Post #286423 by Humuhumu on Sun, Feb 18, 2007 10:51 AM

We got to sit in on the first day of recording, and are about to head back for day two. I feel so honored to be able to sit in on something like this -- can you imagine? A new Exotica album by one of the original greats? It's surreal and wonderful.

Those of us in the studio know to be totally quiet and still. No movin' allowed, and definitely no coughing. If we want to be more wiggly, we have the option of going over to the control booth area or the hall just outside, but so far everyone has opted to stay with the musicians.

Some of the spectators are dressed up tiki, and the vocalist was wearing a very lovely dress and lei yesterday. The music, though, needs no help setting the mood -- it's fantastic stuff. Mr. Drasnin has been so kind to let us join him for this, and it's a thrill to see him so happy about this album.

The musicians are top notch -- sometimes they have to practice just a short bit of a song, and all dozen or so of them are able to just pick right up in the middle of a song, just like dropping a needle on a record. It's neat to be able to see visually exactly where the harp comes in, and where the cello comes in. There's a lot of working out details before each song gets recorded -- the musicians work out their questions about minor details about the song, and some practice run-throughs are done, and then several takes of recording are done.

The amount of coordinating that has to happen is astounding... not really surprising, I guess, but still awe-inspiring to see it actually happening. So many musicians are playing on this -- flute, cello, harp, Mr. Drasin's sax, vocals, piano, synthesizer, marimba, vibraphone, drums, bass, and two guys handling various other percussion -- and each one of them has several different ways they can approach playing it, and it all has to get worked out so that it sounds good together, and stays true to Mr. Drasnin's vision, which means a bit of trial and error. These musicans are seasoned professionals at doing just this sort of work, so it goes pretty quickly. For some of these songs, this is the first time Mr. Drasnin is getting to actually hear them come to life in full orchestral form -- until now, they've lived in his head, and on his sheet music.

You're all going to love this album, and those of you who are going to be at Hukilau will get chills hearing it performed live.