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Sunday, February 20, 2011
hide yo kids, hide yo wife...
Saturday, February 19, 2011
We come from the land of ice and snow...
Heavy weather on its way. That's a Zep AND Weather Report reference in the same blog post.
We're starting another day of tracking this afternoon. My attention is on the forecast for tomorrow. 10 to 14 inches of snow is a possibility. I hope everybody can get to the 'church on time'. (Bowie ref for the rock trifecta).
Stay tuned for an evening progress report.
We're starting another day of tracking this afternoon. My attention is on the forecast for tomorrow. 10 to 14 inches of snow is a possibility. I hope everybody can get to the 'church on time'. (Bowie ref for the rock trifecta).
Stay tuned for an evening progress report.
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Friday, February 18, 2011
to do lists...
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Monday, February 14, 2011
'Pour some sugar on it!'
(link to Picasa picture folder)
The first weekend of tracking went better than expected. I was very leery about starting this whole recording and mixing session. There was a large amount of unknowns and an equal amount of 'that's going to be a pain in the ass'-edness. Ryan, the singer and guitar player in the band, had a desire to do one more album the old fashioned way. I could either pass on the opportunity or go along for the ride. I don't have much more hair to lose from stress so I jumped right in.
North Styrenn is a band that I have worked with since 2002. I started working with them when I was an assistant at Oarfin Records. Ryan was an intern there for awhile and got a deal to track his band in our studio B. That first session was really fun and listening back to the 'flannel shirt / pseudo Brit Pop rock, I must say we all did a pretty decent job.
The band would come in a couple more times during my stint at Oarfin. We recorded about 8 songs before the studio closed its doors in December of 2003. In January or February of 04, Victor Johnson, the bass player/guitar player of North Styrenn, came in to record his solo album.
The band would follow me to A440 studios in 2004. We did 2 songs there along with finishing Victor's solo project. Sometime in late 2004/early 2005 (I am starting to forget dates), the band finally set out to record a 'real' album. We chose to do it at The Hideaway studios which was connected to A440. That album was tracked to 2 inch with a vast selection of great outboard gear that was housed at The Hideaway. That project was loads of fun and I think the band came into its own during that time. We all did in fact. The end result was an EP that displayed a growth in the writing of the band. It would also mark the last official release of the band. During the North Styrenn 'dark ages', there would be countless demo sessions at their practice space and at Ryan's home studio, Gettysburg Studio. The band took some time off (hiatus is what the pros call it) and we always talked about doing 'just 1 more record'.
Shit...that was in 06. I'm not good at telling stories so....
Fast forward to THIS DECADE. We all finally got our heads out of each other's asses and started the album. The songs have been on the burner for a couple years. Some are newer. There are about 15 songs that will be recorded. The band wanted to do the album all in the analog world. To the layman, that means we won't be using any digital recording software. No Pro Tools or any other software. This is a totally obscure way of doing a record these days. I started with analog tape and always loved the challenge in working with it not to mention the sound that comes from recording to tape. It's certainly a lost art and most bands these days don't even know what it's like to work with tape.
I'll stop with the history lesson for now. I will gladly post some techy stuff for people to read about but I'm guessing most of that will be pretty boring. I'll keep uploading musings, pics and videos as the session progresses.
Drums for 5 songs are done.
Until next time...'pour some sugar on it'!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
On to tape 2
Each reel of 2 inch holds about 16 mins of music. We're starting our 2nd of 5 reels. I miss being able to open a virgin reel of tape.
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talk talk talk
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Day 2.5
Who would have thought I wouldn't have time to write a bit more last night? Well, the 2nd season of The Shield came in so there. Today we continue with drum tracking follwed by tear down. Good thing I paid all that money for rock n roll school because my documentation skillz will be tested.
More to come today.
More to come today.
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Saturday, February 12, 2011
inspirado
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wiring underway
Ugh. We are basically wiring the 'control room' right now. Haven't played a note yet. Hopefully everything will produce sound.
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Friday, February 11, 2011
Tracking the North Styrenn album (pictures, video and banter).
I'll keep it short and simple for now since I've waited until the last minute to get this thing up and runnin'.
I'm producing/recording a band and it's going to be quite an unusual experience. I'll try to gather up most of the details later but I can tell you that it's going to be with some friends of mine...North Styrenn. We're doing something different this time around- tracking and mixing all analog, in a remote location, flying by the seat of our pants. We're loading in the rest of the gear tonight and making sure it's go time by tomorrow morning. Haribo Gummi Colas at the ready alongside fresh new reels of 2 inch.
Be patient. This could either be really, really cool or a complete waste of our collective time.
I'm producing/recording a band and it's going to be quite an unusual experience. I'll try to gather up most of the details later but I can tell you that it's going to be with some friends of mine...North Styrenn. We're doing something different this time around- tracking and mixing all analog, in a remote location, flying by the seat of our pants. We're loading in the rest of the gear tonight and making sure it's go time by tomorrow morning. Haribo Gummi Colas at the ready alongside fresh new reels of 2 inch.
Be patient. This could either be really, really cool or a complete waste of our collective time.
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