CLASSICAL SPICE Production notes by Debbie Johnson | Study Notes | Back to Albums | Menuet from Suite Bergermasque by Claude Debussy Instrumentation: Piano, Anklung, Drum loop, African Bass drum, Dobro, Strings, Bass Guitar, Gong, Ocarina, Synthesizer, percussion (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton), Vibra Slap (Lance Delgado), Trumpet (Mike Johnson) I began this piece by creating a loop off my Roland 760. I had to count the measures exactly because I wanted to put the loop directly on tape. I then put on a scratch electronic piano to make sure my measures were correct in number before recording the live acoustic piano. After recording the piano, we did a live drum session, working with thematic rhythms going throughout the piece. I then added all the other samples, live trumpet and vibra slap. The Swan by Saint Saens Instrumentation: Piano, Hasapi, Cello, Open Sangba Drum, Yugoslav double flute, Finger cymbals,Shakuhachi, Strings (Debbie) This piano part was recorded without click track a number of times to get correct. I had two final versions, one that I liked best because of the feel of the ending. The cello part (sampled) was added first as a counter melody, then everything else layered sparsely to keep the integrity and simplicity of the piece intact. Sarabande by George Frederic Handel Instrumentation: Piano, Drum loop, Vocals, African Bass Drum, Tambourine, Strings (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton); Bass Guitar (Brian Matsurki); Guitars (Phil Brown); Mandolin & Guitar (John Thomas); Congas, Castanets, extra percussion (Lance Delgado); Trumpet (Mike Johnson) This piece started as a big experiment. I heard the time changes in my head, so I laid down a click track on Digital Performer. I then imported sample drums and looped them on my hard drive. There are 5 time changes in this piece. The original way it was written was in 3/2, so it begins and ends there. Then it goes into 9/8, 7/8, and 6/8. After getting the basic changes and loops in place, the acoustic piano was recorded. I had no one to punch me in on this one, so I had my remote(LRC) and earphones so I could do as many takes as I needed. There could be no punch-ins on any of the piano tracks because of the nature of the pieces. It had to be done correctly all the way through, playing live. After the piano was recorded, I added live drums over the loop, then bass, guitar, sampled bass drums and percussion, then trumpet. The congas and castanets were added last. Fuer Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven Instrumentation: Piano, Strings, Yugoslav double flute, Dulcimer, tambourine, mandolin&guitar samples, Timpani, Finger cymbals, Anklungs, Asian Gong, Bass Guitar (Debbie) There was no click track with this. A tempo was established on the metronome, then I played it with my own feel The samples were added on top. The guitar and dulcimer were added first, then various ethnic instruments, strings, gong and sampled timpani. Prelude #1 in C and Solfeggietto by J.S. and P.E. Bach Instrumentation: Piano, Quinto, Uganda, Tambura, Large African Cabasa, Claves& Shaker (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton); Bass Guitar (Brian Matsurki); Electric Guitar (Phil Brown); Percussion (Lance Delgado) This piece was recorded with a click track. I admit that the first couple takes, I took it faster than it lies on the final recording and I couldn't make it accurately through the Solfeggietto. There could be no punch-ins. It had to be a live take all the way through. The tempo was constant and it's almost impossible to punch in a fast piano with pedal and slurred notes. (Although I'm sure there's an engineer out there who can do it!) After the piano was recorded,we laid down the drums (playing with the click and piano). The bass, then electric guitar was added. After that, I added various samples, including a Tambura to double the distorted electric guitar sound. The Cabasa I used was actually brought back from Africa by my parents on one of their trips. Extra percussion was added last. Allegro from Water Music by George Frederic Handel Instrumentation: Piano, bagpipes, percussion (Debbie) Snare Drum (Lance Delgado) Trumpet (Mike Johnson) This was the last piece completed. I knew I wanted to use bagpipes, as in a pipe band, but I hadn't put it all together until the very end. The piano was recorded first with a click track, then a snare drum was put on. It sat just like that until a week before it was mixed when the samples were added and a live trumpet was used as a pad and counter melody. Rondeau from Sinfonies De Fanfares by Jean Joseph Mouret Instrumentation: Piano, Udu Rattler, Udu Pots, Finger Cymbals, Pennywhistle, Violin, African Cabasas (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton); Bass guitar (Brian