Drugs vs. Music

"HEY IT'S 11AM - TIME FOR OUR FIRST BONG = VERY EXPENSIVE JOINTS"

OR

DRUGS -vs- MUSIC

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I'm the first to admit that without some form of drugs, Hendrix wouldn't have created his good stuff and the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper probably wouldn't have existed.

However...

Here in Australia, a session is more likely to go like this:

A band sets up, sound checks, gets headphone balance right, sorts out the buzz from the bass guitar (that no-one's ever noticed before because pubs and rehearsal studios are noisy places) and away we go....

How much gets done between the start of a session and the end depends mainly upon the musicians. On a good day - lots of good takes, a couple of great takes and the occasional inspired guitar solo, lots of patience, persistence, concentration, and finally a good value day by all - satisfaction - well done lads!!

Now if we're talking about a 4-5 hour session, OK, a few beers, a couple of jack and blacks, a few joints - the above result could still be achieved - but for an all day/night session - FORGET IT.

What I've found is that the more stuff that goes down people's throats or up their noses - the redder their eyes get and the less I'm able to connect with them - which is fine, but the cost is that I end up taking more control of the situation which might or might not result in what the band wants. Or alternatively I've got a hyperactive singer who's just downed half a bottle of Jack and sniffed enough coke to wake up Tasmania, who's trying to incite excitement into a very mellow guitarist on the 28th take of his solo.

Both situations cost money; it just takes more time to do less stuff the longer you are pissed or stoned - as illustrated on the P+S graph:

I reckon that from the late 60's and 70's bands have followed the P&S chart faithfully.

Generally I find the best recordings are made when everyone is in control, not too loose, not too tight.

Now the only thing worse than too many Jacks and blacks is too many Jacks and Jills. Recording is not a spectator sport.

We now have the Jacks and Jills graph. The more folk in the control room, the less "Stairways to Heaven" will be created.

I'm convinced that "Stairway to Heaven" would not have been recorded if there were 30 people in the control room. This is due to the "Beware the Tambourine" effect. It works like this:

Picture the scene - the song has been recorded - sounds great all agree. But someone says "You know what it needs - it needs A TAMBOURINE".

If it needed an oboe we'd still have a fighting chance of reaching a YES/NO decision - but someone has mentioned a tambourine - not only do we have 15 people in the control room - we have 15 opinions on where and how it should be played because as we know everyone can play the tambourine.

DECISIONS TO BE MADE:

1. Tambourine in chorus only?
2. If so, maybe not the first chorus - too soon.
3. Do we play 8ths or only on snare beats?
4. Play tambourine with hand or hit with drumstick.
5. If with drum stick, would it sound thicker with not 1 but 2 tambourinists?
6. Can we flange the tambourine?
7. Can we pan the tambourine (but only on the last chorus - for that building sensation)
8. Who's gonna play the damned thing?
9. Should we go for take No.9 or is it still a bit behind the beat?
10. Do the 15 people in the control room still like each other or does everyone hate everyone cause every one of the ideas was everyone else's except mine.
11. Who pays for the 2 hours it took?

You think I'm overdoing it, replace tambourine with guitar solo or anything - the more the voices, the higher the invoices.

The only people who should be in the studio are the band, the studio staff, and the manager (only if he has laryngitis)!! It takes resilience to perform a song repeatedly until you get THE take, to sing a song 5 different ways until you get the right attitude and it's less embarassing in front of 5 than in front of 10 (including your new girlfriend who thought you were great at Saturday night's gig - but now isn't quite sure because you keep getting THAT BIT AFTER THE CHORUS wrong every time).

Ever wondered why monks meditate in caves instead of in the middle of a bull fight? There are less people (and bulls) in a cave - it's easier to concentrate with fewer people.

Permission to reproduce this article is available to all,
as long as you include attribution to myself including contact details
and let me know where you have used the material.
Jeff Cripps
A# Sharp Recording Studio
Email: jeff@asharp.com.au
Phone: +612 9153 9988

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