This was a fun one to do, and as such I thought I should document some of the process a little bit. This is the first video with Tyler's reconfigured kit. Mic choices were a little different as well, I'll get into that later.
The cymbals setup/positioning changed quite drastically from the last video, which helped me out a lot. I was getting a lot of odd filtering and cymbal interference on the tom mics, this setup negates that. Another improvement was using a ported kick, getting the Beta-52 in there really captured the tone I wanted from the drum. It also freed us from a drum tunnel. We also opted to not use a second kick mic, instead using the extra input for the side of the snare.
I am beyond stoked with how the snare came out. First time using an Audix I-5 and the side snare setup. A huge part of why this is one of my favorite snare drum tones is the Pork Pie Cherry/Bubinga that Tyler is using. This drum is magnificent. At any given time we have 3 snares at our disposal and this is the one that gets chosen, for a very good reason.
It has been an
interesting month, an interesting time and an interesting existence. October
started off as a disjointed vision, nothing was what it needed to be. My
playing was off, my life was off and my drive was off. Or perhaps my playing
was off, so everything else sucked.
I found the groove again though, I don’t know
how, but I found it. October was hard, but things slowly fell into place.
I played my first
show in about a year last month. It was a fun one. It has been far to long
since I’ve been able to turn it up and do
it live. On the other side of that, it
has been far to long since I’ve played live. There were many mistakes and
grooves that need to be tighter.
Having said all
that though, it felt amazing to be back playing. For a set, for 10 songs, I was
in my element. I messed up a lot, I shredded a lot, but most importantly I was
super stoked to be there.
On the recording
front things are (always) improving as well. The goal for this, at least for
me, is to have everything better than the last song we put down.And it is going in that direction. We did a
few songs today and they sounded really solid right away. That is, was and
forever will be the goal.
A setback we had
earlier was the idea of expansion. For whatever reason my lack of computer
knowledge usually contributes to these failures, but I think this setback was
not entirely my fault. The idea we had was to expand our inputs, which would
have been great. More cymbals could have been mic’d, it would have been a lot
of fun to have those options. What I discovered was that when things stopped
working, when software failed, going back to our standard 8 mic setup was a
breath of fresh air. Getting a great sound from those 8 mics was/is perhaps
more rewarding than getting a great sound from 12 mics ever could have been.
When I started playing bass, my idea of what I
needed to sound like, what I needed to look like, the gear I used and the way I
played were all influenced by others. I think that’s part of the process, but if
you do not break away from that I feel like its detrimental. It certainly became
detrimental to me. Productive practicing was something I learned much later
than I should have. I cringe when I think about all the hours I could have
spent playing instead of trying to figure out what Duff Mckagan’s amp settings
were online.
A lot of the
realization that my tone and my playing were decent was a by-product of self-confidence.
I know, first hand, that accepting that things are ok can be difficult. It took
me a while, longer than it should have.
Credit:Nick H.
I think the light bulb moment was
listening to myself. Realizing my tone and my phrasing wasn’t coming from my
fuzz pedal, or my newest bass, or any material thing. Sure, those things where
all part of the end product, but the most important thing was that I was making
the choices. The choices I made were not dictated by me, they were dictated
by the music. I wasn’t playing things because I could; I was playing things
because they mattered.
This is all very timely,
interestingly enough. A couple years ago was when I had this realization, I was at
M-Sound in Philly with two incredible Albright musicians.
We were recording two covers that day, Voodoo Child and St. James Infirmary.
I’m super proud of
Voodoo Child from those sessions. I felt like I played for the song, more than
I ever had. I didn’t try to emulate anyone; I didn’t try to be anything other
than a solid bass player, which is my job. There were a variety of experiences
leading up to this unadulterated moment of clarity in my playing and my self-confidence
as a bass player, including The Picturesque album. But I think the Voodoo Child
recording cemented the kind of player I envisioned myself as. It sounded like
me, and that was all that mattered.
