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Viaticus: A History of Lessons, Experience and Money, Part V
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| A cross section of the studio at Rodgers and Perez |
Louis was well into the 1990s when "Touch" was created and many lessons had come and gone in building a studio that
included major equipment to operate successfully namely: a microphone, mixer; recorders, processing and mastering equipment.
He was funcioning at a level just below computers. Everything was operational buy not yet connected to the actual computer
itself. Many more lessons and experiences would be needed before moving up to that point with technology.
His wallet was close to running on empty and the only way around that was to go back to the hospital and keep working
shifts as a respiratory therapist. In the meantime, "Touch" was going through several revisions. He wanted at one
point to produce it as an R&B piece but it was difficult to find quality voices that he could afford. Rewriting it several
times, he worked the music and lyrics so that no matter who sang it, the music would work with their voice.
With the passing of time, many singers from various meetings he attended at professional groups had come and gone. He
decided that "Touch" would become a duet with as many voices it needed to give it "tonality" or to keep
it from sounding amateurish. At a nearby church he spoke to the pastor for leads to good voices where he met Claudia Williams.
She was an exceptional voice that had little trouble if any at all keeping her tones. She wasn't working in the business as
a singer professionally but in sound, she was a solid pro all the way. Claudia had little to no experience working in a studio
but gave a splendid performance and the recording was at least at the half way mark.
"Touch" was meant to be at this point a male/female duet. From another nearby church, Louis connected with Kevin
Pruner while at the same time running into Frank Carter at a musicians networking meeting in Manhattan. Louis didn't like
either voice separately for the music because it wasn't the sound he heard in his head but together they were very close to
the mark and the song with three voices definitely had more depth to it. So going ahead with both voices on the male part,
he had the men sounding almost choral in duet with a female voice and it actually worked. Recording the voices was finally
done.
"Touch" took about a year to complete as a result of varying opinions from instructors on Louis' technique behind
processing equipment. Running the voices through the processors was problematice in the beginning because he was a novice
with this equipment and learned that still more equipment had to be purchased to complete the song because some problems encountered
required resolution with another piece of studio equipment. He could have hired the help to take care of it and finish the
music sooner but he was determined to learn the workings of the studio. If it took a year to get it right, it didn't matter
to him. It was important to stop depending on others and control costs.
When "Touch" had everything done to it that could possibly thrown at it to correct what ever problem arose.
Louis hired an instructor to come to the studio and do nothing except listen to the music critcizing it for technical issues.
If necessary, the instructor would teach or manipulate the controls for correction as needed. Explaining to Louis some mistakes
in the way the studio was arranged, wired, and operating he then sat down to listen to the music. He asked that it be played
a second time. Pausing for a moment silently he turned to his student and said there was nothing wrong with the piece and
had all the makings of a professional sound!
"Touch" was a turning point for Louis. It seemed like an eternity to complete but two goals were achieved:
he not only finished writing the music but he recorded the voices, processed the sound, and did the mastering of the song
himself! It was a huge relief because it was actually possible under an extremely tight budget to learn what ever was necessary
to wear every hat and move the music up to professional status by his own hand.
It was time to go back to more lessons and attend still more professional meetings. Networking was non-stop and it
was becoming apparent at this time now that experience was to be one of the new instructors but in making a 10 song album,
two more were pending creation. It was time to go back to pop music.
Viaticus: A History of Lessons, Experience and Money, Pt. I
Viaticus: A History of Lessons, Experience and Money, Pt. II
Viaticus: A History of Lessons, Experience and Money, Pt. III
Viaticus: A History of Lessons, Experience; and Money, Pt. IV
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Viaticus II
IS HERE!
Go to cdbaby.com or Apple iTunes, type in Viaticus II and check it out!
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| In The Performers Page |
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| Branice McKenzie |
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