Vids from the Prospector show!

So earlier this week, we played a great show at the Prospector, a local Long Beach bar/venue/restaurant hangout, which was the first public performance of the band since September (see previous post). It was well attended, super loud and super fun. So I wanted to share a couple videos posted by our friend Marko. I hope you enjoy!


"California Sun"

"Circles"

2 "New" Live at Golden West College Videos

All the way back in September, the band played a great outdoor show at Golden West College's welcome back event. I finally had gotten around to editing down the video... something that I dreaded for my MacBook is rather unfit for the job. But anyway, at the show I set up a static shot from the corner of the stage in hopes no one would knock it over, and thankfully no one did. Not the most interesting angle, but you all can get a glimpse of the show. 


"The Drifter"

Outro solos from "The Tree Still Bleeds"

I had to include the second video for obviously self-gratifying reasons. Alec and I trade 4's to the end; a way for us to pay homage to Steven Stills and Neil Young's dueling solo on live versions of "Down By The River."  Hope you all enjoy the videos!

Recording: Tracking Electric Guitar, Part 1 of... many parts.

Recording electric guitar, to me, is one of the most fun and yet one of the most frustrating parts of recording. As far as most frustrating still remains recording the drum set, but we'll talk about that more at another time. 


Today was the first day of electric guitar overdubs for "The Drifter," and I was amped... no pun intended. After allowing both guitar amplifier and compressor to warm up (about an hour), placing the microphone at just the spot where the sweetest sounds seemed to be oozing out the amplifier, the guitar was tuned, and I was ready for a take. One take turned into two, three, four, then five. Before I knew it I was on take fifteen and I still wasn't performing the way I wanted to. I wasn't locked with the drums and just wasn't strumming very precisely. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. 


So I come to lesson one in guitar recording:
If it's not happening, step away from the guitar.
My hand was fatiguing fast and I was losing inspiration. Some people work very well plugging away at something until it suddenly works. I on the other hand cannot work this way. I can try only up to a certain point until I become demoralized. So in this case I just put down the guitar, put the amp on standby, and went out for a 15 minute walk. 


Once I came back, my fretting hand was rested and I had a clear enough head to dive headlong back into the recording process. Before I knew it, in less than two hours I had laid down over ten tracks of rhythm and lead/riffing guitar parts. What a difference a positive attitude and a clear head can make. 


So now onto the real purpose of the blog... fun tricks and tips for the electric guitar that I've come across in my little experience as an engineer.


Stereo Width: Using Different Guitars

 

Two Fender classics: Stratocaster (left) and Jazzmaster (right)

Standard rock arrangement usually calls for multiple tracks of guitars, but any popular song arrangement can benefit from multiple guitar tracks. 

I often like to record at least two tracks (two separate takes) of electric guitar playing the same exact thing to give the impression of thickness and substance to a guitar sound. My favorite method is to employ two different guitars with slightly different sonic characters to add a lush, three-dimensional sound. I start with a mellow or dark sounding guitar, which I then balance by recording a bright or chimey guitar. In the case of "The Drifter," I employed first a Fender Jazzmaster (mellow sound) complemented by a Stratocaster (brighter sound). This works too if you contrast humbucker equipped guitars with single coil guitars, or simply by using guitars that are brighter in character (i.e. Danelectro) with guitars that are darker in character (i.e. Gretsch).When panned hard left and right in the mix, the stereo field remains wide despite the similarities in performance and chord changes simply because the sonic character of the two guitars are different. 

Of course, no two guitars are exactly the same, so you can play around with whatever two guitars you have lying around to get the same stereo-widening effect. 

Production begins on "Roadwaves." (New full length album)

A momentous occasion in the world of DIY music... not really saying anyone has been waiting, but production began today for the "Roadwaves" album, the band's debut full length. We did a short session (about 4 hours) of drums, played by Mike, our drummer, which needless to say, did a great job. :)


Just like many bands, instead of going into an established studio, we've decided to record this album ourselves. Armed with my recent BA degree in audio recording (from CSUDH's Digital Media Arts program), a few microphones, a compact mixer for gain and a touch of EQ during tracking, an audio interface and Macbook Pro, it is a modest setup at best, but more than enough to make a great sounding record. And we would rather do it this way, anyway. 


