I apologize for not updating as much as we should. we're all working really hard trying to get these songs to sound the best we can, sometimes we forget to take pictures/video and post updates. I promise we'll be better about it going forward... we've had an interesting couple of weeks. some new gear, mixed with ...
We spent the better part of Saturday on Amp patrol. We dropped off the AC30 at Boston Guitar Works to get it looked at and to get a new reverb tank installed. They're the place to go if you need a boutique amp and have some amazing gear. After spending a some time perusing and ...
So we finally got around to taking a look at the reverb tank in the AC30 (that's the thing that make's all the cool, dreamy sounds). Sure enough, the thing is all sorts of broke. There is supposed to be 3 springs stretched from one end of the tank to the other, but none (which is ...
We started officially recording guitar today. For the last couple of days, we've been trying to smack some sense into AC30, and it finally listened. Ben got his guitars done for "Talk you down", although we still have some double up some parts with the Big Muff. The AC30 is still periodically making some unsettling rattling ...
I know I'm just a drummer, but something just doesn't look right here.
Well, the vox doesn't seem to be any happier today than yesterday. It's still not sounding right, and to add insult to injuiry, the reverb just just decided to stop working. Loosing the reverb in and of itself isn't a game changer since we use a Holy Grail for most reverb duties, but it does ...
So yesterday was one of those days where everything seems to be a little off ... for some reason nothing felt right. It wasn't all for naught though, as we did manage wrap up bass on "Ghosts", which is coming along nicely. That is however when things took a turn for the worst. We had the ...
As phase 2 of recording progresses, I'd like to introduce you to where I'll be spending a lot of time in the near future: To help expidite our phase 2 recording efforts, I setup a make-shift workstation adjacent to where we are recording. Since coming back from Hounds Hollow, we haven't had a chance to get ...
About half of the songs we're recording will feature some fabulous Fender Baritone Jaguar; in some songs it plays a leading role. It's beautiful sounding guitar with a ton of character and depth. Trying to record it though, is a little bit more difficult. It has a tone somewhere between a guitar and bass, though it ...
It's nice to have my DSLR back. I had lost my battery chager before we left for Hounds Hollow, so i was relegated to iPhone photos after the first day or so, but after scouring the house today, i finally found it; now i'm back in business. Hopefully that means i'll be posting more photos from ...
Now that we're back from recording at Hounds Hollow, we start phase two: finishing up the songs back at the "homestead". Tonight begins this phase, where we'll be working on some more bass and baritone jaguar tracks. We did get about half of the songs worth of bass and jaguar done at the 'Hollow, so ...
I'm a bit of a graphing/charting nerd (everything looks better and is easier to understand when graphed). Since there is a lot of moving parts with recording an album, a nice big chart to help keep things organized and moving forward makes perfect sense. For each song there dozens of parts to record, re-record, mix, ...
So, I'm posting a take of a dry drum track of one of our new songs called (for now anyway) "Talk You Down". I don't think anyone has heard this song as we have yet to play it live, so consider this a sneak peak. What you hear is a quick drum mix that has ...
I started to comp some bass tracks from Hounds Hollow. We recorded a ton of stuff and now we have to pull out the best sounding tracks in the light of day. Listening back to the drum tracks, I'm really happy with how they sound. I'll post some samples shorty, but honestly they're ...
phase one of the new record is complete. we had 30+ new songs which we narrowed down to 17 for recording. once everything's done, we'll choose which ones are going to make it to the record. i'm sure there will be lots of discussions about which songs make it to the final. but it's a ...
bass & jaguar parts are done for 65% of the potential songs for this record. yay! on to guitars. endless combinations of pedals and effects, finding the right combination can be daunting, but when you find the perfect mix... ahhhhhh. jen's knocking out Fire Eater parts right now... the Diana+ camera will be loaded today, photos will ...
This morning brings the appearance of 'recording day eight mike', rocking the modified 'colonel sanders mel' facial hair this morning....just a little extra something to get through the crazy-making process of recording. but luckily mike is not a raging misogynist, racist maniac like the colonel. Meanwhile, we've got another juicy tidbit from 'The Modern Handbook for ...
Tracking some baritone Jaguar on "Meteor Flights" by Logic's glow. This will be our first true recording of this song. We started to demo it a few months ago before we ran into some dongle issues; in other words, I lost the dongle. What's a dongle? Well, let's just say that is ...
what works in a live setting doesn't always work for recording. we spent a good couple hours chasing down a loud hum in one of our amps last night. we've figured it out, so I've torn my pedalboard apart to make the most simple chain of pedals I can, nothing extra. this should work... on a ...
drums are done, hurray! now that we've got the right set up for bass sounds, ben is starting in on 'elemental' and i am perusing the hounds hollow library. many interesting books on all kinds of topics - we have trail books, classics by hemingway, sinclair, & fitzgerald, and a few other little gems like this ...
Wake up this morning, a day after recording "True North", to find that we did indeed use a kick drum mic on the snare - I guess it wasn't a dream after all. The funny thing is that as I'm listening back to the drum tracks, it works. I'm not really sure how or why, ...
Today hasn't gone as smootly as I would have liked. My Dunnett snare started acting up on me, but we finally managed to smack it into shape. I've got one more song to do tonight, which will make four today. I'm pretty happy with four-a-days for drums. The tracking should pick up ...
recording is an interesting animal. it sucks me in and sometimes i neglect to remember that there's a whole outside world which i've removed myself from, to go away and create. create something that others, in this outside world, will appreciate, understand and ultimately enjoy. so for that, i'm sorry. phone calls/emails/text messages/snail mail will ...
it's gorgeous outside - slightly cold and crisp, with lots of sun and a hazy sheen to the light. we got an early start this a.m., and mike is starting to see the finish line for drum tracking in the distance. here are mike & ben are working on getting just the right cymbal sounds for ...
what does a beagle do all day while we're busy making a record? well, lots of sleeping, exploring, sniffing, eating, more sleeping... he also has to endure me putting various objects / articles of clothing on him (hey, there's some down time when recording. gotta have some fun too...)
