Serious Fun CD Project

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		About the Author David Barrett Harmonica Masterclass Lesson Series

		Serious Fun CD Project

Welcome from David Barrett & John Garcia
Many of our students aspire to some day record and produce an album. Here I've (David Barrett) taken some time to speak about the recording process producing this CD with John Garcia. For those that purchased the CD and came here to read more about the artists and songs... here you go.

The Studio
The album was recorded at Different Fur Recording Studio in San Francisco California. Different Fur has been around for over thirty years with a veritable who's-who of artists coming through their doors to produce projects. John has recorded here before for other artists and this was his choice of studio for this project. The studio really is beautiful and all of the staff was fantastic to work with. Two aspects of the studio excited me; the live room with wood floors (big sound!) and that they are known for taking their time with mic placement. It was important to me to experiment with different mics and placement of mics to achieve the tone I was imagining for the harp. I also wanted a live feel to the album when recording the band.

The first recording day was on a Tuesday. This day we recorded all of the band tracks for the album. John and I played scratch tracks in the mixing booth to give cues but not be heard on the final mix. We were going to record all of the vocals and lead solos on another day.

	1. Pictured at left is the main recording room with two of the three techs starting the process of micing and set-up for the day.	7. Here is John (John Garcia) recording his vocal tracks the following Saturday. He also recorded guitar that day.
	2. Howard, the head engineer for the project (pictured at left) is at his huge mixing console.	8. Here I am recording harp tracks the following Saturday.
	3. Pictured at left is Steve Lucky, the piano player from the recording. Steve Lucky records and performs in the San Francisco Bay Area. He currently has a Tuesday night show every week at Biscuits & Blues in S.F. He played on the grand piano provided at the studio. Blankets were draped over the piano to prevent bleed from other mics.	Pictured at left are the amps I used to record. A 1967 Fender Princeton Reverb and a Reissue '59 Fender Bassman modified by Sonny Jr. Amplifiers. The Princeton has a great warm and rich tone and the Bassman has the punch I want. I used a Y cable to send signal to both amps. There is one mic at the front of each amp, one mic ~2' back to pick up a more ambient sound and one behind the Princeton to have a different tonal option. The over-all sound was great. I really liked how the mic in back added to the tone. When mixing, we varied which mics were more prominent in the mix to achieve some difference in tone. We also used a re-micing technique. They fed a signal to two speakers in the recording room and had to mics further back in the room feed the signal back in. We added a little bit of that sound to the mix as well. Both Mark Hummel and Gary Smith helped with information before the session for good mic placement; thanks guys.
	4. Steve Czarnecki played the organ for the project. His Leslie cabinet is also covered with blankets to prevent bleed. Steve has many solo albums under his name, mostly within the Jazz realm. He lives in Santa Cruz California and is in high demand all over the Bay Area.
	5. Randy Bermudes played upright and electric bass for the session. Randy is currently touring with Little Charlie & The Night Cats (Rick Estrin on Harmonica) and will be with Charlie Musselwhite soon.	Here's John at the Pro-Tools desk. Pro-Tools is the hard disk recording system all the tracks are recorded on.
	Songs Detailed below is some information regarding the writing of the songs on the album. Serious Fun by David Barrett (Key of E, A Harp in 2nd Position) The head to this song was written the night before a local show in the summer of 2002. I played it to John and he liked it. We decided to do it in unison. Later I added a second head (Big Walter Horton inspired) that would reoccur within the song. A bridge was also added to help with the return of the reoccurring head. John and I commonly play unison lines to build intensity at the end of a song, so I decided to do that for this song to really give it a live feel. John added the Freddie King ending quote for a nice final touch. I Love You More Everyday by Elson Teat (Key of D, G Harp in 2nd Position) A great Freddie King tune that to John's knowledge was never re-cut by another artist. This is a song John has been singing for a long time on the bandstand and we really wanted to have the tune on the album. A fantastic tune with great lyrics. Lick Train by David Barrett (Key of E, A Harp in 2nd Position) I was traveling to Austin Texas for a workshop and Gary Primich called me to let me know there was going to be a big benefit show with many great harp players and asked if I would come sit in. I wanted to write something with a big sound that had breaks and that really showcased the harp. The first two measures of the piece is where it started. A heavily rhythmic line with pulls and pull-slaps, it really started the song off nicely. Over time the tune was reworked over and over and eventually took form as a thematic stop-time tune. This 2-1/2 minute tune really packs a lot of punch. Quiet World by David Barrett (Key of D, G Harp in 2nd Position) I wanted one tune on the CD that was just harmonica, and in this case some feet (stereo!). I really love the harp playing of Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson II (to name a few) when they just made it work all by themselves. This tune was first performed at Mark Hummel's annual Blues Harp Blowout in Oakland California. Pretty Girls Everywhere by Chuck Williams (Key of Bb, Ab Harp in 3rd Position) Another great tune, recorded by Otis Rush. A catchy Rumba with a great feel. Chicago Style by John Garcia (Key of A, D Harp in 2nd Position) John used this tune to teach students how to comp. Upon working on the album John showed it to me and we both thought it would be great for the album. Great Chicago groove with a nice horn hook part. I play a Low D for the horn part and a standard D for the solo. Minor Attitude by John Garcia A tune written by John Garcia in tribute to the late-great Michael Bloomfield. Don't Fight It by David Barrett (Key of Bb, Ab Harp in 3rd Position) This is a tune written over time as well. I really was looking for a strong horn-like sound when I wrote the head. The drum break was used to add some excitement as well as the descending line near the end to bring the song back to the head. Each band member contributed to make this tune work well. John wrote the chord voicing to give it more of a jump-swing sound. A Real Romance by John Garcia (Key of A, D Harp in 2nd Position) A fun tune written by John in High School, then performed with a full horn section. The studio band did a great job capturing the feel and difficult rhythm changes. This was fun for me to play to as well, with challenging chord changes. Feelin' Good by David Barrett (Key of E, A Harp in 2nd Position) The head to this song, and some of its verses was originally played live and improvised with John Garcia at one of my Harmonica Masterclass Workshops. I wanted in the album one tune where I play alone, one where John plays alone, and a final tune where we play together. To John I'd like formally thank John for being a good friend, band mate and really the best teacher any harp player could ever have. Thanks for all of the years of sharing your knowledge of the music and skills playing your instrument. All of the songs that say written by David Barrett have a little bit of John every beat of the way.
6. Paul Revelli played drums for the session. Paul plays all over the Bay Area as well, a great drummer.