Program Notes

Based on a C.W. McCall tune, this is one of the very first projects proposed after obtaining the Cakewalk software, but it took a while before the MIDI parts were ready. Stan found and downloaded the original McCall version of the tune from the Internet, and used that to pick out the percussion, keyboard, string, bass, and other incidental parts that were all put down using MIDI. The bass part was recorded during the initial session to replace the MIDI version. Harmony for the vocals was picked out by Stan during the first session, even though the original song had no vocal harmony.

Stan's idea was to make CB chatter the heart of the project, so Rex dug out his old Cobra 29 CB radio, powered it with an old Radio Shack 12V power supply, and ran the PA through an external speaker that was recorded by mic. The volume on the CB PA was purposely turned up to produce extensive feedback.

Significant additions were made after the July 5th recording session when the audio project was moved to the notebook computer and ported to Meadowood for post-production work. During this time Stan added additional keyboard parts for strings and accordion, inserted numerous truck sounds obtained from the Internet, and performed the final mix.

Listen

Recording Date(s):

• Saturday, May 29, 2004
• Monday, July 5, 2004

Recorded At: Vista Studio & Meadowood Sound Center
Personnel & Instrumentation:

• Stan Thomas (vocals, keyboard, CB)
• Rex Simmons (vocals, CB)
• Sidney Simmons (bass, CB)

Recording Equipment:

• Dell Dimension L800r, 800 MHz P3, 256 MB RAM, Soundblaster Live! Value sound card
• Behringer Eurorack MX802A 8-channel mixer (input to sound card)
• Cakewalk Home Studio 2004
• Cobra 29LTD CB Radio
• Korg X5 synthesizer
• Dell Inspiron 5000e, 700 MHz P3, 384 MB RAM (post-production mix)