 |
|
NOTES ON THE RECORDING - Scott Spencer |
|
We talked about how to record this album a few times over assorted beverages at Mona's, and in the basement of Ireland House,
but we didn't need to say much. We knew that the most important part of the recording process would be to catch both the music and the
ambience that make Mona's what it is without filling the bar with microphones and ruining the session.
We knew that the occasional explosive smack of cue stick and applause from the pool league in the back room as well as the clanging of the antique cash register at the bar were all essential parts of the scene. I listened closely to the albums Music at Matt Molloy's and Paddy in the Smoke, and found that the atmosphere of the session is found between the cracks in the music. On recording nights, I would arrive with two cases of borrowed recording equipment at a somewhat reasonable hour after work. We would survey the ceiling for potential structural dangers and I would screw eyehooks into the decaying plaster directly above where I thought the musicians would set up that evening. Eamon and Patrick would arrive and try to guess who might show up that night, and Mick, Autumn, John and the regular faces would filter in and settle along the bar for a long evening of music. As the tunes would start to spill out of the corner, Autumn would take notes on tunes and players, I would try to herd the music onto the CDs, and Emmet and Chris, trapped by the session table, would have to jump over the bar to gather stray glasses. Mick's students, pool leaguers, musicians and regulars would all stop by the mixing board, put on the headphones and listen in. I first tried to record from a single stereo mic, but as the session table could only hold four or five musicians, the majority of players on busy nights would end up lost or drowned out. I finally settled on using one stereo mic hung directly over the table, and four or five mics hung in a circle on the periphery. In this way, the center mic could pick up the bulk of the session, and the outlying players could be reinforced by a remote mic if needed. All the cords ran across the ceiling and around the corner to a mixing board just out of sight. The session was mixed on the board as it was played, and was recorded straight to CD. We knew that this recording method allowed no second chances, but we wanted a documentary-style sound and an album with total transparency, We knew that this method could easily result in the best tracks being missed through bad mixing, so we developed the backup method of recording two different mic mixes at the same time. Greg, Patrick and Eamon managed to select and work with these mixes to make the final tracks, somehow overcoming the limitations of the recording method while still sticking to the intended documentary aesthetic. Throughout the recording process, we changed only a few aspects of the session. We tried to have Patrick play without the rhythmic beat of his feet under the table, but quickly found that it held part of the drive and was essential to the session. We would occasionally turn off the air system when someone would sing to get rid of extra noise. Our first night of recording was the first night of the new smoking ban in New York City, and the presence of recording gear made the players a bit nervous at times, but there were moments when the music took over and the microphones wouldn't matter anymore. Those moments are the reason musicians come to Mona's, and I think we have managed to capture a few of them on this album. Glucksman Ireland House New York University © 2004 |