Cachorros Piquantes by Squeezebox Dogs

Our little CD is done. I've started burning copies and printing the artwork and assembling the finished CDs. If anyone is interested in a copy, please email me at misteranchovyATexcite.com. CDs are only 10 Canadianos each.

Cachorros Piquantes is a CD of instrumental squeezebox music from seven countries - Portugal, Colombia, Mexico, Louisiana, Scandinavia, Bahamas and Newfoundland. John Filici and I recorded it gradually over much of 2007 and into 2008. I play button accordions and some percussion; John plays piano accordions, guitar, keyboards and recorder. I picked the songs. John worked out the orchestration.

I learned along the way that as soon as you commit something to a recording, you instantly know you can perform it better than that any day of the week. Isn't that the way? I think there are some pretty good tracks, though, and it is representative of the music I enjoy playing. Here's a sample, a Portuguese dance number called Vira de Santa Marta. Curiously, there are two Viras de Santa Marta. I play both of them, but we just recorded the one. Santa Marta is near Porto in the north of Portugal.

Recording

J completed the mix of the last song and tonight we put them in order and created a master. Next, I'll start making dupes and finish up the artwork. Getting closer....

Recording

We recorded the last tune for our wee CD project tonight. It's a fast Cajun waltz, but we're not playing exactly Cajun-like. I play the melody on my old Hohner and J accompanies on piano accordion, recorded with the two instruments playing together. We had planned to add triangle, but our triangle player wasn't available. Next time, we'll figure out the order for the songs.

Recording

Our little experiment in recording is nearing completion. We listened to all the cuts so far, and decided that a couple of them didn't cut it and had to be cut out of the recording. We also decided to record one song live, with me on button accordion, J on piano accordion, and a special guest on triangle. This is going to be a Cajun waltz. We spent a while rehearsing, and I thought it sounded pretty good. Next week we'll record it. Then I have to finish up the artwork and Squeezebox Dogs is a reality.

Squeezebox Dogs - Recording

The Cumbia we recorded a while back is now mixed. Tonight we recorded a corridinho. Next week, we're going to re-record a piece we're not quite happy with. After that, it's a matter of mixing the last half dozen tracks, completing the artwork, getting some CDs duped, and voila, Cochorros Piquantes. There will be 14 tracks total on the CD.

Recording - Whistle of the Train

J finished up the mix for a Portuguese party tune, called A Pita o Comboio, which means Whistle of the Train. If you ever go to a Portuguese wedding, I can almost guarantee that you'll hear this one.

So, here is Squeezebox Dogs, with our version of A Pita o Comboio.

The recording on this one is bare-bones. We played button accordion and piano accordion live together, and added guitar and bass later.

Please let me know if you have any trouble listening to this cut. (One person told me he had problems listening to the last one I posted).

Recording

Tonight we recorded a couple tracks for a corridinho, and tried out some possibilities for other tracks. A corridinho is a Portuguese dance. I believe the word means race, as the tune races along. Corridinho's are generally fairly simple repetitive melodies that drive forward at quite a clip. Here's an example of a very well-played corridinho:

This fellow's name is Francisco Fernandes. It kind of looks like he's playing in a public washroom or something like that in this video. None-the-less, this guy plays those Portuguese folk tunes very well.

The tune we recorded tonight has a bit of a different feel that the Fernandes piece I'm showing you tonight, but the video at least gives you a sense of the form. Our piece will have button accordion, piano accordion, tamborine and guitar.

Last week, we recorded a schottiche, another peculiar dance rhythm. Here's me and John - Squeezebox Dogs, and The Farmer's Schottiche. I play two button accordion tracks, and John plays keyboards and percussion on this one. I hope you enjoy it.

Recording

After almost a month away from recording, J and I got together tonight to re-record the first tune we put down, several months ago. It's a Schottiche from one of the Northern European countries, and I think it's called the Farmer's Schottiche, or something like that. I put down two melody tracks on button accordion, 2 octaves apart. John worked out a piano track, then we messed around with some bass sounds, and some harmony sounds.

Over Christmas, J did the final mix on two waltzes we recorded a while ago. One is a Cajun waltz called J'ai Passe Devant ta Porte and the other is a Newfie waltz called The Star of Logy Bay. Both are way different from the fast Portuguese tunes we recorded in the fall.

This project is starting to come together.....

Taking Inventory

Tonight, instead of recording, we reviewed what we've done so far. We've laid down tracks for 13 songs. Two of them need to be re-recorded. On two others, we need to add a track or two. Two of the songs are completely mixed and CD ready. We're going to record two or possibly three more - a Basque waltz, a Portuguese Corridinho and a Portuguese Vira.

Squeeze Box Dogs

Since John and I have recorded most of the tunes we're planning for our CD project (we may add a couple more, and cull out a couple we're not as pleased with), and John has started mixing process, I got to work on the front cover. Tuffy P took the photo. There will be a photo on the back as well, along with a song list and some other info, but I haven't started work on the back yet. It's still going to be months before we have everything together, but it's coming along.

Cachorros piquantes is Portuguese street food - basically hot dogs with chips on top.

