PRODUCTION NOTES

** Please note that the information on this page is an on-going project at present, being added to everyday until the whole story is told!

Production started in March of 2005 with the recording of three of the songs off the album in order to submit professional demos to accompany grant applications for funding for the project. The application process took approximately one month to prepare for two grants, one to the Saskatchewan Arts Board and one application to Canada Council. Although well received, neither application was successful. At the point of notice in July of 2005, recording and editing were already complete and mixing was about 33% complete... so yes, back to production...

The recording process was rather unique. I am a real stickler for a great piano sound and since Touchwood did not have a piano in studio, and not wanting to use sampling, Ken Jefferson came to my home and we recorded the piano tracks to a metronome and my vocals.
The next step was adding drums and bass. Gary Dunitz had recorded the three songs in March, but then underwent quadruple by-pass surgery and was unable to record the rest of the songs in the time frame I was working with. Kris Craig stepped up and I was very fortunate to have him. He also brought along John Pain, an excellent drummer who really added a heck of a lot to this disc. Recording bass and drums occurred over two or three sessions. One memorable song in particular was "Looking Up". It was supposed to have a totally different feel, but I asked Kris and John to try something, which they did, and the bass and drum track on that song is the one take we did in that style.
I should mention at this time that I did not end up recording in the process that I had originally envisioned. A lot of the songs I thought I would be revisiting. Plus, I felt a lot of freedom with getting people back in down the road if we needed to re-record anything. We ended up going with what we had. John and Grant both commented that they never knew anyone who kept all the takes! I realize now that in keeping all the takes, there is a lot more to listen to to see which one you like, a process that costs you money to listen to it and decide. Made a note for future projects on that one...

Once the rhythm section was recorded, it was time to add the horns. I had an idea of what I wanted the horn arrangements to sound like, but didn't solidify anything until the time came to record. As it turns out, I only had Chris Jacklin and Kevin Kasha and the studio available all at the same time for only two available dates in May. One was the Monday on the long weekend - thank you everyone for coming in that day...

Another big lesson the day before recording horns - I had transposed the parts incorrectly, taking the tenor sax and trumpet lines DOWN a tone instead of UP a tone. I had to redo all those charts the day before recording, but thankfully I noticed before the studio time.
The horns were recorded in three hour sessions and the players really gave their all. Chris Jacklin ended up playing baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, a little bit of oboe, and some flute. Kevin was going to play trumpet and flugelhorn, but a mishap occurred. The day before recording horns on June 5th, Kevin was in a serious car accident the night before. I couldn't believe it when Chris told me the next day, and Kevin still came into the studio to record. If anyone ever has a problem with committment or dedication, I am going to say to them "Kevin Kasha". Kevin played several bit parts that day, as well as a few solos. His flugelhorn was bent from the accident, so we just went with trumpet.
John Gasparic was an awesome engineer. I can't say enough good things about that man. He is just SO good at what he does... and he is also a kick-ass guitar player among other things! John went to Croatia in July and so we tried to mix as much as possible before he left. I highly recommend him to anyone needing the best engineer in Western Canada (for sure, maybe even Canada). John was the recipient of the 2005 Western Canadian Music Awards for Best Engineer, awarded in October of 2005. Congratulations, John! You deserve it!
John taught me so much about the process that I was able to tell the difference in three decibels while recording. The mix that you hear is all my preference. John was very patient in answering all my questions, and often he would have my request completed by the end of my sentence.

Vocals... the one part of the disc that I actually never spent as much time on... I hope to do better next time. There was a point where Grant asked me if I was going to put any harmony lines in... I hadn't thought about that, so most of the harmonies were made up in-studio. When I look back, I can't believe how free I felt in doing things in the studio that others would have done before going in. I think it's because I felt sure that my grant applications would be successful. In hindsight, it was a great decision because I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process and didn't worry about the $20,000.00 debt that I now have... so much for being a thrifty Girl Guide... ha ha ha. But seriously, I think I actually was very thrifty and I know that the next project will not cost me as much... or so I think.

A key thing that John and Grant told me is that this recording is just a snapshot in time - where I was at at this point in time. I'm so glad that they emphasized that to me. I feel very proud of the product that you (hopefully) have in your CD rack at home or work.

LYRICS

Lyrics were finished as the songs were recorded. Nothing was finalized until the actual dates of recording vocals. Some lyrics written with the conception of the melody were not used, as well as new lyrics that I had written in the past few years were not used if they didn't adhere to the original intent of the composition. About 50% or more of the lyric was written when the vocals were ready to be recorded.
It is my intention to list the entire set of lyrics as recorded on this site, as well as the alternate lyrics that never were.

More updates to this page to come as I find better wording and really fill you in on what the process was like... haven't even touched the mixing part yet...