Updated sometimes.
Usually three or four months after things happen.
MARCH The highlight of March was working with The Ericksons: two sisters from Minneapolis, via Brooklyn. Jenny and Bethany have been writing songs and touring for the past five years, and already have a very strong album behind them. However, they wanted to expand on their sound (primarily acoustic guitar, some banjo) a bit, and they came to me with the idea of tracking a record somewhere between a stripped-down 'singer-songwriter' album and a dense 'full band' album.
To accomplish this, I enlisted the services of drummer Jeff Sauer (of Czarbles and Exurbs) and bassist Josh Franke. We made an incredible effort to keep additional elements (bells, drums, percussion, electric guitar, organ) as subtle and tasteful as possible. Our biggest fear was making an overproduced record: it was very important that nothing distract from the strength of the Erickson's writing and performing. It was an exercise in extreme restraint, and the entire project was focused very precisely on making sure our parts and playing were appropriate, tasteful, and subtle.
Because Jenny and Bethany are such strong performers, I felt it was important to maintain this element on the album. Most of our basic tracks were done live, with very little or no isolation. For two of the songs, we tracked them using a pair of microphones, live to two-track tape, no headphones. I was lucky enough to borrow a vintage AKG C12 for the project (thank you, Tim Curtis), and this paired with Smart's vintage U47 very nicely. Some of the best vocal sounds I've ever recorded.
After three very long days, we had an album's worth of material tracked. This was the last session I will track at Smart, and I cannot imagine a better way to close my time there: working with close friends (both new and old) to bring an incredibly organic creative work to life. Thank you to everyone involved for making this a recording experience I will never forget. I will be mixing the songs in my new home studio over the next two months, and I cannot wait to hear the completed album.
FEBRUARY A large part of the month was spent mixing the Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin record. After overdubbing in Portland and back home in Springfield, the band sent nine of the songs to me for mixing (the others went to the project's producer, Chris Walla). It was exciting to hear where the songs had evolved to since they left me back in September, and I was thrilled to finish them in the same room I started them. In an effort to get away from staring at glowing rectangle all day, I mixed them through the A-Range, using Flying Faders, and relied only on analog outboard for processing. The album will be mastered by Roger Siebel at SAE, and is due out on Polyvinyl in several months.
JANUARY The New Year brought big news and some big changes. On January 1st I was notifiied that Smart Studios would be closing in several months. Smart has been my musical home for the better part of a decade, and I'm completely devasted to see it go. However, I still plan on making music and recording, and I'm both excited and optimistic for the freedoms and opportunities this change will provide me. Over the next few months, I plan on relocating (to the West Coast), improving both my home studio and my mobile recording setup, and changing the way I make records. If you're interested in working together, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Time Since Western returned to Smart to mix another song we tracked in Portland last summer, and both Andrew and I were even happier with the way this one turned out. Mastering was handled again by John Golden, and his work sounds fantastic. I hope to work with both Time Since Western and John in the near future.
DECEMBER I must have been well-behaved this year, because December brought me several wonderful gifts. The first was spending a day working with Charlemagne. The Charlemagne debut was one of the records I completely fell in love with when I started working at Smart, and I had always hoped I would have the opportunity to work with Carl and Emily. We spent the day tracking their Bowie + Eno influenced-song '4-ever', and I continued mixing it while they went to play a show that night. Great music, wonderful people to work with.
The second gift was mixing three more songs for Mr. Gnome. To fill the gaps between records, Mr. Gnome decided to relase an EP for their upcoming tour. My only instruction was to 'go completely crazy', and I was left alone with that concept in mind. Lots of BX-10, Space Echo, distortion pedals, and even some Serge modular synthisizer ended up adding to the madness. If you'd like to hear these songs (on the 'Tastes Like Magic' B-sides EP) or any of the other Mr. Gnome work, it can be found at mrgnome.bigcartel.com.
NOVEMBER Chris Walla returned for more electronic music composition. Our approach was more sophisticated this time, and we managed to setup and maintain multiple layers of synchronization (audio level, between Logic and the Studer 827; MIDI level, between Logic and various drum machines; and 'prehistoric clock' level, between MIDI and pulse-based clocks). Our approach at songwriting was a bit more refined as well, and we finished with solid groundwork for several songs this time around. This session was also the first opportunity I had to bring the 200e out for a test-drive, and it performed very well: musical, tasteful, and reliable - but also experimental, bizzarre, and exotic. I look forward to using it on upcoming sessions, and I'm excited to continue working on these songs.
