AF Band fights the clock to produce 'Off We Go'

Published March 10, 2010
By Benjamin Newell
AFDW Public Affairs

Air Force District of Washington -- With thousands of hours of musical takes to edit and a tight deadline to meet, Chief Master Sgt. Barbara Taylor is an Airman on a mission. She is the producer of The United States Air Force Band's upcoming album, "Off We Go," intended for wide release in December 2010.

"Off We Go" is a full CD, intended to encompass the history of American air power going back to the days of Orville and Wilbur Wright. One track, dubbed "The Bicycle Shop," is arranged to replicate the sounds and struggles of man's first flight. A later track, "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" will put the listener in the cockpit of a modern fighter plane, while "Aurora Borealis" speaks to the Air Force's unique presence in space. The CD's title track, "Off We Go," tells the story of the Air Force Song.

"This is a pretty immense project for the entire band, when you think about it," said Chief Taylor. "It requires most of our musicians, all of our production staff and scheduling recording times for band elements that are always on the move."

The intricacies and man hours dedicated to this single project are mammoth. The Concert Band and Singing Sergeants put in 10 grueling days recording the music to "Off We Go." Recording can be a time-consuming process. Sometimes just a few measures of music can require several takes, as happened with the title track for "Off We Go." One selection from "Off We Go," lasting only about a minute-and-a-half, required 78 individual takes. And for each of those takes, the conductor, along with a staff of recording engineers, were on the job listening for glitches in the recordings and hitting the reset button.

"Our facilities are just ideal for the recording process," said Maj. Scott Guidry, the Band's deputy commander. "We have two recording studios, allowing for multiple band elements to record at the same time. They all feed into one master control room, where we have audio engineers on hand to sweeten the sounds and make our musicians' expertise come through."

Band Producers often find themselves at the helm of the recording process, working with The Air Force Band's Commander and Music Director Lt. Col. Alan Sierichs. The two communicate through a PA system, cajoling the perfect notes out of more than 50 musicians and their respective instruments.

"It's really a lot of fun," said Chief Taylor. "Part of my job is ensuring that the commander's vision for this album is executed; that the sound and purpose of this album fulfills his objectives."

The project is on schedule, but just barely. A series of blizzards dumping record amounts of snow on the National Capital Region set the editing process back six days. Chief Taylor and the three audio engineers who work with her had to put in extra time poring over hundreds of hours of takes, stitching together a final, master product that reflects the best of the Concert Band and Singing Sergeants.

All the work recording the Concert Band instrumental tracks is just one phase of a complex musical undertaking. "Once we lay the instrumental music track down, the Singing Sergeants come in and add vocals, working with the music that the Concert Band has laid down and the engineers have edited," said Chief Taylor. The control room technicians even have access to a video recording of the conductor's movements, which helps ensure the vocal overdubs reflect The Air Force Band commander's artistic preference.

In an era when free music abounds on the internet and CD's can be burned in minutes, audiophiles can forget just how much expertise goes into producing a professional CD. The Air Force Band is a self-sufficient musical industry.

"When people listen to this CD, we want them to get a feel for the history of the Air Force through the music it has made over the past 60 years," said Major Guidry. Achieving that can only be done through fine-tuning all musical tracks during and after recording.

Master Sgt. Loren Zimmer is one of the audio engineers. "My job is basically to work with the producer and musicians to find the best sound for a given track," he said. "I also maintain all of the digital audio files and put together the tracks." Sergeant Zimmer is plugged into all of the previously recorded material, and pulls up successful tracks, stitching them together as fast as an iTunes playlist can be put together.

If Sergeant Zimmer is the digital guru, then Tech. Sgt. James DeVaughn is the hard copy expert. While 20 members of The Singing Sergeants worked on Feb. 26 to lay down as many tracks as their voice could handle, Sergeant DeVaughn worked in the recording studio sitting next to Chief Taylor. With his ears hooked directly up to the live feed from the studio, he pored over binders full of musical sheets, mining for recording errors and inconsistencies in the recorded sound. "The level of talent in that room is amazing," said Sergeant DeVaughn, adding "I also get to work with some of the best equipment in the business."

Engineers, producers, musicians and conductors all have one master: the clock. In a business where release dates are carved in stone, success is dependent on a tight schedule. That's where Senior Master Sgt. Rob McConnell comes in.

Many bandmembers perform at least two functions, one as support staff and one as performer. Sergeant McConnell is dual-hatted as a member of the Concert Band's cornet section and Chief of Recording Production for all of the squadron's recordings.

"The snow has really set back the editing process for this CD," said Sergeant McConnell, "but part of my job is to ensure that people don't get overworked. That's required some creative scheduling and shared sacrifices on everybody's part. But we still meet our targeted release dates."

Those sacrifices will produce a CD, due out Dec. 1, 2010, which will take listeners on a voyage beginning with the Wright brothers first sputtering prop spins through to modern advanced satellite delivery systems and jet powered fighter aircraft - and everything in between.