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Post Album Recording Journal

10. Nov. 2016.

Been a yoyo between The Highlands and London this month. Many a sleeper bus has been ridden, which I enjoy. Much has happened, in the western world, the past few days. There is nothing more to say for now. I turned 25. That’s one thing. And that’s ok.

Got the Carr-Bridge house to myself for the weekend. I am warding off despair with a number of imaginative techniques: keep the house warm with glowing stove, make and bake porridge with cinnamon and other good things, wear a summer dress (thermals underneath), read The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones with commentary by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, start planning the year to come with emails of inspiration and instigation, attempt to make a Turmeric Latte like the one purchased in a fancy cafe in Parson’s Green(I have failed at this), persevere with Invention No.1 by J.S Bach, find the funny, non-political videos on Facebook and laugh at them… If you are also despairing, and you have the means, perhaps you can tear a virtual leaf from this virtual book; I am so fortunate to have the means: To have oats in the cupboard. Milk in the fridge. A hearth. A bowl, a spoon. The eyes to see. The ability to read… Many things to feel gratitude for. Many assets to use with good intention.

Anyway.

Axel Reinemer is the owner and engineer of Jazzanova studios, Berlin. The name derives from the band he is a member of: Jazzanova. Don’t be fooled, it isn’t jazz. He lives here with his wife and his little boy, who I have seen and cooed over by means of iPhone.

The studio a work of art. It’s extremely professional in functionality and aesthetic. And it’s warm and comfortable with all the amenities you need to be happy, to record well, to experiment and to listen well.

Axel was the wild card in the deck; I had no idea who he was. All I had for a gauge of character were a few neutral email correspondences that left questions of artistic and human compatibility unanswered.

Paul Santner and I had visited him once, a few days before recording, to scope out the space. Axel greeted us with an energy that was high and highly responsive. This was, at first, worrying for me. I wondered if his energy might be too high. But oh, how at fault I was to judge so quick.

On the first day I brought a bouquet of yellow roses. Axel understood how important this gesture was for me and found me a clean, clear vase to contain them. I then presented the boys and him with a yellow lemon each, to mark the beginning. Again, the sentiment was seriously embraced - as it was by the rest of the band - and Axel vowed to wear his yellow sneakers for the rest of the week. Which he did. And which I, with wide and childish grin, fully appreciate. He was saluting and supporting me, as an artist, in these little yet significant ways. As were the boys.

Whenever we went into the control room to listen back to what we’d just recorded they would all wait for me and make stately and affectionate gestures, wheeling a fancy chair under me then pushing me to the fore of the mixing desk beside Axel. Respecting my want to be The All Seeing Ear. That said, each one of the boys was incredibly instrumental and functional in knowing what sounded right or only nearly right. Axel’s ears, I especially appreciated. He seemed to hear everything.

By the end of our first day we all trusted Axel to respond keenly, honestly and expertly to our every concern, idea, every query of sonics, microphone placement or effect. He is the perfect balance of professional and playful. I really like Axel. I am so glad he came to exist in the growing existence of this record.

What more to divulge…

On the last day, in line with tradition, I gave the boys a card of gratitude each, with a specific number of yellow concentric circles. As with the roses, there was a circle to represent each of them. The positioning of their respective circles was fundamental to the way in which I had approached the recording with my thoughts and ears. They were possibly getting bored with the whole Yellow thing but they still indulged me.

I want to keep the colour theme throughout the process of the album’s conception, release and campaign. We will see how that goes.

The next step is mixing and mastering then finding some people to help me find some people that will help support and catapult this record. I think it deserves a good, wide and thrusted catapulting. I am so happy with the noises we made and with the feeling of complete childish joy and trust that emanated throughout the process.

#Rachel Sermanni #Album #Jazzanova Studios #Axel Reinemer #Yellow #Yellow Roses #Berlin #Lemon