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!

The Studio: Day Three

The Studio: Day Three (Tracing My Steps)

Today's session was dedicated solely to the production of what is to be the first single off the album: 

Tracing My Steps.

But first, we had to break down all of Ryan's drums and clear them out of the studio. It was a bittersweet moment removing all the microphones that Dave had spent so much time placing to perfection. We also had to take down Dave's bass drum microphone fort. Ryan's little car was, once again, packed to the rear-view mirror with snares, toms, and cymbals. I do have to say, though... tearing down the equipment was a lot less time-consuming than setting up, which was nice after a couple 10-hour days of recording. 

Onward and upward! 

An Old Song With A New Spin

I've been playing Tracing My Steps on the acoustic guitar for years, and I want to beef it up a little bit and give it some new flavor for the album. Not only are we adding more instruments, I've actually ADDED A CHORUS TO THE SONG. Seriously, for four years, the song had no chorus and I always felt like something was missing. It's about time.

In rehearsals with Ryan and Jason, we tried for many hours to lay down a fitting drum beat for the song, but nothing seemed to fit quite right. Frustrated and out of ideas, I decided to take the song into the studio and let Engineer/Producer Dave take a whack at it.

In one of the smaller studios, we begin another exciting journey.

Equipped with the vocal and guitar scratch track and his drum machine software, Dave pieced together sound upon sound with his computer and within two hours, he had a SICK drum groove constructed that was exactly what I had been looking for. You'll hear what I mean when the single is released...

It has almost a latin feel to it.

After a few more tweaks here and clicks there, Dave had the track where he wanted it. 

Here comes the cool part: 

Dave asked Ryan to bring his cajon to the studio today. For those who have never seen a cajon, it's a wooden box-like percussion instrument with metal snares inside that give it a distinct metallic buzz/snap  sound when you whack the side of the "box" ("cajon is Spanish for "box" or "crate")

...Okay, so we didn't have THIS guy recording with us, but I'm sure it would have been a great time. Next time we'll call that guy up to jam with us too...

Dave recorded Ryan playing on bongos, congas, and the newly acquired cajon. We eventually settled on a combination of live instrument recordings and computer-synthesized sounds. Mixed together, you get a realistic sound without the hassle of having to own every instrument under the sun. Computers are a great thing. Sometimes. Well. Most of the time.

Dave setting up the microphones for the cajon and bongos.

Done For The Week

After a few hours, we're ready to call it a night. 

NOW, we take the mixed track that Dave constructed this evening and we send it to Jason, who will put together a nice bass line for the song and we'll all get together to finalize the song arrangement. For now, it's time to take a little break to regroup and prepare for the next recording session dates.

What are my next steps? I will take the drums-and-bass versions of the songs and get together with my guitarist, my string arranger, and other instrumentalists to nail down what each of them will add to the mix in the coming recording sessions.

The next thing we'll be recording is Jason's upright bass and my acoustic guitar.

Until the next session,

Stay tuned!

The Studio: Day Two (The Blue Tape Massage Chair Sessions)

The Studio: Day Two

(otherwise known as the Blue Tape-Massage Chair Sessions)

ask me about my blue tape

Ryan, Jason, and I return to the studio refreshed and ready for round two. Today is going to be much like yesterday. We'll be recording drums and electric bass for the rest of songs on the album. We did the two hardest songs yesterday ("Fallen Hero" and "Body and Soul"), so today should be a breeze. 

Day Two partially brought to you by:

The Massage Chair

I can't believe this actually happened, but it did. Ryan brought his Shiatsu massage chair to the studio! Each time we took a break to eat or change up the equipment, we would take turns using the massage chair. As you will notice in the photo of Engineer Dave in the Day One blog post, Dave is blissfully taking advantage of this magical contraption. That's why he's smiling. I think this chair had a major hand in keeping us sane through the 10-hour days. 

Changing Up the Drums

Each song is different. Each song calls for a slightly different sound. To accommodate those differences, Ryan brought two sets of drums for us to work with (Dave also had about 10 kits worth of drums around the room as well). Today we decided that the more easy-going songs like "Busy Bee" and "Lady" would require a smaller, jazzier bass drum. I didn't dare get too close to the drum kit, in fear of knocking over microphones with my head.

This whole 'playing and singing over and over again' thing was beginning to wear on me as the day went on. Fortunately, during some of the songs, I did not have to play or sing at all. The week before, I had home-recorded a guitar-and-vocal "scratch track" for the drummer to play to. A scratch track is just a temporary, often lower-quality recording that is rhythmically accurate enough to be used as a reference for the recording musicians.  Dave played the scratch track over and over for Ryan's drum track recording. 

Jason the Bassist arrives

Jason arrives and warms up for a few minutes. Ryan takes a short break to eat and sit in the magical massage chair. Jason does amazing things with his instrument. You should see his fingers fly when we play live! 

We record the majority of the songs with Jason and Ryan and now it's time for additional auxiliary percussion like Conga drums and tambourines.

The night is closing in upon us...

It's not all set in stone

We spent about an hour experimenting with different drum sounds for "Sailing", one of my favorite songs on the album. It's such a peaceful song that I don't want to "rock the boat" with too much percussion. We tried shakers. We tried brushes. We even tried rubbing little pieces of paper together to get the perfect sound. We couldn't decide what to use on the spot, so we sampled all three and I took the samples home to let them stew in my mind for a while.

