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!

Rehearsals :)

Ryan speaking in "drums" to Jay

Rehearsals have begun
My drummer, Ryan Socrates, was recommended to me by Jason (Jay) the bassist. The both of them play in a killer jazz trio. Last week, I went to see them play at Le Brew House close to the South Side Works and they were spectacular. I couldn't stop moving to the groove. This was anything BUT elevator music...they were doing Stevie Wonder covers, Beatles covers, and even some original pieces. What's even better is they don't just play Jazz. They're great all-around musicians, which is why I'm so glad to have found them.

REHEARSAL SPACE!

I was lucky to find a drummer who not only plays like a fiend, but has a nice big rehearsal space to work out all the musical details without feeling like we're waking up all of Shadyside.

Ryan as access to a really interesting rehearsal space in the North Side near the casino. Ryan and his girlfriend, who share the space as fellow percussionists, just got the place and are doings some major renovations. 

My first meeting with both Ryan and Jay 

was frequently interrupted by the sound of the loud heating system, which was working full-force to keep our fingers from freezing. You can't really tell, but the snow was coming down in giant flakes just outside that window. We had just laid down a few pieces of carpeting to cover the concrete floor that was still wet with soapy water. I cannot wait to see what the space will look like once it's done being cleaned and painted. Lisa was brushing away the whole time we played. What a trooper.

...and here I thought cool-looking practice spaces only existed in expensive music videos and fairytales. --you know, like Repunzel? She could really shred on the electric guitar... she was in a hair band. i think.

The Bassist

I had first meeting with my album new bassist this week. I met with Jason upon recommendation from a number of other artists and studio engineers. I have to say I was quite impressed with his skills. After a few initial run-throughs and an exchange of thoughts, he already seemed to know exactly what I was going for with my album sound.

He plays upright bass (like you see in traditional jazz or classical music) as well as electric bass, which means I’ll have plenty of options when it comes to what sort of sound I want for each song. The most exciting thing about “Jay”, though, is his ability to feel a song out from start to finish, then move toward crafting the song so that the whole thing flows just right.

When I first got into this music business, I was only familiar with the guitar—its facility and sounds. Being strictly a guitar and voice performer, I never realized how important the bass was to a song. I never really listened to a song that closely, or with good enough speakers, to really appreciate the art of the bass and the effect it has on a song. I now have a pretty good understanding of its power.

In a more metaphorical way of describing it, the bass line is much like the wind. 

The wind is usually always around in some capacity, able to drive a sailboat across the water with seeming ease. It’s not an overbearing force, but it’s a deep, driving force. So unless you’re in a sailboat, you REALLY only notice the breeze when the wind changes direction or you hit a storm. If a bassist steps up and plays a crazy solo, it’s very noticeable and quite monumental to hear. On the other end of the spectrum, you have those times where there is no wind at all, like when you’re in the eye of a storm (kinda eerie). It’s at those times that you finally notice the wind, or notice its absence, rather.

I’m looking forward to working with this guy. He seems to really have a handle on his craft, as well as a true passion for making music the BEST it can be. 

As a singer-songwriter, one of the things I hear most frequently in conversation with people outside the business is,
"Singer-songwriter? cool! So does that mean you record things all day long?"
That question is actually very loaded questions, because after they ask it, I usually feel obligated to pull out my "list of things I do as a singer-songwriter", which is enumerates a multitude of tasks including booking shows, negotiating, marketing, promoting, and singing (of course!).
Though I won't outline every single one of those jobs I have on my to-do list, I've created this blog to give my you--Kickstarter backers(my fans, friends, family, and new-found-friends!)--a peak into the long process I have and will be going through to make my album a reality.

Though I'll be sending out the Kickstarter Project Update Emails, they will be short. THIS place is where you'll get ALL the details: the lowdown--the thoughts of the man behind the curtain. I'll have some cool pictures and stuff as well that will only be on this blog, so you get the insider's exclusive! :)

Feel free to share this blog with anyone you think would be interested in seeing how an album is made these days.

The moment I hit my goal, I KNEW that I could do this! With 150 backers behind me--with your support, generosity, curiosity, and excitement, I am ready to make this album the best thing that's ever come out of me.

Ciao for now,

-The Acoustic Crooner