#1360, Tuesday, February 3: Recording silver lining

Post 1360, Day 34 of 2015
- 1,495 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

i am Fool is back in the Wailing Trailer Recording Studio.

Last time we were in the studio recording the songs for Freak In the Machine, we recorded the basic instrument tracks (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums and bass) live to 2-track. I personally thought the results were very good, there's a certain organic cohesiveness to the sound that way, and it is very efficient - literally the most productive time I've ever spent in a recording studio.

That was kind of fun, but out of the dozens of hours of production in creating that CD, my total playing time was approximately an hour-and-a-half, with about a dozen hours of waiting-around, hanging out time, and that was the totality of my participation.

This time we're tracking - laying down a rhythm guitar/scratch vocal/click track, then building the song part-by-part (track-by-track), guaranteeing that my playing time-to-waiting around hanging out time ratio is even more pronounced. Last night, a four-hour session, I played five minutes, total.

This is the main reason, as has been previously discussed, that recording sessions don't interest me too much. In my life, making a CD serves no positive function, since it does not promote playing (or at least, it doesn't the way we do it - I would be better served by recording live performances). No matter how well any resulting CD turns out, with nobody in the band doing any band promotion, it isn't going to help the band play more.

That being said, it isn't about me, it isn't difficult, it isn't a chore. Hanging out with my band mates (and my friend Frank, who lives in the Wailing Trailer) is good-quality time. In fact, at last night's session, I was given the opportunity to appreciate the band members' musical contributions in a way that doesn't happen in rehearsal or performance.

In particular, J. Brazill, the song-writer, acoustic-lead guitarist and vocalist for i am Fool provided me with a new appreciation of a song I already liked. His performance in the studio was excellent.

Tonight, I got to hear the lyrics unadorned in a way I haven't before, not even on the demo J. originally made. Isolated with only the rhythm guitar and a click-track (for the scratch track we will build on until drums, bass and guitars are laid down), it was a revelation to hear his excellent lyric with a subtly funky rhythm guitar. I was impressed all over again.

Nothing wrong with renewed appreciation.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   202.6 lbs

Previous Weight (1/30):           206.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 3.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Super Bowl Sunday weight - pffft! Just like that - one high-protein, high-fat day, courtesy of me not wanting to go shopping in a snow storm - eating what was at hand.

Food Log

Breakfast
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Salmon salad (Wild Alaska pink salmon, celery, mayonnaise) on baby kale, baby spinach, chard, black beans and cole slaw mix.

Dinner

Dal Tadka (lentil curry) with onions and peppers, kale and scrambled eggs. Not shown: Pepperoni.

Snack
At the Wailing Trailer:  Some kind of dried-fruit, nut and dark chocolate candy, which I ate immoderately. Major fail. Delicious, but...

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 96+ oz.

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