AT LAST

After almost 2 years of constructing, reconstructing, underconstructing, thinking over, out and off, counting and clicking, drumming and debating, the DREAM is coming forward to become a REALITY.

On August 11, 2004 OAKSENHAM drummer Ashot Korganyan (Tosh) sat behind MDP Studio Drum Set to record the first live sounds of “Conquest of the Pacific” album…The recording engineer: Vardan Grigoryan (MDP). Drums and moral support provided by Mesrop Gyulnazaryan (MDP)

DAY 1. August 11, Wednesday. DRUMS.

Tosh embarked on with “The Unseen Land” - the traditional intro-Anthem of Oaksenham performances, to get the proper inspiration for the rest. Nothing to play there but pompous accents and trills. It’s a pity no timpani is available, but let’s hope someday it will be recorded or performed with a real full-cast symphony orchestra. By the way, the orchestral arrangement is already done - for future times. The rest of the day lasted on “Water Spark”, “Time-Out” and “Ocean’s Web”,

DAY 2. August 12, Thursday. DRUMS – “Golden Hind”, “Jester’s Pipe”, “Merlin’s Jig”, “On Reflection”. In spite of being actually the author of Merlin’s Jig, Tosh has spared unexpectedly much more time on that 20 measure 9/8 beat segment than on considered ultra complex 7/8 and 11/16 in “Golden Hind”. Vardan and Mesrop said the metronome seems to be set more for discomfort than for help. I replied that it’s not set for drums only, but for all the instruments’ comfort. Tosh is proud of himself.

DAY 3. August 13, Friday. DRUMS – “Talybont” was left for today because we were out of time yesterday, but “The Way Back Home” and “Across the Atlantic” were left for the end because reverse China Cymbal (“china” sometimes called) was needed. We could fetch it for one day (thanks to Sasha).

There’s a 13/16 rhythm in Atlantic that will bring to desperate suicidal ponderings almost everyone who’s playing that part. Tosh is going on with being emphatically proud of himself, having recorded 11 tracks of metaphysically deliberate patterns in three days (15 hours).

DAY 4. August 16, Monday. PERCUSSION – Besides some extra toms and cymbals, Mesrop of MDP has brought a ravishing bell for some specific pointilistic jingles, that afterwards Valery Tolstov will announceas “not properly tuned”.

DAY 5. Audust 29, Sunday. ACOUSTIC GUITAR - Vardan Gasparyan.

“Across the Atlantic ”, “Merlin’s Jig”, “Ocean’s Web”, “Jester’s Pipe”, “Water Spark”. He reallylovesmessing around and feeling anxious! Up to this day Mr. Gasparyan use to claim some chords in “Water Spark” to be changed, and “Across the Atlantic” to be played again, this time with nylon strings. Hope our good friends at MDP will not let him do so.

DAY 6. August 30, Monday. ACOUSTIC GUITAR – “Water Spark” (continue), “Elfy” (ad libitum), “Time-Out” (3 chords – DesM7, EsM7, Cm).

DAY 7.September 3, Friday. HARP. – Sona Yengibaryan

Never before so big a “violin” entered the Puppet Theatre, where MDP Studio is located. The janitor just shouted from upstairs…”Vardan, there’s a driver outside, he says he’s come for a violin”, “Not exactly a violin, but a sort of…” – was the answer.

The pedals (and their quantity) appeared to be rather noisy. “And whose brains had managed out such a mechanism”- Vardan wondered. The squeaks and creaks are to be deleted after, due to ever increasing talents of the mixing engineer.

After all the written parts were played, some spell-casting harmonics for Elfy were improvised, as well as portentous sonoristic effects in “Ocean’s Web” final (palm strikes, squeals and sobs).

DAY 8. September 4, Saturday. WOODWIND ENSEMBLE.

Valery Tolstov – flute, Harutyun Shakhkyan – oboe, Andranik Kochar – bassoon.

It was settled beforehand to record the ensemble parts skipping the polyphonic and independent patterns for additional solo recording but as soon as the process started they all expressed impatience to record all through compositions. I was resisting as much as possible.

DAY 9. September 5, Sunday. WOODWINDS.

With fresh morning dew they landed to assail the “Golden Hind”, after 3 hours of unfolding arithmetical superb abilities, Harut and Ando looked half ironic, half heroic, while Valery was complaining of heart arrhythmia.

counting 3+4+3/ 16 ...

DAY 10. September 6, Monday. FLUTE SOLO. Valery Tolstov

“Water Spark” is mainly the fruit of Valery’s voluptuous imagination. He’s the first idea upbringer, everyone else just has floated in with their own perversions. This composition always was the most amiable to evolution - numerous changes in rhythm, form, timbre, and everything else possible. Even on the recording day, just on his way to studio Valery has suddenly heard a new variation inside his ear-brain. He asked how many tracks it is possible to record, and getting the answer “about 999”, tortured the recording computer and Vardan (the engineer) for 5 hours, but luckily became satisfied with three. Then he handled a sort-of-a-toy, called it whether trombonoidal flute, or flutic trombone, began to produce with it sounds of wolfwoe and dovelove: so unexpected, that he himself burst into laughter during the first take, and surely that will remain on the record. After which he came across the mentioned 13/16 in “ Atlantic ”, and all the joy was gone with the wind. It was too late when we finished, and the Celtic lady perhaps was celebrating her 33rd birthday … surely without us…

DAY 11.September 7, Tuesday. BASSOON SOLO, OBOE SOLO, ENGLISH HORN !!!

