More planetarium music

The music from the other day that was recorded at our Planetarium started me looking through the archives for others we recorded in the darkness of the Schreder. This one caught my ear. Give it a listen and if you want to read more….This tune is titled Parhelia by Craig Padilla. It was a staple in our playbook as a duo in the 1990s, but here we play it as a quartet. In addition to Craig and myself playing in the dark, we had Dave Barnett from the local band Montuno Salad playing percussion. Also playing, Al Mires on guitar, who is now proprietor of Music Max in Palo Cedro. Craig and I always had trouble recording Parhelia to meet our memories of how it sounded live, and so I’m not sure we ever released any version of it. This recording is no exception. Not quite. We recorded direct to 2 track analog tape, so there was no ability to mix after the show. Al’s guitar is recorded a bit too much “in your face” perhaps, while Dave’s hand drumming is barely heard due to drum microphone issues, although I”m sure he sounded loud enough in the intimacy of the Schreder. It’s hard to play live in total darkness and also simultaneously be a good recording engineer. The one thing I never get tired of hearing is Craig’s “harmonica” like synthesizer melody, played live. He nailed it on this recording, and it’s got a rich and mellow vibe. No matter the recording details maybe only we can hear, there is a certain elegant charm to this piece, and if you like it, you should stay tuned. I’ll probably be posting a few others from this concert run over the next few days. I forgot how nice it sounded.