scratch track
n.— «I closed the door to my booth and put on my headphones. As the musicians recorded, I was supposed to sing a “scratch track,” one that would not be used but would let the band know when the singing would occur. The real singing—me with just the recorded instrumental tracks—was booked for three more hours at 2 p.m.» —“When Walter Mitty Met Conway Twitty” by Bob Baker New York Times Mar. 25, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Carl in Sebastopol, California, was reminded of his childhood on New York’s Lower East Side while ready Harry Golden’s book For 2 Cents Plain (Amazon), the title referring to how customers ordered a plain glass of seltzer. For a little...
The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you’re close to another dimension of space and time. There’s a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go...