Recording Philosphy

So, over the last couple of years I've had people ask me tons of questions about the gear I use and my process. I've always answered at length, and I always am happy to share tips and tricks.

I'm a "process" guy - I've always been that way with everything I do, visual art, music, cooking, you name it. I think the act of writing is actually more important than the end product in a lot of ways.

I recently mentioned to a friend, that my music is more about the concept than the quality, and even though it was somewhat tongue in cheek, there's alot of truth in that statement. When you're a bedroom producer, or someone with a non-commercial project studio, you constantly fight many battles and the biggest one is how to get good sounding recordings out of your gear. Some people take part in the arms race that is hi-fidelity, throwing down huge sums of cash for preamps, converters, DI boxes, monitors, acoustic treatments, fancy cables, and will go to extreme lengths to get the elusive "true sound" of their equipment.

Screw that. Seriously.

About three years ago I bought a MOTU 828MKII. That's my nifty audio interface - I use the built in preamps for my mic's, for DI guitar recording, etc. To submix into the 828 I use a couple of relatively budget Yamaha line mixers. I use Hosa cables. I spent less on that than some people spend on one good preamp, and I'm happy. Not that I wouldn't LOVE to have a pile of super-awesome rack gear fall into my lap, but I don't under any circumstances feel that I'm losing anything in my recordings using my "pro-sumer" equipment.

It's all about the elusive 5% - this rule applies to so much in life when purchasing things - you can get 95% of the way towards perfection for less than half the price of the items that would get you 100% of the way.

There. Mild mannered rant on that over - with one caveat: cheap and affordable are two different things. Behringer is the devil.

So anyway - concept vs. quality. I've got a very odd gear fetish. Tons of people seem to go through a 6 month fetish for old gear, for weird things and circuit bent childrens toys and various odd boxes that defy rational thought, then they get pissed off at their unpredictablity and penchant for odd noises and random hum and return to their in the box happy plug in land.

I've been embracing broken gear and crazy ass shit that fucks shit up for a while now, becoming a devout user of Metasonix equipment and proudly playing with an old broken Farfisa that barely emits sounds. But when that damned Farfisa does make sound, it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

Vacuum tubes. There's another fetish for you - people worship them for their use in amps, their "warmth", their "tone". That's the legacy that seems to be left for them, but it's just not right. Before people went solid state with electronics, everything was built around tubes - early synthesizers and organs, computers, they were everywhere and found in a whole range of consumer products. They were built for so many uses, and now they've been relegated to guitar players "magic lightbulbs" that make them sound like their heros.

So I discover Metasonix, and I realize that what Eric is doing is some of the most important R&D ever. He's an expert with these things, he's got all sorts of credentials, but more importantly he actually thinks about tubes and what they can do. He's produced some truly bizarre pedals and rack units, and now a lovely little synthesizer - all using NOS tubes in new and interesting ways.

If there was a family of products that deserve way more attention than they get, it's Eric Barbour and Metasonix.

The S-1000 Wretch Machine is the only tube synthesizer in current production - I'd hazard a guess it's one of the only commercial applications of gas-tube oscillators in a synth since the late 50's (I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong). It's my new best friend - it defies logic and defies cooperation, but the way a writing partner should. It's got attitude and charisma and it never sounds the same twice.

So back to the manifesto: what makes me want to record something? Sound - something in the moment that captures that certain spark of interest. Something that if the tape wasn't rolling may never happen again. Something temporary made permanent.

I stopped using preset synthesizers about 2 years ago, and the hardware synths I have are all set up with initialized patches ready to be programmed on the fly (with a few exceptions). I started building a modular last year to further throw myself into that mode of working. Build a sound, find a melody or a movement, record it and move on. Harness the moment.

At this point I'm realizing I've wandered all over the place here, so I'll wrap it up for now and post something more succinct every once in a while about what turns me on and what makes me hit record.

Final thought: Pitch is relative, sound is temporary, silence is the space between surprises.