Quite high excitement levels today as we have the crouch end choir coming in this evening to add a bit of gothic horror to J.Smith.
Before all that there are a few bits of tinkering to do. As we get closer to completion god is definitely in the details.
We spend the first part of the day listening through to "last words" for any possible overdubs.
The banjo is proving problematic as it insists in going a little out of tune so Nick has a tweak at it and Fran goes in and re-does his part. All good. Unusually, he decides to sing the song in the control room sitting at the mixing desk with a hand held mic. Once the vox are done, Neil comes in for a bit of shaker and tambo action.
We are about to move on but realise the choir will be here soon. So Raj and Nick clear out the live room to accommodate all 40 of them.
The lovely Joby Talbot arrives. He is a fantastic arranger and composer who has done loads of movies and all kinds of things. We have worked with him quite a few times and he has written and arranged the parts for the choir. Nice to catch up with him as I haven't seen him for ages.
The choir starts warming up. The leader David rules the roost. They sound great but we have to move the basses, tenors and sopranos around until we get the right blend of voices. Then we have to change some of the parts to make them fit better and sound a little more threatening.
It is totally over the top but absolutely brilliant. Our tour manager, the legend that is Melvyn Taub comes in for a visit and to watch the choir do their thing.
By around 9.30 we have got everything we need. The choir leaves and we realise we are all starving.
We all head out into the outside world to find a steak and a decent bottle of red. Just realised i forgot to look at your questions. Will do it tomorrow.
Back in the studio and we listen through to a few things including "Before you were young" and find that we are getting to the point where all it needs is a vocal.
Fortunately Franny is in the mood for a little late night singing.
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