Billy McBolan - Session #7 - 15th October 2012

Session times: 8:15pm-10:15pm

Love Was Born (On Xmas Day)

The plan was to record all the parts we didn't record on the previous session with a mix for the vocalists to practice against.  The piano, strings and acoustic guitar were all OK, so we were left with Church bells and Pixie bells (as Billy christened them), Theramin (Billy's favourite) and vocals.

Most of the parts he wanted to record, were already worked out, so it was just a matter of getting his ideas down.  Billy had decided to record a proper vocal of himself singing.  It was originally going to be his daughter singing the main vocal and his niece singing an accompaniment, but it's now a duet between Billy and his daughter (with the niece still doing the accompaniment).

We need to get this song finished and on iTunes by around the middle of November, so Billy booked a couple more dates for the vocal parts in a few weeks time.  Hopefully we should be able to get it finished by then.  

Billy McBolan - Session 6 - 18th September 2012

Session times: 7:30pm-10:30pm

Love Was Born (On Xmas Day)

Billy brought along a Christmas song he wants to record in time for the Christmas rush.  It's quite a soft tune with a Christmassy feel.  We added a few seasonal instruments just to make sure.

Part of the lyrics are a list of the 12 disciples (it is Christmas after all!) and it's amazing how many I didn't know (Nathaniel and Thaddeus for starters!).

He played through the song a couple of times so I could get the feel and tempo.  The 12-string acoustic part is very picky and Billy had quite a few problems keeping in time with a click track. Eventually, we decided to record it without a click.  It means we can't do any copy and pasting between parts of the song (because they wouldn't line up properly), but as it's a fairly simple song, it shouldn't be too difficult.

Billy then did a quick guide vocal part so we knew where we were in the song.  He then decided the ending should be more of a Christmas chant, so I copied and pasted the ending a couple of times (fortunately, this bit did line up), which we can use as a fade out.

We then added some strings and the Theramin sound we created for the previous song over the intro and the choruses.

While we were doing these parts, Billy kept mentioning things he could hear in the song, one of which was bells.  I tried a few of the bell instruments I've got but none really sounded the part.  We ended up with tubular bells with lots of eq to cut through properly.  Initially, Billy had put down quite complicated bell parts, but I reminded him that most church towers only have 4 bells, so we cut it down to a simple 4 note motif which is really quite nice.

Billy's daughter (Dael) will sing the main vocal part with at least one child on the choruses, but we'll do that on another session. I made a quick mix for Billy to take away so the vocalists can start to learn the song.

Billy McBolan - Session 5 - 3rd September 2012

Session times: 7:30pm-10:30pm

Strange Love - Mixing

All the recording had been done for this song on previous sessions, so we were planning to just get the mix right.  Although this song was originally planned to be sung by Dael, after the issues last week, it was decided that it would become a duet.  I'd sorted out the vocal tracks during the week, with Billy singing a couple of lines of the verse and then Dael singing the next couple and all of the choruses.  I had done a mix where both Billy and Dael sang the chorus together, but it didn't really work, so we just left it as Dael.

Since we first started recording this track, Billy had said he wanted an ethereal melody line at the beginning, sort of like the scary wailing sound you got in early horror movies.  I eventually worked out he meant a Theramin, but the virtual instrument I downloaded wasn't really the sound he wanted.  Billy was trying to come up with something for the introduction with piano chords and I suggested he just play the melody line, which I recorded as MIDI.  This meant we could play around with the sound without having to re-record the melody line each time.  He then mentioned again about the Theramin, so I had a fiddle around with a sine wave generator, and after some tweaks for vibrato and filtering, we came up with a sound that matched what was in Billy's head.  It is sort of hidden in the mix, but it's there if you listen carefully.

Billy outlined an idea he had about a video for this song, we had a good think and couldn't come up with any other video we'd seen that was similar.  I can't go into details of the idea (or I'd have to kill you etc), but it sounded quite interesting and fitted the mood of the song very well.

I burned a CD of the mix we had agreed on tonight and also gave him a CD I made last week which contained a take with just Dael singing, and also a proper duet (choruses and all) version.

All in all, recording this track went quite smoothly and Billy is very keen on coming back to the studio to record more songs in the future.

Billy McBolan - Session 4 - 20th August 2012

Session times: 7:45pm-11:00pm

Billy brought his wife (Jacqueline) and daughter (Dael).  I think we've nearly had all of Billy's family at the studio now :-)

Strange Love

Dael was going to lay down the main vocal on this track over the backing we recorded in the previous sessions. I set up the mic and reduced the stand height a little (she's a bit shorter than her dad's 6ft6!) and started playing the track so I could get the levels.   I had heard her voice on a track recorded at another studio, so knew what she sounded like, but I still wasn't ready for the masterpiece she sang.  I could see Billy in the background grinning and nodding his head.

Billy had told me previously that he wrote the song in a key that was good for him to play and sing with, but we had to change the key for  Dael to sing it.  Unfortunately, the key he chose to record it in was just a little too low and the first line of each verse were right at the bottom of her range.  Now I thought she had a really sexy lower register, but  Dael wasn't happy with it.  She sang through the song a few times and we got some really good takes except for the first lines.

Although Dael has a really good voice, she doesn't seem to understand musical terms at all.  She's just one of those talented people who can sing but doesn't know when you say 'sing it an octave up', that that means the notes should be higher.  Billy joked, "she doesn't know a B flat from a flat tire" and I'm inclined to agree, but who cares when you've got a voice that sounds like that !

It is not really feasible to re-record the song in a slightly higher key, so we decided that we would use the guide vocal Billy recorded and turn it into a duet.

