Attending the Labor and Delivery of a song
What I learned from sitting in the back of a recording studio for a day!
FOR CONTEXT: So, as I have maybe mentioned before, my partner, Ross, is a singer/songwriter. He went to school for music engineering, but works in tech now. He plays guitar, sings, and writes songs in his free time, as his deepest expression and passion.
Things I knew about recording albums/writing music before I met Ross: Literally nothing!!! Haha!
I grew up with music, but no one around me was writing music or recording records. I grew up with piano lessons, worship teams, 4-part acapella harmony, choir concerts—like, that kind of music. My youth had no concept of, like, a “music scene.” Ross grew up being in punk bands, having garage shows, following and idolizing musicians, and being very aware of and a part of the Wichita music scene.
So, for context, I am going to write this post with all of my musical innocence intact. Also, this is just my observation of watching one musician’s process, which I know is not universal, but it has been so fun to witness! HERE WE GO!
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Having a husband who is a musician has given me such an intimate view into the conception and birth of music!!!
Ross (my husband of almost 2 years) and I just got back from spending a week in Pueblo, Colorado, where Ross worked with a music engineer to record his second album with songs that he has written in the past two years.
Ross, unlike me, is a very internal processor, often stuck in his inner world, with words and melodies and ideas that I know nothing about in there. He carries concepts of songs with him, until one day they are baked enough to be scooped out and put on paper. Or, sometimes he just seems to download the lyrics in his mind. It is rarely a tedious process, but not something that can be accessed on demand. Most of the time his songs are concepts, ideas, phrases that seem to bloom once he writes them in his notebook. I have not seen any force or squeeze or sweat for songs. They seem to germinate in the darkness until a sprout breaks into consciousness just long enough for Ross to write it down.
I know less about the musical compositions of these songs, even though most of their creations have happened right next to me! Almost every evening, Ross and I finish out our days with an hour or so in the Genesis Pod (our basement/shared sewing and music studio space). Ross is on one side, finding the melodies that match his lyrics, and I am on the other side, finding the right color and pattern of fabric to match whatever I am working on. Often times, I have a podcast in one ear, but the other ear is hearing what Ross is creating and my Singer Heavy Duty is chugging along to the tempo.
Once Ross has found the music to his lyrics, or the lyrics to his music, he has a song!?! This sounds way too simple, but truly, to me, it looks like magic. Like alchemy.
The kind of making I do is usually taking tangible things and arranging them with other tangible things and playing with the chemistry of what I can see (fabric, paper, words). Making music seems so much more intangible and conceptual. Taking audible scraps and ideas and arranging them with words and noises and mental instruments. Creating things that you can’t feel with your hands or see visually is a mystery to me.
When Ross started playing local shows with this batch of songs, I felt and held the vulnerability of Ross presenting his audible creations to the ears of friends and strangers. I may have been more nervous than him!
Unlike me, Ross is used to this; he believes a song is an offering, letting the audience take or leave what they want from it, giving the listener permission to make the song mean whatever they think it might mean.
What a palms open and strings un-attached way of presenting art!!
Even though these are not my songs, I feel protective of them. I want them to be seen and known for who they ARE, I want people to know the context in which they were written, understand the full concept and genius of how the songwriter distilled such cosmic ideas into simple lyrics.
At his first show with these songs, a few of our friends came, and I wished I had written down the lyrics and the context of each of Ross’s songs to hand out to all of them. “This song was about a fight that he had with an ex, this song is the one he wrote for our engagement weekend, this one is about his friend who passed away, this one is about the concept of the “anthropic principle”, etc!! There are stories connected with almost all of his songs that I feel like people should know, so they can see the cleverness of his lyrics and distillation! But I am not the author, this is not my context to share, this is not my art, and I try my best to let Ross be the boss of his own art. Sheesh haha.
Ross has played many shows with these songs now, which has forced him to practice them and get to know his songs inside and out. I love going to his shows, I am always in awe of how gathered and calm Ross is before all eyes are on him as he presents creations from the depths of his heart and mind.
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Ross scheduled these recording sessions in Pueblo months ago, and has been rehearsing and perfecting his songs every day, every day. He has listened to feedback from his mentor, his peers, and learned from each of his shows. He knows these songs in and out. I actually have all of his songs memorized too, I feel like they are a part of my DNA by now, after hearing them every single night. A few evenings before leaving for Colorado, I asked Ross if I could have the microphone to see if I could sing his songs by memory yet, and I could, at least some of them. He let me play karaoke for a while and we laughed at my butchering of lyrics that I thought I knew!!! Haha oooops!
All of this conception, creation, feedback, practice, performing, time in the Genesis Pod has led to this past week, on Monday, there in Pueblo.
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The day before recording day, we stopped by the studio and dropped off Ross’s “gear” that we hauled from Kansas—his three guitars, his Juno synthesizer, amp, pedals, and other musical things. We chatted with Andrew, the professional engineer who has a recording room in his home, and Andrew seemed to get Ross’s music and his vision was right away.
Andrew lives alone in small, two bedroom home in Pueblo. His whole habitat is crisp and so thoughtfully and cleanly decorated with art from different lives he has lived. Each painting, rug, map, chair, has a story. His home is full of deep oranges, greens, colors of the southwest, filled with bookshelves of books about music and the earth. I don’t know much about music engineers, but after watching what they actually do, I understood Andrew’s home decor a little better. Music engineers have to be very particular, very clear, very precise, with a strong ear and taste. They pay attention to the details and the vibe and the intention of the musician, the art, the habitat that surrounds them. It was so beautiful to record in someone’s home and let the Andrew-ness of the space and place seep into the recordings. Ross and Andrew had only met briefly before, but almost immediately, they were able to create a safe, prolific, protected incubator bubble where Ross could birth his music.