Many will make the argument that recording at home will yield "less that satisfactory" results due to the sonic anomalies that exist in rooms found in a normal house. True, most rooms can adverse recording environments, with environmental noises, standing waves, room modes, flutter echo, etc, but if one has an honest expectation of the space and capabilities of pro-sumer recording equipment, a great recording can still be made. Just do not expect the recording to sound like it was done at Blackbird Studios or Ocean Way. That's just not going to happen. 


If you are a home recordist reading this, I'm not raining on anyone's parade. I'm not bummed that it won't sound like it was done in a legendary studio. Half the charm of recording at home is the sounds you can get at home, and only at home. And once a room is figured out: where to place instruments/performers and microphones, you can maximize the space the best you can. Great recording are to be made! Anyway, this is quite a digression. I just want every home recordist to be stoked about what they are doing.


So basically what I wanted to say was this:


-My band is called The Short Term Melody, if you didn't know that already.
-We're recording a new album called "Roadwaves."
-We're recording it ourselves, at home.
-It's going to sound great.
-My ears are totally ringing right now. I will now sit in silence for the rest of the evening. 

The Short Term Melody at Golden West College

For the first time in one year, The Short Term Melody played live. Too much time had passed since we did so, but it might have been for the better. All of us had time to grow musically and since the beginning of the summer, had been rehearsing frequently and regularly, all things which benefitted our performance. 

We played at a welcome back even at Golden West College, a community college in Huntington Beach. We had a great time and everyone that was there to watch seemed to have a good time too. Someone in the crowd repeatedly requested for use to play a song by Iron Maiden. 

"Maiden! Maiden! MAIDEN!' That's what we heard from the stage. Unfortunately we could not fill his request. Who can sing like Bruce Dickinson? I hope the onlooker wasn't to upset; Iron Maiden's shoes are just too big to fill. 


What made this gig really is cool is that some of our friends, some of whom we haven't seen in a while came out. Our friend Tom, an aspiring film maker also came out with his friend Alex to film the show. I'd love to see this footage... Tom. haha. 


Someone was so kind enough to write about our performance in their blog, This Is A Good Song. It's a great blog that has opened my eyes a good song or two. We send to you many, many, many thanks!

Here are some pictures from the show. Photographs courtesy of Melissa.

"They sound okay, huh?"

Mike and Alec; too cool for school.

Alec.

Mike.

Allen. (me!)

My new Fender Jazzmaster!

Last Thursday was a great day in the life and times of Allen Morris... that's me in case you were wondering. I finally bought a Fender Jazzmaster! The guitar was sold to me by a good soul on craigslist. I've been dreaming of owning a JM for quite some time, and now it's finally mine!

This particular Jazzmaster is a made in Japan model ("Crafted in Japan" for all those Fender afficionados), and appears to be emulating an early 60's style JM with the tortoise shell pickguard, a 7.25" radius fretboard, thicker neck profile, and all the normal JM fittings: two wide single coil pickups, switchable rhythm/lead circuits with volume and tone controls for each, three-way pickup selector switch, and floating vibrato. 

The guitar however had several modifications. The bridge was replaced by a Mustang bridge (a common mod to Jaguars and Jazzmasters) to keep the strings from skipping out of the saddles. A tension bar, called a "Buzz Stop" was also added to increase downward force onto the bridge. This addition in my opinion affects the guitar tone significantly, making the signature plunky attack of the Jazzmaster more subtle, and significantly increasing sustain. I personally like the addition because it makes the guitar a little more versatile and adds a more fluid, singing quality to leads. The attack is still there though, so don't worry, it sounds nothing like a Stratocaster (also because of the huge pickups).

