As of mid-June Heins Greten, currently playing both bass and piano, will fully engage himself in playing the black and white keys (piano, Rhodes and Hammond). Therefore we will take on a new bass player. A very special candidate has already applied for this position, but we’ll keep his name a secret for now. Auditions will take place in May. Of course we'll announce the name of our new fellow-musician as soon as possible.

As of mid-June the line-up of Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation will be:

 Mariëlla Tirotto - vocals
Harald Koll - guitars
Heins Greten – piano/ Hammond/Rhodes
? - bass
John Kakiay - drums
Regular guest: Onny Tuhumena – percussion

Review of recording our new cd

From Monday July 27 – Thursday July 30 we recorded our new cd. Some of the songs are fairly new, therefore we’re curious if the tight recording schedule I made, will work.

We plan to record 11 songs in 3 days and use the 4^th day to tighten up some possible “loose ends”.

Remarkable detail: due to severe attacks of hay fever with  sinusitis as a result, until three days before the dates we set to record it is questionable if I will be able to sing at all, since I sound like a nasally smurf (a smurf is a Dutch cartoon character, a kind of dwarf). Fortunately the prescribed medication does its work properly, so I get my normal voice back just in time.

 Day 1

When we enter the Beaufort Recording Studio at Bovenkarspel, it seems like yesterday, although it’s been nearly three years since we recorded our first cd here.

The atmosphere, the furnishing, it’s as cozy and informal as it was back then; even the owner, Han Swagerman, hasn’t changed a bit.
 

After having some coffee we spend the first few hours setting up our instruments, placing the microphones and tuning the sound. All musicians - including our regular guest, percussion player Onny –will be playing in the same room, except for me, I’ll be standing in the adjoining room, but because there’s a glass wall I can make visual contact with the rest of the guys while recording. We want to record live as much as possible, so all playing together, including the vocals (that would be me).

We start recording  around 4 pm and before we know it the first 3 songs are done, all in just a few takes! We didn’t expect things to go that well, so we’re making jokes we’ll be finished tomorrow evening if we go on at this tremendous  rate. However, it turns out to be too soon to start cheering. The last number we have planned for today – a song we played live for quite some time, contrary to some of the other songs– takes forever. The first time someone makes a mistake, so we have to play it all over again (the consequence of recording live), the next few takes we just don’t succeed in playing it with the right feel. The tones are all correct, but it just doesn’t sound or feel right.

At first we are to stubborn to admit that it’s time to call it a day, because we are simply too tired to being able to concentrate, but in the end we cut the knot…after a wasted last 60 minutes.

Day 2

We start fresh with the song that we failed to record properly last night. And what do you know, one take is all it takes! A lesson to be learned for the future.

Next is one of the most exiting songs, in the sense of getting it right. Either we catch the right mood at once, or not at all. I feel quite nervous, because the song shows a side of me I usually don’t show in public.

The first take: o man, this is not going to work at all. One more attempt: yesssss, we nailed it!!! Ok, one last time, just in case. Oh yeah, this is definitely the one!!!

After this, recording the next song seems peanuts, one take is all we need.

We decided to make it a tradition to record an instrumental number for each cd. This one is more or less a two-part piece, one in mid-tempo, the second part in up-tempo. I don’t want to give away more at this stage, some things are meant to be a surprise.

At the end of the day we’re almost about to make the same mistake as the day before. This time however we decide to quit in time and save the remaining songs for tomorrow.

Day 3

Today we have 3 guests. A few weeks ago we did a contest: the first two people to pre-order our new cd would win a day at the studio. The winners also were allowed to invite a friend to come along. The winners were Engelien Groenevelt and Hans Weenink. Engelien also brought her husband Arno with her. Engelien and Arno are present early, just in time for coffee. Unfortunately for Hans he is delayed due to a traffic jam, so he misses the first song we record today.

Also present is Claudia, the girlfriend of blues harp player Michel, so today it’s  quite a crowd, which doesn’t mean there’s a lot of hard work going on!

Our guests are the first ones to hear part of the new songs, they are very enthusiastic about them.

The first two of today’s songs go very well in a short amount of time. But after that we gradually sense the fatigue of the past few days.

The song which is scheduled next, (one of the most personal I ever wrote in my life, though of course all my lyrics are personal up to a certain level) we expect to record in one, maybe two takes. We end up playing it at least seven times and it still isn’t good enough. I must admit I am mostly to blame for that. Over fatigue is the only, at the same time biggest enemy of my voice. Despite this over fatigue I want to try over and over again, hoping this time it will work. Finally we keep the latest version, but as I listen to it afterwards I decide to do my part when Heins and I are returning for the mixing, which will be in a few weeks, knowing that then I’ll most likely nail it in one take.

Because the instrumental part is played fine, the guys are off the hook.

The same story goes for today’s last scheduled song. For any outsider the vocals may sound just fine, but I can hear the fatigue all too well, so for me it’s not acceptable. The guys agree with me by the way, they know I can do so much better.

At the end of the day we say goodbye to our guests, who tell us they had a great time; well, so did we by entertaining them.

So this leaves us having finished almost all numbers. Almost: although we recorded most of the songs live, we decide to add some extra guitar overdubs as well as some extra percussion, to give some of the songs just a little extra dimension. That leaves two songs where Heins will play the piano part with his right hand and the bass with his left (on the piano of course J) during live concerts, but for the cd he will play the bass…on his bass.
 

Day 4

The final day of recording. Heins and Onny are the only ones who have to do some work today, Harald already recorded his extra parts yesterday. After that it’s time to listen to the results of the past days one more time. Everyone takes home a rough version of the recordings. We’ll give them a fresh listen in the next few days to see if all is done to our satisfaction.

Heins and I will do the mixing in the last week of July. 

We think some of the songs maybe people might not expect from us, we can’t wait for the release to get some response! I find it difficult not to tell you more concrete stuff, but there just are things which I believe must still remain a surprise for now.