowell’s life that day”!

Geoff Geer- Fields Roll

Geoff Geers song ‘Fields Roll’ which was produced at Offbeat, is a finalist in this years UK Songwriting competition. The track can be heard on the Offbeat Site www.offbeat/production.htm page on the production examples section.

Universal Records- Week1

Halfway through the session now and it’s on target. We’ve laid down tracks for eleven out of fourteen tracks. Next week we should finish the pipes by Tuesday and then we’ll move on to the drum tracks. The tracks so far have been done in 8 and 16 bar segments in groups of four players and solo performances.

The prism ada8 arrived on  Wednesday afternoon and it sounds just as good as it should for the price! A clear tight sounding bottom end and lots of clarity in the midrange. Comparing it to my studios Metric Halo unit I’m glad I chose the latter as it sounds just as good although has less channels. The Apogee didn’t impress really and the outputs were very noisy too, perhaps as a result of dodgy software though so mustn’t judge too harshly. Having a well earned weekend off now!! Last weekend Yen from first Light conducted the first Offbeat podcasts which we will air soon on the site. Just re-recording some bits for that when I feel up to it at some point over the weekend

Heartbeat Session-Iain’s blog

The session at Heartbeat with Producer Jon Cohen is on target so far after 2 days, despite problems with the Apogee Ensemble interface. The mic inputs on it don’t work and it’s been intermittent sound wise too, so we’ve had to record via the Tascam desk. As the preamps on that desk aren’t that great it’s a shame but because the bagpipes are a blunt instrument it’s been OK and they do sound really good. The pipers are top quality so that makes all the difference with the sound tone wise. We’re using 2 stereo pairs of mics. Rodes and Nuemann U87’s so Jon has a choice of signals later on when he’s mixing. Jon is great to work with and a real Logic geek too. I’ve learned some new tricks and I’m sure I’ll pick up lots more throughout the session.

Yesterday Tom (A+R) from Universal Records was there for the first day and seemed happy with things. He’s going to be back early next week to see how things are going.

Tomorrow we are getting a replacement interface, the Prism ADA8 which is a great deal cause it costs $10000 to buy is a good swap for a dodgy Apogee from the Hire Company FX Audio in London.

Anyway it will be interesting to hear the difference using the prism pre-amps tomorrow, being pipes the difference is probably minimal but we’ll see. The problem would be bigger with a more subtle instrument but being quite close to a sine tone, the pipes have always been difficult to get a pleasing sound from and to our ears they sound good anyway on the recording so far.

Universal Records-Iain’s blog

On Monday I started work with producer Jon Cohen on a classical cross over album for Universal Records. The job is being managed by an old associate of mine Mani Shoniwa who recommended me for the job. Jon Cohen is a well know producer, the last album he did was the fastest ever classical album that went gold. He also writes and produces for Violinist Vanessa Mae. We are recording the album at Edinburgh’s Heartbeat Studios with who I am have a long history. First working there in 1985 with producer Chris Harley and Heartbeats engineer/musician Dave Valentine.

I set up my Logic gear last Thursday and we hired in a much raved about Apogee Ensemble interface unit. This had all been routed into the Heartbeat system was tested and ready to go.

Jon brought in some Logic templates which he has composed and will be recording the six best from the Royal Scots Dragoon guards to perform pipe parts for the record. Having done 3 pipe albums for Rock Piper Jimi McRae which certainly couldn’t be described as traditional, it will be really interesting to approach the instrument again in the context of classical music. Especially with pipers who are considered to be at the top of their tree.

Being from a rock/pop background, I’ve found myself surprised to be associated with Traditional/World music since I produced Talitha Mackenzies World music charting album Solas in 1994. When I asked Talitha why she chose me for the project she said it was because I didn’t come from that background and that she wanted something fresh and different. Since then, although still predominantly involved in contemporary music, I feel really enriched musically and in the studio because of my involvement in these eclectic albums and the opportunities that have presented themselves since the early 90’s.

I’m really looking forward to this album and working with Jon for the next two weeks during the recording stage of this album.

James Forrest-Iain’s blog

It’s been a great start to the week here at the studio. Had James Forrest, songwriter, in on Monday working on 2 new songs. “Stuck On You” and “This Is Not A Love Song”. Making use of new plug ins on our Logic setup, namely Addictive Drums (AD) and Minimoog, the new realism to recordings is remarkable. I programmed AD straight from the mother keyboard, and we both agreed when closing our eyes that the drum sound was incredible and we could easily imagine someone playing the parts. The moog is a great addition to the sound palette too and lives up to it’s name with fat colourful synth programs. James is a great young songwriter and I’m convinced it won’t be long until he gets some success from his efforts.