Registrazione Pianoforte a Milano

The beginning of recording 'Sketches of Europa'...

After a hectic journey from Bologna to Milan in July 2011, we arrived at our apartment on a Saturday evening.  There was a misunderstanding about where exactly we were to meet the owner and as we had no mobile phone we had to go looking for a public phone in the area.  We ended up in a nearby supermarket where they had a payphone.  It turned out we were waiting round one side of the building and had no way of getting round the back while the owner was on the other side waiting for us.  After check-in we just made it in time to the supermarket to get some food before it closed.

That night there was a big thunderstorm in Milan to welcome us.  After something to eat, we looked at the situation, which was 5 days in this apartment with a piano, and no security after that.  We didn't know what would happen after those 5 days and we didn't know what else we could do other than carry on with this Music.  We had something like 15 - 20 songs so that first night we went through them and started creating basic drum tracks (so we had something to keep us in time when recording the piano and make it easier to overdub other instruments later).  We went to bed around 3 or 4am and got up 4 or 5 hours later and began working out piano parts for the first couple of songs and then recording them.

This set the pattern for those 5 days.  We'd use the daytime hours to work out and record the piano tracks and then at night when it was too late to play we'd prepare the drum/guide tracks on the laptop for whatever song(s) we'd record piano for the following day.  Neither of us are accomplished piano players and we'd only just started learning to play back in Edinburgh before leaving for Europe.  We had to work out parts and record them on the fly - no time to rehearse or spend too long on anything.

Over those 5 days we got about 4 - 5 hours sleep a night and would work right through the day into the night, only stopping for brief food breaks.  We were determined to get these songs recorded and push on with this Music and we didn't know when we might next have access to a piano.  By the end of those 5 days we were exhausted but amazed with what was achieved.

Musica Viaggio

Yesterday we packed off the Yamaha Digital Piano to be forwarded onto our next location.  It looked for a while there like we might have to send it back to Edinburgh and do without for a few months.  In fact, up until about 5 days ago we didn't have a clue what to do.  Gradually this week the pieces of the puzzle came together and it was a bit hairy for a while wondering whether the courier would show up to take the piano away before we left this place but it is off now on its journey to meet us shortly at our next destination.  We also had a surprise visit from a Catholic priest but that's another story...

Where are the roadies?

Just over a year ago now we never believed we could travel with the guitar with only the two of us to carry everything.  Since November 2012 we now have a new friend to somehow move around Europe with and help bring through this Music.  Slowly we have graduated from ukulele and melodica to guitar and piano as this Music grows.

A typical SoulJahm day over these last few months has looked like this...

We wake some time in the morning - can range from 8am to 11am - depending on how our sleep patterns are.  (We've been known to stay up all night working on a video or mixing a song if we're on a roll and often we don't get to bed until 3am or so anyway).  After breakfast, we usually do a little bit of singing to loosen us up a bit as our bodies are often 'riddled' with all kinds of energy blockages after being asleep.  Then we each retreat to our own spaces to practice individually on our instruments.  This practice can go on for anything between a couple of hours to 4 or 5 hours.  We usually work in 25 minute chunks, taking a 5-10 min break for the duration of these hours.

Some time around 4.30 - 5.30pm we sing songs together for an hour or two before it gets too late.  If we could we'd sing and play all hours of the day and night.  After this we'll sometimes practice a little more on our instruments and then have tea (dinner).

I split my time between guitar, voice and piano - guitar work throughout the day while Kate is on the piano and then either after we've eaten in the evening (8-9pm) or later at night (1am or so) I will get an hour or so on the piano.  Kate will work on web stuff during this.  If we are working on a song or video we will spend the hours between 9pm until we go to bed working on these things.

Every few days we make a trip to the shops to pick up some food, but essentially this is how we live each day, although it can change depending on what is going on and how the energy is affecting us on any particular moment throughout the day.  On certain days, the energy can be so strong that we have to spend most of the day napping or are compelled to sit 'meditatively' and do little else.

When we came into this apartment we intended to learn Italian and for the first few weeks were quite serious about it.  Soon we realised we were over-ambitious and could only focus on one language at a time and that language is Music.  We'd still like to learn Italian one day and feel it will be necessary for the development of this Music but it seems that time is not now.

Original Song Lyrics - "Karl-Marx-Allee"

Organising stuff today for our move from Bologna to the next destination, which we now know!  It's all somehow come together in the last couple of days.  It's an early 4.30am start on Friday.  Everytime we have a significant move to a new destination in Italy the Trenitalia website goes strange with problems booking tickets.

I was sorting my case out a bit and came across the notebook I first came over to Europe with and in it were the original lyrics for "Karl-Marx-Allee" scribbled down as the song was written back in Budapest, March 2011...

Recording Rhythm In The Right Place

Recording the sounds together

Our hi-tech professional mic/recording set-up

Spent today trying to get a rhythm track of guitar and piano recorded simultaneously into one mic for a new recording of the song "In The Wrong Places".  We've had the idea for a few weeks now as the living room of this apartment has a nice reverb and we wanted to record something here before we left.  For ages now we've spoken of how to keep a live feel on our next batch of songs - hence why we played together and didn't record piano and guitar separately.  We'll then overdub some extra guitar, percussion and vocals another time.

It's the first time we've played together this way and without a click track or anything to keep time so the challenge was mainly locking into the same rhythm.  Not easy without a drummer and no vocals to guide you.  It was fun and something we want to do more of.

The Funky Mute

So our time in Bologna is coming to a close... who knows where next.  Woke up at 5am yesterday morning, Thursday 17th, and so spent the first few hours of the morning doing some web stuff, sorting out things on our youtube videos and the website.

The afternoon was spent practising and singing.  Sleep is all over the place at the moment.  The reason I woke at 5am was because I'd fell into a "gone" state around about tea-time and was zonked out on the couch before managing to get to bed at 10.30pm - early for me.  Kate had been "gone" just before it hit me.  Its like you come over all sleepy and have to stop what you're doing and its kind of like a nap but you don't fall asleep, you are almost comatose but somehow still aware of what is happening around you.  Its like the energy demands that the body shut down for a period... I don't know what happens... it can last from a few mins to several hours.

We spent the night doing more work on youtube, soundcloud and the website.  We have hardly recorded a thing during our time in this apartment but that was what we intended so it is all good in that sense.  We did manage to record vocals for "Karl-Marx-Allee" during the week between Christmas and New Year, and also a new version of "Balcarres Street".  "Karl-Marx" now just needs to be mixed while "Balcarres Street" needs some percussion before it can be mixed.

David

Bologna 2013

After a long hiatus, blogging this journey feels back on again.  We'll now use this 'Sketches of Europa' blog to document our everyday living and work on the Music.  For an idea of how we arrived at this point check out the 'Spitting Out The Shit' blog which covers the first chapter of the journey - from October 2010 until March 2011.

2012 was a year full of struggle and intense challenges but we made it through somehow.  Our movement throughout Europe slowed down a lot as we always felt it would but not in the way we expected!  We spent the first couple of months of the year in Berlin, then onto Budapest, which became the place we could never get out of, intending only to stay for a couple of months or so but remaining there for 5 months.  In the middle of summer we finally made it to Rome and moved north through Italy for the remainder of the year - Spello, Perugia and then arriving in Bologna in October 2012.  Italy has been good to us.

We have spent the last 3-4 months in Bologna practising and developing the Music and doing little else.  Its soon coming time to leave yet no next destination has revealed itself so far so who knows where we will end up after this!