Updates from the front: Sunday

Rob Allum (left on picture), the Turin Brakes drummer, has taken time once more to answer questions on his MySpace profile, and will provide more updates through the upcoming week…

Answers 2;

Hey Girls and Boys, Back in the stoodio tomorrow after a little pause for breath…Friday was a superbly productive day so we were given time off for good behaviour. Now then.. as regards the way other bands record; There’s many ways to go about it but I would say that these sessions are slightly unusual because not only are we all playing together in the same room, but we are trying to get complete takes with great vocal and instrument sounds etc and to keep them. Basically going for that magical take. There will be a few overdubs here and there but if the magic wasn’t in the room then no amount of overdubs will make it so! Also we are not using a ‘click track’ (like a metronome one has in one’s headphones) on these sessions. I guess it’s pretty organic and as little digital as possible so it should be a pretty honest record full of its own integrity! Simon Cowell wouldn’t like it… I would say that the most common way for bands to record is to try to maybe get drums and bass down together using a click track with the rest of the band singing/playing along as guide parts. Usually there will be some digital editing of the drum parts and the odd ‘fix’ on the bass track before the rest of the guys overdub their parts. Usually leaving the vocals ’til last. This is supposed to ensure good separation and control over sounds with no instrument spilling over into any of the other tracks…and because it can be quicker to get the best results that way if you are on a budget. The Optimist was done mainly this way more or less, Ether Song was recorded more like we are this time and Jackinabox was recorded with more of the different parts going down separately. Great results are possible with most recording methods, you just need to have good pair of ears and some decent ideas! And Holly, if someone asked me to record the drums for a DFS ad I’d probably go for it cos I guess it would be anonymous and I’d probably learn something from the experience…like how to get fired gracefully for not being able to read drumscore perhaps? Good question Stefan (Mr TB!). Every band or artist has something unique to them in my experience but there is something really special about TB.. When I first stepped into a rehearsal room some seven or so years ago with O&G for me it just felt like there was an immediate chemistry and understanding which is extremely rare. I’ve worked with lots of really good people and made some pretty decent records but never had the same feeling of chemistry that we have in TB. I guess that’s one of the reasons, along with friendship and many other reasons, why I feel so loyal and commited to the band…no matter what little jibes may be bandied about from time to time! I think the first song we ever played together (in that rehearsal room nr Old St) was The Door. I find it really hard to single out any one tune as an example of the TB unique-ness (I think anyone who likes the band knows what it means to them) but I think everytime we play Stone Thrown live it just has it all…. There will be parts of the new album which are pure TB too. I think Otherside or Byepod could fit on any of the albums? I’ll try to do some little updates as we go along this week if possible… Cheers m’dears!

R.x

Looks like an exciting week coming up!