OCTOBER Began mixing the first four songs of the upcoming Testa Rosa album - more mixing to take place in November. In the meantime, check out the track 'Rostock' (from their album Testa Rosa) at Thule.com: click the arrow to the right, and choose 'Switch Gears' to bikes.
The Exurbs artwork is complete. An impressive visual package will accompany the relase, which will be available via iTunes or digital download (for those that purchase the visual component).
SEPTEMBER Two projects dominated September: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Mr Gnome.
SSLBY are four awesome guys from Springfield, Missouri. Will, Phil, John and Jonathan came to Smart to make their next record with producer Chris Walla. Together, we laid the groundwork for the album - drums, bass, guitars, and a few keyboards - over 22 days. From there, the band traveled to Portland (after a short break) to finish overdubs with Chris. A wonderful group of guys writing great songs. It was a great experience.
Mr Gnome is a two-piece from Cleveland, comprised of Nicole Barille (on guitars and vocals) and Sam Meister (drums, keyboards, and the occasional ominous vocal). I had the pleasure of mixing their previous album Deliver This Creature, and they returned to mix their new album Heave Yer Skeleton with me at Smart Studios. Mr. Gnome and I share a lot of musical loves (including using too much delay), and they trusted my insticts enough to turn me loose with their new record. Tracked in Los Angeles at Josh Homme's Pink Duck Studios with Justin Smith and at Ante Up Audio with Adam Korbesmeyer, Heave Yer Skeleton extends and experiments with elements Deliver This Creature only touched on. Look for it in November.
AUGUST In August, I recieved a custom modular synthesizer from Buchla and Associates.
The 200e Series is the modern incarnation of Don's legendary 200 Series, and in many ways is a logical extension of that system. Designed in the 'West Coast' style of synthesizers, it is more of an open system than the subtractive Moog design. Control voltages travel on stackable banana cables, audio on mini phono jacks. Most of the modules offer a incredibly concentrated amount of functionality, and have rather esoteric names (i.e. 'Source of Uncertainty'). The advantages of the 200e system are many, including patch memory, full MIDI implementation, and the fact that it is currently in production. And, just like the orginals, they are hand-built in Berkely by Don and his Associates. I look forward to learning and using the 200e on future sessions.
Testa Rosa began tracking songs for their next release. One of the joys of returning projects is hearing how the band, the writing, and and the music has grown and evolved. Testa Rosa is no different. This round of tracks includes a 'classic' Testa Rosa tune, an edgier rocker, and a sprawling epic. I'm excited to see where these lead.
Time Since
Western and I mixed one of the songs we recorded in Portland. While the tracks we returned with already sounded pretty good, being back at Smart helped me make sense of a few issues with the mix. Add a little BX-20 and Super Prime Time, and a moody, spacious song got even deeper. Listen to 'Dizzy' here.
I spent a day tracking drums with Lake Delton - the new project from Awesome Car Funmaker frontman Ryan Corcoran. Shifting gears from high-energy rock to a more introspective sound, Ryan has developed a talent for recording himself over the past five years. However, he still wanted to capture high-quality drum sounds and performances, and I was happy to help him with some big rock drum sounds.
Nora Germain, her brother Carl, and session bassist Matt Rogers spent a day tracking and mixing some standards, including a great Django tune. All live, all on tape, no computers, no editing, fast and dirty, it was a welcome breath from the largely electronic works I've been doing lately.
JULY Three studios, two states,
and many, many hours later: the Gardening, Not Architecture album is officially complete. It might be the most fractured record I've made. Some songs are
completely electronic, some are completely organic, but most have
elements of each. Parts of it were completed several years ago, and
parts of it are brand new. Tracked on RADAR, ProTools, and Logic, and
mixed at Hall of Justice, Smart, and my home studio. Also, the two
members involved in the project live 2000 miles apart. Whew.
In the end, Sarah Saturday's voice and lyrics act as a thread to tie
all of the songs together, giving the album a familiar, human
continuity. It's a great record, and Sarah is currently touring in support of it. Mastering was once again handled by Roger Seibel at
SAE. Many humble thanks.