Monday morning, on recording day, I dropped Ross off at Andrew’s home, and went to a coffee shop for a few hours to give them time to find their groove. Around noon, Ross texted me and said it would be fine to come and observe in the afternoon, as long as I was super quiet. Haha.
I joined Andrew in the engineering room, which was upstairs. Ross was down stairs with his guitars and pedals and he was miked up. We had to turn the AC off when he was recording, so upstairs was warm and quiet and dark. I sat on a chair behind Andrew, who was at the computer with all of his knobs and input things and would listen to Ross’s takes. They could talk to each other through the mic. Ross’s mic was very sensitive, we heard his little mutterings between songs, his sighs, his burps, his sniffles. Andrew laughed and said it felt like we were up in his brain, and it did, especially because we were upstairs! Ross finished playing the guitar part of each of his songs. Some took a few takes, with tweaks from Andrew and Ross’s combined wisdom. I was shocked what good suggestions Andrew had, because he was just getting to know these songs, but his suggestions were spot on! Musicians, man! Haha it was amazing to watch.
After they got all of the melodies recorded, it was time for vocals. Ross came upstairs for the vocal recordings, and I stayed on the chair in the back, working on my quiet English Paper Piecing project (YAY for portable sewing projects, omg. It saved me!)
The vocals were much easier to capture, because if he messed up, Andrew could have him “punch in”, meaning just redo the part that he messed up on. They recorded the vocals twice, so that Ross’s voice on the album will sound fuller. Ross was so practiced up that even though he was singing the same song on two different takes, both takes lined up.
I was so glad I could be there to watch this process. The vocal recording room was so hot, without AC. The lights were dimmed, everything was silent except Ross’s voice, and Andrew watching the computer. I didn’t make a peep except when I was allowed to gush about how well Ross was doing in between songs.
It truly felt like I was attending a birth. Andrew, the song doula, was there to help the delivery be as smooth as possible, to capture the best case scenario. Ross was there to birth these songs that he has grown and carried inside of his being for the past year. I wanted to say, Ross, you got this. Your body knows what to do, just surrender, lean in, deliver! But I didn’t have to to tell him, he knew it. He showed up with so much confidence, calm, competence. He showed up prepared for delivery day. It was incredibly intimate to witness.
They got all the guitar and vocals done on Monday, which was an impressive feat. The last song they recorded had a little bit of fatigue in it—it was almost 6:00, it was hot, we were sticky, Ross and Andrew had been so present with each other all day, everyone was tired. But, they got it done. It was incredible.
When we got back to the Air B & B, Ross crashed. He was so proud of what happened that day, but also just so exhausted. A whole two years of work had culminated in that one day. We made a frozen pizza for dinner and then snuggled on the couch and watched a few episodes of Shrinking and then went to bed.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Andrew and Ross worked on “overdubs”—adding more vocals, riffs, synth parts, percussion, bass, other guitar parts, into the songs. Ross has hired a few of his friends to add additional parts on to the songs—a cello, a flute, a voice, a synth, other guitar parts, etc. They record them in their own habitats and send them into to the producer to be added.
(I always just assumed all of the songs were recorded at once?? I had NO IDEA that different instruments, voices, etc, were recorded separately and then added in. Am I alone in this assumption? Did you know this?? I feel like everyone knew this but me lol!!)
With every addition, every “overdub,” you have to listen to it a few times to get to know it again, in its more filled out form.
I know all of these songs with just Ross’s guitar and Ross’s voice, so I was actually pretty apprehensive to think about him adding other things into the songs, but each addition just fills it out even more. With every piece that is added, it is like getting to know a different stage of the song, on her way to maturity.
WOW.
Honestly, I learned so much this week, and I feel very invested in Ross’s project. His music baby. I feel honored to witness this whole, amazing, mysterious process.
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AND—besides the birth of a record—Ross and I had an AMAZING time in Colorado. I forgot how the sky always feels a deeper shade of blue, and the grass a deeper shade of green when you’re in the mountains. We soaked in every minute of it! We walked the river walk trail every morning before going to Andrew’s house, we met up with our dear friend Angela who lives in Denver, we had dinner and breakfast at our family friend’s house, and Ross surprised me by taking me to an art supply scrap store, called “Who Gives A Scrap”—ha!! I found some great pieces of fabric and yarn, and Ross found some cool pieces for collaging!
It was a beautiful, prolific, nature-filled week. I am so proud of Ross, I am so in love with Colorado, and I am so grateful for the gift of art, creativity, and expression!!
Thanks for reading along! If you were as music-dumb as I was before reading this, I hope you learned as much as I did. Each song I hear on the radio now, I imagine being birthed in a recording studio somewhere. Wow. In awe!!
If you want to follow Ross’s album as it matures and is released this winter, we just started an instagram account for his music stuff! @johnrossmcewenmusic
Peace and love until next time!!
Kate
Girl, your words are so immersive. I thoroughly enjoy reading your content. I really thought you were going to say, "And then we went back to the AirBnB and CRANKED UP THE A/C." 😂
Really lovely narrative about your Colorado adventure. I couldn't put it down...read it all straight through. Great photos!