With all the instruments recorded, lyrics written and sung, and sessions mostly mixed, there remains one song in need of drums. Most recording sessions begin with drums. Drums and bass (aka "the rhythm section") are traditionally the foundation of any pop music recording. The way we write music often has us using placeholder drums (in the form of pre-made drum loops or a drum machine) upon which we pile guitar, bass, piano, horns, synth and vocals. In the end it's like those house remodels where they add a floor to an older home by jacking it up and stacking enormous timbers under the precariously raised home. We're a song stacked on Jenga blocks until we pull in a drummer to pour the new foundation.
Our drummer of choice for this album has been Davis Martin. He's either the foundation company that pours the concrete, or (to expand analogies) the CSI forensic pathologist who arrives at the crime scene to interpret what happened to the chalk-outlined body laying before him.
We're hoping to have Davis over here this week to play drums on our the final song (spoiler: it's about hitting a deer in our van this past New Year's Eve). In anticipation, Daniel has installed a new 4'x6' sound panel above the drums and sound curtains to minimize the boxy sound of our concrete bunker basement recording studio. Here are a couple photos of the drums in waiting ...