~
Nathaniel Bartlett is a marimbist that recently returned to the Madison area. Mike Zirkel and I worked with him a few years back, recording an album comprised of his own compositions, Steve Reich pieces, and Phillip Glass pieces. He's also very in touch with multi-dimensional sound, incorporating it both into his recordings and his performances. In his own words:
My performances seamlessly meld my five-octave acoustic marimba with electronics, a powerful custom computer named Atlas, and an eight-channel cube of loudspeakers.
Nathanial returned to Smart to record a library of esoteric percussion samples to use on his next album. Because he often pitches them down several octaves, they needed to be high-quality, high-resolution samples. He brought a ridiculous amount of strange percussion object I had neither seen nor heard of, and left with 25GB of audio to sort through.
JUNE Completing the Go
Motion mix, I returned to
Portland, OR for more work at Hall
of Justice. Several days getting
settled prepared me for my
first project: Gardening,
Not Architecture.
Starting
with outlines of songs prepared months before, we tracked in an
'open' format: whatever we felt the song needed was added. Anything
we felt got in the way was left out. After weeks of very
specific working, it was liberating to record music this way: letting
the music go where it
wanted. The songs we tracked will be completed
and mixed once I return home, but they already show promise in their
unmixed state.
MARCH,
APRIL Over a year ago, I
started a casual recording project with two dear friends: Jeff Sauer
(Czarbles)
and
Andrew Fitzpatrick (All
Tiny
Creatures, Yoinkles
Gibraltar). When we started, it
was to be an experiment - simply
three
people in a studio, recording whatever they wanted to record at the
moment. We gave
ourselves the limitation of working on 2" tape to prevent any
second-guessing, editing, or other distractions. Six songs came out of
the session, and we left it at that.
However, after some listening, it became apparent that the material we
had tracked had merit, and we decided to complete it. We had several
additional sessions - a few overdubs, and some mixing, and by March, we
all felt like all of the songs had been completely actualized. The
result is an interesting mix of 70's German experimentalism and "My
Life In The Bush of Ghosts" playfulness. The project (entitled Exurbs)
will be released later this year via Zod
Records.
FEBRUARY After a few months off, Go Motion returned to Smart to continue work on their next full-length release. Eight long days of work brought us to the point of having all drum, bass, guitar, and most keyboard tracking taken care of. Once again the SPL Transient Designers were a big help in getting the drum sounds I wanted, and we chose to supplement the live kick and snare tracks with samples triggered from a LinnDrum. Guitars were all tracked using the Trident A-Range's preamps, and direct bass was tracked using the A-Designs REDDI. I simply cannot say enough good things about this DI box.
The songs have all been precisely adjusted to fit the optimum tempo, and care has been taken to leave space in the mixes for vocal tracks. It's shaping up to be a fantastic dance record, and I'm really excited to hear the vocals we record next month. It has been a long record to make, but the best part (mixing) is on the horizon.
......
Cougar signs with Ninja Tune! While the details are still being worked out, it appears as though the record we mixed (Patriot) will be released on Ninja Tune later this year. This is fantastic news - Ninja Tune (home of Kid Koala, Coldcut, DJ Food) has long been one of my favorite labels, and I'm honored to have my work be associated with them in any way, shape or form.
......
The Pale Young Gentlemen record I produced (Black Forest Tra La La) was reviewed positively on Pitchforkmedia.com, for whatever that is worth.
JANUARY Chris Walla returned for another week of synthesizer and sequencer work. While our first excursions were a bit aimless and meandering, it appears as though we've developed a method for writing and recording electronic music that is both spontaneous and organized. Dedicating ourselves to the Studer A827 is a very helpful 'limitation' that also lends a very pleasant sonic fingerprint to the music. Our setup has grown more complicated each time (I counted 12 sequencers, all locked together in time during this session), and the music has started to refine into something quite listenable and enjoyable.
Cougar was back in the studio again, this time mixing a track not featured on the album. The song is a collaboration between the band and Paul Smith (of Maximo Park), and the only Cougar song to feature vocals. Aggressive synthesizers, lots of Valley People kick and snare sounds.
