Studio day with my old man!

thecolourbox

I took my dad to a studio day today, for his Christmas present. It was a full day so we got about 6.5 hours or so which was pretty good as it allowed me to accompany him on guitar. He's previously only done those 2 or 3 hour novelty studio experience day things where he sings along to his karaoke tracks, which he still got to do here as well, but it gave us the opportunity to do less cheesy stuff and for me to take part. Great local studio that a chap built in his back garden, he was previously based in Brighton but moved up here to start his own place. Brilliant place and a lovely guy - Fordhouse Studio | Birmingham (England) Recording Studios

I did one before at a place in Brum by the old PMT and I didn't enjoy it at all, I didn't get on very well with the person there and I felt it was just a bit underwhelming. However this one was great fun, lovely setting and very easy going day - despite the laid back feel we got 5 songs with guitar+vocal+harmony, 7 songs of my dad's backing track stuff, then 3 of me doing guitar+vocal "live", so think it was pretty productive!

I won't bother posting the backing track ones, but have uploaded the guitary ones if anybody can be bothered to listen the ones with my dad (deep voice) singing we did guitar then the two vocals all separately, for my songs (nasal higher pitch voice) they were recorded live both guitar and voice at the same time.

Here they are for your delectation, distraction, and...well, yeah, see what you guys think:

thecolourbox

As I can't seem to post the playlist properly, here's the songs one by one so if you only fancy putting yourself through one song, you can

Father & Son - Cat Stevens
Don't think twice, it's alright - Bob Dylan, but based on Peter Paul & Mary version
Far Far Away - Slade
Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel
Wayfaring Stranger - Traditional
First Song - Ralph McTell
You've Got a Friend - Carole King
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

munckee

Had a listen to homeward bound. Came out really well and what a great thing to do with your dad. 

I’ve done some music stuff with my daughter who’s 17 now and I loved it,

thecolourbox

Thanks Munckee, very kind of you. Yes my dad enjoys stuff like that, he likes singing but I think he likes having a CD to give people even more than that he's 72 and still going strong but if the last couple of years has taught us anything it's to take the chances to do stuff with people while you can.

Was interesting trying to find some common ground music-wise though! Although my acoustic style of playing doesn't really fit into the kind of music I myself like to do that much, it did thankfully lead us to those 60s/70s songs which we both knew and with judicious use of the capo we could find keys to suit both of our very different voices. So he was happy, we got a nice day out, plus I think he'll probably whack them onto a CD to try and force upon give to his friends and hopefully raise some small donations for something charitable. 

Thanks for having a listen

munckee

Have listened to father and son as well, really suits his voice. 

CMW335

Sound fantastic, amazing thing to do and Father & Son a very poignant choice for the occasion.

Talent certainly runs in the family Matt

thecolourbox

Too kind, amigos. Thanks

I won't tell dad though as he'll get a big head. I've already got a big head so it's too late for me

ElectricXII

Love this. What a brilliant idea which will be with you forever. One of my regrets is never having made music with my dad who died unexpectedly at 59. 

Caffeine_Vampire

Lovely and well worth my time. Wish I'd done it with my Dad. It brought a tear but in a good way

thecolourbox

Yes I think in years to come we'll be glad we did this - I have accompanied him quite a lot at his various church events where they wanted music on, but nice to something recorded properly rather than battling the sound system or the inevitable panic mode that sets in when the church people just stare at you, emotionless, while you're singing your heart out

Dad's a much better singer than me, has been in choirs and stuff all his life and takes every opportunity to sing for stuff if he can, so it's good for him to enjoy a proper studio and have something to work towards with it really as well. He can do a lot more stuff than my voice and guitar skills can allow (and my personal tastes as well to be honest!) hence why he also did his backing track stuff which was a mixture of country, musicals, and jazz.

Sadly I was veto'd from doing my cover of Radiohead's High and Dry because his CD plans include giving them to his church friends and apparently a song with lyrics mentioning taking jumps and killing yourself for recognition were not appropriate haha not to worry. I'll do it here and just pretend it's an unreleased B Side

LastMantra

Yep, really nice thing to have. Especially with the choice of songs, father and son in particular. Treasure it!

Aidanspaghetti

Having just spent a late party playing with my dad, this is a wonderful thing to have. Well done to you, Im sure he's thrilled too

jonnyburgo

Lovely mate, what a great thing to do.

thecolourbox

Thanks Chaps, I think after a weird few days of him seeming a bit non-plussed and even asking me the question "Are you sure they are good enough to put on a CD?" he's now quite happy with them all having listened on proper headphones.

My family are generally very indifferent towards stuff, so I probably shouldn't worry too much. Once I did a sort of EP that took me months to get finished, I was so proud to send it to them, it took them 6 weeks to listen to it, only to ask me if I was "feeling depressed again or something" after listening to the first couple of songs, I don't know to this day whether they even carried on listening after that.

Family eh

But I stand by it being a fun thing to do with him and at least I know there's a welcoming studio environment nearby, compared with the previous experience I'd had at Mushroom Studios, which put me off ever trying again. That was 5 years ago so it's taken a while to get the confidence back to try it again.

McSwaggerty

Great Stuff mate.
Well done.