Time: Saturday, April 9 2011
Studio Time: 10 AM to 5:30 PM
Location: McFever McMansion (Woodbridge/Detroit)
Title(s):
I Need A Serious Love (Take 4)
Serotonin (Let The Light In) (Takes 3/4)
Wayfarers All (Takes 2/3)
Label Information: Le Grand Magistery
Release Information: Date/Title TBD
Track / Instrument / Mic / Preamp
1 Kick / Shure Beta 52A / Bellari RP220
2 Snare / Shure SM57 / Bellari RP220
3 OH Hi-Hat / Shure KSM27 / Bellari RP220
4 OH Ride / Blue Dragonfly / Bellari RP220
5 Room / Steve Rodes NT1 / Presonus TubePre
6 Elec Guitar / Shure SM57 / Presonus BlueTube
7 Bass Amp / AKG D112 / Presonus BlueTube
8 Bass Direct / SansAmp BassDriver DI
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| Preamps |
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| Tangled |
Musicians
Drums - Alex Trajano
Bass - Stevers McFevers
Elec Guitar - Gene Corduroy
TapeOp
Jeff Richardson
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| Jeff as Honorary tapeop |
Notes
I began the day by packing up the home studio, The Fishtank. With Nathaniel in Mexico City, overseeing the annual board meeting for the Burgundy Foundation, I requisitioned Bem to help carry everything up the stairs. Transporting the gear was a cinch with our trusty GMC Safari maxi-van, Brownie. First things first... a not-so-quick stop at Avalon for coffee, vegan blueberry muffins, a sticky bun and a chocolate mini bundt cake. You have to have the proper caffeine and sugar levels in order to get the proper recording levels. Also, pro gear and a pro 'tude helps. Anyways as setup and sound checks began, Stevers kept the coffee flowing. Setting up took a good 3 hours and a stiff dose of benadryl for Alex' cat allergies.
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| Drums in the Parlor |
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| Guitar in the Living Room |
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| Bass in the Lavatory |
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| Have a seat. |
Drums in the parlor, guitar in the living room, bass in the lavatory. Stevers woke up neighbor Jeff Richardson to serve as an honorary tapeop for the morning shift.
The first track is one we've been practicing for about a month. I Need A Serious Love was inspired in part by the character of James Elwood, computer programmer in an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled 'From Agnes--With Love'. It went quickly, and we nailed it on the 4th take. No edits.
By 2pm, the energizing effect of coffee and sweets had run its course. We broke for a quick lunch: black bean quesadillas stuffed with all manner of veggies and topped with Honey Bee's amazing salsa. That was not all. No visit to the McFevers McMansion is complete without a generous pour from Steve's top shelf. It's really the top shelf too, I can't reach it. Manhattans all around.
Serotonin (Let The Light In) went 4 takes before we were satisfied. Truth be told, we flew the outro from Take 4 into Take 3. You'd never know. Tape splicing is quite easy when you remove the tape part. Not that I couldn't do it if I had to... with two semesters serving as a library A/V tech in high school, I'm certain I could Scotch tape an album together.
We ended the afternoon on a song that is more collage than composition. Wayfarers All is a troubling stew of Moog blips, time-stretched vocals, mechanical drums, synth farts and 8-bit samples. Let's see what becomes of this mélange.
More...
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| New cardigan for the occasion |
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| A different angle |
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| Bass |
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| Step right up |
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| This sucker's electrical |
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| Sounded good |
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