Eurodressage F.O.C.U.S.

The Making of "Il Passeggiato"

Soto Voce della Debra

The finishing touch to Channon's new freestyle was the implementation of the voice of his wife Debra. Every time the draught version of the kur played in the lorry or at the house, Debra sang along with Conte Partiro. Vic and Cees immediately asked her to sing in the freestyle in search for more drama to the music.

July 9, 2005

A wonderful voice can do miracles to a kur and Debra has such a voice. She's hesitant to accept our offer to sing, but ultimately agrees. Debra arrived at the studio in Leersum on time, even a bit early. She is slightly nervous and doesn't believe she can do it. We reassure her, teach her a few studio tricks (how to hold the headphone) and let her sing. Her voice is perfectly pure, very natural and she has great feeling for talent, in short, she's a natural.

We make ten to fifteen tracks of every part we need. Debra sings the hardest bits first because they are more demanding on her voice. The parts in a lower key are done at the end. Debra still cannot believe she did a good job, because the moment she leaves the studio another lady comes in (to record a poem) and she thinks it is going to be her voice-over. Don't worry Debra, you'll recognize your own voice! Everything went just fine."

The last stage in the production is the recording of the live instruments. They replace the samples that were first used. Sometimes Slings & Kerkhof go for a mixture of both worlds: samples and live recorded instruments. Wayne agreed to add the live instruments to his music to make his freestyle a virtual "symphonic" composition that will definitely ensure goose bumps at the end.

Cees recalled his day in the studio:

"We have a big job in the studio directing two trumpets, three trombones, 2 woodwind players for the saxes, clarinets, and flutes. We used the same people as we've done before for other productions. Vic and I are perfectionists and we ask the same devotion from our musicians. For composing kurs, they also have to have a good sense of timing.

We show the musicians the video tape over and over and point the musical difficulties in the transitions in the basic gaits. Each player has to have his own feeling and timing for such movements. They joke about how unrhythmical horses are because they have to perform the weirdest sweeps, thrills and shakes on their instruments. We started recording at the BulletSound Studio in Nederhorst Den Bergh (NED) at 9.00 and I switched off the light there at 20.00h. Both the players and Vic and I go home satisfied."

The final mixing and mastering of Channon's freestyle started on July 19, 2005, two months after Channon's first meeting with Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof.

"We started the end mix today. With my Mac G5 upgraded to 6 Gig RAM-memory -- thanks to our local Macdealer Iskander Pels -- I am ready for the final stretch. It is the last straw that breaks the camel's bag, but all our efforts are going to be worth it. W e're using the recordings from the Bulletsound Studio and Debra's tracks and place them into the composition. We cut a note here and there to make everything fit perfectly. By manipulating the notes we can decide the feel of the freestyle which cements the music and the image.

We review video clips of Wayne's demo kur ride from Hickstead and make a few changes to the passage, even though Wayne thinks it is alright. He said that riding the kur feels like a 3 minute ride instead of a 6 minute one. That's a good sign. A good kur is over before you know it and you are left there with your mouth open marveling about the harmony between rider, horse and music. We are very happy with the kur and hope the judges will not only focus on the technical side of it, but also on the harmony between image and sound."

Back One Page / Next Page of "The Making Of 'Il Passeggiato'"