As other work has slowed a bit, I've had more time to work on the various side-projects I've accrued - including the Krautrock-inspired recordings I made with dear friends Jeff Sauer and Andrew Fitzpatrick. Revisiting these tape-tracked experiments a year later has been an exciting rediscovery of inspired sonics. A few guitar, synthesizer and percussion overdub sessions (plus liberal use of the Eventide H3000) has brought us even closer to completing these six tracks.DECEMBER If
I could sum up the last few months of work in a
single word, it would be synthesis. The focus of most of my projects
has become very electronic lately. Perhaps I had some sort of
premonition back in August. I spent a cluster of days with Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie
and Tim Curtis, generating sounds and working on methods for electronic
music production. We had a pretty large collection of vintage and
modern synthesizers (including an EMS VCS3) at our fingertips, and they
were utilized to the fullest. Plans have been made for more sessions in
the future.
I also spent a long weekend working with Clive Tanaka (and numerous friends)
on the holiday-themed dance track 'Gift of the Magi'. Thanks to Clive, Kilroy, Awesome Car Funmaker and
others for holiday memories that will last a lifetime.
NOVEMBER Mixed five songs with We The Living at Smart Studios. While most rock projects
I've worked on recently have happened at a pretty fast clip, We The
Living took the time to make sure everything sounded proper. We ended
up recalling the first song we mixed, and made some slight improvements
to it - an incredibly luxury for me. It was thrilling to work on songs
until they felt properly executed, with nothing lacking. The API 550b
EQ was indispensable on this project - from guitars to vocals to the
mix bus itself, they proved themselves time and time again. I also
managed to make good use of the Serge
modular system for one of the tracks that needed some extra
atmosphere.
I also tracked and mixed several songs with Magnetars - a dense,
atmospheric rock band from Chicago. This was the best possible case of
home/commercial studio convergence via ProTools: having brought scratch
tracks from home, they recorded new tracks over them. I had a blueprint
for all of the songs, and it made for very fast, very efficient work.
Our mixes came close to being finished, but we left them knowing there
would be subtle changes yet. Again, advantage goes to computer-based
recording.
OCTOBER Brad Loving is an electronic artist from Chicago,
making music under the name Lobisomem. I was fortunate to have the
opportunity to mix Brad's newest record at Smart Studios, using the
Trident A-Range console. It was exciting to mix an 'in-the-box' record
through an analog console, using analog outboard and summing, then
print the mixes to the ATR-102. As much as I love pure, raw electronic
tones, being able to put some air/transformers/oxide between sound and
my ears is usually a pleasant thing. Mixing Lobisomem was no different,
and the result was a complex juxtaposition of tones and colors. Out on
vinyl in 2009.
SEPTEMBER
Rediscovered how much I enjoy working with analog electronics.
I often use synthesizers as processing tools while mixing records -
their experimental nature is something I find extremely rewarding. I
sometimes forget that synthesizers and electronic music is what drew me
to recording in the first place.
........
Heard mastered versions of the Cougar
record, the Freshwater Collins
record, and the Pale
Young Gentlemen record for the first time this week. Roger Siebel
at SAE mastered all of
them, and once again, he has done fantastic work. I'm excited to hear
them on vinyl.
........
Finally bought Radiohead's OK Computer on 180 gram vinyl. I
can't believe I forgot how good this record is.
AUGUST
August was dance music - an interesting and refreshing change.
Molly Bancroft and I
worked together, tracking vocals over instrumental tracks. Molly is an
incredibly talented vocalist and songwriter who has written songs with
a number of DJs and producers (The Orb, Gabriel & Dresden, John Shelvin, Morgan Page). Molly approached
me with a simple task: record high-quality vocals and harmonies,
leaving enough options for the song to be arranged, mixed, and remixed
at a later date. Not having a specific mix goal was a very liberating
way to work, and we managed to be very productive - usually completing
a song per day.
Spent another day working with Clive
Tanaka. Clive has a penchant for analog gear and methods, and this
track was no different. In the spirit of 70s disco, we mixed his new
track 'I Want You (So Bad)' directly off the Studer 827 24-track, used
only console automation (Flying Faders), and printed the final mix to
the ATR-102.
Go Motion has made a
conscious effort to make their next record closer to dance music.
Tempos have slowed down, parts are simplified, and basslines have
become more important. After several recent sessions, we're nearing the
end of tracking - only some keyboards and vocals left to record. Every
time I work on this record, I'm reminded of how incredible the REDDI sounds on
bass guitar.
........
The
Hotel Lights record Firecracker People is out now, on Bar None Records.
I had a very small hand in this record - the incredibly talented Al
Weatherhead is the reason this record sounds so incredible.