After a couple of hours, we agreed that  Dael's parts were as good as we were going to get, so she went home with her mum whilst Billy and I carried on with a few other guitar parts he wanted to put down.  Basically, the parts were a couple of guitar strums in each verse, that you probably wouldn't miss if you didn't hear them, but they really added to the sound of the song.

It was getting late when Billy left, so I didn't have time to make a mix and CD for him to take away.  Billy got in his car and took off.  About 20 minutes later, I got a call from Billy's wife saying he had left his prized guitar on the path outside the studio and could I go and retrieve it.  I rushed out of the studio and looked up and down the roadside but couldn't find the guitar anywhere!  Panic!  As I was outside looking, Billy turned up in a frantic state but I had to tell him his guitar was gone.  He drove off looking very dejected and I wandered back up to the studio and noticed, in the corner, was Billy's guitar.  He hadn't even taken it out of the room!

Billy McBolan - Session 3 - 19th July 2012

Session times: 11am - 4pm

Billy arrived a few minutes early along with his wife Jacqueline (or roadie as he called her!). He brought his digital piano and his Martin 12-string acoustic.  Although I do have a keyboard at the studio, it doesn't have the feel of a real piano.  At the last session, Billy tried playing a piano part on it, but he preferred to play his own.  He also brought his own supply of Earl Grey tea bags. 

We spent a few minutes connecting the piano to the recording equipment.  The only signal out was for headphones, so I used a splitter to get the left and right signals. Unfortunately there was a lot of noise, so we ended up just using a mono signal.  When recording keyboards, I usually connect to the MIDI port and record both the audio and MIDI during a performance.  This means that any simple mistakes on the recording can be fixed with some MIDI editing and then play back the MIDI and record it the audio again.


I normally have a jar of sweets on the 'talent' table, which this week is Licorice All-Sorts.  Billy tucked into these with gusto.

Part 1 - Strange Love

The first part of this session (about 90 minutes) was to add some of piano flourishes to the song from the previous session.  His daughter was really impressed with the instrumental version he took away last time but she wasn't quite ready to record the vocal yet and, as we were going to record another song she was to sing, Billy thought it better to bring her along when we had both ready.

Part 2 - I Just Can't Fall

The rest of the session was used to re-record a song Billy had recorded at another studio.  He wanted to make some changes to the song, but unfortunately, the master tapes had been destroyed, so we had to start again!
Billy had sent me a CD of the track a couple of weeks ago.  I had imported it, worked out the tempo and laid down the bass and drums the previous day, so there was enough to work with before Billy had arrived.
He put down a straight piano part, just chords, and then overdubbed some 'twiddly bits' afterwards.  Then we added some string parts, mostly long chords and a few melodies.  Billy is the first to admit he's not a pianist, but he was able to play a pretty good version and because we recorded the MIDI, I was able to straighten up (or quantize) the notes that had been played, fix a few mistakes, then play back the MIDI and record the corrected audio from the piano.

We were going to add a few acoustic guitar parts, but we were both getting a bit of a 'studio headache', so we agreed a quick mix, I put both the songs on a CD and we finished the session just before 4pm. 

Billy McBolan - Sessions 1&2 - 1st & 2nd July 2012

Billy was booked in for Sunday afternoon and Monday evening.  I had never met Billy before Sunday's session.  Introductions and bookings were done by email.  You never know what to expect. It was a surprise to meet a well over 6 foot tall smiling chap with 12 string acoustic guitar in hand knocking on the door.


Billy had a brand new song to record and the plan was to get the backing tracks down in the two sessions and for him to take away a mix and then come back in a few weeks with daughter to lay down the vocals.  Of course, I hadn't heard the song, so we spent a few minutes discussing the feel and style that Billy wanted. He had described the song as in a Country and Western style waltz.


He brought out his famous 12 string Martin acoustic guitar, which I must admit sounded wonderful.  We agreed on a tempo, and I put down a click track for him to follow.  Once he was comfortable in the sofa, I mic'd up his guitar with the sE2200a, sorted out his headphones and off we went for a take.  The first few chords drag you into a dreamy waltz....  After a once through, and then re-doing the key change and final chorus, Billy put down a guide vocal.  He claimed to have a cold, but his first vocal was spot on, until we got to the key change.  The song key was chosen for a female voice, and was a bit too high for Billy, but he gave a great performance anyway.  We added a few other guitar licks and discussed which other parts to do.  Billy left about 5pm.  


After the session, I had my tea, and set about putting down bass and drums.  The chord structure is quite simple, so the bass line didn't take time, just emulating an upright double bass really.  The drums took about 10 takes to get right.  I'm not a pro drummer, but I can manage a fairly reasonable beat as long as it's not too fast.  For this song, the simpler the better.

Monday Evening

Billy and his son, Kurt, turned up just before 8pm.  From what Billy said, Kurt is a bit of a shredder, so he was tasked with the guitar solo for this song and a few licks in between.  Kurt brought along a Gibson Les Paul, a Marshall amp and a Takamine acoustic.  The amp was mic'd with a Samson C02 condenser which worked well with the tone Kurt had selected.  We tried a few takes of the guitar solo, but Kurt was struggling to get it down in one go.  It's hard enough getting a take when it needs to be perfect, and it's even harder when your Dad is watching you, adding to the pressure :-)  Fortunately, he nailed it on the 7th take.  Kurt added a few other electric licks in the verses and the ending before putting in a few acoustic bits.  Then Billy and I started adding strings.  It's very easy to add more and more strings which sound great and then one more and it's too much.  We ended up with 2 string tracks throughout the song, and 4 other string tracks  emphasizing various parts here and there.  After a quick mix, I made a CD, which Billy and Kurt took away, ready for the vocal session at a later date.  The session finished about 11pm.