RECORDING THE ALBUM SO FAR AND SO NEAR

EW have been recording the album for more than two years. First of all we recorded drums.

The drummer of the Quorum band Sergey Nikonorov recorded drums for tracks And The World Will Be, Thread Of Love and And I Will Follow.

Then Dmitry Shtatnov recorded bass.

For As You Wish, I Care Not he used a non-standard technique – hammer with screwdriver to make “malicious”, aggressive sound :)

For Energy Of Light we used four channels for bass recording.

Next came vocals, guitars, keyboards and flute.
Tatyana left just very few guitar parts after the first recording sessions. She did not like sound, manner, performance etc. As a result she rerecorded guitar parts for Thread Of Love ten times or more, trying to find the proper sound. For As You Wish, I Care Not Tanya did not like the initially recorded guitar themes at all, and she did them all anew.

Flute was recorded during so called ‘anomalous’ heat, which was in the central regions of Russia in 2010. For Mounds we used alto flute as we always do at concerts. For As You Wish, I Care Not we experimented with different types of flutes including a small piccolo flute, and its sound always aroused a smile. :)

Also Dima Drogunov recorded heart-rending cries and howling of wolves for Mounds.

Keyboards and synths were recorded by three members of the band – Elena, Dmitry Shtatnov and Tatyana. Besides the old Roland XP-50, and also Korg Triton, for the first time EW used Waldorf Blofeld, an analog synthesizer DSI Prophet8 and modular synth. Also for Mounds and As You Wish, I Care Not theremin was used.

As usually, lead vocal was the task of Lena.

The new thing was that besides Lena, backing vocals were also recorded by Dima Shtatnov and Tanya. Recording went on at times harder, at times easier, but at last EW have done it. :)

Then Serega Rogulya recorded percussion including chimes, Peru shaker, triangle etc. And in addition to it together with Lena he recorded whisper for intro and coda of As You Wish, I Care Not.

So, it seemed that the main work was done, but there remained something we had no idea what to do with – orchestral tracks. Having given for mixing the tracks without orchestral elements (A New Day Will Come and Energy Of Light), with the sound engineer Ilya Dontsov we arranged for inviting string section – three violins, two violas and cello. At two sessions were recorded many parts, but the most difficult ones were left behind. It was pity that we did not manage to record intro and coda for As You Wish, I Care Not, though really it seemed impossible, because those parts were arranged in free tempo. We also did not have time to record the expressive string groove for Thread Of Love, though it was greatly desirable…

Ilya helped us to find musicians of woodwind section who recorded oboe, clarinet and French horn. For some reason the French horn player was called 'kicksman'. When he had been warming up, only one question arose in mind: what do neighbors think when he plays at home?

Trumpet and trombone were recorded during New Year holidays of 2011 by musicians of the funk bands Mosbrass and Pozitiva Leonid Semirukhin and Mikhail Mirity.

It seemed that was all. But after EW members listened to the first version of mixing of Thread Of Love, they understood that they can’t do without the live strings for that expressive groove! Dima Shtatnov invited his friend violinist Dmitry Shishkin. As a result, Dmitry recorded not only the part for Thread Of Love, but also unrecorded parts for Mounds, and also – very unexpectedly – intro and coda for As You Wish, I Care Not! Dima recorded with ease (at least it seemed so) and with some spark, it took him less than two hours, and then he hurried away for some business.

After mixing we gave the album for mastering. At the same time with the designer from the town of Barnaul Dima Philippov we worked with the artwork. What is on the cover even EW don’t know for sure. So, the cover picture is the object for fantasies and reflections.