Well January has gone and February is "upon us". Here we are in the second month of the 6th year of the 21st century… - GREAT SCOTT - that sounds like the beginning of one of my Science Fiction essays that I used to write when I was at school! The fact is that - in the words of the song - "Time marches on…" and I am really happy to be here, in this "brave new world"! As technology advances and - almost everyday - we see new things, recently invented, becoming a regular part of our day-to-day lives it makes me wonder what the future still holds for us?

One thing is for certain; I sincerely hope that it includes a lot more Square Dancing and a lot more new music!

Just a couple of quick notices:

1) Sting Convention 2006, Denmark For information on major dance events, please check out the FESTIVALS drop-down menu on the web-site. In particular use that link, this month, to read about the Convention 2006 - featuring most of the Sting callers. This is taking place in Denmark and should be one of the high-spots of the Square Dance year!

2) Please Note: we have modified the Standing Order Offer sign-up sheet on the web-site to allow you to select CDs or Vinyl - whichever is your preference.

Okay back to the report from last September's trip to Nashville…

Nashville 2005 was a magnificent experience; but then our trips to Nashville always are (at least as far as I am concerned). In December I told you about the pre-production session, which took place on the day before our studio session began; now let's move on to the studio session itself…

Tuesday 6th September 2005, we arrived at the studio at 08.30; the session did not start until 09.00 but already some of the musicians were in place setting-up their equipment and looking over the pre-production notes. As I have said before, "time is money" in the studio - about $15.00 per minute - so, with everyone in place, we started working on the first tune at 08.58.

The first part of the "studio-process" is for the musicians to listen to the original version of the tune that we are intending to record.

During this time, they will listen for the parts of the music that they can provide, with the instruments that they play and will be considering any major alterations required in creating the Square Dance version. Usually this will give rise to a few questions and this is the stage at which my talents (or otherwise) as a producer are put to the test. Any questions have to be answered more-or-less immediately but - most importantly - they must be answered CORRECTLY! There are always discussions about the Rhythmic style to be used - Country, Latin, Schottische, etc., the "Key Signature" - i.e. 2/4, 4/4 or 6/8 and the percussion overdubs - i.e. Tambourine, Shaker, Wind-Chimes, Spoons or others.

Quite often I have to decide upon Keyboard sounds. Roger, our Piano player, will sometimes just simply play the Grand Piano - if that is all that the tune requires. However, when needed, he can produce a great number of musical "voices", from his Electronic Keyboard - even providing a "String" or "Horn" Chorus, if necessary. Choosing the most appropriate keyboard based instrumental style for a tune is a daunting task. When it comes to the Keyboard question, I always "make-use" of whoever is with me, from the calling staff, in the studio to act as a "sounding board" - this helps to ensure that we obtain the best sound for the song in question.

After all these questions have been covered, the band begins to play.

First a simple play-through - preceded by a few experiments concerning the "Intro" and the "Ending" to be used; this is the absolute last chance that I have to change anything. After the players are all agreed about the "arrangement" - based upon all the instructions I have provided - they play! There will then be a number of "passes" - depending upon the over-dubs that are required and anything that needs "fixing". As each musician is happy that he has played all that is necessary, he leaves the studio. When there are no musicians left in the studio, the recording is over… Finally - as the tune is still "ringing" in everyone's ears - we start to set up for the next song and the process starts again.

Let me just point out that "fixing" - in most cases - is where one of the players decides that there is a "better" way to do something - or where a "technical" problem occurs with the recording, it's very rare that anyone makes a mistake!

This year we recorded 14 tunes; the initial recording was done in three "blocks" over two days. By Wednesday, lunchtime, we were ready to say farewell to the musicians and start the next part of the process; the "mix-down". I will tell you more about how that is done, in next month's News-Letter.

Here's the other "News":

BEST SELLER LISTING:
Our December Releases maintained our high standard on the combined Hanhurst's/Palomino listing at the dosado.com web-site; despite some very high quality releases as competition, our results were: No.3 for "That Summer" and No.4 for "Uptown Girl".

NEW RELEASES:
Our new vinyl releases for February are: - the Drifters' song, "Kissing In The Back Row" (vocal by Tommy P Larsen) and the Adam Faith tune, "What Do You Want?" (vocal by Paul Bristow).

Our January MP3 releases will be - "Three Steps To Heaven" (vocal by Tommy P Larsen) and ' "A Hard Day's Night" (vocal by Paul Bristow) - visit the Listen To The Music link on the web-site, to hear this on the Sting and Snow page at Hanhurst's Tape and Record Service.

INDIVIDUAL RECORD HISTORIES including ALL THE ADDITIONAL LYRICS:
This month, the history sheets for February comprise:

• It Doesn't Matter Anymore
• Happiness
• It Only Rains on Me
• Rock 'N Roll Music
• Gospel Medley
• When You Think About Love
• Fraulein
• We'll Sing In The Sunshine
• What Do You Want?
• Kissing In The Back Row

In Addition - the next four Audio Samples of our extensive library of Hoedown / Patter music are:

• 1:800 / 911 - SIR 504
  
• Thor / Oden - SIR 505
  
• Hazel-Mae / Sassafras - SIR 506
  
• Bobby Sox / Splodge - SIR 507
  

So if you want to hear how these top-selling recordings sound, just click on the musical note symbol . For details of the titles featured in previous months, check out the News-Letter and - if there are any that you would particularly like to see added just let us know.

Well it's almost time for Valentine's Day - and I must buy some flowers for the lady-I-love; a wise man once said that "behind every successful man there is a hard-working woman" and that really does apply to my wife, Hazel. So, gentlemen, don't forget this special chance to say thank you to the woman who makes the best out of you and ladies, maybe tonight's the night to remind him how lucky he is…

I will publish the next instalment of Nashville 2005 in the March News-Letter. Have a great month, talk to you next time.

Go Squareful! - Paul Bristow (Owner and Producer Sting and Snow Records)