Listen to I Lost It while reading (opens in a seperate window)

Rich suggested we just start with acoustic and vocal, but laid down a brutal tom drum ride for the verse. It really changed the way I played it, and the basic sounded meaner than catshit. Singing over the top of that required that the vocal be more raw and direct. When things were sturdy, we laid an electric tuned down the same way over parts, giving things a bit of chime. Rich played his Jazz bass Chris Hillman style, with a pick, putting in cool swoops in the right places.

I took the basic home and added a string quartet on the bridge section to the end using Miroslav Philharmonik. I track string quartet one instrument, one pass at a time, Double Bass, Cello, Viola and Violin. It sounds more real that way. I wanted the Stones “Lady Jane” effect, where the primitive vocal is juxtaposed against more refined and delicate instrumentation.

I brought the submix to Rich, and he loved it, suggesting we add bells, which added a real Psychedelic Furs quality. He also put some tympani down. This turned out to be a very unique track, one of my favorites. There are twists and turns, and one doesn’t know what’s coming next.

Next: Back to the Beatles for a moment.