CROSSROADS
about
This project was instigated by Martin (my "Prescient" album partner). I can't begin to describe the joy having someone who can do great guitar licks ... not only the notes but also the sound. Martin had a particular performance in mind ... Clapton, live in 2010.
I extracted the sountrack from the video and used this as the template for tempo and also song structure, e.g. WHERE the verses/changes/breaks, etc.
I found the bass line sheet music online and input it via keyboard. The organ was pretty simple chords and chord inversions. The basic drum beat was tapped into EX Drummer2 (my stalwart for the last 7 years), main parts and variations were selected from the lists provided and tweaked where necessary.
I simply don't have the skills to play fast or improvise, so I founds MIDI blues licks suitable for the piano and organ breaks. They were far too complex AND robotic so I simplified them (editing/deleting lots of notes) and inserting some randomness/swing to give a 'feel'.
I bounced these individaul components and cloud-shared them with Martin who rebuilt and mixed them in his Apple Logic Pro system and recorded his vocals and guitar parts. He remixed everything and we then discussed the results (four ears are usually better than two).
It was great NOT being in the driver's seat ... all fun but no responsibility as ALL technical decisions were Martin's alone. It was his project, so he was "Producer" and I was just a contributing session musician. I LOVED it!!
The video was not done until Septemeber 2022 when I had re-subscribed to Artgrid once I had a few projects to complete. The 'Blues Band' were perfect 'mood' visuals but I had to choose clips carfeully and slow down the motion to avoid any obvious but incorrect synchrony with the soundtrack ... the instruments, the playing (e.g. fingers movement), and body movements.