DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

So I recorded a tambourine overdub tonight. I needed four takes!

I don’t imagine there’s anything I can say about how hard this is that anybody will actually believe, much less sympathize with, but … it was really difficult! I struggled to keep a steady rhythm for the 30 or 40 seconds I needed to.

Most takes started strong, but by about six bars in, they all started to sound like I was having a seizure. And giardiasis. During an earthquake. Shaking a tambourine uses muscle groups that I have apparently never used for anything else.

And I was thinking, ok, so I’ll play 2 bars and just clone them 10 times. But the first beat was hard, too — nailing the downbeat without having little dribbles of jingly tambourine sound ruining the majestic impact of My. First. Percussion. Credit! Never mind the fact that it’s going to be dipped in a bucket of reverb and mixed way off to one side, just audible if you’re paying attention. In a quiet room. Through really nice headphones.

Anyway I have new respect for those hand-percussion artists who spend years learning the nuances of instruments like the tambourine. (By the way, if any of you guys live around here, please get in touch!)