This morning we hopped in the car and headed up to Charlotte for another exciting moment in the making of Saying Goodbye – the live musicians playing the score. We arrived at Concentrix where Fred Story took us through the score one more time for any potential last minute changes. Did we want an extra flourish here? Did we prefer an oboe or a violin for this section? After we were sure we loved it, it was time for the first recording session.
In the score, there are three instruments that have solos, so these were the parts Fred was recording live in the studio. Michael McGinnis was first up playing the guitar, which gives the score its southern flavor. Phil Thompson was up next to play the clarinet, which added a rich, warm tone to everything. And finally Jane Hart Brendle played the violin to give sections of the score an evocative feel.
It was so impressive watching and hearing these amazing musicians do their thing. They came in with no prior knowledge of the score – Fred handed them the sheet music, they watched the sections of the movie where they’d be playing, and then they played it without any hesitations or stumbles. Now we know these are professionals and it’s what they do for a living, but it’s still impressive to watch, since we used to practice the piano for hours and still stumble our way through our lessons.
Fred then mixed the recordings of the three live musicians with the rest of the score, and it sounded fantastic. Fred kept telling us how different the score would sound with a few live musicians (instead of the pre-recorded loops), but we were astonished at how much more alive it sounded. The musicians brought so much feeling and emotion to what they were playing that Jocelyn got teary during the recording sessions. Many thanks to Mike, Phil, and Jane for bringing that extra oomph to the Saying Goodbye score.