OK, Léger did a show last weekend, so a lot of time was spent rehearsing and getting ready for it instead of recording. Last night and tonight we got back to tracking - mostly some percussion stuff and drum add on things.

We did a little funky hihat thing using two 6" splash cymbals as the hats. It was interesting sounding, but a little too trashy tonally until Jeff tried the bamboo bundle sticks, or whatever the hell you call them. Then it started to give a more delicate sound, which is what we were after.

We did some shakers, rainstick, stomping boots and mondo huge toms and kicks miked with LDCs. Most of these tracks will be heavy verb, ambient SFX kind of stuff.

Next up is noises. Don't ask, I only work here.

All BGVs are done. Noise tracking and additional ambient sounds are postponed. Final examination, auto tuning, editing of gaffs and slight rhythmic errors is next.

It's microscope time, and a difficult time for Jordan, who cringes at hearing his own voice. The drummer has near perfect pitch, and is quick to comment on hearing an out-of-tune vocal here and there. He also makes frequent remarks about choices made in phrasing, pronunciation, diction and anything else that pops into his head. And although his observations and questions are valid and sometimes needed and heeded, they certainly irk Jordan, who is already overly critical of himself and his choices.

Of course, the drummer is the most accomplished musician (at least in technical proficiency if not overall musicianship) which makes his criticisms even more annoying, because his drumming is mostly flawless. His choices are usually to excess in busyness and fills, and draws criticism from his bandmates in that area, but even then there is an unspoken awe of his abilities to even play some of the stuff he pulls off.

Nothing is more annoying and obnoxious than listening to an extremely vocal critic who cannot be criticized in turn. If you are one of them, may your day of judgment come soon and crush you.

OK, as promised, last night began the foray into the art of noise. Time to forgo all points of relativity and try the "anything goes" approach.

We started our journey into the realms of strangeness with a Loop Station. The bass player (who is also a very good guitarist) layered about 18 parts on the Loop Station and reversed it to create a bed.

Next, Derek and the drummer took turns doing some odd things with a Line 6 delay and Epiphone Sheraton to make a couple of montages of clicks, whirrs, pops and other wonderful but weird stuff.

Lastly, the drummer did a series of chords, fading them in with the volume control. I tracked it all and layered, compressed, equalized and panned them to produce a 57 second intro to A Room Without Walls. It sounds strangely beautiful.

Happy 4th to all.

Sorry for the delay, but I'm making a huge career adjustment and had to take some time off the project. I've been a full-time worship pastor for 12 years at my church, but I'll be leaving that position tomorrow (August 13th, 2006) to pursue something else, I'm not sure what.

I've also got some severe patchbay issues that need to be addressed, so it will be a couple more weeks before we get back on track with the mixing stage of our project. I've got to put some items (Toft ATC-2, ADR F760X-RX Compex) in my rack and patchbays that I've been waiting for the right down-time.

Those who are faith-type people, please pray for us as we make these transitions.

Hey, Steve.

This is a really fun read. I'd like to hear some clips. you might put together a 1-2 minute file with clips from different songs.

I'm digging the guitar tones on the older stuff. Had to search around a little, and I think this link might work better. the one in your signature gives me a 404 error.
http://www.songramp.com/homepage.php?userid=3788

"Likewise" rocks! Right up my alley.

After many months, two ADC punch-block type patchbays installed, redesigned racks, revamped and reorganized studio, a new church that is meeting in my home every Sunday and a long period of feeling like I was paralyzed, (due to having to reinvent myself at the age of 55) the studio is back up and running.

During the testing period where I did trouble-shooting for each of the patchbay points and rack gear I ran some drum tracks and some old mixes through the ADR F706X-RS Compex Stereo Comp/Limiter. OMG!!! I'll no longer need to save up for a Smart C2 or SSL. I've found my mix comp. In your face, pop-type crunchiness and tone for days, not to mention I can slam it with more than 10-12db of compression and hardly hear it working. And to think the local Guitar Central sold it to me for $125 because they didn't know what it was. I added $260 for new caps, cleaning and alignment and I'm ready to mix some stuff.

This week I'm mixing a quickie project for a violinist friend and then Léger gets my full attention. The long train running is near the caboose.

OK, shame on neglectful me, forgetting about all you out there. Here's the first mix I can share:

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=53086

Enjoy! More to follow.

Sounds great, Steve. The mix is nice and tight, the drums smack nicely, and I'm gonna guess this was a song tracked with flatwounds on the bass...

This project definitely sounds like it's worth the time you've been putting in. It's gotta be gratifying to help your kids put something together like this...I know there are times when my dad just sits in the studio and smiles when I'm working on a mix of something...I can't imagine having seen the whole project through from scratch tracks on...you'll have to put up info for getting my hands on the whole album when it's finished.

Thanks for the kind words, Ian.

You can hear the first 4 songs I've mixed (and any subsequent mixes I complete as time goes on) at my songramp.com page in my sig file. They will all be at the top of my list of songs.

I like the song very much! I am going to check out the other tracks too. Great job! I love the drums. And also the song is very dynamic.

evt

7 songs up now, though I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with one or two of them. That's the real trick to this, isn't it? Knowing when to stop.

Wow, the last two months went by like a whirlwind. Wife's mom passed away, church is exploding, and Leger is dying for me to finish mixing. Oh well, time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...

Just uploaded a recent mix - "Le Bonne Nuit (Goodnight)" a great song making ample use of Derek's Rhodes. Check it out on my Songramp.com page listed below. Later.

It's been a great read, thanks for sharing your experience. I have a question, what sample rate did you record the album at?

Thanks,

Rob

Everything was recorded into Digital Performer via a MOTU 2408 mkII at 44.1/24 bit.

Thanks for your reply. Out of curiosity, do you ever use 96k?

My hardware/software setup doesn't allow 96k. But I honestly don't think I'd hear a difference, since at the age of 55 my hearing tops out at about 18k.

44.1k is theoretically good for frequencies up to 22k, which I already don't hear. Do you?

Hi Steve,

I love your songs and the recording of it. I had already heard in the past and was impressed, but I was just checking out your songs again on songramp, great stuff!!!
I just joined songramp too.
Very cool!
-ev

Thanks EVT, I checked out some of your stuff too. Nice! Take a listen to "Renecer" on my songramp page. It's a Venezuelan Gaita that a client/friend recorded.

Hi Steve,

really enjoyed listening, you are very talented,

Wish you success.


http://www.mydrumsclub.com/