Andrew Bird’s blog over at the New York Times discusses the recording process and all of the myriad decisions made that eventually “make a song.”

We discuss a lot of things to help us get the songs just right — like not hitting cymbals because the crashes can be “cheap thrills.” Instead we favored the dark, walloping sound of the toms. Often times the choice becomes: Do you give the song what it wants? Or do you go against its demands?

(Via Sippey)