But soon, things turned ugly and my computer blew up (Once again... T_T) and had to spend 15 to 20 days without it.
Yes, I would have come here 15 days earlier, but fate had something else in store for me. So, my 15 days went by in a form of creativity I never imagined I'd involve myself into. First, I actually tried (despite all my laziness) completing all the stories I stored up in my mind. Second, a friend of mine wrote and authored a song. He then dragged me to a recording studio so that I can co-author and arrange the music for him. So, this became my first experience in a recording studio and though it was interesting, it wasn't pretty. Thirdly, finally the ultra lazy Mr. V decided to make a move and the two of us have co-authored a script for a short movie which he hopes to complete by the end of this semester.
For now, I'll stick to my Ordeal at the recording studio. :D
Studio Chronicles
My friend Arjit one day calls me up and says I have to come to his home with my keyboard. I was hesitant, but then I agreed. I went to his home (which is about 36 Kms away from my hostel and is a one hour bus ride + 15 mins on auto+10 mins of walking) carrying my keyboard. I enter and meet this girl from Delhi University (forgot which one...). "She will be the vocalist for our song." he said. "What song?" I reply back.
He takes out is new iPod Touch and then shows me a note. It's a poem. And then he plays a guitar riff. "So?" I ask. "So what?" he asks back. Then the day goes ahead, and by the end of the day, I had to understand the girl's scale (Her name was Neha Ella BTW :P forgot to mention it sorry...) and arrange chords according to her comfort and style. Amazingly they suited.
We then did a few Jam sessions in Jam Pads. And then one day he calls me saying that we were ready for studio. "What Studio." I ask him back. "Arey... the one I told you about." he replies back. Indeed. He did tell me he was interested in recording a song in some studio he told me about, but I never imagined in my dreams that he'd actually do it. But then, I was asking more question he could answer (like what software and hardware he was using, etc) so I simply agreed to come.
Then came the next trouble. Neha drops out at the last moment and she says that her mom won't let her do the recording. I'm unable to contact her directly so I ask Arjit. He says her mom refused because each of us had to pay Rs. 1500 for the studio recording. I look at him. I ask him "Meaning I had to pay too right." "Right." is what he replies. I grab him by the collar and shake him good. "You @#$%&~!!! You're supposed to tell this important stuff earlier!!"
Somehow, he decides he'll sing the song. Then we go on a monday and for the first time in my life, I entered a professional studio. "It's a small studio but it has all the professional equipments you'll need to record a song." is what Mr. Studio-wala says. Ah! yes. His name was Mr. Pradeep. A very nice fellow I must say.
But I could see the professional instruments he had. A Tama drumkit (the one Metallica uses for live shows.), A Yamaha Keyboard and synthesizer, recoding microphones (That cost over Rs. 90,000 or $1,900 a piece), a Mixing and effects kit of Yamaha, An 8 core Intel Xeon II based Apple Mac (2x2 Quad core Xeons) with a huge LCD screen and 4 External Hard Drives of 1 Terabyte each. He also had effects processors, compressors and High Grade Filters too.
If you didn't understand what I wrote in the para above, then in short and easy language, his recording equipment left me speechless and in complete awe.
The recording goes on for two days (read as sessions) and the first session, we only managed to record a dummy track and finalized only on the drum beats that our drummer recorded. (His name was Naman BTW. I'd let you know before I forgot his name as well.). We could only do this much on our first day because the drummer wasn't used to playing drums while listening to metronomes. And no matter what you record, you have to wear a headphone and play by the tempo of the metronome. If the timing or tempo wavered even a bit, we had to redo it from the beginning. The drummer had a hard time cause he's not trained by the metronome.
Then the next day, we record the keyboards and bass (Which was done by Mr. Prashant) separately using metronome. Then the electric and acoustic guitars. And finally my keyboarding.
And here I became were enthusiastic because I got to use a really old, but gorgeous Yamaha PSR 1000 Keyboard. I only gave some background ambiance and chords in the song. I was also asked to give an intro. I did give one but now I'm not at all happy with it cause both Mr. Pradeep and Naman said that it reminded them of some old Bollywood song. (I curse them for not letting me redo a new intro...). However, everyone liked it. So, I let it pass there.
Now all that was left was the vocals. Arjit sung the song. Being a total amateur at singing he did a fair job. Though I must confess he sounded like Micheal Jackson.
Here are some pics of the recording studios :D
The main tools used in this :D
A great TAMA drumkits...
Mr. Pradeep and his delicious Mac :D and a Yamaha Mixing Station.
The drummer... Naman.
Mr. Pradeep and... eh... excuse my ultra serious expression...
Arjit and his Guitar used for this recording. :D It's a Jackson.
After about 12 takes on the keyboard... we had to turn up the AC to more cooling.
After all this, our band (which was named "Finger Nozzle" and I came to know about it after we had finished recording.) officially finished recording and now all that is left is the mixing. Once the mixing is over, we will have our first demo track ready for release (of course after getting through all the copyright and stuff). Until all that is done, I won't be able to post it on this blog or youtube. But one day I will and hopefully it's not far off.
Until then, please allow me to post the lyrics of the song that Arjit wrote. (Even I saw a bit of grammatical error in this... but I don't give a damn about it... >:D )
The Chosen One
-----------------------
He was born,
The day sun brightly shone.
He was welcomed as the king of kings,
When an angle held him; in her wings.
He was born,
Born as the Chosen One.
Destined to be in Pain,
Ordained to the suffering.
Finding the key to mortality,
Desperation seeking the truth.
He's foiled by loved,
Thwarted by belongingness.
He was born,
Born as the Chosen One.
Destined to be in Pain,
Ordained to the suffering.
He got something left undone,
Left deep within in his heart,
Got to ask before he's doomed,
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ME!!
P.S Well, I never show my photos to anyone, cause I have this "Damn them all" kind of expression on my face all the time. It's scary...
