Studio Day 6 & 7: Electric/Lead Guitar

The Studio Day 6 & 7: Lead Guitar

...and other fantastic activities

Today is the day that we record electric guitar; mainly the guitar solos and electric rhythm parts. It's hard to explain some of the different sounds, so I managed to get some video clips of the last two days of recording! Enjoy!

We arrived at the studio 5 minutes early (wow! that's a first...) We rolled up with with an electric guitar, a large pedal board, aaaaaaaand an electric guitarist. But this is not your ordinary-every-day-electric guitarist. This is Nathan Zoob. (or just simply, Zoob.) Zoob has been playing guitar with me for years now, starting back in college.
Zoob brought his reliable electric guitar: a Fender Stratocaster (Highway Series, for you nerds and pros). It sure makes some beautiful sounds. He used it for some warm, sexy guitar solos on "Body and Soul" as well as some powerful leads in "Fallen Hero".
The thing on the floor that looks like an oversized circuit board is called a pedal board. Simply because it's a board...covered in guitar pedals! Each pedal is crafted to produce a different type of sound as Zoob wires his electric guitar through it. You can play one at a time OR you can combine them all. Most experienced electric guitar players have at least a few good pedals that they call upon daily.


One of the biggest differences between recording the electric guitar and recording acoustic guitar is:

There are NO microphones near the actual guitarist when you record electric guitar!

 The microphones are in the next room over, aimed at the guitar's amplifier, which is also nowhere near the guitarist. 

Hah! I caught Producer Dave's hand adjusting the guitar amplifier. (The big black box)

Dave spends over 25 minutes checking levels, turning knobs, pushing buttons, clicking clickers, flipping switches, etc. to get the correct sounds and volumes for the guitar amplifier. This is where the art of recording comes in. There are a million ways to "mic" a guitar, or a million different settings.
Here's Dave trying out one of the pedals with Zoob's guitar.

Not gonna cut it, Zoob. Dave's face doesn't look too convinced.

HERE WE GO! TIME TO RECORD!

They usually started with Zoob giving the song an initial run-through, putting all his ideas out on the table, and getting into the groove. Dave takes this time to think which parts are just right and which ones could use a different feel or another take. After a few takes, Zoob will have a perfect solo laid down. Somes, we would spend a good 20 minutes on one guitar solo, making sure that it's PERFECT in attitude and feel of the song. Other times, Zoob will NAIL a part and that will be that!


You wanna hear what I'm talking about? Okay. Here are a few clips.

You might hear something like this one on the finished album:

Dave the Producer
Sometimes, Dave gives Zoob instruction on how he would like certain parts to be played. Having a great ear and understanding how all of the instruments come together to weave a tapestry of sound, Dave is usually the final "vibe" authority in the room. It's important to have someone on board that has a lot of experience in arranging whole bands with a handful of different instruments; someone who has a "vision" of what the final product will sound like. As this is my first "band" recording experience, I can only make educated guesses as to what the end product could be like. BUT, what I CAN do, is tell Dave what I want. I may not know how to get there, but Dave will. :) With each project I do, I'm sure I'll become more refined in my "producer" thinking.

This is hanging on the back wall of the studio room. It's a sound diffuser. It ensures that any sound coming toward the diffuser doesn't bounce back with the same power and direction, basically eliminating echos in the room. To give you an idea of the size of this thing, each "peg" is about one square inch.

This is Tom. We don't mess with Tom. 

Dave doin' his thang. He does it well. He's very easy to work with. Very positive.
Sometimes Dave sits in his chair.
Sometimes he doesn't.

Guitar stuff
Zoob's stuff while he's on break.
He used three different guitars over the course of the two days:


-Fender Stratocaster (Highway Series)
-Fender Telecaster
-Hofner Hollow Body 

I have no idea what this is a picture of, so don't ask.

Another day down!

We spent 10 hours recording over the past two days. I think we got exactly what we need. Thanks, Zoob.

Studio Day Four & Five: Acoustic/Rhythm Guitar

The Studio: Day Four and Five (Acoustic Guitar)

Until now, during recording sessions, I have been merely sitting behind a wall, listening, critiquing, and suggesting. This was the first day that I actually recorded my OWN playing. These next two days of acoustic guitar were completely dependent on my ability to play guitar. The pressure is on!

I didn't get as many pictures in these sessions since most of my concentration and attention were on the task at hand: getting a flawless acoustic guitar recording.

BUT 

Here is the lovely view from my seat. Now that I look at this picture again, it reminds me of those wire-track toys that are always in the kids section at the doctor's office. You know, the thick, colored wires that had trains of wooden beads you had to slide until you reached the other end of the wire...

I'll be honest here: this was WORK. 
It was very tiring sitting in the same seat for 4-5 hours at a time, playing the same thing over and over. I would equate this to the work that anyone rarely sees--the writing process and the practice process that happens behind the walls of my apartment. It's not glamorous--but it's inspiring when you finish the day and you listen to what you've pieced together from the day's work.

Microphones, Microphones, and more Microphones!

Again, there were over 7 different microphones that were aimed somewhere near me, and they all had to be placed where they could pick up the "sweet spot" sound of my guitar. 

Dave took masking tape and taped the floor around my feet, (like you would a body at a crime scene) marking where I was to sit for the duration of the session to keep the recording sounds consistent. If I were to move even an inch to the right, the sound could be compromised and we would have to re-record.

The guitar sound that Dave was able to achieve with his trusty microphones sounded even better than my guitar does live!

Each song we recorded took about 1.5 hours to finish, but it felt a lot longer than that. Some songs, depending on their picking/strumming pattern took a bit more time, but hey--I'm no machine! (yet)

The sun was setting outside (and in the studio, it looks like!).

I'm not sure all of you know that I am a finger-picking guitarist as well as a strummer. I grow my right-hand nails out in order to achieve a consistent, strong pluck on each string. Wellllll, I ended up playing frisbee the other week and I broke a nail! I never thought I'd ever say that phrase seriously... So I was playing with a slight handicap, which wasn't optimal.

I intended to play "Sailing" with this  nylon string guitar that I borrowed from a friend, but the inconsistency of the pluck with my handicapped middle finger left us no alternative but to stop for the day and return at a later date to record the nylon string. I'll be back.




This recording experience was quite an eye-opener. 
The level of perfectionism and mastery one must have in order to make a great record astounded me. With a live show, you can afford to slow down, speed up, or fudge a strum or two, but with a record (something that will be crystallized on record forever), things must be nearly flawless.

I learned a big lesson in these two days: I am definitely more of a stage performer than a studio performer :)

Overall, it was a successful couple days of recording. Soon, we'll track the electric guitar!