Jan. Session Wrap-Up

[madbean]

So, we had an extremely productive recording session. We went in the studio for three days hoping to finish a 6 song EP, and we ended up with an 11 song album. Far more than we could have imagined. We ended up tracking some alternate demos and wrote a couple of new songs while we were there. Plus, we got some incredible sounds happening, esp. on the drums and guitars.

I learned a really important lesson here in that I don't need as much gear as I think I do. Through the whole session I used mostly a mix of the Timeline and Echo Base (both have tap tempo). I took other delays but those covered all the ground I needed. A couple of tunes I used the FatPants and on one I used the Low Rider which sounded so, so fat. I did not use any overdrive or distortion. Between that and four guitars and a baritone I managed to get a great range of tones. It's really got me thinking about how to maximize flexibility and minimize my rig at the same time. I would have used the Sub Mini Rump Roast or Kingslayer but both acted up at the studio and could not be used.

All in all, it was a great time. Very relaxed atmosphere with my best friends and a chance to get away for a few days. Kinda like the fishing trip you would take with your buddies except you make a record instead. It helps that the studio is owned by the other guitar player's parents so there is no pressure. I'm a lucky dude!

[pickdropper]

Very cool, Brian.  Sounds like a lot of fun.

[culturejam]

Glad to hear you guys got some much done. Can't wait to hear the results!

[midwayfair]

We went in the studio for three days hoping to finish a 6 song EP, and we ended up with an 11 song album.

Major congrats on that. That's an amazing achievement and I'm very envious of your ability to do that.

Be careful. Once you start realizing that you don't "need" gear, you run the risk of switching to acoustic and playing folk music. It's coffeeshops all the way down.

[Haberdasher]

sweet, can't wait to hear it

[raulduke]

Sounds like a great way to spend the weekend!

Looking forward to hearing the results dude.

[gtr2]

Awesome.  Glad you got much accomplished.

Josh

[electricstorm]

Glad to hear you covered more than you thought you would. Sounds like you had a great time!

[GermanCdn]

"I don't need as much gear as I think I do".  A sad, but true, statement.  Working on a new demo right now in my temp studio, loaded it up with four pedal boards, 20 guitars, and 7 amps, ended up using 7 guitars, 8 pedals, and 3 amps, and they were all my go to standards with the exception of one.

Glad to hear everything went smoothly and you were more productive than you intended to be.  Like the analogy of fishing to recording, except I've never wanted to kill the drummer on a fishing trip, lol.  Now, if you could combine the two....

Looking forward to the new builds.

[madbean]

Couple other things I thought of:

The LowRider does a pretty good approximation of an organ. I used it to fill in for a keyboard part with the down octave fully up, 2nd low octave and upper octave about 1/3rd up and some delay. It sounded so, so huge playing the keyboard part.

One issue I found with the AC15: we discovered that when I play an open E minor chord it would produce a low rattle or rapid vibrato kind of sound. But, only when the 3rd and 4th strings were played together and only that chord. Really weird, like some resonance shaking a power tube or something. Gotta figure out how to fix that!

Also, my $300 Agile Harm is quite a great guitar I found! The pickups are not the best, but it has got a lot of chunky low end in it.

[lincolnic]

As a professional recording engineer, I am really impressed that you guys ended up doing five extra songs. That never happens! Right on for productivity.

[madbean]

Thanks!

The nice thing about playing with the same guys for 20 years is you fall right into step with one another, even after a long break. We hadn't played as a "band" in nearly 5, but really after a little warm-up it's just like putting on your favorite set of clothes. Plus, we keep our egos in check! We take suggestions easily from one another...and don't take it personally when someone says "play less", ha ha.

[lincolnic]

We take suggestions easily from one another...and don't take it personally when someone says "play less", ha ha.

In my experience, this may be the most important skill to have in any recording session.

[neiloler]

Awesome Brian, I love it when that happens. Really interested in hearing the results!

We went in the studio for three days hoping to finish a 6 song EP, and we ended up with an 11 song album.

Major congrats on that. That's an amazing achievement and I'm very envious of your ability to do that.

Be careful. Once you start realizing that you don't "need" gear, you run the risk of switching to acoustic and playing folk music. It's coffeeshops all the way down.

\

Best thing I've read all day.

[neiloler]

Couple other things I thought of:

The LowRider does a pretty good approximation of an organ. I used it to fill in for a keyboard part with the down octave fully up, 2nd low octave and upper octave about 1/3rd up and some delay. It sounded so, so huge playing the keyboard part.

I've been thinking of making another Low Rider in a really big enclosure, and then having a buffered FX loop inserted right before/after the pot to control each octave's level (the mixer amplifier section), that way you could have different FX on each of the octaves, etc. Very complicated, big, unruly build, but it could be a one-off that would produce amazing sounds...