(dc) harmonica

the thing about producing is that if you desperately need a blues harmonica part on a song and it's the day before you have to get the mixes to the mastering house and you don't know any blues harmonica players and all you have is two identical harmonicas in the wrong key, you somehow have to make it work anyway and write/record the part yourself. even if you don't know how to play the harmonica. to get an end result that isn't heinously bad or at best doesn't stand out in any way takes way longer than you'd think. at least when i do it. i spent 6 hours yesterday learning how to play the harmonica and scurrying 190 times into and out of my vocal booth (aka the bathroom closet), and it remains to be seen whether the part will stand the test of time. but what's done is done.

the rest of the hours of the day yesterday were spent writing and recording stand-up bass, organ, and rhodes. i have slightly more facility on these instruments, but it still takes me hours to write parts and flesh out a song around a backbone, especially when it's in a style (blues) that i don't have in my blood. the process is a whole lot more fun when there is no time pressure, but it never seems to happen unless i'm under a deadline.

hooray for deadlines.