Story Dave

New ella’s holiday cd just released!

This year has been very busy for the band... and what better time to record a cd..

Elmo (our producer) did a fine job recording the drums and cymbals, so I thought I’d give you some insite into the recording..

First of all I recorded with a click track, which gave us the best chance of keeping the tracks together and also helps for editing and tidying up any areas that sounded “untogether.”

Day one was spent in a small drum room isolated from keyboards..

I could hear the keys through headphones but could not see Noel (our piano player). This meant no eye contact for cues and just generally feeling like I was having a musical conversation.. however because we have played a lot together, there was a musical trust which certainly helped.

The kit I used was my Yamaha recording customs with some genera 2 evans heads on all toms..

Because my Ludwig black beauty snare was in for repair (80s era), I used my Yamaha steve gadd model (metal)..

None of the heads were “cranked” up, which gives the whole vibe a relaxed earthy sound.. I wasn’t interested in “chopping” through the tracks because all the songs have a nice relaxed feel about them; nice sparce sounding piano, and complementry bass.

The cymbals I used were as follows:

Sticks/brushes:

I wanted that “tear drop” sound on the cymbals so I played an aj6 with right hand, and a gadd stick (for good luck!) on the left..

If you search around on youtube you may even see the kit.. and some sounds.

The cd can be purchased at www.ellasholiday.com

Elmo has kindly loaded an example of the tracks without vocals here:

Hope you enjoy...

Click the play button or, if that fails click here