The Rhythm/Lead Circuits

One of the neatest features of this guitar is the dual circuit design. This concept is similar, though not the same as guitars like the Gibson Les Paul or SG that have volume and tone controls per pickup. On the Jazzmaster, the two circuits are actually voiced differently as they run through different value components. 

The rhythm circuit is activated with the switch "up," and only uses the neck pickup; the pickup selector is made inoperable when in the rhythm circuit. The sounds is darker and mellower than the lead circuit, even with the volume and tone wide open. The idea behind this was to create a smoother, subdued jazz tone, which this guitar excels at. On clean, the guitar easily gets that cool, small club jazz sound. When overdriven, this setting is very fluid, sustaining, warm and fuzzy; fuzzy like a wool blanket I'd like to say. 

The lead circuit activates the 3 position pickup selector: neck, middle (pickup blend) and bridge pickups. This circuit is significantly brighter, though can be made dark like the rhythm circuit by rolling down the tone control. Most players use the lead circuit for this reason, though I personally have found it great to be able to switch from a warm jazz tone on the rhythm circuit, to a glassy surf tone on the lead; or a jangly tone for playing chords on the lead,  to a fuzzed out mess for solos on the rhythm. The possibilities are endless!!!

Floating Vibrato

Another cool feature of the Jazzmaster (also found on the Jaguar) is the "floating" vibrato. It is floating because internal springs counter the pull of the guitar strings, making it possible to up and down bend using the whammy bar. The action of the whammy is very smooth, making those surfy warbling sounds easy. The range of motion is much smaller than that of the Synchronized Tremelo bridge of the Stratocaster; this thing is not made for wild dive bombing! But for accenting, this bridge has no parallel.

Conclusion

Well I'm sure you all know what I think about this guitar. I LOVE IT! The Jazzmaster is a versatile guitar that has lots of tonal options at your fingertips. It may not be the most straightforward guitars out there, but it agrees with the way that I play and my style. It is also worth mentioning that it's one of the most ergonomic and balanced guitars I've ever played, very comfortable both sitting and standing. Now I know why the Jazzmaster has such a respected following. I'm very proud to own this guitar!

Photo Gallery

The new addition to the family: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster. Note the addition of the Buzz-Stop.

Jazzmaster in case.

Headstock detail, with 1960's logo styling and decals.

Famous Jazzmaster players

Bilinda Butcher, Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine)

Nels Cline

Elvis Costello

John Davis (Superdrag)
Mike Einziger (Incubus)

Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ronaldo (Sonic Youth)

Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo)
Stephen Malkmus (Pavement)

Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

Tom Verlaine (Television)

"Roadwaves" Pre-Production

Since my recent graduation, I haven't skipped a beat and dove headlong into getting ready for the recording of a new album with my band, The Short Term Melody. The album project, dubbed "Roadwaves" by The Short Term Melody's bassist, Alec Giel, has been waiting in the wings for more than a year. We've attempted to record this album twice, but extenuating circumstances have always got in the way.

So third time's the charm, right?

Anyway, for the past two days, I've been doing non-stop pre-production recordings, "scratch" recordings per se, in order to establish song arrangement as well as play with guitar and vocal parts, and of course, experiment with mic placement. Once I am finished with these scratch recordings, I will hand them off to Alec and Mike so they can brainstorm parts on their respective instruments. I have never done things this way before, but I hope that in doing so, will allow Mike and Alec more ample time to think of what they might want to contribute.

So this week I've been making good progress, and hopefully by Monday next week, I will have all the scratch guitar and vocal takes recorded.

I have also been in the process of designing a website for the band, which will hopefully be launching sometime in June. The website will be the official hub for all things Short Term Melody, and once the site is launched, I will be periodically be posting sound clips of our album progress. Stay tuned for more news!

ART Pro VLA II Compressor Review.

ART Pro VLA II Leveling Amplifier and M-Audio Fast Track 8R.

Today was a joyous day in my little world. A little box (actually it was a pretty big box, and quite heavy at that) arrived at my door this morning from our friends over at Sweetwater.com.

