Lou with his favorite teacher (Mrs. Somers) from his high school

"One of the things that will allow this setting to be so in touch with nature is the fact that a wide ridge or hill sits behind us which completely cuts off from view even the lodge. The lodge of course provides electricity via the power cords that I use, so it is a nice arrangement. We have modern convenience at the top of the hill but nowhere in view. On our present side of the hill we see only trees, campsite and pond. The campfire is located just to the edge of the twin oaks, two towering trees that shade our tents by the side of the pond. Across the pond are more trees which become the woods. Our campfire is made up of a circle of big rocks, giving us a fireplace perhaps 5 feet in diameter. It is near this campfire where I stack the wood. Some already split, some not - the larger logs are good for later in the evening for the long slow burning fires. This is nature, a place for us to delight in His creation. It is the place of this fire, and also the fire within our spirits. This setting will soon be busy as others arrive to setup for our adventure and to join in on new experiences tonight."

The last thing on N-Track I can say is to make use of the "Fade In" and "Fade Out" features if you like that sort of thing, since it works so easily here. Also, spend the extra $20 and get the F.A.Soft Compressor DirectX plug-in if you can. It really does a wonderful job of bringing up the volume without any distortion or squelch. Flavio gives more of the technical reasons to use this, I just know that it works and does really enhance the sound of our recordings, and yes, I love the "Soft Knee Compression", as he has recommended for us.

Where do we go from here? Kal and I are happy campers just recording our sounds and having fun. Our first CD "OutBack" is more a labor of love than anything else. It is strictly a home project done at our home studio, called "Pine View Studios". We are giving another month to further song creation and practice, and then plan to take our sounds on the road. By the road I mean a few coffee houses and perhaps outdoor venues this spring, summer and fall of 2003. Time is often a factor, but when you are having fun that seems to make a way for itself. Last, my compliments again to N-Track! I've used this for about 4 years and am very impressed with the latest version. Our best regards and wishes to all fellow N-Track artists out here!

Kal playing djembe

KAL'S STORY: [..] Percussion instruments always interested me since I was young. Back in India where I am originally from I didn't formally ever get a chance to learn them. After moving to the U.S. and meeting Lou, I found this opportunity! Lou was involved in a band, and also with playing and recording music on his own. Lou had a great interest in "acoustical" music which correlated beautifully with my own interests. Lou has an array of musical instruments from all over the world, and mentioned that he has a Djembe and asked me if I would like to play for his band. I just jumped on the opportunity and started playing ever since with Lou. I have been playing the Djembe for two years now. I have listened to the West African music and am quite familiar with the sounds that can be produced from the Djembe. From the first moment of joining the band I got a lot of encouragements from my friends and since then I am playing the Djembe in my own way. I have now also included the Latino Bongos adapting them to my playing style. Some of our most recent songs include these. I still haven't had the chance to sign up for any formal training in Djembe, but I hope to sometime in the future. Basically, we just like to have fun playing at this point, with no commercial interest. We are exploring our own way of creating some neat music with Nature. That's our primary motto!!!"