Newsgroup: it.fan.musica.rem
Titolo: "Making a Monster" part 2: These are Not the Right Sized Coffee Filters

Il secondo "Capitolo" racconta l'atmosfera delle nottate in studio per
le sessions di registrazione... odore di caffè che permeano l'ambiente
ma apparentemente nessun mozzicone di sigaretta in giro :)
L'andare in giro a fare compere per i R.E.M. e prendere i filtri di
caffe della misura sbagliata... cosicchè hanno dovuto usare dei
tovagliolini di carta da aggiungere alla macchinetta del caffe come
filtri di emergenza... e uno dei primi che che se ne accorge è Michael
Stipe... vede, fa una pausa di silenzio, si gira verso Cote allungando
la mano: "Hi, I'm Michael Stipe. Nice to meet you." 
Al che lui risponde ..." Hi, I'm Chuck Cote... Ho preso i filtri per
caffè della misura sbagliata, ma cercherò di mettere tutto a posto,
appena ne avrò il tempo"  (ROTFL!!!)
Michael gli sorride e dice "Non è un grosso problema" :)))
Di mezzo nel racconto i momenti di creazione e aggiustamento di testi,
parti di canzoni... Michael con uno dei sui primi "laptop" con i testi
scritti che canticchia e corregge... i tecnici che montano, spostano e
lavorano nel frattempo... le discussioni su idee e parti musicali e
poi la band che suona l'intero set....
______________
When I think of recording sessions, I think of late nights, ash trays
full of cigarette butts, and lots of half filled coffee cups all over
the place. This recording session was no different (with the exception
of the cigarette butts... nobody really smoked that I can remember).
But coffee seemed to be the lifeblood of the project. People
frequently gathered around the coffee machine, much like they would
around a water cooler in an office. Here, you could hear all kinds of
interesting conversations and decisions being made. This proved to be
a little challenging for me, since I am not a coffee drinker. I like
the smell (and so do most non-coffee drinkers), but I hate the taste,
and I have always felt a little smug that my day didn't start with
coffee. I never drink coffee to get my day started, I never drink it
to clear my head, and coffee is never part of my decision making
process. When I walk into a Starbucks with a friend, and person behind
the counter asks me for my order, my answer is always "nothing for me,
I'm just along for the ride". To which they reply "can I get you
anything else..." What else is there really to eat or drink in a
coffee shop anyway? Just a bunch of muffins and coffee, and some
really high priced bottled water. Add to that the annoying noise of
something being "frothed", and I can't think of any place that I would
rather be less than a coffee shop. 
This annoys coffee drinkers.
Anyway, my lack of coffee experience immediately became apparent on
day 2 of working with REM. The day before, I went on my first shopping
expedition. The list was very interesting... each band member had
preferences for food and drinks, the details of which I won't give
away just yet... too early in the blog... (but I assure you, the
details will be thoroughly discussed and explored in later posts). The
list included coffee filters, which on the surface, seems like a no
brainer. And it should have been, except that I had no idea how big
the coffee machine was, and no idea about which size was the most
common size, etc. I remember not even really giving it any thought...
I just grabbed the first box that said "coffee filters" and away I
went.
Microwave was the first on the scene. He and the crew got there early
every day to prepare for the day's sessions. The coffee machine was
pretty much hammered every morning for the first 3 hours. When I
arrived, I was immediately greeted by a testy Microwave... "Oh
Chuck... come look at this." There was the coffee maker, with life
giving coffee dripping down the sides, and some Bounty paper towels
awkwardly jammed into a shape that would hold coffee grounds, and used
as some sort of emergency filter. Apparently, the filters I bought
weren't even close to big enough to work in the machine, so paper
towels were their only hope. "See Chuck... These are not the right
sized coffee filters... we had to use paper towels..."
I immediately shrugged it off and said... "Sorry, man. Must have
gotten the wrong size filters. I'll get more when I go out today."
Microwave looked at me in disbelief... I think he couldn't believe
that I didn't see the gravity of the mistake I had made. "Well you
better get it right next time... this is important. But we have a lot
of work to do today, and there is not time to fix it now..." which
meant my shameful coffee moment was going to be there the rest of the
morning, for all to see.
Walking into the big room, I could see that the band members had
arrived. All were anxious to get started. Bill Berry was warming up
behind his kit. 2 song lists were written in fat magic marker on
poster board, duct taped to the sides of the main PA speaker cabinets.
Some of the titles had "?" next to them, since the names were still
being worked out. At this point in the process, the main producer,
Scott Lit, and the lead engineer Patrick McCarthy had not yet arrived
at the sessions. The band was still in writing mode; ironing out the
new tracks, making adjustments as needed, and practicing to make sure
they had their parts down. This was truly a cool thing to witness. 
Michael Stipe was sitting on a stool on the stage, flanked by Mike
Mills and Peter Buck. Michael had a laptop (one of the first laptops I
had ever seen... it was '94...) sitting on a small desk made from a
modified music stand. He would sing as he read the lyrics to the new
songs, and make adjustments on the laptop as needed. The band would
launch into fragments of songs and stop to discuss parts and musical
ideas. Meanwhile, technicians milled around in the semi darkness of
the "audience", getting sound levels, checking cables and tweaking
sound equipment. The creative process seemed pretty laid back without
a lot of arguing or disagreeing. You could tell that these guys had
worked together a long time, and had respect for each other.
After a few minutes of chatter, the band began at the top of the list
and ran through the set. One song after the next, the new sound of
REM's "Monster" bounced around the room. The sound engineers were
really starting to get a handle on the sound, having spent 2 days in
the same room. The kinks were getting worked out, and the band sounded
excellent.
After the set, the band took a coffee break. I went into the hall
where the refreshments table and coffee machine were set up, and made
some last minute adjustments, making sure that there was plenty of
fresh fruit and drinks. The first one through the door was Michael
Stipe. "What's your frequency Kenneth... he sang, as he half walked,
half danced into the room. He grabbed a coffee mug, and approached the
machine. He immediately saw the make shift Bounty coffee filter... he
looked over at me. There was an awkward pause, and then extended his
hand and said, "Hi, I'm Michael Stipe. Nice to meet you." I shook his
hand and said, " Hi, I'm Chuck Cote... I got the wrong sized coffee
filters, but I am going to fix that as soon as I get the chance.” He
smiled and said, "No big deal."
That's all for now. Check back soon for the next installment of
"Making a Monster: The Untold Story from Behind the Scenes" entitled,
"Mike Mills Needs a Doctor!"
Oh, and when you get a chance, stop by and listen to some sound clips
for our new CD, Max Q at 
http://www.TheReverseEngineers.com
.
Charles Cote
Bassist -- The Reverse Engineers
__________
da
http://engineersblog.blogspot.com/2004/12/making-monster-part-2-these-are-not.html
Appena scriverà i prossimi racconti li riporterò sul ng....
Vi interessa?
Ciao!
Vero - 
High Speed Train Jumpers #2
"The ascent of cactus" club #3
--
"Hell has no reason to smile
When you're living in an innocent world
You once had a heart like a child
Now it's buried under sadness and guilt..."
(Innocent World -Joseph Arthur)

 Vi interessa?
a me si, li ho trovati molto ineressanti per conoscere i retroscena e le
"manie" dei nostri durante la creazione di un album, per me speciale, come
Monster.
Già che ci sono colgo l'occasione per ringraziarti di aver costantemente
postato le setlist del tour Americano.
Ciao
Luca