RECORDING WITH DAVE GILMOUR

RACHEL:  “I can’t believe we’re actually going to do it”

ME: “I know it feels like it’s been such a long time coming, I think it’s definitely going to be worth the wait though, I actually really can’t wait   to hear you screaming at the top of your lungs”

RACHEL: “I’m fairly sure I’ve still got it in me”

ME: (I was going to make a joke about my penis not being in her at this exact moment, but the moment passed too quickly and I missed the opportunity so I said this instead)

“It’s going to be 3-4 mins approx. of absolute joy”

RACHEL: “I’ve been looking forward to it for so long now, do you think that Dave will use his whammy bar?”

ME: “If the track seems like it needs it, I’m sure he will” 

Rachel and I were due to go down to Dave Gilmour’s boat studio; it’s roughly a 10 minute walk down the track. Dave, Rachel and I are re-recording Rachel’s famous solo hit ‘Sweet Dreams My L.A. EX, doing a slightly more modern version but fusing it with Progressive rock undertones , as you’re probably aware Rachel loves her progressive rock/metal. If you’re curious about what Dave’s boat looks like then go here and check it out :-

ME: “Dave rang about 20mins ago and said drop down whenever, apparently he got steaming drunk with Dominic and Whigfield last night but surprisingly has no hangover.”

RACHEL: “Oh god is he still hanging out with Whigfield… Bloody bitch”

ME: “Come on she’s not that bad, I don’t mind her in small doses say for instance… on a ‘Saturday Night’?”

RACHEL: “oh you’ve gone too far now”

ME: “It’s just a joke my petit filous”

RACHEL: “I’ll let you off as it was quite witty”

ME: “ Cheers… although I’ve done better” (you really had to be there)

We were just rounding the last corner of what we call the ‘Bumpy track’ on the way to Dave’s Studio, Rachel had been practising her vocal most of the way and talking about the fantastic deals that Tesco have on for ‘Tiger bread Rolls’ for the rest of it.

RACHEL: “If Iiiiiiii were in your shoes, I’d whispeeeer before I shout”

ME: “Actually if you were in my shoes you’d have bloody wet feet as I’ve just stood in a puddle the depth of the Pacific Ocean”

RACHEL: “ Oh Christ, they’re relatively new suede desert boots too aren’t they, You’ll have to dry them out on Dave’s radiator”

ME: “Yeah they’ll be fine, I’ve still got a can of suede protector that I got in Sole Trader along with some more ‘wasp’ laces in the cellar.”

RACHEL: “Oh there’s Dave now, Hi Dave”

DAVE: “Hi guys, looking forward to it? Jon your boots look soaked, dry them out on my radiator and use some of my suede protector on them”

ME: “Dave I’ve got a can in the cellar, I’m good thanks”

DAVE: “Good man, by the way I need to ask you a favour Jon, could you possibly have a look at the floating ‘Floyd Rose’ bridge that I’ve got set up on one of my customised Strats?”

ME: “Of course I can, it’ll be a pleasure, are you sure you’re ok though, you seem a bit distracted?”

DAVE: “I’m alright, although… have you seen a blacked out ‘Subaru Legacy’ estate car on your way down here at all?, it’s a V6, engine increased in size to 3.2 litre and lowered suspension.”

ME: can’t say I have Dave, what’s up?

Dave: “Oh Roger Walters is still being a cretin, he’s trained his Labrador to take a shit on the steps leading up to the boat, the other day I went ‘ass over tit’ and landed back in it, and I’ve just discovered a fresh one on my rockery!”

ME: “I’ll keep my eye out for him Dave”

DAVE: “If you would that’d be grand!” 

After some hours of recording we had a few rough takes in the bag, it still needed a few more takes and layers, but it was moving in the right direction. The only real thing lacking was a ‘Power’ vocal performance from Rachel, we all know she’s capable of it but for some reason she wasn’t quite hitting it on this session. Sometimes it’s best to come back to it after a while so we thought we’d shelve the vocals for another session, mainly because the ‘tried and tested’ “Drink a couple of pints and hit record” had backfired and resulted in Rachel projectile vomiting Bulmers Cider all over Dave’s £45,000 SSL mixing console. Whilst Rachel was having a break I turned my attention to Dave’s Floyd Rose set up. 

ME: “Here you go have a feel of this and see what you think, I’m just going to check on Rachel” (she was sat on a deckchair on the …well deck)

DAVE: “Is she feeling alright?” 

ME: “She’s ok although she’s now talking about doing a cover version of System of a Down’s ‘BYOB’!”

DAVE: “You’re a bloody genius, this feels awesome, how exactly did you manage it again?”

ME: “Well Dave, The secret is to get the string tension balanced with the spring tension where the tremolo 

plate is parallel to the body of the guitar. I would stab myself in the face if I tuned to pitch and then adjusted the springs and then tuned to pitch and then adjusted the springs…etc. until it was right. You’ve got two variables that influence each other. You need to set one reference point which is where this procedure does it. I’ve been doing mine for years like this and it’s fast and easy. Detune the strings and loosen the springs (not to the point that the tremolo falls out). Then put a block of wood or stack of picks behind the tremolo block. The key is to find something that will position it in where the tremolo plate is parallel to the body. Tune to pitch; the block should be held by the string tension. I’d recommend stretching the strings a few times, retuning and then locking the nut at this point. Tighten the springs slowly until the block of wood or stack of picks fall out. You can fine tune the spring tension a bit to get it close, but at this point the tension is set for the right tremolo position and spring to string tension balance. Lock the nut and adjust your fine tuners. As far as setting the action at the bridge I would never do that with all the tension on there. A set of .09′s can put 400lbs of pressure on there. Those knife edges are hardened…most of the time. Why take a chance?”

DAVE: “Yeah I can see your point”

ME: “Indeed, Just pop a couple of the springs out when you do it, you can pull the tremolo out of the way enough even tuned to pitch if you are careful. It takes one extra minute to do it the right way. A little bit of lube on the edge is not a bad idea either.” 

DAVE: “I’ve got plenty of Lube so that’s no problem, picked up some cheap tubes off of Whigfield last night”

ME: “How was last night, sounds like you guys had a rather boozy one?”

DAVE: “It started off fairly harmless enough, until Whigfield insisted we played ‘Fuzzy Duck’ whilst drinking IPA out of Stein glasses!” 

ME: “She’s a fun girl isn’t she, just don’t rub Rachel’s nose in it too much, they don’t seem to get on, we were at ‘The Archer’ (our local pub here in Henley) the other night, and whilst I was talking to Dominic she was standing rather close to me, you could cut the tension with a knife, it was tangible” 

DAVE: “I’ll try not to; I wonder if I could tell you something that you can keep in confidence” 

ME: “Of course Dave, you know we understand each other well, we go back some way” 

DAVE: “Great because, I think I really want to run my tongue over Whitfields Tits!” 

ME: “Dave, we all do… we all do, but just remember that Dominic owns a gun” 

DAVE: “is it a Heckler and Koch?”

ME: “Nope it’s a Glock 17” 

(Find out what happens next + many other events in MFLWRS by keeping an eye on the blog…or subscribing… DO IT NOW)