This morning, I realized that while listening to some Boston. Maybe it's time for a fast, as far as music goes (easier said than done when I'm doing two busy bands). Maybe I should, just quit listening to so much of that damn jazz. I've been watching that Ken Burns documentary (I'm like 12 hours into it), and listening to a lot of KUVO (again) and I think it has gotten under my skin.
This one came on right after Boston, and really made me feel a little better, even if it's as contrived as the Boston song. The bass tone is great, and classic, and the second half has some cool layers:
Seriously, though, sometimes it feels like I'm learning someone else's stuff. That was one hell of a band, back in the day, even if it feels like I'm talkin' bout someone else, now.
We actually recorded eight songs last Tuesday. I thought that it was seven, but, as a bass player, I rarely have to count past six, and usually four. So, I can't count to eight--oh well.
I got the rough mix today and it's lacking in several areas (when listened to on my bass-infested computer and car--on the 1970s Sansui, I can EQ the badness away). I have to keep in mind that these are mere demos and far from perfect:
The songwriting and arrangements really work, though. We did a good job with Ross' songs. I'm so proud of us.
If we can tighten up the bass track's low end and carefully tweak the midrange, we'll be set. I think that if I did a DI track and we used an in-phase room mic for the bass a way off, it'll fix my floppiness, which is the worst part of all of this (still not playing like I need to for a three piece, perhaps). Maybe some crap was done to the bass track unbeknownst to me--Greg did it right with a DI and a room mic on the 8x10" moderately loud with a touch of limiting on the DI (the UA 1176 plug in rocks). Maybe I just need to record with a different setup entirely.
The drums weren't terrible, but again, the low end is really loose. There's virtually no crispness on the cymbals. I'd like to hear more of that. I want the snare to crack a little more, too. The percussion just ain't quite as tight-sounding as I'd like.
The guitar actually sounds much better than I thought it would after listening to the playback. It could use a little bit more presence, but basically, it's cool.
The vocals actually are great, and that's what I think that the magical one was shooting for. Sometimes, they sit in a weird place, but I think that's because it has a really smiley EQ curve (no mids) on everything else. There's a couple of places that ADT would be cool, or RDT as the case may be.
I'm trying to not let this bum me out at all. This isn't for real, after all. This is just for (fuckin') Ronny to figure out if the arrangements will work. I think that we've made impressive progress in two months. Mostly, it's production problems that have shown up, which is the whole point of pre-production, I think. Some of the improvisation is brilliant, though. I love it when things happen.
The new and improved 'Army of Stars' is really the best I've heard since Last Man on the Moon. Somehow, we managed a rock 'n' roll fine, which I didn't think that I had in me.
This new one is great, with a little bass-cut, man.
I thought that was the lyric for a long time. When I admitted that, we all had a good laugh.
I'm relegated to the black hoe for the time being, while I await parts. It worked all right at practice, and we even got some Walk Among Us-esque sounds at one point on 'Blood Trail' (specifically, the 4-bar bit before the chorus on 'Vampira').
Greg's "new" Gibson sounds amazing, and never feeds back (zero resonance on that design, which totally lends itself to amplification). He had some tuning issues, but I think that I need to set intonation, too--it's been a couple of years since I actually used this bass for a band situation, and with the Colorado, instruments require seasonal adjustment.
I decided that I really don't like the mid-range contour on the Quarter-pounder. It's just not as great as a Whopper. Lots of bass and sparkly highs doesn't really suit the #2 Booger well. I'll be happy to get a flatter-sounding pickup back in my life. I found a response graph that was way impressive last week when I ordered parts, and now I can't find it (bummer). The new setup should be as flat as flat can be, which is especially cool considering that the Booger amps are all about sucked-out mids. The tone is described as 'raw' as well as 'woody', so I figure that I can't really go wrong. It's probably the most expensive precision bass pickup out there, but I found a hell of a deal--if it sucks, I can certainly sell it. I need to figure out WTF is up with cloth-covered wire, because I've always done PVC (in the Stratocaster and the black hoe). It actually sounds a lot easier (and no burning plastic). I can't remember how the grounding plate works, so I'll have to research that, or crack open the black hoe (which, as it turns out, is totally a 1962 re-issue...I shouldn't have messed it up with the new pickup and bridge...oh well...).
I really wanted to try out one of these, though. Curtis Novak is in Wimberly, TX, where my Nitwit is from, which is almost worth the extra effort for a fully custom pickup. If the new one works, great, if not, I'll totally be on the phone with Wimberly.
The only thing that I'm conflicted about is fucking with my setup the week before recording. I know that some people take great pleasure in such things, but I like tried and true, even though the bass will get buried amongst the vocals, I'm certain, and totally okay with (I give the best tone that I have, and if it gets drowned to serve the song/record, oh well). There's a backup plan just in case I forgot how to solder or something.
For those who care...the new pickup is all hand-wound (scattered, but not custom), and the resulting bass will be hand-wired. Do I get a gold star? That crap is all about the marketing, really...all that I care about how the rig sounds. I'm tryin' what other players recommend at this point.
Everyone that knows me, fucking knows that I'm not much of a home video game player, like men my age are supposed to be, according to my mother. I do love pinball games (I might just school your ass on solid state tables on a good night--I need to drag Fuckin' Ronny up to Lyons), and certain arcade games of antiquity (I heart puzzle games) , but my Playstation 2 is virtually unused (that perspective shit makes me ill). I was totally addicted to DOOM in college, though (almost flunked out because of that).
I recently discovered an open source (whoot!), PC version of Guitar Hero, called Frets On Fire.
I suck at this shit, really. I've been attempted to rock out with my cock out, and it's just not happening. I can sort of pull off Danzig's Mother on the "supaeasy" setting, but I still can't do it right (this is fucking embarassing, because that's probably the easiest song ever written). As it turns out, the video game version is way way way more difficult than actually playing the fuckin' song.
I suck; I'm a banjo nobody.
This game sounds like it's more my speed (I just discovered it). Weed, yo. I think that I'll give it a shot. It sounds like games that I played back in the day on the BBS. ---------------- Now playing: Bad Luck City - Andrew's Happy Song
John "Fuckin'" Nichols would back me up on that title...
I had this on cassette and the tape got a twist. The funny thing about fuckin' Cacophony is that, besides the reverb on the drums being backwards, you can't even tell that it's flipped, especially if you're really high after the ice-bong-o-rama.
The Ninja--hells yeah, bitches:
Those posed shots really show off their beautiful hair. Really beautiful hair, man. But, where are those whacky Carvin guitars?!?
Apparently, fuckin' Cacophony made it into fuckin' Guitar Hero II with this sweep-picking masterpiece. I'm sort of striving for for of those pretty counterpoint things, lately. This one will make my non-metal readers' heads explode:
