TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
The mega-process of completing a self-produced album was begun on Friday and ended yesterday around Noon.
In the main, this is the way it went down:
::FRIDAY::
Picked up cargo van from Uhaul
Retrieved necessary bits of gear from Public Storage
Made tracksheet for session
Piled my gear into the Dining Room (after moving the table to the Living Room!)
GEAR included: 4 guitars, 2 amp heads, 2 4x12 cabinets, 2 6-space racks, 3 duffel bags with microphones, cables, accessories, a folding table, a pair of monitor speakers, my PC/monitor/keyboard/mouse, external hard drives, USB license keys, drum kit, bass head, bass 4x12, sundry
(My good friend Phil showed up on Saturday with his 10 space rack full of microphone preamps and Lunchbox, as well as several mics of his own; Phil also did assistant Engineering duties)
::SATURDAY::
Bass player came to my house at 8AM and we loaded all of the gear aside from the drum kit; drove to the drummer's house and loaded his kit and then set out for SIR.
The holiday weekend REALLY worked in our favour as we were able to find ample parking right on 25th St and there was NO traffic!
SIR is by far my favourite room in the city; the staff is great and courteous, the facility is in a great location and is designed for ease of use.
We started actual setup about 10AM ... began mic'ing the drums and getting tones dialed in at 11 ... lunch break just before 2PM ... and actual tracking commenced around 3PM.
As you can see, I ended up mic'ing the guitar from quite far away by today's standards -- about 2ft away for guitar and 18" for bass. I was going for 2 things with the primary tracks -- clean bleed between mics and enough room in each mic where we could bring all the faders up to 0 and have a very close approximation of the sound from the listening position.
We finished tracking just before 11PM. It was a long, grueling day and I did not actually end until 3AM when I brought the final piece of kit in from unloading the van ... and then up at 8AM to return the van to Uhaul.
***
If I could do it differently, what would I change?
I would probably parse the recording out over 2 days instead of trying to get ALL of the primary tracks and guitar doubles complete in one.
***
Is the end result worth all of the effort we put in?
I think so; there is an actual SOUNDSTAGE to the recording, which is what I was aiming for ... you and get a real sense of the width and depth of the recording space without having to resort to digital reverbs.
***
Here is a sample of one of the songs we tracked,
All of the songs were recorded LIVE, with guitar overdubs/harmonies being the only addition.
Now onto Phase 2 -- adding synths, acoustic guitars, and miscellany!!
In the main, this is the way it went down:
::FRIDAY::
Picked up cargo van from Uhaul
Retrieved necessary bits of gear from Public Storage
Made tracksheet for session
Piled my gear into the Dining Room (after moving the table to the Living Room!)
GEAR included: 4 guitars, 2 amp heads, 2 4x12 cabinets, 2 6-space racks, 3 duffel bags with microphones, cables, accessories, a folding table, a pair of monitor speakers, my PC/monitor/keyboard/mouse, external hard drives, USB license keys, drum kit, bass head, bass 4x12, sundry
(My good friend Phil showed up on Saturday with his 10 space rack full of microphone preamps and Lunchbox, as well as several mics of his own; Phil also did assistant Engineering duties)
::SATURDAY::
Bass player came to my house at 8AM and we loaded all of the gear aside from the drum kit; drove to the drummer's house and loaded his kit and then set out for SIR.
The holiday weekend REALLY worked in our favour as we were able to find ample parking right on 25th St and there was NO traffic!
SIR is by far my favourite room in the city; the staff is great and courteous, the facility is in a great location and is designed for ease of use.
We started actual setup about 10AM ... began mic'ing the drums and getting tones dialed in at 11 ... lunch break just before 2PM ... and actual tracking commenced around 3PM.
As you can see, I ended up mic'ing the guitar from quite far away by today's standards -- about 2ft away for guitar and 18" for bass. I was going for 2 things with the primary tracks -- clean bleed between mics and enough room in each mic where we could bring all the faders up to 0 and have a very close approximation of the sound from the listening position.
We finished tracking just before 11PM. It was a long, grueling day and I did not actually end until 3AM when I brought the final piece of kit in from unloading the van ... and then up at 8AM to return the van to Uhaul.
***
If I could do it differently, what would I change?
I would probably parse the recording out over 2 days instead of trying to get ALL of the primary tracks and guitar doubles complete in one.
***
Is the end result worth all of the effort we put in?
I think so; there is an actual SOUNDSTAGE to the recording, which is what I was aiming for ... you and get a real sense of the width and depth of the recording space without having to resort to digital reverbs.
***
Here is a sample of one of the songs we tracked,
All of the songs were recorded LIVE, with guitar overdubs/harmonies being the only addition.
Now onto Phase 2 -- adding synths, acoustic guitars, and miscellany!!
