Dear friends,
first thing, let me tell you that your words repay me for all the efforts (and pain) I went through to record this song. It took me almost two weeks of intermittent work and at times I felt like somebody trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean paddling in a boat: you start to think that you will never make it!

Now, to address your questions:
Donny, this song was undoubtely perfect for the SD1, but when I started to record it the SD1 was still at the local Ketron repair center and so I had to record the rhytm track with the VA7, using a tweaked shuffle style and the V-R&B drum kit. I then went on to record the first lead tracks using the VA7 Super Tenor, dubbed by the Baritone Sax and, from the second verse, by the Bright Trumpet. At this point I was lucky to get the SD1 back and so I could record the first solo tracks using two presets called Rock Sax and Trombone.
Finally, there was the problem of recording the guitar solo and also the break solo (you know, when it says "One and one is two, six and two is eight, come on baby, don't you make me wait"). The SD1 was out of question, because its electric guitars more or less suck and I just couldn't use my usual VA7 Santana sound, so I kept listening to my Roland XV3080 till I found a preset called "Searing lead"; I tweaked it a bit and it was perfect.

Scott, you've asked me if I have used an external reverb. The answer is yes and no: after recording them, I realized that the solo tracks needed a little more reverb, to recreate that "live" feeling that is such an important part of this song, but I didn't feel like recording them again (oh no, please!) and so I decided to use an internal preset of Cool Edit Pro (the program I always use) called "Concert Hall light", to add a live dimension to the sax and trombone part. For the first guitar part (the break) I used another preset (I think it was "Empty Hall"), to get that "wide" sound. Like Frank wrote, it takes a lot of work to sound "spontaneous"!

Chico, I know that this one is not your favorite kind of music, and I promise that my second next song will be a Jobim tune: a real surprise, I hope.

Terry, the fact that you say that you like other songs more than this one is a big compliment for me: thank you from my heart! One of my next songs will be dedicated to you (and just to you!)

Frank and Paul, I too am looking to my next visit to Southern California to renew the pleasure of the last one. I hope that Scott will come with me, this time! (Got it, Scotty?)

Okay, it's Saturday morning here in Rome and the weekend has started really well, thanks to my Synthzone friends. Thanks again, you all!
Andrea


[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 10-04-2002).]