JULY
Drumagog came to Smart Studios and myself with
the intent of creating a custom drum sample library for the newest
version of their drum-replacment software. Having a high-quality
library of drum samples (from a room I know and love) is the sort of
mixing tool I've dreamed of for a while now, and I was excited to have
a hand in creating sounds for the library.
The mic setup for this project was very thorough. Because the option of
adjusting ambience and spatial information afterwards was very
important, I used more mics than I would on a normal drum tracking
session. Kicks and snares each had three microphones, toms each had
two, and overheads were recorded both in stereo and mono.
Adding to the close mics were several different room mic combinations:
a single U47 for mono, a C24 for stereo, an MS pair for additional
stereo, and a compressed mono kit mic.
The sampling process was also very thorough. We used four different
kits (two modern, two vintage) and a number of snares and cymbal
combinations. Each drum was multisampled at eight different velocity
levels, and we recorded sixteen variations for each of the eight
velocity levels. It took a very long time, and was a bit mind-numbing
at points.
Thankfully, Drumagog will spend all of the time editing, sorting, and
arranging all of the samples.
JUNE
My two month marathon of work has ended, and two records are done: Pale Young Gentlemen and
Cougar.
The Pale Young Gentlemen record is strikingly more mature than their
first release - more space, better pacing, and more sophisticated
writing. The lack of piano and the addition of strings is perhaps the
most tangible difference, but it's also very different sonically.
Our goal was to make a modern pop record that didn't feel modern. Make
it sound 'old' without resorting to the t elephone filter trick. We
tried to be delicate (but not too delicate) during the recording and
mixing process. We were subtle with compression, tried to make sure it
didn't get too bright or too loud, and left some parts rough around the
edges.
The Cougar record couldn't be any more different. Discrete and modern
sounding, it utilizes both acoustic instruments and electronic
treatments to create vast, sprawling soundscapes. We used large amounts
of destructive compression to transform drum sounds. Some of the songs
clocked in at over 90 tracks, with multiple sections or 'movements',
each movement using different drum treatments, spaces, etc. It was a
much more complicated record to mix, but the end result is very
listenable, very dramatic.
One thing both of them relied on heavily during the mixing process was
outboard gear. I can feel my excitement for 'in-the-box' mixing
starting to wane.
.........
Started to dig into Max/MSP a bit more. Max/MSP is a situation where my
ideas for projects outgrow my abilities to build them, then vice-versa.
So far, most of the work I've done has been generative devices, but I'd
like to use it more as a processing tool in the future.
Continued developing ambient soundscapes for a collaboration with
Andrew Fitzpatrick. I've used the Denshi Block
electronic system I got as a birthday gift last year for a lot of these
tracks. I've had good luck building different types of radio receivers,
then sabotaging certain parts of them and recording the results.
Spent a fair amount of time recording mundane sounds around my house
(faucets, typewriters, bird, tea kettles, toilets....) with the
eventual goal of writing some 'found object' music.
Having a pair of great-sounding preamps has made me want to record the
entire world around me.
MAY
Working almost every day for the next six weeks. The majority of time
will be spent either tracking the new Pale Young Gentlemen record or
mixing the new Cougar record. Interspersed with these projects will be
days with Silent Sirens, Testa Rosa, Letter 8, and perhaps even a day
off or two. Maybe.
Pale Young Gentlemen continued with four days of strings overdubs and
five days of assorted overdubs. Instruments recorded thus far:
cello, violin, viola, harp, French horn, xylophone, bell set, lead
vocals, backing vocals, ceramic bowl, triangle, and incredibly
over-compressed snare drum. Mixing begins at the end of the month, and
will be finished by mid June. The album is sounding excellent already,
and is undoubtedly a step above their previous, excellent release.
APRIL
Tracking for the upcoming Pale Young Gentlemen release has commenced.
We spent three days on basics (drums/bass/acoustic), and will record
strings next month. Spent two long days with Clive Tanaka tracking and
mixing his vocoder-heavy dance song 'All Night, All Right'. Watching
Clive work is amazing and inpsiring. Recorded guitars for the upcoming
Go Motion record - great drums sounds are now paired with great
guitars.
Devised a method for 'tape-stopping' sound effects using a digital
delay and the Korg MS-50. It's easily repeatable, and works somewhat
reliably. At some point, I decided to stop compressing drums while
tracking, and have been getting better results.