Well, dear readers, it was inevitable, oh, yes, it was inevitable. What was inevitable you might ask and I might tell you because why should I keep what was inevitable from you dear, dear people? What was inevitable is that at some point I would listen to the album I conceived, did the arrangements for, cast, and recorded. As a reminder, what I did not do was finish the album – in other words, I did not choose which parts of which vocal takes were used (called comping the vocals), and I did not mix it, nor did my engineer, Mr. Vinnie “Pro Tools” Cirilli. Now, before I go into detail with my thoughts on the finished product I want to make one thing perfectly clear – I wanted to like the album. Nothing would have made me happier to know that my artists had been protected, that someone had really taken the time necessary to comp the vocals well. And, even though it would have been bittersweet it still would have been nice that an album that was very special to me had come out wonderfully. However, it did not come out wonderfully in my opinion (IMO, in Internet lingo) and I will tell you my reasons for thinking that it didn’t. This is not sour grapes – this is sadness at knowing what the album could have been. I do know that some people will buy it and will enjoy it, but I also know that I have taken pride throughout my producing career that I have made these types of albums and that they have what I call the “repeatability” factor. People tend to listen to them over and over, the recent Brent Barrett album being a good example (even though I would have put the songs in a slightly different sequence), or Lost in Boston, which people tend to still listen to over and over again. I don’t think that will happen with this album. Again, I know what the album should have and could have been. I was there, I had extensive notes from the vocal sessions and I knew both the arrangements and the orchestrations intimately. And again, I know there are some people who simply enjoy an album despite whatever faults it may have, and that’s fine, too.
First of all, there is a producer credited on the album. Normally, I would imagine that a credited producer would have had something to do with the concept of the album, the song choices, the arrangements, the casting of the singers, you know, minor details like that. I would also imagine that the credited producer would attend the recording sessions, such as the orchestra date and the vocal sessions, and yet I have no memory of the credited producer every having attended any of those sessions. I do have a memory that he was the orchestra and talent contractor for the AFM and AFTRA and that he wrote checks to those people.
In any case, I put the CD in my player and hoped for the best. The first track, The Age of Not Believing (not a brilliant opening number if you ask me) is sung by Christine Ebersole. The first thing I noticed was that the band sounded thinner than I thought it should, and after hearing the song I know they used an early take of Miss Ebersole’s vocal, because she got better and better and infused the song with more warmth and subtlety as the takes progressed. If I had to offer a guess, it sounded like they used one full take with no comps, although I suppose I could be wrong, although I suppose I don’t think I am. Miss Ebersole had quite a lot of reverb on her voice in the mix, but it wasn’t terrible and I began to have hope that the album would at least have some quality. That hope vanished with Ten Feet Off the Ground. Before I go on, let me explain something – after we do the orchestra date, Vinnie and I do rough orchestra mixes on all the songs – they’re rough, yes, but they sound pretty damn good because I like the singers to hear a nice mix of the song they’re singing. We then bring that to New York to record the vocals. So, they had those rough mixes and it would have been terribly easy for whoever was doing the work to use them. That was, in fact, my hope. But they didn’t and more about that later. So, Ten Feet Off The Ground comes on and again I think, why does the band sound so thin? Then the singers start singing and they sound like they’re in a tiny closet somewhere, almost no reverb on their voices and a totally different sound than the previous track. An album must sound “of a piece” and why they would put different reverbs for each singer is beyond me, but that’s what it sounds like. Then came Michelle Pawk – Michelle had done a couple of takes which would have been okay to use without comping and she comes off best on the album. However, the track is at least three decibels louder than the previous track and Miss Pawk is so far in front of the small combo playing her song that the point of the arrangement is missing. Anyway, to make a long story long, on I listened. Rebecca Luker, unlike Michelle, was far back in the mix – difficult to hear her, and a muddy reverb on her voice, and a full take used rather than a comped vocal. When I’m working with talent, I always let them do a take before discussing anything with them. I normally save the take in case there might be a line or two I want to use, but with rare exceptions that first take is not what we use (a rare exception, for example, was Kristin Chenoweth’s Lion Tamer – one take, perfect). I then let the talent listen to what they did, we discuss the song, I offer some opinions and they do another take. I will end up doing as many as I need to know that I can make a wonderful vocal and I take extensive notes about which takes have which bits. I then spend a day with Vinnie comping – I listen to every single take and have a comp sheet and I write down which take for which line or even occasionally which word or syllable, and then we put the take together and voila – an excellent vocal that seems like the singer did it all in one. It’s a painstaking process, but my singers know that I will take the time to make them as good as they can possibly be, and that is why they come and record for me over and over again.
