Tracking Guitar for "The Drifter"

Since I'll be starting classes next week at Cal State Dominguez Hills, I figured I should get as much done with this song as I can this week. I did lots of guitar tracking over the last few days and I'd like to share some of the different miking techniques that I used.

Miking for "stereo" for rhythm guitar.

There are several ways to get a "bigger" sound for rhythm guitar. One way is to record the sound source in multiple mono (2 or more tracks of mono signal) which can be panned left or right to create an illusion of space. This is not the same as duplicating a track and panning them to either side, since duplicating creates an exact copy and the sound waves generated by the signal are doing the same thing at the same time, which in effect makes it sound mono. 

Anyway, since my guitar cabinet has two speakers, I decided to mike up both speakers with two Shure SM57s at relatively the same points on the speaker. No two speakers are exactly alike, with slightly different frequency responses and sound pressure levels, and this technique yielded a more lush and slightly wider-than-mono sound. However, because both mikes were placed the same distance from the speakers, it wasn't a "mile wide" stereo image when panned right left, which is useful. 

Front and back miking of a guitar cabinet.

A little crazier is front and back miking. For the next set of rhythm guitar tracks, I didn't want to have the same sound jumbling up the mix and have each guitar fighting for sonic space, so I decided to use front and back miking. This works particularly well if your amplifier or speaker cabinet is open-backed. The key is to have each microphone placed at relatively the same spot on the speaker cone (for example halfway between the center cone and the edge of the speaker) and about the same distance away from the speaker itself. 

Front mic placement. (Grille cloth removed for illustration)

Back mike placement. 

It may appear that the front microphone is placed further away than the back microphone, but it isn't. It only appears that way because the front mic is compensating for the depth the speaker cabinet. Please note that I have not ever tried miking the inside of a speaker cabinet, so I'm not sure what kind of sound that yields.

It is also very important to check for phasing when doing this. When listening back, listen for thinness, muddiness or otherwise the guitar amplifier not sounding like it does in the room. Phasing can be used for interesting sounds and effects, but remember that if something doesn't sound right when it is tracked, it would be very difficult if not impossible to remedy the problem later. 

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'll be posting sound bites soon!

"The Drifter" Drums Session.

So today has been a busy day as far as blogging is concerned. 


Today we began to track drums for our song "The Drifter." Our last CD entitled "Bumble" (2009) was primarily tracked rhythm guitar and vocals first done to a click track. Drums, bass, then layers of lead and "textural" guitar work were overdubbed later. Though this is fairly standard operating procedure for the DIY home studio, it makes for a less-than-organic feel to the music. This time around we decided to not use a click track, and record the drums first with a "scratch" vocal and guitar part to be replaced later. This provides for a much more organic feel, and allows the song to breathe.

Mike jamming out on his kit.

Mike is the worlds happiest drummer since he got his new kit.

Allen (me) setting up the tracks to record in Pro Tools.

Laying down very very very scratch vocals. (This photo was posed, if you can't tell)

One of the most important things when recording drums with other instruments going is to either isolate the drums the best you can, or isolate the other instruments from the drums. In our case, since we recorded in Mike's garage, I ducked my amplifier behind some furniture and threw some blankets over the amp (be wary your amp overheating when doing this) and had the amp turned to a relatively low level to keep as little of the guitar sound bleeding into the drum mics. For the scratch vocals, I tried to keep as far away from the drums as possible and sing at a much lower level. All monitoring of guitar and vocals would be done via headphones through the monitoring in Pro Tools. 

Now with the basic drum tracks done... onto recording the guitars. More to come later!

Westside Bar and Grill.

The Gypsy Den and Westside Bar and Grill (2007 - Present)

During this time more so than ever did I develop a sense of "self" musically. I started to write music that came more naturally to me, instead of being so contrived or what I though would get a good crowd response. It was during this time that began to meld all of my influences together from alternative rock, classic rock, folk, jazz and blues. I began to form a musical identity. Through all this though, my open mic experiences though more subtle than in the past still exerted an influence on my music. 