Matsurki); Acoustic Guitar (Phil Brown); Congas, Shaker, Ribbon Crasher (Lance Delgado) The piano was recorded with a click track, then drums, bass, and guitar were added. I tried a number of things to add to the sound, but didn't end up using them, including a vocal chorus, trumpet, and synth patches. The violin sample became the unique sound for this piece, with added congas. Spring from Seasons by Vivaldi Instrumentation: Piano, Large African Drum, Gudugugu Drum, Strings, Tambourine (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton); Bass Guitar (Brian Matsurki); Acoustic Guitar (Phil Brown) The piano was recorded with a click track, establishing the main focus of the rhythmic pattern and style, then drums, bass, and 2 guitar tracks were added on top. The sampled drums and strings were added, keeping the simplicity of the piece in mind. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by J.S. Bach Instrumentation: 2 Pianos, Cello, Cathedral Organ, Huge Sangba Drum, Conga, Pennywhistle, Eastern Jingle, Fiddle, Finger Cymbals, Bagpipes (Debbie); Drum-toms (Bobby Breton) The first piano was recorded with click track, then a number of takes were needed to record the second piano, following the click track and the expression of the first track. The triplets made it a bit tricky. A simple tom drum was used during the main themes. Then the samples were added, Cathedral Organ first. There are two tracks of organ, one emphasizing the bass. I was hoping to make this piece more "Spiritual" in nature, with the organ and bagpipes, keeping the simplicity of the melody and the beauty of the entire piece in focus. Waltz by Brahams Instrumentation: Piano, Strings, Claves, Flamenco Guitar, Tambourine (Debbie); Drums (Bobby Breton); Castanets (Lance Delgado); Acoustic Guitar (Phil Brown) The piano was recorded first with a click track, all the while keeping in mind the bolero rhythm that would be added next with the drums. I'm rather proud of this piano track, because I think it's the cleanest one I did all the way through. It can be played with nothing else and stand alone rather nicely. After the drums,the acoustic guitar was added , then the samples. (I used several tracks of pizzicatto string bass) The castanetes were added last for the final touch. Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky Instrumentation: Piano, Strings, Timpani, Cello, African Ritual Drums, Hopi Drum, Huge Sangbai Drum, Roto Drum, Sanza, French Horn, Zharengliss (Debbie); Trumpet (Mike Johnson), Riveted and Closed Cymbal (Bobby Breton) The piano was recorded live with no click track. I had in my head the quarter, half, quarter note rhythm I would establish later and played some of it in the left hand. The sampled drum was added next, to follow the rhythm of the piano. The expression of this piece was important to relay, meanwhile keeping the rhythm fairly even. After orchestrating, mostly with samples, live trumpet and cymbals were added to help build the dynamics. On the last B section, there are 2 trumpet parts and 1 french horn part, playing a contrapuntal trio that was mixed fairly closely to add a richness to the orchestration. 2 cymbal parts were added last not only to help build dynamics, but to add variety to the repetition of the A and B sections. Rondo Capriccioso by Feliz Mendelssohn Instrumentation: Piano, Huge Sangba Drum, Tribal War Drum, RattleKalimba, Sanza, Strings (Debbie) ; Drums (Bobby Breton) This was the last piano piece recorded. It was also one of the most difficult because again, it would be very difficult, if not impossible to punch in, although it could be done between the first slow section and the rest of the piece. I was working with a coach who insisted I memorize this before recording it. I also can't remember how many takes it took to get a clean recording. There was always one little spot I didn't get through accurately. I still have one recording on the original ADAT where I took the tempo so fast that I couldn't keep up with it at the end. After getting a piano track down, we did a marathon drum session. The live drums have a fairly simple part, playing through themes, but timing them correctly with the piano track took some work. (Drummers usually don't read piano scores!) After the drums, I added all the samples and started layering them, again, to keep the integrity of the piano score, but yet to add different timbres to the piece. This was the last piece to be mixed, and alas it ended up at the end of the CD. Hopefully it is a wonderful climax to the listener's ear, hearing all these pieces arranged and orchestrated in a whole new way. It was a wonderful experience for me and I came to understand and appreciate the composers and pieces in a heightened way as I worked with the beautiful themes and simplicity of classic melodies.