"March 2006 - and all's well!" or so the old "Town Cryer" would have declared, in England in the late middle ages, as he walked along ringing his bell, through the streets. This was in the days before newspapers and at a time when very few people could read. The purpose of the "Town Cryer" was to disseminate important news to the town's folk - on an hourly basis - and ensure that they knew how "things" were. Of course these days we can all read - and we require much more detailed information, hence we have newspapers, television and radio programmes and other sources of information - via the Internet, i.e. News Letters (such as this one). So each month I try and provide a concise but relevant set of information; I hope that's how you see it!

HI / LO KEY CD VERSIONS - OF PREVIOUS RELEASES: Since January, this year, all of the tunes that we are releasing in MP3 format, have also been made available in CD format; this includes the previously released tracks originally issued on Vinyl about eighteen months earlier.

This CD format, for ALL releases, comprises the original tracks - plus a one step higher / one-step-lower key version of the instrumental. So don't forget to check-out our CD and MP3 releases and see if there is a "more comfortable" key available on a tune that you may like to use.

BEST SELLER LISTING - FOUR TUNES LISTED!!!: We actually took four out of the ten places on the January Best Sellers as posted on the combined Hanhurst's/Palomino listing on the dosado.com web-site; this is an excellent result of which we are all extremely proud. The results were: No.2 for "Can't Buy Me Love", No.5 for "Summer Of '69" - these were our two vinyl releases - and for the MP3 release and Vinyl re-releases of "Any Dream Will Do" and "Daydream Believer", we achieved places No.7 and No.8 respectively.

NEW RELEASES: Our new vinyl releases for March are: Frank Sinatra's - "Fly Me To The Moon" (vocal by Maarten Weijers) and the Frankie Avalon's tune, "Venus" (vocal by Paul Bristow).

Our March MP3 and CD releases (including the Hi /Lo Key mentioned above) are - "Rock and Roll Is King" and the double sided instrumental Hoedown/Patter record "Fab One / Firefly" - 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.

Alright, back to Nashville, September 2005 and a few words about "mix-down"; the process by which we hope to combine the many diverse musical sounds into one coherent and (hopefully) attractive instrumental.

During our recording sessions, in Nashville, we employ 8 players to provide the music, some of whom play several different instruments. In order to create the "orchestral" combination of these musical sources, each one has to be recorded on to a separate "track".

Originally, the term "track" would have referred to a continual line of electro-magnetically coded information, which was recorded - in one continuous (or "analogue") line, on to tape. These "tracks" would have run, in parallel, along the tape, so that they could be replayed at the same time; as many as 24 tracks could be recorded on special two-inch (50mm) tape. This method was used to allow the volume and tone of each instrument to be adjusted to suit the ensemble and to allow effects (echo, reverb etc.) to be added, where necessary.

Nowadays, the tracks are stored electronically, in a digital format, on the Hard Drive of a specially designed computer, which allows a great deal of extra flexibility and considerably speeds-up the process. However, the principle is still the same as it was in the days of two-inch twenty-four-track tape - just faster!

The advantages of multi-track recording are many. Apart from being able to "equalise" all of the instruments, it is also possible to record further instruments on separate tracks - so our Piano player can add an extra keyboard track or even several extra tracks (strings, choruses, horns etc. etc.). We can add percussion instruments (bells, tambourines, shakers etc. etc.). We can "overdub" Rhythm instruments or add Banjos, Mandolins etc., etc. The fact is that we have virtually no limit to how many extra tracks we can add to the process!

Of course, time is a very REAL limit. We can only spend so much time on each song. The real talent is needed to equalise and combine all of these tracks into one concordant arrangement. This is where Kevin McManus - the "wizard" of the mix-down really shines. Kevin is our studio engineer, he has won more awards than many people have had "hot-dinners" for his skills as a studio engineer; some of these are displayed in the entrance lobby to his studio. Kevin will listen to each track, adjust it for tone and effect and then adjust each of the tracks for level (volume) so that they sound as if there was one - fantastic - orchestra, playing in harmony.

These days, Kevin has an excellent "feel" for what we need for Square Dancing; he has been involved in the production of Square Dance music since the 1970s. Although he will occasionally ask how we want something done - perhaps incorporating an unusual effect - for the most part, he is able to carry out the operation, with the minimum of reference to me. Having said that, I usually sit in on the mix down and - occasionally - ask for a subtle change or two, which Kevin will always incorporate.

This year, for the first time, we recorded two of our vocal tracks in the studio in Nashville. Usually, we record the vocals in a European studio that is local to where the caller concerned lives. These two songs were "Love Me For A Reason" (featuring James Wyatt on the vocal) and "Ain't No Angels" (featuring Neil Whiston). These tracks were recorded and mixed down, in addition to the instrumental versions, to allow me to be able to take these with me to the pressing plant and thereby ensure that they were released at the earliest possible stage, thus maintaining our two records per month objective. James and Neil had one night to practice their vocals and managed to record them in a single take in the studio, which - considering the "pressure" that this must have placed on them - is pretty incredible; I salute them for their efforts.

The mix-down is, probably, the most daunting single aspect of the whole process. I am quite sure that - if I were to try it - with so many, many different variables, it would take me a great deal of time - and (possibly) drive me close to insanity! I truly appreciate the expert work that Kevin does for us.

Finally, once all the mixing has been completed, Kevin transfers the whole session to a CD, hands it to me and I am ready to take the next logical step towards releasing the new music to an eagerly waiting world…

Next month, I will tell you a little about my trip to Kentucky, to visit the home of Palomino Records.

Here's the other "News":

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

• When You Walk In The Room
• Denise, Denise
• Meet Me In Stockholm
• Half A Boy And Half A Man
• I've Got A Message To You
• Moody Blue
• Fly Me To The Moon
• Venus

The histories contain details about each original song, including it's production and provide the extra lyrics - as featured on the called side. You can access these by "clicking" on the open-book picture , on the Catalogue, Latest Releases and Future Releases pages.

Don't forget - you can also listen to a short part of any track that has a musical note symbol .

Remember - the Record histories don't just include the lyrics, each one contains the story of the song itself, as well as comments about it's production. So for some -hopefully "useful" and "useable" information about each of our songs - this is the part of our web-site to visit.

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

• Catweazle / Montrose - SNW 502
  
• Sooty / Sweep - SNW 503
  
• Crazy Daze / Cappuccino - SIR 508
  
• Sweet 'n' Sour / Lemondrops - SNW 504
  
• Verity / Twizzler - SIR 509
  
• Ritzy-Kingle / Cobbler - SIR 511
  
• Fitz-Giddious / Dime-A-Night - SIR 510
  
• Whirligig / Nash-Bash - SIR 512
  

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.

THE FORUM: Finally, don't forget to visit the Forum and join in the discussions that are taking place on a variety of SD related topics. Do you have a "burning issue" that you would like to discuss? Do you have any comments about Sting and Snow music - or SD music in general? When you have a moment, take the time to "throw your hat into the ring"!

Well, right now I have to start "putting things together" for our next trip to Nashville. It is set for November (a little later than usual - because I was too busy to do it any earlier; oh the problems of success!). So time for my colleagues on Sting and Snow and me to start listening to our CD collections and begin searching for a song to record. As always, any ideas/suggestions will be gratefully received…

I will publish the final instalment of Nashville 2005 - "the trip to Kentucky" in the February News-Letter. Have a great month, talk to you next month.

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