CHANCE WILDER ONODY

CHANCE WILDER ONODY’S "FEELING GOOD" RECORDING SESSION

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Arrangement for Bass by Chance Wilder Onody

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The story behind the recording:

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How this project came together:  I have always wanted Chance to record his own music, especially since NAMM 2014, and his stellar breakout as a recognized monster player by his peers. I was looking for a way to get him into the studio, made some great contacts, met a producer that really believed in Chance, then just started scraping together what ever funds could.  

 

When a studio date became available and the producer would work with me on the budget, I told Chance we are going into the studio.  I gave him 8 days to come up with a song and do the arrangements.  Talk about working under pressure.  

 

Chance Wilder Onody chose “Feeling Good”, because he had heard Michael Bubles version a couple months before and liked the orchestration. So thinking he could get his orchestra buddies to help him out and get his band mates from “g.o.d.” to make a guest appearance, adding their celebrity names to the project, he locked in on the song.   

 

Well, best laid plans often go wrong but turn into something better!  That’s what happened several times during this project.   Chance’s orchestra friends were not available but his band "g.o.d." came through.  So he looked at the charts and decided he could do all the orchestration parts at pitch on different basses. Talk about taking on a monumental task, writing out charts and figuring out what Bass could handle what part.

 

Chance had an idea for an upright piccolo bass and NS DESIGN came through for him sending out some instruments and strings for Chance to experiment with.  He chose to innovate the 5 string cello to give him the range he needed and restrung it, trying different strings till he found the right sound. There is a great video of Chance when he first puts the NS piccolo bass in his hands and tries it out. This bass was used for 9 of the orchestration parts.  

 

In the end everyone we have played this recording for, flips over it, saying it is an amazing product, they can’t believe one player could make that song sound so big on bass. 

 

However, we did have some panic moments along the way.  Two days before the recording session the bridge shatters on Chance’s Double Bass.  Standing in shocked disbelief, Chance grabbed a shot of Scotch and a cigar and walked outside, hoping it was all a bad dream.  He felt sick, we put out the call for help.

 

Lemur Music came to the rescue, Chance drove the bass to Lemur and left it with Toni Buffa, who calmed us down, then her great team went to work, carving a new bridge and repairing the bass.  A day later the Bass was back in Chance’s hands, sounding better than ever and ready for the recording session in the nick of time.  

 

It took five days to record all the parts including the band.  Chance played 19 amazing parts on 5 different basses. The Bjoern Stoll German Upright Bass was used for the bass line and part of the melody.  The NS CR4M Upright Bass was used for 5 parts: Trombone 1, Trombone 2, Trombone 3, and Bass Trombone. Chance used three different German bows to create the different trombone sounds. Then the NS CR4M was used for the melody line, both bowed and pizzicato. The NS Piccolo Upright Bass (Chance innovated NS Designs NXT5 string electric cello, restrung it with special strings and tuned it to a high performance piccolo bass, and used his German bows) was used for 9 parts: Alto Sax 1, Alto Sax 2, Tenor Sax 1, Tenor Sax 2, and Baritone Sax, Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola and Cello. The Acoustic Fylde Bass Guitar (restrung with piccolo bass strings) was used for 4 parts: Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2, Trumpet 3 and Trumpet 4. The custom Warrior Dran Michael Electric Bass was used for part of the melody in the beginning and the end, also used to create the compositional arrangements, that included all the string parts, all the horn parts and the melody line.

 

The band “g.o.d.” added to the overall sound: the incredible drums, Doane Perry;  the tasteful and phenomenal jazz guitar, Paul Junior Garrison;light rhythm guitar Chris Gerolmo, (who also brought the much needed Fylde Bass Guitar used for the trumpet parts), and the wonderful keyboards, Dr. David Baron.  Also Doctor O. Kitajima recorded some unique percussion sounds that added to the intrigue of the song. 

 

Special thanks to everyone above for their generosity of time, talent and much valued contributions to this project.  

 

“Feeling Good” (written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley) has a great groove thanks to the close collaboration between Chance Wilder Onody and Doane Perry. Together they set the best feel for an instrumental version of the song.  Again the original idea for the groove changed, and something better was created.    

 

The instrument for the melody line, kept changing as well, should it be his Warrior electric bass, that he is a master at and sounds awesome, or the unique sound of the bowed NS CR4M electric upright bass.  Doctor O. Kitajima wanted the bowed bass, he said no one he knows can bow a Jazz piece, which would also showcase Chance Wilder Onody as a very talented unique Artist.

 

Chance wasn’t sure until he played the song using both instruments for his sister Carrara, just to get an honest perspective from someone who wasn’t at the studio.  Her preference was the bowed electric upright.  With his trust in his sister Carrara and Doctor, he played the NS CR4M for the major melody line, both bowed and pizzicato, then added different basses answering back and forth in the intro and at the end.

 

The teaming of Chance Wilder Onody and producer Doctor O. Kitajima was the right pairing of like minds and great talent, then add to that the talented engineering of Ken Rangkuty. The project turned into a truly amazing, unique product and an incredible calling card for Chance Wilder Onody to say he has arrived.