This past Sunday we found ourselves in the downtown studio. We mainly use this as our mix / post production studio. It was a nice and well needed change of scenery for the band as we could go mad sometimes being in the same place for extended amounts of time. The downtown studio also has a very nice Mackie Onyx board that we love to utilize for tracking. And we did.
After the last mixing session, Jon and I realized the guitars on Deep Calling were incomplete. We used the recent session to finish guitars and get some vocal tracks down for the song. I love recording guitars because it allows us to be extremely creative. We use the guitar not only as melodic instrumentation but also to create sounds and textures that we might be looking for. A lot of the sounds you will hear are not from a synth but actually from a guitar and some effects.
In this session we were able to create a very high pitched 'squeal' using a combination of a guitar and a few effect pedals. The cool thing is that I was able to control the pitch by adjusting knobs on the guitar and pedals for a very spacey sound. It was a lot of fun.
With Jon Link at the controls we are able to create some fantastic sounds and moods with the recordings. Throughout this process we have all learned a lot from Jon. I know that the term 'think outside the box' is kind of a cliche', but Jon really pushes us to truly grasp the meaning of it. He's a very forward thinker and brings a great perspective to the table all the time.
We have worked with Jon for almost 2 years and are always learning more from him. From the very beginning Jon jumped right in and has always pushed us to our limits and sometimes past. Sure we argue from time to time but the outcome is always worth it. I think that the toil and 'bleeding' that we have done for the album will show in the recordings.
When we record a song we talk about what kind of mood or room we're trying to establish with the song. Our goal is to make each song like a room with different colors and moods etc. We don't necessarily approach recording like a rock band. We approach it more as movie producers, writing and giving the album what it needs to be complete. I guess you could say that we write for the album, not for the song.
All in all it was a great session. It's very exciting that these songs are almost done. We can't wait to have the final cuts so that we can release them on the web (for a limited time). Then it's on to the newer songs. We are currently writing as much as possible and finding new sounds all the time.
With 'Greater Sadness' and 'Deep Calling' nearing completion we are getting more and more anxious to finish them. These songs will be coming at you soon so be on the lookout! We won't sleep until they are finished...Well, that's not true but we will work very hard! All of your patience and waiting will be worthwhile. This will be one to remember.