I had a really good practice session today,
which kind of spawned this. But looking back, it’s interesting what a little
belief in what you produce can do. If I went into those sessions and tried to
copy Noel Redding note for note it would have sucked. It’s the fact that I went
in there, not to sound conceited, with the sole intent to tear it up in my own
way. And that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter if my bass cost $200 or $2,000 (it cost $150).
It matters that we leave it all out there. As musicians that’s what matters and
that’s what our legacy is at the end of the day. A mantra I like to live by and judge anything musical
I do is this: How hard did I go? "Hard" being a measure of how well I was able to execute what needed to be accomplished, wether it was a fill, a solo, riding a note or knowing when silence was key.
I wish I had something to write for October, but I don’t really.
Leaves are changing and it’s getting colder. Aside from that it’s just been about progress. There have been some setbacks and some hindrances. There have been success and conquests to. Both of those things are key, because they mean we are working.
I'm having fun though, and I guess that is important. Fun in the sense that there is a challenge ahead. Challenges are intriguing.
Well, it happened. Tyler inspired me to do a bass cover. It’s
a lot of work, and I really appreciate what Tyler is accomplishing. Cameras, lighting and actually playing the song somewhat well are all tasks that we have to complete. There is no crew or engineers or anything like that. This song
took me a while to get down (I still don’t have it a 100%) but it such a fun
song to play. It requires intense musicality in a nine minute span, dynamics being chief among them.
I never pictured myself doing covers when I started, I actually tried to avoided them. I didn't get it then, and I certainly wasn't in a place of playing things with any sort of proficiency (not that I am now haha). I think a lot of this discouragement of covers had to do with not having the skills to put something out that I could be proud of.
Now I'm finding covers to be incredibly enjoyable, They are just another means to the end that is playing and recording.
The video is one take. The rig I used was:
Fender Blacktop
P-bass
Boss TU2
Boss CS2
Fuzzrocious Rat Tail
MXR Phase 90
MXR M81 (for a direct signal)
Gallien Krueger Mb210
The mics I used were a D-112 on the amp, and an Audix f-15 a
little further back. The majority of what you hear is the D-112 and Direct
signal.
There’s going to be a lot more of these to come, this was
fun to do. Tyler and I have some drum/bass covers in the works as well, so you get to see more of my bass faces. Anyways, here is “Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus” by The Mars Volta:
It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re at the point where
we are set to release covers. Tyler and I started doing this at least three
years ago, without the intention of doing covers or anything like that. Back then
we were using two dynamic mics and an m-box. That setup has expanded a bit, and
we have both gotten better at what we do. Tyler has gotten incredibly good,
like stupidly good, at drums. It’s rad to watch and experience. It took a while
to get to the point where we felt our work was good enough. We certainly
weren’t going to put anything out until the videos were as good as we thought
we could make them.
On my end, there has always been a love for music and a
hunger to achieve as much as I can with it. That’s led to a lot of things, and they’ve
all been great. This journey has been no exception. Getting the chance to make
mistakes, learn and create something that I am proud of has been invaluable. It
hasn’t been easy; it’s been a lot of work. Most importantly it’s been worth it.
When I first started playing bass Tyler and I would jam, he’s
the first drummer I ever played with. Remembering then, and watching him now,
really shows the importance of dedication. It has been inspiring. No clearer example of practice makes perfect exists.
I want to be involved in music for as long as I can be, and
learning the recording side is a part of that skill set. Thank you Tyler for
helping me develop and improve that portion of my musical journey.
These recordings represent the first time my mixes will be
heard on a large scale. I’ll never say they’re perfect, but I’m very happy with
what’s been accomplished in this untreated room.
I’ve learned the hard way not to go into too much detail
about signal chain, because that can change in an instant. The front end has been covered already, so I won’t elaborate on that too much. Basically its Shure SM-57s on snare and mounted toms, Akg D-112 on floor tom, Shure Beta-52 and Audix F-15 on kick and Sterling St-51s for overheads. As with anything mics change, or break, certain Eqs work in certain situations and
fail in others. Its trial and error at its finest. And that’s what I love about
it. It is an exercise in creativity and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