Andranik Kochar – bassoon, Harutyun Shakhkyan – oboe, English horn.

And today was Andranik’s birthday, though he revealed the secret only on his way back home, after he was done with us (at least he thought so at the moment).

Harut has managed to fetch English Horn for “The Way Back Home” opening tune, and played it on different reeds slightly detuned, to produce a fantastic hornpipe resemblance. That timbre, with the bassoon low pedals, surely will be a highlight on the album, we’ll be obviously proud of.And I will be proud for the abundance of really devoted and talented professional friends, I have the luck to share the same work and scene with.

DAY 12.September 13, Monday. CELLO. Mica Matnishyan.

Mica, Valery’s close friend, was back home from Switzerland , having arranged his holidays, to coinside with the record schedule, so we didn’t miss our chance.

“Jester’s Pipe”, ”Merlin’s Jig” and “Ocean’s Web” were easily recorded from the first reading, while heavy metal in “Across the Atlantic” and “On Reflection” fugue claimed a day’s training…?

DAY 13. September 15, Wednesday, CELLO.

Some bow directions should be adjusted as there’s still violin to play all the same. And Mica’s free to fly back to Switzerland with Valery under his arms.

DAY 14. September 24, Friday. CLARINET. Souren Khorozyan.

Tosh was always wondering would there on earth be any note or rhythm sequence that Souren will have difficulties to play immediately in the straight tempo. Actually there isn’t. All that damned meter changes in “Golden Hind” that put Valery’s health under risk, made absolutely no effect on Suro. Such a disappointment!

DAY 15. September 30, Thursday. FRENCH HORN. Armen Sukiasyan.

Being himself a musical producer of two rock-operas (www.rockopera.am) Armen is the most aware in this kind of recording process. But above all, he still has his beard unshaved, which goes in accord with Ata’s photographic whims.

It turned out that to arrange the recording sessions for the band members is much more a difficult mission than for the invited friends. It took a long time to bring them to action, together or apart. Nevertheless, at the end of October it was Vardan Gasparyan who declared himself fit for guitars’ recording. We had settled together the main sounds and distributed them among compositions. During one of the recordings his guitar (mainly the bloody 7 th string) began producing unjustified extra noises, he couldn’t avoid anyway. So Tosh sat by his side near the guitar neck, and at definite moments he was muffling that string by his fingers, while Vardan was extracting his mystical passages. We laughed a lot, and considered how to mention it in the album credits… something like this:

Ashot Korganyan – drums, percussion, and touch guitar.

While Vardan was recording piece after piece, I was solving a dilemma on which strings to play. Finally I decided to record some heavy parts with medium strings, leaving the rest for the light ones. I had already done with 4 out of 11(there’s no bass part in “Elfy”) – “Anthem”, “Talybont”, “Atlantic” and “Ocean’s Web”, when on the last day of guitar recording Vardan blazed out “The Way Back Home” solo, the only real solo (in its classic rock perception) of the album, and created (with the insisting help of Tosh) a pathetic ending for “Golden Hind” as for the whole album as well.

Meanwhile Anna was struggling against a horrible mess of keyboard sounds, hopelessly indefinite in her mind and under her fingers, inspired by an everlasting “having no time”, as she called it (as if we had tons of, packed in shelves…). The first entrance in studio was mentioned by a torturing “On Reflection” attempt, and as I had to go early, leaving Tosh for the responsible director, later it became clear that the day was spent in vain…. – she played clavinet an octave lower and it sounded like an influenza infected choir of goblins. To her credit, poco a poco she involved herself in the studio work atmosphere and started to tick off the compositions one by one with the unique promptitude of her own. And Vardan of MDP was as always amazed at Anna’s craft to run both of her hands to and fro across the keyboard.

Finally all three of us coped with to record all our parts in 2004. Last day was the December 30 th. I was dueling with the “Water Spark”, and to my luck Tosh and Vardan were present. When everything was over, there remained the heavy metal riff (composed by Tosh) in “Water Spark”, and I felt helpless. None of the takes was what we wanted. Soon it occurred to us, that it’s a pick sound we needed. So my bass guitar was passed to Vardan Gasparyan, who brought the execution of the theme to the end.

And that would be the final chord, if not the violins…but that’s another story… Army – it’s entitled. And though Koryun passes his service in the Capital Regiment - the same place where all the best guys from Conservatory become soldiers of the orchestra (me and Valery Tolstov and all the wind instrument players in our album) it took a lot of time, nerves and negotiations to get him to studio four days running, so it happened only in January 2005. Before that two or three times we were waiting for him in studio, with the microphones and note stands prepared, but he couldn’t come (or said he couldn’t). But at last, on January 23 rd we raised our glasses of Scotch whisky (Ata Stambolzyan has brought to celebrate the last photo session) for album’s sake and onward we looked to the future obscured by clouds.

The last thing I would like to add is about great gratitude that all of us Oaks do feel towards everybody at MDP studio. If this album would ever be released, it will carry on an invisible but clearly audible stamp of Vardan’s enormous patience,

Mesrop’s rapture for his drum kit,

Henry’s lifelong absence

And Eddy’s falling-in-love wit.