Clare Teal: Mastering the art of knowing when a record is finished

Nearly 13 months on and, dare I say it, the new record’s finished. It has so far been finished three times, but this feels different.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Mar 2011, 13:54 BST

Yesterday we spent a pleasant day sitting in a mastering suite with the legend that is Ray Staff. Mastering is a dark art practiced by engineers who are good at physics. It’s like having a final layer of polish put on the record. An acutely important, but quite funny part of the process is programming the spaces in between the songs. As one number finishes, four people lean in closely, scrutinising the silence with furrowed brow till the next track kicks off. I’ve seen people heatedly argue before now about the length of a gap. But great gap-age really does add to the flow of your record. Once we give the sign-off it’ll be straight off to the manufacturing plant and past the point of no return. Hey Ho is my tenth record and this is my tenth year in the business singing and recording professionally.

I had a curious encounter while recording at Sphere studios last week. You know when you see a face you really recognise but it’s not at all in the place it should be. I was about to make a cup of tea for the string players when a chap said “Hello Clare – long time no see”. Seconds passed while the old brain whirred a bit. “Phil – What are you doing here?” Phil Grant used to drive a crane, but these days he’s helping drive along his younger brother’s career. Yes people of Yorkshire and surrounding areas Peter Grant is back! He’s been quietly working away on a brand new album and is in great voice, I don’t know when the record will be released but keep a look out. Poor string players, I didn’t make them any tea in the end!

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I’ve been privileged to have some incredible musicians on my records but this string section in particular was something else. Led by Cynthia Fleming (she who leads the BBC Concert Orchestra), the sound sent shivers down my spine.

This is the first studio album Muddy and I have funded and released ourselves in association with Absolute Marketing and a great team of people. And so the adventure begins. With a fair wind, Hey Ho will hit the shops by May 16.

Related topics:Peter Grant