My new one-man-band indie rock album, FREE!

[BenjaminWells]

I listened to your album yesterday and I think it's great!

I wonder from your previous commentary if you prefer a different drum setup for every song, or was it just the circumstances? I can see a benefit to sonic variation, but I can also see a benefit to sonic consistency. Just wonder what you think.

[jgimbel]

I listened to your album yesterday and I think it's great!

I wonder from your previous commentary if you prefer a different drum setup for every song, or was it just the circumstances? I can see a benefit to sonic variation, but I can also see a benefit to sonic consistency. Just wonder what you think.

Hey Ben, thanks! It actually stems originally from my own writing habits. My musical background is pretty eclectic - music wasn't a part of my family, and I didn't really start listening to music at all until high school. I started playing guitar before then. So when I started writing, I had no concept of working within one genre or anything, I just wrote what I wanted and how I felt like writing. So the albums I did before this last one (which were various degrees of sonic distaster since I was learning to record as I learned to play) were more diverse, spanning from math rock to very folksy to heavier stuff to just noisy crescendo kind of stuff. This past album (City Shade/Country Sun) is the closest I've gotten to writing in one genre. But even so, I guess the idea of using one kind of drum sound across a whole album didn't really register with me - why would I put mics on every drum for a song that's pretty much just acoustic guitar? etc. Now that I've been recording full bands and doing more full albums and EPs other than my own I can completely understand and appreciate both the intent to have a consistent sound, as well as the fact that you can use one micing setup and still vary the drum sounds within that.

If I decide to come back to doing my music (I had decided to give it up, I've put so much into it and it's been hard to say I've done anything but bomb), then I'll most likely be close micing things in addition to the overheads/room mics, and since I've got more mics that sound how I want thing to sound, I'd really be able to control everything exactly how I want. If. I've also got Zildjian Ks, my first KM84, and a number of other upgrades, so I'd most likely be able to get things sounding how I want from the start.

A big issue I had with mixing was consistency between songs. You end up mixing each song very separately. Then I have this very full, rich but sparse song and realize it sounds very full-frequency compared to a full rock song, and I really have to work to change things so they sound good for the song but sound correct next to others as well. I think it makes so much more sense to come at it from the other direction, having similar setups for everything and then changing things from the standard, instead of trying to process things into having some sort of unity when they're really very different. I do enjoy a challenge though. I don't know that I'd ever go through and record the drum tracks all in a week like I do with a lot of bands that come through here. Hmmm.

[Brian]

I like it. Gonna put it on in my woodshop while I finish some cabinets.

[jgimbel]

I like it. Gonna put it on in my woodshop while I finish some cabinets.

Glad you liked it Brian!

[highvoltage]

Wow, i really loved it!

And i also like the mixing. Very warm sound and fat drums.
What snare is this?

Niiice.

[jgimbel]

Wow, i really loved it!

And i also like the mixing. Very warm sound and fat drums.
What snare is this?

Niiice.

Sorry I missed this! I'm so glad you liked it. I believe the snare on the whole record was a Pearl VX birch snare, tuned somewhat low.

[jgimbel]

I don't know if anyone still sees this stuff, but after four years of only working on clients work only (recording, mixing, mastering work), I'm finally coming back to it and putting out another album. The new material is considerably different than the last album, but those who were into the last album should still be able to carry over to this new stuff. I've got the first single coming out next Tuesday, I'll post it here if anyone's interested.

[jgimbel]

Started a new thread for the new album where I'll be keeping updates:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=85938