Nice to see Sarah McElcheran, commenting (2 posts earlier) about her performance on All The Trees. She recalled I recorded her while she was practising which was good enough for me but there was another part she didn’t recall which was giving me a look that said Fuck You it isn’t in tune (that look used capitol letters). I realized then I’m a tourist taking snapshots but she lives in trumpet-land. I never did hear the difference but subsequently had the experience with many other people whose expertise, like her, is in instruments where the pitch isn’t automatic like something fretted or keyed. Why wouldn’t someone who plays an instrument like that have a more concentrated relationship to pitch?
My earliest experiences with producers left me disturbed and uninspired. The person who was suppose to know all about music totally didn’t get what I did and later lied to me. With age being lied to is still rotten but not as surprising, but back then it set me on fire. I started to produce records. A big part of the pleasure is in finding the way into understanding each person’s part. Which means listening as if it was my own part. This is like being on drugs or an altered state. Whether or not the part is kept or made louder or quieter first it has to be understood for it’s value. The important moments in the producing business are when someone like Sarah tells you what you’re doing isn’t right and though you are in charge you have to decide what to do with your position in terms of the music and your relationships with the people playing it. This is where the Juno for asshole of the year can get exciting.