08/29/10 I've done a little visual rennovation on the site. Something good always seems to come from a little time off, eh? Hope you enjoy!
08/28/10 I'm on vacation, sunning myself at the beach. In that spirit, I offer this:
08/18/10 Spent the day recording a rap tune, of all things. It was lighthearted, and fun!!!
08/12/10 And here's the studio door project at the midpoint: The two existing doors have been relocated to the edges of the casings and the thresholds have been widened to include the entire casings. Gaskets have been refreshed as needed. Control room door is left, studio door right.
08/11/10 Here's another studio survivor: A stereo bus meter turret from a ca. 1984 Neotek Series I console. Note the then state-of-the-art LED ladder middle pair of meters flanked by V.U.s, and the oak case. I mixed a few products staring into these meters. After the sale of the console, this turret floated around the facility looking for a home. I saved it from a date with Mr. Crusher, just for old time sake.
08/10/10 The work continues today, updating the acoustic doors in the studio. Because we are working around sessions, it's a bite at a time. The pic above shows the first double door having been set. The entrance "tunnel" is half-cased at this point.
08/09/10 It is a work day in the studio today. We've got a carpenter working on the sound-proof doors.
08/02/10"illegitimi non carborundum est"
07/29/10 From 7/09/10: Here's a pic someone snapped over my shoulder through the studio glass while we were shooting the music videos.
07/21/10 Overdubbed lap steel to the soundtrack of a video presentation today. It was a last minute call but was lots o' fun!
07/17/10 I ran across a 1940s-vintage Supro lap steel in a vintage guitar store last week and decided to create a little photo essay on it, HERE.
07/09/10 We just wrapped up overdubbing vocals on some songs and shooting music videos with a lovely gal from Germany. The sessions were lots of fun. We'll be editing and comping the results next week.
07/01/10 On a whim I tried a new method to improve my rotary-speak sound in my multi-amp electric guitar rig. As a result of success there, I've altered the rig a little. You can see my new signal flow as an update at the bottom of the Multi-Amping page HERE.
06/29/10 Mike Rowe of Discovery's Dirty Jobs has another interesting principle: "Beware of experts." I'm an expert. Makes you think.
06/28/10 I recently set out to find a Fender Strat. You can see the results of my search HERE.
06/21/10 "Don't follow you passion, but always bring it with you." - Mike Rowe of Discovery's Dirty Jobs
06/11/10 Mmmm... I don't mean for the site to become an obituary, but more news: Tony Peluso has died. Who was Tony Peluso? Click HERE to find out. If you are a guitarist, it's worth your while.
05/24/10 File it under "May I suggest?": Jeff Beck's Emotion and Commotion album is out, featuring really nice melodic electric guitar work with strings. 'Tis a lovely recording as well, done at Trevor Horn's Sarm Studios. For more info read Jeff's interview in June's Guitar Player Magazine.
05/01/10 I am distressed to hear that Will Owsley, side man guitarist for several artists, producer, and engineer, and one of the folks who inspired me to look into the Gibson ES-335, passed away yesterday. R.I.P.
04/30/10 Yesterday I was booked to a scoring session with an interesting and beautiful instrument called the "Qanun" (Kha-NOON). Here's a pic:
04/26/10 Yesterday we had a Release/cast party for the latest song recorded. Lot's o' fun!
04/26/10 Here's the Calrec Artemis console we demo'd for one of our control rooms.
04/21/10 Is it possible that the mix is done? Fingers crossed.
04/12/10 After a week of vacation, I'm back to work and my head is back into the last touch ups, overdubs, and mix of the latest song.
04/01/10 A little lesson in improvisation under pressure: On 03/24/10's session I found myself without a slide and needing to create some special effects (an ascending figure) on guitar. I looked around for something like a bottleneck and couldn't find anything so I resorted to ceramic! Namely, a coffee cup. I placed the guitar on a stand on a counter and faced it with the cup, then worked on the figures. The picture below was from that situation. I found that the smooth glazed sides and the rough, raw bottom ring of the cup each yielded interesting and useful sounds for the application.
03/24/10 It was Red Guitar Day at the studio today! Actually, it was guitar overdub day. I took my EBow and did some stellar overdubs on the current song.
03/13/10 As promised earlier, I've put together a page describing my experiences with the classic Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape echo unit, then and now, and explaining its operation and some maintenance and tweaks. You can visit it HERE.
03/13/10 I got bold and mounted my "Contact Me' link out to the main menus. Elminate the "Xs" provided to (hopefully) spoof the 'bots, in order to direct email to my box.
03/09/10 Guitar overdub day. I took the old Les Paul in to work.
03/02/10 Up to my eyeballs in music sessions. Exhausted, and loving it!
02/27/10 Inspired by the article on echoes and delays I posted on 01/03/10 and missing my old Echoplex EP-3 from the '70s, I tracked down another '70s Echoplex and have begun restoring and enjoying it. Expect an article soon.
02/17/10 Recording musicians often wonder whether mastering is an important part of releasing an album. I've encountered a dramatic example of the difference a mastering job can make and put together a page with a lesson and discussion, HERE
02/08/10 Snow killed my mailbox post. To be fair, termites had put it on its last legs. The wet snow filled the runnels from the termites and then froze, breaking the post in half at the bottom. No post, no snail-mail. Uh-huh. In the meantime, I've cobbled together a fix that will make me eligible for mail until I can borrow my wifes's minivan to pick up a new post. The fix revolves around a leftover chunk of 2x10, three deck screws, and a 3" clamp. Pix:
Don't laugh. I'm rather proud of my yankee ingenuity. Only I'm from the South.
01/03/10 Mystified by the various and sundry types of guitar echoes and delays available? Go HERE for help decoding this subject!
01/01/10 Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you all as you greet another year, and may all your endeavors go well!
In order to expedite loading of the news page, it has been broken up into multiple pages. Previous news posts can be accessed HERE.
=