The ART Pro VLA II Leveling Amplifier is a rather inexpensive tube driven two-channel compressor/limiter. Vacuum tubes are all the rage lately, (when I say lately, meaning the past decade or so) and nearly every professional audio company seems to be cashing in on the craze. The audio recording world has been no exception. Many feel that digital recording sounds "cold" or "sterile," and many companies are adding tubes in the signal chain to add some "warmth" to the sound. Now I’m not completely sure how grounded these claims are, being that any quality analog piece of recording equipment, solid state or valve, will have it’s own sonic character. Solid state mic pres, such as ones made by API or Neve, or compressors such as the dbx 160a or the famous UREI 1176 will have plenty of warmth to go around, but we’ll save that discussion for another time.

First Impression

In my little world, the arrival of this ART leveling amplifier is nothing short of a godsend. As a home recordist, I have been using plug-ins for quite some time, but through experience found that working with analogue equipment was more inspiring and easier to get the sounds that I heard in my head. I heard a many good thing about the VLA II and decided to pick one up myself. Unwrapping the unit revealed a quality piece; it had detented pots with well marked descriptors and values, two large analogue VU meters with selectable input/output metering, gain reduction and output level displayed via LED meters, a bypass switch per channel to take the compressor circuit out of the signal chain, XLR and quarter-inch TRS input and output jacks on the back, all housed in a study, stamped metal chassis.

Totally spiking the output meter. Rawr!

The controls, per channel.

Without ado, I connected the VLA II to the I/O of my M-Audio Fast Track 8R interface and began running 2 Track stereo mixes through the unit. My immediate reaction was, “Boy, this thing really colors the sound!” And it does. It rolls a bit of the high end off and even with the Ratio set at 2:1 (the lowest setting) and Input Threshold set to have a gain reduction of only about 1dB to 2dB, compression was quite audible. With a little tweaking of the attack and release times, the compression was tamed and sounded very smooth and pleasing. The overall character however sounded a little too "tubey." Even when I backed off both the input and output gain, I would run into some slight distortion in sound of fizziness on the lead vocal.

Now I’m not completely sure where the sound coloration is taking place, but my guess is that the tubes have something to do with it. Being that this unit is advertised as a "vactrol" type compressor (in other words, a compression circuit that utilizes an optocoupler) chances are the tube itself has little to do with the actual signal attenuation, and more to do with the output gain stage (output level). This however still gives the tube plenty of room to impart it's own sonic character to the overall signal.

Diving In

Opening the unit up revealed the presence of two 12AT7 tubes, one for each channel. 12AT7s are lower gain (but higher current) than the more popular 12AX7 seen in guitar amps. Upon inspection I found the stock tubes to be Ruby Tubes. Being that the VLA II is the only unit I have tried with these tubes installed, I cannot make any reliable judgment on how good these tubes are. Poking around my parts drawer, I luckily found two Tung Sol 12AT7s and quickly popped them in. I love the way Tung Sol tubes have a nice, bright chime in guitar amplifiers, and I hoped that they would sound about the same in the VLA II.

Replacing the stock tubes with any high quality type (in this case a pair of Tung Sol) will help extend the frequency response, increase headroom, and help with overall clarity.

To my luck, they did! I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a "night and day" difference, but much of the higher frequencies that were attenuated with the stock tubes did not occur with the Tung Sols. They were significantly clearer, the bass tighter and more defined, and had much higher headroom... they didn't even distort if I drove the output level very hard (the picture where I'm spiking the output meter). The addition of the Tung Sol tubes really helped the unit out, but I could only imagine that any quality tube from RCA, Phillips, GE, Mullard, or GT would help the output stage immensely. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the Ruby Tubes at all. I think possibly the VLA II is designed with a lower plate voltage that in turn lowers the headroom, and maybe the Ruby Tubes are less adept to handle such conditions, but that's only a theory.

