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Hey Pat, I've been a huge fan for about 15 years now and don't seem to ever get tired of listening to your music. What I'm wondering is when you record, are the solos that we hear on the cd's usually "first takes", or do you go back and refine them? Thanks for putting out such fantastic music over all these years and keep up the great work!!
Ian |
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Pat’s Answer:
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hi ian,
by this time, i have done so many records and each one of them unfolds in a different way. i have done tracks where i have used the first take and that’s it and i have done tunes over and over again. the goal for me is to do whatever i can do to make that piece of music sound as good as it possibly can.
in the early days of recording for ecm, there was a set limit because we had to do each record in two days of recording. but in fact, assuming that you have the music together, it doesn’t really take that much time to do things in the studio. but lots of times, the first or second takes have something that you can never quite get again. but my thing is often as follows; ok, we know we have that first take that is fine, it isn’t going to go away, so let’s try it again, but this is also because i love to play. there are certain musicians who have almost a macho thing about takes, “man, i only needed one take to nail it”. i am not like that. but if the first take is the best one as sometimes happens, then, great!
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