The latter summer months and the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester, I began to frequent the Monday night open mic at The Gypsy Den in Santa Ana. It's a wonderful little restaurant cafe surrounded by art galleries and other restaurants, and has quite a crowd draw on open mic nights especially. Though it was during this time period I was writing more songs than ever, September of 2007 was the last time I went to open mics on a regular basis for nearly a year. 

Westside Bar and Grill, 2008 (photo by Melissa Kraft)

That would all change in Summer of 2008. A friend of mine named Chuck Berk, the fearless leader of the Orange County blues band Midnight Whiskey contacted me to help him co-host an open mic at Westside Bar and Grill in Costa Mesa. Due to schedule conflicts however, I became the defacto host. I had never done anything like it before, and quite frankly was quite scared of speaking in front of people. But being the host of the "Starving Artist Open Mic " became one of the most rewarding experiences I ever had. It allowed me to break out of my shell and meet tons of great people. Paul Hines, came to the first open mic I ever hosted. He's helped me quite a bit with my song writing, and is quite a good song writer as well. Tim (insert last name here) I actually met at the Ugly Mug some 3 years before, and frequents my open mic too. He is the frontman and chief songwriter of American Culture. They're due to come out with a demo soon, so he tells me. 

Oh yeah, and if any of you are interested, here is the info for my open mic:

The Starving Artist Open Mic, Every Monday at 7:30PM

Westside Bar and Grill

512 W 19th Street

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

949-646-5615

The Ugly Mug.

The Ugly Mug (Summer 2006)

One of the more quirkier open mics I had gone to. The Ugly Mug is a coffee shop owned by a man named Phil, who's grumpy attitude might seem a little rude at first, but somehow becomes charming and maybe even endearing. That's just me... I find his grumpiness somewhat amusing. In the summer of 2006, there was a pretty consistent group of people that came to the open mic, and it became OUR open mic. I had first heard of the open mic through my friend Mike, who heard of it through a friend of his girlfriend's... or was it the friend of his girlfriend's friend's.... I'm not sure how it worked anymore. But from here I met some pretty cool people, some becoming pretty good friends of mine. 

The Ugly Mug, Summer 2006 (photo by Lauren Vu)

One day I was sitting inside the Ugly Mug awaiting my turn to play when a man took to the stage and started hooting and hollering with all his might. He strummed the guitar like a madman, and I believed the guitar and eventually entire room would go up in flames if he continued on for long enough. I thought he sounded like the singer of the 1960's psychedelic group 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson, when he broke into the 13th Floor Elevators song, "You're Going to Miss Me." If you've never heard the song before, I suggest downloading it... it's a garage rock masterpiece. His name come to find out was Chris Lynch, and over the years has become one of my better friends. He's a great blues songwriter; and man does he really feel the blues. And if you ever get the chance to see him play, you'll know what I'm talking about. He plays the living shit out of his guitar, harmonica or really any instrument he touches. It's quite remarkable. He plays solo , along with his group The Shovels and Death Hymn No. 9 , and is also a great disc jockey performing as DJ Oldboy .

I also met Lauren, who's probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Though not a musician, she was often there snapping photographs (like the one above) and taking videos of all the performers. I love people like that; truly a big fan of music. At this open mic, I also met a performer by the name of Danny Maika , who's laid-back pop rock sound will put you in a good mood, no matter how bad of a day you are having. He gave me my first gig at Cafe Ruba in Newport Beach, which unfortunately closed its doors two years ago. 

I feel that for all of the performers that played at the Ugly Mug, the open mic was a test bed for new songs and new ideas. At least for me, I was at an early developmental stage: I knew how to play the guitar, I kind of could sing, and I could write, somewhat. It was a time for all of us to find our voice and our style. I hope to go back there again someday. 

Portfolio Coffeehouse.

Portfolio (2006 - 2008)
Portfolio Coffeehouse is a charming little cafe on the corner of 4th St. and Junipero Ave in Long Beach, California. They have an open mic every Wednesday Night hosted by a cool lady named Hanna. Though not the first open mic I played, this was the first one I made friends at. The first of these friends was Sheryl Librojo, a great singer-songwriter. Her songs were so soulful and heartfelt, and had a great sense of groove and rhythm. We began jamming together after the open mic and sometimes when we weren't working or in class (And I wasn't in class very much during this time), and soon began performing at the open mic and shows together. I soon became her lead guitarist.

