some back story on this song:when i FIRST bought the toontracks EZdrummer software,
this was the first song i programmed.
i put together an instrumental with the drum track, and called it 'Ez-duzzit'
if you want to hear the first demo version of this, i can post it...
anyway, it sat for a while...
and i wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
i have a lot of songs that evolve that way....... i mean, right now, i probably have 10 unfinished instrumentals, about 10 demos, and maybe 4 finished tunes...
so then later, i bought toontracks Superior Drummer 2.0.
really like it, still use it, that's what's on this song.
some tech jive:eventually i learned the software, and i got heavily into editing midi data, and manually pushing beats around.....
even tho it has a randomization process to it, to 'humanize' the groove,
i like to make it more personal.
there's not ONE loop that i pull into a drum track, that i haven't hand edited to some degree...
that's how i try to make it my own.
i'll even pull a beat OFF the beat, or make a fill drag or push, the way i hear a natural drum track happen.
i'm lucky in that i've worked with some super drummers over the years, and i feel like i'm tapped into it.
so, i began editing this song to have different sections, and the lyric started to happen, then the melody, and it was built up from that original 'jam' idea i had.
i used all the guitars in the above photo, on this song, plus this one:
this epi dbl neck SG was on loan from a friend...
i used it on at least 5 of the songs on the album...
really mostly as texture.....
a couple of songs feature it, like on 'Road to Tabriz'.
guitar rig:a lot of my current electric guitar tracks are recorded direct.
i use a combination of a part of my big rig, captured by a Palmer Junction PDI-09 at full output of the amp, and then an attenuator to take the volume down as low as i want.
now, when i'm recording myself, i typically use my own cabinet as my guitar monitor, don't even put it thru the mix while tracking--no latency-- and then i crank the ever mother lovin' peeese out of the monitors with the mix coming through, and play like i'm jamming with a full band.
but, if i want to,
i can use the attenuator maxed out, i can take the volume of the amp down to night-time bedroom volume, and either play the monitors very low, or go to the headphones.
i've never liked the results of sims, went thru several before i gave up on them, and much prefer the sound of a miced loud cab, but the attenuator and palmer is a WONDERFUL COMPROMISE, and the proof is in the recordings.
using the palmer pdi-09 with miced cabs:i combine micing a cab, with the direct signal from the palmer, as often as i can...
most times, close micing plus the direct, doesn't get you into too much trouble with phase issues...
if you're good in the DAW, you can actually slip the miced guitar track's wav file to exactly match the direct....
since there IS a time delay between the direct and the mic.
but typically, i go ahead and back the mic off to get the room sound, and then blend THAT with the palmer track.
works great, if you've got a good room sound.
working direct is different, tho..
you'll find that you have a much more immediate sound in the monitors/headphones, and it COULD throw you at first.
you get used to it tho..
i've found that putting some mild digital delay and reverb on the track just while i'm tracking (not printing effects) can help with the somewhat sterile vibe from the palmer direct...
you know, you get used to standing around and listening to your amp bouncing it's sound off the walls of your room, and THAT is the sound of your guitar and amp.
the palmer doesn't give a rat's @ss about any of that!!
LOL
my favorite way of using the palmer direct, is to NOT use the headphones...
but crank up my music thru the monitors, as loud as the situation will allow, and match the volume of my amp (using the attenuator) to the monitors, and simply along with the monitors listening to my actual amp sound.
then, i play more naturally.
and whatever sound i end up with on the palmer, i work with.
i've come up with several scenarios now, of how to adjust my amp to more approximate a 'miced' sound with the palmer, and even tho i'm setting the amp to suit the recording direct part, and use settings i typically would NEVER use at stage volume, or at full mic recording, it still works really well for low volume recording.
the other cool fringe benefit of the palmer, is that when you gig, instead of micing, use the palmer....
the sound guys absolutely love it, and you cannot tell the difference at all thru a PA.
BASS:carvin LB70:
recording setup:
i run it thru my pedalboard, using the Barber Tone Press as a compressor, the Barber Direct Drive pedal for some grit, the ISP Decimator for a bit of noise control, and ran that directly into my SANSAMP bass DI, and then thru a mic pre (A Designs Audio MP-1) and out of that thru a A Designs ATTY for level control, directly into my MAudio 192 soundcard for conversion.
sometimes, i'll use the sansamp to split the signal, and record one track with the sansamp sound, and take a parallel out from the sansamp, run THAT thru the boogie, and record the output of that thru the Palmer Junction, direct to another track, and then blend the two.
that way, i can get DEEP from the pedal, and DRIVE and MIDS from the boogie.
or, i can run the bass from the sansamp track STRAIGHT UP, then take the boogie feed into sonar as a stereo track, and then split that and apply a stereo effect, hard pan those left and right, and bring them up to just blend with the centered dry straight track.
it's a pretty simple but powerful setup.