I had done many takes of Janine LaManna’s Hushabye Mountain. She came in with some strong preconceived and rehearsed notions, which I felt were too much for this small and beautifully gentle lullaby. We worked for an hour and a half, doing take after take, and by the end of eight takes I knew I had enough to make a good vocal. It sounds to me like they used a complete and early take. But most amusingly, in the orchestral section (the repeat without singer), there is a sax solo playing the melody in the second half of it – my memory is that it was not a sax solo in David Siegel’s orchestration, and I scratched my head hearing it, trying to figure out why they replaced whatever instrument (probably an oboe) that did play it. The fact that the sax is a quarter tone sharp doesn’t help matters any (and, as a note of interest, the sax was played by the credited producer). Then I got to Emily Skinner’s track, the big band-sounding Where Did the Good Times Go. Again, I said, why does the orchestra sound so thin? When it hit the instrumental break I suddenly knew why. I called Todd Ellison, the conductor, and he’d just listened to it (I will not pass on his reaction – I will only say that it was worse than mine and he refused to listen to it all the way through) and I told him what I thought had happened, and he went back and listened to Emily’s track and he absolutely confirmed and agreed as to what I felt the problem was.
My goodness this is endless, isn’t it? Let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can wrap it up in a thrice.
What finally hit me in listening to Emily’s track was that I was only hearing two saxophones. The chords weren’t complete. Two saxes, two trumpets, something was not right. And then I realized what they’d done. They simply left off one pass of reeds and brass (and I’m sure strings as well, just not in that number). A brief bit of information on the way in which I record: My orchestrators know that the orchestra will consist of two trumpets, two reeds, two French horns, one trombone, one percussionist, one drummer, one bass, a piano, five violins, one viola, one cello and harp (if called for). However, they also know that once we get the basic track down, we do a second pass of reeds and brass, percussion (if he can’t cover everything in the first pass), and strings. In other words, the orchestrator writes separate parts for four reeds, three or four trumpets, two trombones and four French horns – plus ten violins, two violas and two cellos. Well, after listening to Emily’s track I believe they simply left off the second pass on every song, or, if it’s there, it is so low in the mix that you can’t hear it at all. There are not four saxes playing in Emily’s song, therefore the chords and harmonies are only half-complete. Suddenly the thinness of the band all made sense.
Jason Graae’s track is a perfect illustration of using an early take – on the early takes he was still getting used to the track and finding his way – the later takes had all the fun and personality that we have come to know and love – the take that was used has none of it – it’s just a singer getting through a song. Later, he began to have fun with the words, and got more manic and it was wonderful. He’s not even with the piano in the intro.
Then Gary Beach’s track came on (Busker Alley) and after the first chorus I had to shut the album off. I love Gary Beach, Gary Beach is wildly talented and I’d worked with him on the Sondheim at the Movies album. Gary is very much over-the-top when he begins to record. Gradually, over many takes, I get him to do less and less, bring forward his considerable charm and when I comp the vocal we have a terrific performance. Again, it sounds like an early full take was used, one where Mr. Beach’s enunciation isn’t wonderful and where he was still over-the-top. So, I’m afraid I haven’t heard anything past that track, but will slog through the rest of it later today.
I don’t say any of this with glee or “I told you so” – I was hoping it would be fine, I was hoping it would be better than fine, for the sake of the singers, and for the sake of the arrangements and orchestrations. Todd was not happy with anything he heard and he even thinks that a vocal ensemble was left off one number.
But, you know, I come from a place different from the casual listener, so if you buy it and enjoy it for what it is, then that’s great. I think everyone should get the thing and judge for themselves. The songs, of course, are wonderful. And the album could have been wonderful if the proper care had been taken – regardless of who completed it and did the work.
Well, that was quite a mighty wind, wasn’t it? I could have written more, but I was trying to make a long story long. And now I have used up all of today’s notes, but I knew that you dear readers would expect a report and I cannot be less than honest when giving my opinion. By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), the wonderful thing about these United States of America is that we are all, each and every one of us, allowed to give our opinions. Isn’t that marvelous?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do – I am actually doing something interesting today and I shall tell you about it tomorrow. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video players? I’ll start – the you-know-what album and also Dimitri Tiomkin’s soundtrack to Search for Paradise, and I’m about to start listening to the big George Martin box set. DVD player – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Your turn.