Concluding Opinion

The ART Pro VLA II as delivered is a good compressor/limiter especially if you want to add a certain vintage character to your recordings. It immediately gave more fatness to the bass frequencies, my guess about 200Hz and below. The only caveat is that some of the high end (especially above 9kHz) I felt was sacrificed, and the mids were not very defined overall. This is not however a criticism of the sound; it is still very useable and with some careful EQ treatments on the front end, will add just enough secret sauce to your mix.

With a higher quality tube replacement, I give the VLA II two big fat thumbs up. None of the high frequency gobbling, much better headroom, more defined mids, and bigger bass without sounding muddy or messy. What was a "character" compressor becomes a solid all around performer good for single sources and 2 Track stereo mixes alike. 

Recording: "I Fall Hard" by Todd A

Recently in January, my friend Todd A and I began to work on another recording of his song entitled "I Fall Hard." Very catchy tune that he has recently released on iTunes.

Differing from the "IRL" E.P. that Todd A and I recorded last year, this track included multiple layers of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, percussion, and drum set. With even these basic tracks found on your standard rock/pop/country tune, there are many considerations that the recording engineer must make.
For example, how many layers of guitar? Will they be up front, in the background, and what timbre will the instrument(s) have? Will the vocals sound crisp and clean, or smoother and warm... uh oh, I'm starting to get into really esoteric (bordering nonsense) territory once I start using terms like "warm" and "crisp." Maybe I'll avoid those for now. Let's just talk about mics and mic placement.

Acoustic Rhythm Guitar

As I do customarily for non-solo steel string acoustic guitar, I miked Todd's Yamaha acoustic using an XY stereo pair of Audio Technica AT2020s. The AT2020's are excellent for acoustic guitar; they nice;y capture pick attack without sounding too harsh and have just enough low-mid without getting boomy from proximity effect. The stereo pair was placed 16 inches in front of the guitar, centered at the end of the fretboard.

Why XY? This ensures mono compatibility, represents a wider tonal palette of the guitar than a single mono microphone (as one microphone is oriented more towards the body of the guitar, while the other is more aimed towards the neck), but does not have a super wide stereo image (as opposed to other stereo miking techniques) to keep "out of the way" in a busy mix. Miking in stereo better illustrates distance from the sound source through parallax, the way that two ears can determine how far and which direction a sound source is... kinda like how having two eyes allows you to also see how far something is.

It was important to keep the acoustic guitar a certain distance in this song, being that the lead vocal could be overshadowed by a overly present acoustic guitar. Todd's particular guitar has a very percussive and cutting tone, and so keeping enough distance between it and the mics were necessary to attenuate some of the sharpness of the attack.

The Guitar Riff

Todd used my Fender Telecaster (MIJ) into a Vox Brian May Special, a cool little solid state 5 watt amplifier with only the basics: gain, tone, and volume. I love the amp cause you can get some nice vintage, twangy tones from it. Also if the gain knob is kept low, but the tone and volume are maxed out, the speaker does this awesome freakout-thing where it starts distorting and sounds like it's going to tear at any moment. Cool! Hopefully the neighbors didn't mind, too much.

Anyway, I miked up the amp using a Shure SM57 up close and an AT2020 a few feet away, and up a little higher to capture the tonality of the amp more similar to what it sounds like playing in the room. The close mic and distance mic were then blended together to taste.

Here's a different angle to show the distance of the AT2020. Sorry about the poor quality of the photograph.

The guitar riff played on the electric guitar was also mirrored on Todd's Baby Taylor. This guitar has a considerable amount of bite in the pick attack, and a rather short sustain which adds to the percussiveness of the guitar. Wanting to capture the percussiveness without the sharpness, I used an SM57 pointed out at the bridge to capture more body/wood resonance, and an MXL V67 condenser pointed at the strumming hand to get more of the picking sound.

The MXL V67 worked pretty well, balancing out the bright Taylor sound with the mic's inherent mellowness while still capturing the picking sound. The SM57 lent a somewhat dull sound in this application, but when blended together with the V67, gave just the right amount of body to stand out in the song above all the other acoustic and electric sounds.

You can listen to "I Fall Hard" and other songs by Todd A by visiting his website.
www.toddamusic.com/