string 'em up

Yesterday I got out of bed at 7:45, washed my face, and got dressed. For breakfast I had a glass of carrot juice, two cups of Earl Grey with milk and a spot of sugar, veggie sausage with egg whites and feta-perfectly drizzled with Sriracha, and a slice of pumpernickel toast with butter. While I sat eating at my kitchen table a trio consisting of violin, viola, and cello set up downstairs in the studio and were warming up to play on five songs for The Album.
I made coffee for Peter and the guys-two with cream, one just black- and proceeded down the stairs that had been freshly vacuumed the day before. No dust balls in sight. While the trio tuned and waited for their instruments to shed the chill of the snowy morning outside, Peter went over their parts with them, and I snuggled up on the futon in the control room smiling.
I had heard the parts with the cheesy sampled keyboard guide and knew they were going to sound great, but to hear strings on your song live for the first time is like touching your feet in the ocean for the first time. All of your senses are alive; you marvel at the beauty, you feel like the smallest and largest creature on Earth. Like the world is all yours.
The songs began and ended, three takes each- Stop Calling, San Francisco, Boxing Helena, Man Child, and Queen of the Castle. Peter’s arrangements were breathtaking and the players were fantastic and professional.
When the trio left, Valerie Thompson (Fluttr Effect) came over to lay down some weirder parts. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I was having her over to play the cello without notes. My directions were ‘make it squeal, make it thump, pretend like it’s a guitar and go weeeah ah ah ah ah ah ah.’ Then I asked her to play really really long notes, really really high and really really low. Afterward I felt bad that I had her come all that way to play so strangely, but I just knew she would be the perfect person for it. She can play beautifully, but a lot of people can. Not many can make the cello sound like a dirty pig. It’s quite a gift.
Mer is coming over next week to do finishing touches and flourishes, and then the rest is Peter’s bass and guitar parts, and my final vocals. Doesn’t seem like much, but it’s quite a lot. Especially since there will be a month long break as Peter goes on the road for February. Oh well. I’m writing other stuff and have a billion other things to plan and do for this album. There’s plenty to do.
Oh, and I made a youtube channel thingy and put up some quick video of yesterday, just as a teaser. http://www.youtube.com/sarahrabdau

On the tip note, if you have the opportunity to see ‘the Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ I would highly recommend it like your life depends on it. I have been of fan of Julian Schnabel’s ever since ‘Basquiat’, which is one of my favorites of all time, and this movie does not disappoint in the least. It’s exquisite. It’s beautiful. It haunts you for days, making you think about lines, images, colors, acting, life, love, and senses, just absolutely everything. Julian’s a great painter, and he directs like he’s painting. You find yourself looking at the screen, unsure of why you’re so moved; it’s nothing specific, it’s just everything. It’s the whole picture. Illiterates be warned, it’s a French film and in subtitles, but it is worth absolutely everything.

Xoxoxoxo
~sarah