J2 kids - Peaceful World

Work is well underway on this fantastic song written by Randy and Jam Pritchard. Working to a demo of three kids from the J2 group the studio backing track is near completion, (J2 is short for ‘Just to be kids’). Last Saturday we auditioned a total of thirty kids and found 9 good soloists and the rest of the kids were good enough to be in the choir for the final production. We will be recording the soloists at Offbeat in groups of three at a time and the rest of the choir will be recorded on location at Ratho Village Hall sometime in April.

Kevin Maclean - iain’s blog

In his first visit to Offbeat Kevin Maclean has brought in his debut pop single ‘For U’ which really showcases his amazingly versatile voice and songwriting style. Kevin is signed to Plaque Records and all going well I hopes to get the opportunity to produce the whole album which has already been written and demoed. So far Kevin has brought in his Reason program files which run alongside the new Logic program created here at the studio. We have stripped the track back to a rhythm section and vocals and already the track is sounding great.

Ludicrous Liqorice

Just finished an  extended club remix of wallin@theparty, the debut club/pop single for Ludicrous Liqorice. The track is scheduled for release in April. Another song I produced and co-wrote with songwriter Ric Tod is called Liquid Love and is soon to be featured on the offbeat site.

Mega March at Offbeat

This coming month is set to be very exciting in the studio. Already confirmed bookings include ;- Randy Pritchard and the J2 Kids - Allie Fox - James Forrest - Ric Tod - Aegon Scottish Equitable (podcast to be confirmed) - Kevin MacLean - Anna Jarosz - Mike Kearnan, Brian Rice + Clive Moorhead (to be confirmed) , also Hip Hop acts Bruce Kilpatrick and Aggravated Assault. More work will continue on Kirsty’s new video for her song “Feels Good”.

10 weeks at no1 for Spirit Of The Glen

• Recent message from Derek (Pipe Major) of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Hi Iain, Sorry for the delay in my reply we are currently in America and here until 20th March, 66 shows in 70 days from one side of the country to the other. It was great that we stayed at No1 in the Classsics for 10 weeks and that the album has been received with great enthusiasm. I am leaving the Band after this Tour and have been given the great honour of being appointed as the next Sovereign’s Piper, all very exciting. I will be in touch soonest, once again thank you for all your great work and it was so much fun working on this project with you.
best wishes
yours aye,

Kirsty Video

It’s been ages since i did the blog but anyone who is involved in video editing will know the hours just zoom by when making a film. I’ve been using the opportunity to learn about Final Cut pro which is a truly amazing film editing programme. Since doing loads of tutorials on the subject I’m getting really hooked on making films. I had a go a few years ago making an offbeat promo video and it also took ages to complete but since learning new tricks it’s getting easier and more methodical to come up with a good result. You can judge for yourself when the short video for Kirsty’s new single ‘Feels Good’ is completed. We have been mapping out a demo for the film using my small DV cam and when we have finally worked out all the shots we plan to redo the film using HD so that we have a chance of getting it broadcast.

Dean Park Primary Balerno

Having been approached by songwriter Randy Pritchard who hails from California, I visited the Dean Park Primary School in Balerno, West Lothian recently to hear the school choir sing some of Randy’s songs. There were over 70 kids in the choir and they enthusiastically performed four songs along with backing tracks created on a laptop by Randy. One song in particular entitled ‘Peaceful World’ really jumped out and after some discussion it was agreed that I would produce the track in March for release before Xmas 2008. The main problem with a project like this is getting a good performance in the studio from the kids who will obviously not be experienced in recording. Discussions will follow soon and auditions will tale place later this month to find the strongest singers in the choir. This will be followed by some recording practise prior to the studio sessions in March.

Edinburgh Recycling

Edinburgh City Council don’t seem to be serious about there recycling policy. We live in the city centre and there is no way of getting our glass bottles to a recycling point without using our car.  In their documents they state that the nearest recycling point for glass is Homebase in St Leonards St, which is too far from our flat to carry glass in particular. When I got there no glass recycling was available and I found myself driving round for quite a while before I found somewhere to deposit the glass. This would seem to offset the benefit of recycling. This won’t put us off our effort to recycle as much as possible in future but it does suggest that the council isn’t as serious as it should be about recycling and they certainly don’t make it easy by not offering enough options for households to deposit glass in particular.

February recordings

Coming up in February will be the continuing recording of Allie Fox’s new album. Guests on the album who will be recording this month will be Ron Shaw-celloist and Fraser Spiers-harmonica player. Also due in the studio is Brian Rice and Clive Moorhead who will be completing the production of their single - The Edge Of Love following the vocal recording in New York of vocalist Rachel Pany. Producer Paul McKinna will be working with MC Profisee as well as finishing some tracks with some other tracks for Hip Hop artist Bruce. A podcast for Aegon Scottish Equitable is also taking place as well as the completion of songs by Ric Todd featuring various vocalists, still to be announced. So once again it promises to be another exciting month again at the studio.

Studio improvements

The studio will be closed all week as improvements to the recording room and the main control room facilities are taking place. New software including Drums Overkill and Addictive Drums are being installed and the Logic Audio system at the heart of the studio is being enhanced using new Metric halo convertors which will improve the overall production sound. In April we will be announcing the joining of a new producer/engineer to the production team…watch this space!