The Process Continues...Day By Day

The following week, we were all back in the studio again for another four-day session. This time, though, we all knew what to expect, and what we'd be doing, having figured out the most efficient way to get through the process. I had contacted Mark Easton and had asked for his permission to record a song of his that he and I had done years before I had even gone to Chicago, which I had always liked, and which Tommy and Michael had actually played many times before, too. The song was called "Day By Day." It wasn't Avalanche music, but I thought it would be a good addition to the album. Mark gave me his permission, and after working out his rhythym guitar parts with him, (I had always played the lead only on this song) I also got a copy of the lyrics from him, since he had always sung the song when we had performed it...and I spent a couple of days trying to learn the phrasing the way I remembered he had sung it when we had performed it years earlier. Once we actually were in the studio, we began recording the rehearsals on the first day, since everyone already knew the song. By the end of the first day we had a solid basic track on tape, and with an extra day to experiment with the song, I decided to add a few things that we had never done when we had done the song live. I added acoustic 6 and 12 string guitars, piano and mellotron, a very interesting keyboard instrument made famous by the Moody Blues. It had 8 seconds of tape-recorded violin sounds, being played by an orchestra, assigned to each note on the keyboard. By using that, the song appeared to have a string section in it. If I released a note, even for a second, the tape recording assigned to that note would instantly rewind and be ready to be used again. I also worked out vocal harmonies that had never been a part of the original song Mark had written, but which I felt, definetely enhanced it. It became a real learning experience for me about the possibilities in the studio...including the realization that sometimes, one can try to do too much. I think that this was the song that allowed me to recognize as a producer and as a musician...that simple is often the best way to go. The song came out well, but it never had the same energy as all the other Avalanche music I was considering. I decided after that session that only Avalanche songs would be recorded after that...because I wanted the finished product to be consistent all the way through. The one thing I was starting to enjoy, though, was the amazing creative freedom I was starting to feel in the studio...and although I needed a few weeks to pay for all the studio time before I'd be able to go back in for the next session...I knew that it wouldn't be long before I'd be back in the studio again, to continue the process of recording and mixing the album.