The EBB got together last monday to begin work on the new recordings. We spent two days setting up our collective equipment and began programming parts for the song Soldiers of the Light which some of you will know from live shows last year. For technophiles the screen shot above is of an old Atari system running Cubase. The machine is rock solid and still meets all our our midi sequencing needs. The sequence shown is the first click track for the song Six white horses. Luke spent most of last week working on the drum track and checking with Steve while Art and I played bass and acoustic guitar to assist the programming and check the feel and groove. The first job is to establish the arrangement that we will settle on and the the general speed and groove. We spend quite a long time deciding such things.

Long hours sitting in front of screens refining parts and the feel of the song

After setting up for two days we were amazed that everything worked. We had a few problems after Steve rigged a new patch bay but he quickly sorted things out and we got down to work in earnest. There is always something to adjust after the initial setting up but this was about it. We managed to crash the old Atari computer on only two occasions during the whole week and that was down to me being a bit quick with buttons on our main digital recorder that the Atari is synchronised with. Luke managed his key board and sampler sounds with a cool head and hands. It has been a long time since Luke and I have recorded together so to combine all the equipment with out hassle in one set up, away from our base, was a joy. As we re familiarised ourselves with the process and procedures Steve was quick to begin to get to grips with new technical possibilities and after a day or so we were well under way. Art had a long, knackering wait to put down a bass for real but we got a decent backing track for Soldiers of the Light and a groove for Six White horses which was mixed to a PC and sent as MP3 s to our home computers for evaluation. We will all spend time now working on parts and ideas at home.

Tea is an essential ritual in ebb world

I am sure I didn't play that

What ? ? ?

Me with Art's lovely nylon strung classical guitar. It is very easy to play and has a piezo pick up. It is very much like the guitar I write most of my material on and I expect this instrument will be featured quite often on the finished recordings as we work our way through the new songs .

Last week was a valuable time for us to concentrate on the work but we also spent a lot of the time in discussions and chats about most every thing. We took turns cooking food and stayed up long hours and laughed a lot. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to stage two.

Next weekend we will be rehearsing for the show in Bergen at The Garage on the following weekend. It looks like this will be a special night. We have had an invite to return to Athens for a show at the Gagarin in Athens. That was a special night for us and we look forward to a repeat performance. I know every one is shattered after the work last week though happy to have finally made a start.

Peace

copyright e d g a r b r o u g h t o n 2008