J'ai passé devant ta porte

J and I recorded an instrumental version of the Cajun lament, J'ai passé devant ta porte tonight. The lyrics go like this if you're interested:

J'ai passé devant ta porte
j'ai crié "bye-bye la belle
y'a personne qui m'a répondu
oh yé yaille, mon coeur fait mal

Moi j'm'ai mis a bien observer
moi j'ai vu des chandelles allumées
y'a quelque chose qui disait j'aurais pleurer
oh yé yaille, mon coeur fait mal

Moi j'ai été cogné-z-a la porte
quand ils ont rouvert a la porte
moi j'ai vu des chandelles allumées
tout le tour de son cercueil

I put down 2 tracks on the button accordion, and we rehearsed together for a while with J on keyboards. We're going to try to add a bit of Salvation Army Band feel to this one. Last week, we recorded the Newfie classic, Star of Logy Bay. During the week, J went crazy on it and added 3 or 4 accordion tracks and a recorder track. It sounds really good.

Next week, we're going to assess what we have and figure out if we need any more tunes. Then it's a matter of mixing down all the material we have.

Recording

J and I had a good recording session tonight. We recorded a Portuguese tune in F that I've been playing for quite some time. I snuck in two sections from a different song, actually an Italian tune, sort of as a bridge or turn. I did two tracks on button accordion, the second tune I've recorded using the Guerinni. On this song, I basically played the melody on two tracks, two octaves apart. J worked out two guitar parts. He's also going to add a bass part with keyboards and maybe some marching band-like crash symbols.

We've recorded 9 or 10 tunes now. I'm not actually sure exactly. A couple aren't going to cut it, but I'm pretty happy with what we have happening for most of the tracks. Meanwhile, J's started mixing, and played the first of the final mixes for me today, a Portuguese tune we call Fadinho that is very familiar in our Portuguese neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Saturday we're going to take some pics of J and I playing on College St together that I'll use for the cover.

Recording

J and I met to continue our recording sessions last night. It had been two weeks since we last got together. Last time out, I put down a button accordion melody track on a cumbia and then we some percussion (guiro). Since then, John has added a bass track, and a piano accordion track behind the melody. He also added hand-claps, a really beautiful touch.

I had been practicing Farewell to Nova Scotia, but decided to record a corridinho instead, a piece I've been playing for some time. Corridinho is a fast Portuguese dance form in 4/4. The tunes are usually simple but played very fast with emphasis on the first beat of the bar. I don't know the title of this tune. J found it or heard it somewhere and wrote it out.

We ended up not getting a track recorded last night. I was having all kinds of trouble playing one section of the tune at full speed. I was finding it difficult to relax my fingers enough to play this passage fluidly, so it sounded too choppy, and sometimes dragged behind the beat. We discussed an alternate fingering that would reduce the amount of hand movement needed to play the passage, and I tried that out. I think the new fingering is the ticket, but I'm going to have to practice it for a while. We should get this one recorded next week.

Recording

We got together to record Wednesday night after a layoff of a couple weeks because our schedules didn't mesh. We put down a song that I've been playing a long time, a Portuguese tune we call Fadinho. J and I played it together - I played the melody on my button accordion and J accompanied with piano accordion. Then he added a guitar accompaniment track and a higher pitched accordion harmony track, and I added triangle. I don't feel I played at my best at all, especially since I am so familiar with this tune, but overall the song sounds pretty good, I suspect on the strength of J's fluid accordion.

Recording

Since we met up at this time last week, J recorded some additional tracks on Adelita, and the song is ready for mixing. Today we started working on a Cajun waltz. We recorded button accordion and scrub-board together (a basic metal and wood model, not one of those fancy-smanshy zydeco frottoirs), then added a track with J playing claves (we actually used an instrument known as the frog), and me playing triangle. J is going to add some accordion harmony, a bass track, and alto sax (!) on the chorus. This one isn't going to sound all that traditional/regional....more like College St.....but it is going to sound very good!

Recording

J and I have been doing regular Wednesday night recording sessions for a while now, and overall, I'm very pleased with the results. During the week he added bass and guitar to a Portuguese tune we recorded. The plan was to add a harmony button accordion track and possibly harmonica with a kind of train percussion sound tonight - but when we played back the piece, we agreed it was best to keep it as is and not add anything else at all. We also started recording Adelita, a song from the Mexican Revolution. We put down a track with J on guitar and me on button accordion. I felt I was playing a little sloppy tonight, and I made some errors, but we got a good take down and I think the song is going to sound fine. I'm working on another Portuguese tune to record in the next couple weeks. It's a corridinho, but I don't know a title for it. The song is not complicated but it is tricky to play. There are some triplets that are awkward on the button accordion that are still giving me trouble. It's a beautiful number, though, and worth the work.

Adelita

This song is a corrido from the Mexican revolution, called Adelita, which is still a poplular Mariachi tune. J and I are going to record a version of it next week, with button accordion, accordion, guitar and percussion. The name "Adelita" refers to a woman who follows her husband to battle in the Mexican Civil Revolution of 1910. An "Adelita", or female soldier, is also known as a soldadera.

Recording continues

Yesterday, J and I recorded the Vira de Santa Marta, a Portuguese tune. We played button accordion and piano accordion together, then added a tambourine track, bass drum track and finally triangle. Next week, the plan is to put down another Portuguese tune, this time an untitled corridinho (it may have a title but we don't know it). A corridinho is a fast Portuguese dance played in 4/4 time.