News from the studio

Petrax Studio, March 2011, part III

Time to add the final touches for Imaginarium while waiting for Anette to get well. This means the celtic magic of Mr. Troy Donockley with his pipes & bodhran, the smoking fingers of Mr. Pekka Kuusisto with his violin and some additional percussion & tribal drums.

I picked up Troy at the airport on Saturday night while Jukka and Kai (Hahto) were generating some new percussive ideas and boozing at Petrax. When we returned they had already nailed all tambourines, shaman drums etc. Satisfied with the day`s work we celebrated the Cumbrian - Carelian Dead Poets` reunion by entering the realm of the ultimate alchemic magic potion called Salmari. Jari (Sinkkonen of "Kotiteollisuus") also joined us during the night to do a new tattoo for Jukka.

It took one and a half days for Troy to record his pipes and bodhran. He even ended up doing some singing in one of the songs, which was a killer of a last-minute-idea. This particular tune has grown up to be one of the highlights of the whole album. Saturday evening was filled with the much anticipated Troy`s magic show, sauna & a youtube medley consisting some of our all-time faves like the ultimate tenor fail, cat vs. printer w / translation, Sony releasing a stupid piece of shit that doesn`t f...ing work, etc.

Pekka`s violin virtuosity stunned us once again when he joined us on Monday night to play a couple of leads. His hand-written notes make medical doctors` prescriptions look like Rembrandt`s art. A true genius of a musician with a big heart.

A huge thanks and eternal gratitude to all of you fellow imagineers contributing to this album! A special appreciation goes to Tiina & Petri, our studio hosts, caretakers and dear friends at Petrax.

At the moment we are recording Anette`s vocals, 7 songs done so far. She hasn`t quite cured from her broken ribs yet but fortunately it doesn`t affect her singing at all. She`s never sounded better. Time to enter the lair of Mr. Karmila now and start devouring song # 8.

Greetings from the rainiest & grayest Helsinki,

Tuomas

Credits to: www.nightwish.com