Dave certainly has some great ideas in his head. I sit and watch these ideas unfold as we record. It's really amazing to hear what he sees in his head. Each time I listen to a previous take, I get more and more excited for the album to be done.

Ryan plays the conga drums like a champ. If you don't believe me, you will once you hear the album.

Words with Friends is a great way to kill time while you're waiting for your turn to record. Jason tells me that when he was a kid, he had a huge comic book collection. He found all his comic books in digital form on his iPad and and he now relives his childhood years during studio downtime.

Day Two Finished!

With another day done, we're all completely exhausted, but we're satisfied. We have finished recording all of the drum tracks and about three quarters of the bass tracks. Tomorrow, we'll disassemble the drum kit and work on one of the most difficult songs to perfect-- "Tracing My Steps". For months, Ryan, Jason, and I struggled to find a fitting drum kit groove for this song, as it's so acoustically driven. The parts we came up with in rehearsal always seemed to BIG or too boring. Tomorrow we will see what Dave can do to help.

Good Night. 

-Tim Ruff

The Studio: Day One (Treelady? what's a Treelady?)

The Studio: Day One

With band rehearsals behind us, we packed all of the gear Ryan The Drummer would need for three days in the studio into his small, small car. The look on my face and the huge drum in my lap will tell you how much room we had to spare after packing.

Treelady Studios

(I have yet to ask where the name "Treelady" came from)

Not many people get to see what it's like inside a professional recording studio, so I'm going to do my best to give you an insider view. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Engineer/Producer Dave Hidek. He's a really great guy to work with. Patient, calm, yet relentless in getting the BEST recording he can.

Studio A

Their "Studio A" is their main studio area where they do most of their recording, especially for drums. Our first day, our goal was to get the drums set up and get a good start on the drum and bass guitar tracks. Here are some shots of Studio A:

Guitars!

This is just part of their collection of instruments. We have access to every instrument on their wall!

Thankfully we've got almost all our instrumentation planned out. We'd be having a field day picking out other instruments. 

Here is a picture of the studio sauna. Just kidding...this is where the naughty musicians go when they can't behave--in solitary confinement. just kidding again. Actually, it's the isolation booth: a separate recording room sealed off from the rest of the room so that multiple instruments can be recorded at the same time, without the risk of unwanted sounds "bleeding" into the microphones. I spent most of my day in there, playing and singing songs over and over and over until we got some good takes of the drums. 

Here is the view from inside the isolation both. If you look to the bottom left, you spy Jason laying down the bass tracks while Ryan is playing drums. 

Drum Kit Microphones

Setting microphones for a full drum set might not seem too difficult, but it's actually one of the most time-consuming parts of recording. Each of the nineteen drum microphones needs to be set in exactly the right position to get the desired sound. Check out the army of microphones waiting for us as we entered the room!

 Drum tent :)

Dave set this tent up with sound partitions and a sound blanket to isolate the bass drum's microphones from the rest of the kit. I think Dave just likes building forts.







Dave carefully chooses each microphone from their HUGE selection. Each microphone is picked for it's special qualities in recording each different drum sound.

The finished product - It looks like somebody got a hold of the silly string... NOW to RECORD!

Recording Time

There is more than one way to record an album. 

You can record the whole band simultaneously, you can record each instrument one at a time, OR you can synthesize the instruments on a computer. I decided that since I want the sounds to be as real as possible for the listener, I wanted real instruments. Though, recording the whole band at once is time-consuming (especially for a newly formed band that hasn't been practicing for years and years). We decided to record each live instrument one at a time.

Recording happens very quickly-- it must happen as quickly as possible and in a planned fashion, because everything is billed by the hour. That's why the band and I spent hours and hours rehearsing and perfecting the songs so that once we get in the studio, we can get in a get out to keep things cost-efficient. Although we move quickly, we have to keep a steady pace, allowing for breaks. Recording can be mentally and physically tiresome. Things have to be executed perfectly if they're to be crystallized onto a cd.

Day One Finished!

After a LOOONG 10-hour day, we managed to get the drums set up, record three of the most difficult drum songs, and record the corresponding electric bass tracks. It's been an exciting day today, and I look forward to more of this tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be doing the same thing, but with more songs!  More to come soon.

-Tim Ruff

Pre-Production: Scratch Tracks

Pre-Production: Scratch Tracks

It's a friday night. I'm sitting in my apartment. alone. with my guitar. and a tiny little microphone.

The first step in the recording process, especially when you're recording instruments separately, is to record scratch tracks of all the songs.

For the rest of the band who will be recording one at a time (more or less), having a guitar-vocal track to play to is critical in keeping the timing/rhythm of the song.


My job tonight is to record ALL my songs with solo guitar and voice while a "click track" is playing in my headphones. I record the songs in time with the click track so the band will have the right tempo to play to. This saves a lot of time and editing in the post-production phase of the project.

I'm recording with a small USB microphone called the Snowflake by Blue Microphones. It's small and startlingly inexpensive, but it does the job perfectly.

It's hot in here.

Now it's time to take these scratch tracks and send them to my band and to the studio! Woohoo!