studio update - worship album

it's always hard holding out for long term goals. whether it's getting through a 4 year college degree or simply waiting a day for the paint to dry on a model rocket, waiting for the payoff sucks. but it's so fun when you get that diploma.....and even more fun when you shoot off your rocket.

tricia and i started the wheels moving on a worship record last march. (NO, she is not quitting Superchic[k]).

a wise man once told me that nothing worth doing is ever easy, and he was right. after various label meetings, record contract negotiations and about 5 months of songwriting, we finally started tracking drums for tricia's first solo record which will be a worship record.

well of course i booked out the Cabin at Darkhorse studios. i love this room. it's absolutely my favorite place to tracks drums in nashville. when recording drums, one of the biggest factors in getting a good drum sound (after good player, good drums and good song) is having a good sounding room. it doesn't matter how high quality your mics are or if you have the best gear. if you have a bad sounding room that just means those mics will pristinely capture how bad it sounds. i'm no rocket scientist. i don't know a ton about the science of acoustics, but good rooms usually have a few things in common:

- high ceilings

-no parallel surfaces

-wood floors/walls (NO DRYWALL!!)

Anyway, here's a few shots and highlights.

trident series 80 console. i usually use outboard mic pre's, but if needed to, every channel has a high quality pre in it. it's not in-line like an SSL or the newer Neve's, but that doesn't make much difference if i'm using mostly outboard pre's.

here you can see the amek 9098 mic pre/EQ that we use on a pair of room mics. below it are two brent averill 1073 clones that we used on the outside kick mic and the snare bottom. i've decided that i'm not a huge fan of 1073s. i mean, sure they sound fine, but the EQ is so limiting. and speaking of the outside kick mic, check this out. i always experiment with at least one thing when i record drums. this time i tried a royer 122 ribbon mic on the kick. the attack from a kick drum usually comes mostly from the inside mic whereas the outside mic better captures the very low sub frequencies. ribbon mics are known for being darker, and since it's outside of the drum, i usually find myself rolling off the top end to get rid of the extra cymbal noise. but with the ribbon, i didn't really have to do that. finding a natural solution is usually better than having to carve out the sound with EQ. most ribbon mics are very sensitive to very loud noises, but the royers are specially made to handle a lot of sound. check them out here http://www.royerlabs.com.

of course we have vintech x81's which are neve 1081 clones. great sounding mic pre and a very capable 4 band EQ. side note - i finally got to buy one for myself. more on that in another blog.

the white piece of gear is an Amek 9098 stereo compressor which i absolutely love. rupert neve consulted for Amek after he sold Neve and this is essentially a clone of his own design. in a previous blog from Quad studios, i noted how i used the Neve 33609. what's weird is that i like the newer 9098 better than the 33609. anyway, i also used API 3124 pre's on overheads, hat mic, ride cymbal mic. and of course i'm taking advantage of those two distressors down there. although i don't have them pumping that hard....that sounds like a thats-what-she-said joke.

neumann m147's. i usually ask for these mics when i track drums are darkhorse and they always seem to be taken up by another client. i used very little EQ and these guys sounded great.

and of course the best part of the day.....

yes, that's right. i bring my dogs to the studio. DEAL WITH IT. and yes, my wife and i put clothes on them because they look cute. SO SUE ME. i would love to have someone look me in the eye and tell me that those aren't the two cutest dogs in the world. and if someone actually did, i would probably punch them in the face.

oh, and i think i went the extra mile on this blog because i actually got some video. here's the dogs playing, trish looking hot and joey sanchez playing drums in the background. his Mlasko kit and ludwig black beauty always sound amazing. it's one thing to record a good drummer, it's a whole different thing to have a drummer who really knows how to tune his drums. a better sounding drum means less EQ and a cleaner signal path. so anyway, here's the video. side note: the vocals you hear in the background are just a one take scratch vocal.