Things that are older than me #2: Boss CS-2

    In this installment of TTAOTM I would like to look at a piece of gear that I think improved aspects of my tone and playing over the last year, the Boss CS-2 Compressor. 

     The Boss CS-2 was produced from 1981-1986. A younger less experienced me always dismissed compressors as something that was out of my hands as a bass player, they rested purely in the domain of studio/audio engineers. I saw it as a audio tool only for studio use. Once I started to get into recording, and started to see the usefulness of the compressor as a tool, I realized that it was something that didn’t need to be limited to strictly the studio. One of my absolute favorite players Juan Alderete used one, well actually two, CS-2’s in his setup. So I figured for compression that pedal would be a good place to start. Also during this time I was running a really obnoxiously large board, and realized the need for something to even out my sound before it hit the pedals. I considered a variety of compressors but once I heard a demo of the CS-2 it was the one I wanted. It colored my tone for sure, but it did it in a gnarly way, which is what I wanted from a compressor after all. It’s definitely a staple in my signal chain. That pedal, in conjunction with the rest of my current rig is the happiest I’ve been with my tone in years.

This is pedal is rad. Its hard to explain what it does, but thats the cool part of music, its so subjective. I've tried other compressors but this one just works with how I play and what I do. Anyways, I dig it, Its not leaving my rig, Its older than me. This has been TTAOTM #2.

Conversations

 
Music is described by many as a conversation. And like so many of these writings, this one was spawned by a conversation.

    I was talking to my good friend and musical think tank buddy Nick. We were talking about recordings we’d done a few years ago, which ones we preferred etc. One thing he said that resonated was that he liked one over the other because it was recorded live, while the other was recorded in parts (I liked the same one more because I went through a vintage b-15, but I digress). But as usual Nick was right. It doesn’t matter what gear, the room, the board, whatever. The goal when you hit record should be capture a performance, a moment in time. The recording that we both preferred did that.

    We hadn’t practiced those songs as a group. I was on bass, good homie Trent on drums and Nick on vocals/guitar.

   Let me break down that morning; Go to car, car doors are frozen shut because winter is obnoxious. After a couple liters of hot water I successfully melt the ice and am good to go. Until I go to get gas, gas tank door is frozen, scrape that open with my keys. Now I’m on the road. Black ice, almost plow into a wall, cool. Get to the studio with the intention of running some of these tunes prior, that doesn’t happen. Okay, really rusty on the songs. It was Valentines Day weekend, so some things (bass) were put aside for other things (lady friend). I'm lucky that wisdom and maturity have given me better time management than I had back then.
    At the studio I was genuinely concerned I wouldn’t be able to deliver. This is where the performance and conversation comes in. Trent and I always lock in, that’s a by-product of playing with him and us being able to have a musical dialogue like that. We can groove off each other. Trent is one of the best drummers at Albright. Whenever someone needs a drummer I point them in his direction because I know he can deliver. He is fluent in groove, and we’ve played enough shows with little to no practice to understand how to make those musical conversations happen.

    I think what made those recordings Nicks and my favorites were the performance. It was live, even though there was no audience, lights or anything like that. There is an understated originality and freeness to those recordings. I hate to sound like “that” person right now, but that was huge musical moment for me. Those records represent a moment in time where three people were on the same page and crushed it.  Those recordings really hammer home the importance of making every note, every line, every performance a conversation. By communicating and not just playing, even though we had played together as a group maybe once before this, our sound was better and tighter than I honestly thought it would be that day. It was a very important lesson for me in music.

-Mark