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September 17, 2015:

SESSION TWO

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, we had our second session and it, like the first session, went very well and was lots of fun. I knew there would be one song where I’d want to really take my time and nitpick and that was the second song we recorded last night. We got a track I was happy with, and then I just kept redoing the vocal – first getting a really good basic take, and then finessing that and patching in lines as we needed them. On stage, Sami does it beautifully, but in the studio it’s a whole other ball of potatoes and I really was very specific about the feel I wanted in terms of the interpretation – it took a while but it came out really well. The rest were much quicker and easier than that. We really only had five full songs to do and then the opening number reprise. We finished all of that in the first two hours, and then we ordered some food and began listening straight through, just so I could make sure I was completely happy with everything. During the course of that listening session, I had Sami go in a few times just to replace a word or line that she or I wasn’t happy with. That all went very quickly. We had food from Café 50s – I had a BLTA, and Sami had fries and onion rings and sweet potato fries (shared with her dad, mom, and Alby, whose sweet potato fries they were) and John had, I think, a salad. Here are some photographs. First, Sami and me in the booth. Note the two mics – one was a Neumann U-47 and one was a Neumann U-67, both wonderful tube mics. We wanted to hear how Sami’s voice sounded on each – before we listened, I predicted it would be the Guy Haines mic – the 47, and the instant we heard it that was exactly the case. So, away went the 67.

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Next, here I am with Sami in the control room.

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Here’s Sami, me, and Corey Fogelmanis.

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Finally, here’s the team – left to right, engineer John Adams, me, Sami, and Alby Potts.

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Prior to the session, I’d gotten about seven hours of sleep. Once up, I did the usual morning things – answered e-mails, had telephonic calls, and did some work on the computer. Then I went and had a chili, cheese, and onion hot dog with a small amount of fries. Then I picked up one package, then came home. I did more work on the computer, had more telephonic calls, the helper came by, and then it was time to mosey on over to the studio. I was petrified it would be the opposite of the day before, i.e. that the traffic would be horrible. But it wasn’t – and I got there again in nineteen minutes – I couldn’t believe it, really.

After the session, I came directly home, answered yet more e-mails, printed out some orders for Welcome to My World, and had a long telephonic call.

Today, I intend to relax a bit, and perhaps watch the two-part PBS documentary on Walt Disney, which I TIVOd. I’ll eat something, hopefully pick up packages, and then we have a pick-up rehearsal at four-thirty. We should be done with that no later than six-thirty. Then I’ll come home and watch a motion picture. I should also have most of the mixes to listen to and approve.

Tomorrow we resume performances, so I’ll be there for that. Saturday I’ll relax until our evening performance and Sunday we have a matinee, after which we’ll all go have a fun meal somewhere.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, relax, eat, hopefully pick up packages, watch a documentary, have a pick-up rehearsal, and watch a motion picture. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Disney live-action films from the 50s to the 70s? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a wonderful second session.

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