Sheryl and Allen, Photosynthesis Art Show 2007 (photo by Melissa Kraft)

We went on to play many shows together and even recorded two self produced demos: "Better With You" (2007) and "Help Wanted" (2008). Her sense of melody and musical freedom influenced me greatly, especially during 2006 and 2007 when I was particularly active in the open mic scene. 

Cafe Dulouve, San Francisco. November 2006 (photo by Rachel Garcia)

I also met other great musicians at this open mic: Rachel Ryan , also a great friend and songwriter with wonderful vocal melodies and a very ethereal sound. Rachel Ryan with Sheryl and myself did a couple dates in San Francisco during the winter of 2006. Matt Kollar - band leader of his group Matt Kollar and the Angry Mob . They have a very fun, eclectic sound that is a mix of folk, blues, and early rock 'n roll. There are some early jazz and hard-bop tendencies on some of the songs, which also provide interesting textures and color. They have an album out called "Farewell Adventure" is most certainly worth listening to.  


To this day, Portfolio still holds a place in my heart; all of the great times at the open mic and all the great times I had with the people that I met there. And of course it would, since Portfolio is also the place that I met my beautiful girlfriend. :)

What Am I Doing Here?

Some have heard this story before, but I suppose that I will mention it here for the many that haven't. 

The Short Term Melody started as lyrics hurriedly scratched out on a napkin at a friends party some 6 years ago. From that song came others, all attempting to build upon the lessons learned (both musically and personally) from songs previous. In many ways, The Short Term Melody has been a personal experiment.

An Experiment in Song Writing.

For most of my musical "career," I have been a sideman, normally a lead guitarist or sometimes a bassist, and not the chief songwriter in a band. Naturally, early on my song writing output was very low, somewhere in the order of one or two songs a year. Following the purchase of an acoustic guitar, a 1955 Kay Archtop (pictured above, photo courtesy of Rachel Garcia) and the dissolving of Low Gun, where I played bass, I began to write songs more frequently. Though my first songs were not complex or lush lyrically or sonically, they represented my best abilities at the time, and ever since I have strived to push myself forward; to write and play to the best of my abilities at the time and actively improve in both departments.

An Experiment in Home Recording.
From the beginning I had to overcome many shortfalls of having a lack of recording equipment. In this blog, I will aim to show the recording process, and give little tricks and tips along the way. I am lucky to live in a day and age where a fairly professional sounding recording can be produced in the home, but despite the availability of such technology, it was only until recently I have been able to harness it.

I recorded "The Short Term Melody" demo (pictured right) during December 2005 and January 2006 using a $15 Audio Technica dynamic microphone straight into the sound card of my outdated PC, using Sound Recorder, the stock audio capture software all PCs come with. Since I could not really overdub, I had to place the microphone in a way that my voice and guitar were balanced in level, all on a single mono track. I then imported the track into Nero Wave Editor to do simple EQ and reverb. Any editing I did affected both the voice and guitar equally, since they were on the same track.

Surprisingly it didn't turn out half bad given the circumstances, and I passed out this 10 song CD at the open mics that I had just begun to perform at during the winter months of 2005 and 2006. And if you were wondering, I am not going to be giving out this CD again any time soon. Each subsequent recording represented a step forward in both recording quality, production, songwriting and instrumentation. "Tomorrow Was Yerterday" (2007) was the first project that I multitracked; using a Tascam 424 tape recorder. Then I did the "Help Wanted" (2008) split EP with friend and local Long Beach musician Sheryl Librojo using an outdated Cubase SX2 DAW, which allowed for much more options in both tracking and mixing. Finally, The Short Term Melody as a band recorded out latest release "Bumble" (2009) which is a culmination of everything that I have learned of recording, mixing and mastering up to this point.

Through it all, The Short Term Melody fundamentally is like how many bands are these days; an experiment in self sufficiency. And I suppose that all I was trying to say, ever so long-windedly was...
... I would like to share with you my little experiment of this do-it-yourself musical journey, and all the things that I learn along the way.