(This is a little about how "A Random Quiet" was recorded. Tech-speak alert!)
Demo sessions began in 2010. Several unreleased songs that began as Additional Moog tunes were recorded and later abandoned (including Way Out, Beachparty, Fuzz For Lights And Ties & Soul Star). A batch of new songs came into being. "We Are Finally Happy..." and "Hall of Ghosts" were the first to be written specifically for the album, although both "A Random Quiet" and "Tonight, It's Over" were both older, unfinished songs which were completed.
"Volunteers" was written in Denmark. I didn't have an instrument so I had to vocalize and remember the parts. "The Wandering" was the last song to be written and recorded for the album. Drum tracks from two abandoned songs were chopped up and reassembled with some extra overdubs to form the percussion bed for the song.
Everything was recorded at my studio with the exception of Gerry Hogan's pedal steel parts which we tracked in the stone Old Blacksmith's shop - a place normally used for wedding ceremonies in Gretna Green, Scotland.
The album was mainly recorded on Pro Tools although several tracks (vocals, guitars & bass) were recorded to tape first (Studer A80 with Dolby SR) and directly recorded back into Pro Tools. Reaper was also used as an alternative DAW on one of the songs. The recordings were made in 24 bit at 44.1 kHz.
The drums were recorded in a fairly open sounding room with wooden floors. Everything else was recorded in the small, dead mix room.
Mics used etc :
Kick - Shure Beta 52
Snare - Shure SM7 (large diaphragm dynamic)
Toms - Shure Beta 98
Overheads - Shure SM81 (ride side) , MXL 69V (hat side)
Room - PZM about six feet out into the room and on the floor
(Altiverb used to enhance room sound)
Bass - DI'd through tube preamp or via Ampeg B15/SVT patches on Pod XT (Viola bass & P bass)
Guitars - SM7, Beta 56, MXL 69V (Gibson 335, Fender Teles, Rickenbacker 360, Vox AC10, Vox AC15)
Acoustics - SM81 (ORTF pair), Rode NT1 (w/U87 Joly modification) (Martin D42, HD28, D15, Fender F3)
Vocals - SM7, Neumann KMS105, Rode NT1
Plug Ins : (Can't remember them all but these were among the go-to ones)
Main reverbs : EMT 140 plate & EMT 250 Altiverb
Main compressors : Bomb factory 1176, Massey C4, Waves API 2500, Waves SSL 4000 G Buss, C1 gate, Softube FET & CL1B
Main EQ : Waves API 550A & B, API 560, Q Paragraphic, Softube Trident A
As well as different reverbs on different parts of a song, mono and ping pong delays were used on many songs along with some backwards reverb.
All songs were mixed to analogue tape (15 ips, Dolby SR). Some mix automation was used in combination with manual gain riding and the songs were mixed in sections onto the tape (intro / verse / chorus etc) and then edited manually with a razor blade. Everything was mixed (to K-20 meter standard) with 0VU as the average, to ensure there was plenty of headroom.
The tape mixes were transferred back to 24/96 through Prism converters.
Bob Katz mastered the album from the 24/96 WAV files at his studio in Florida. He shared the sonic vision of keeping the album sounding natural and un-hyped, using modest compression and EQ. The album was deliberately mastered without heavy limiting to make sure dynamic range was maintained. The dynamic range for the whole album averages out at DR-12.
The album is currently available on CD, as an mp3 (in 320kbps format) and for the highest audio resolution as 24 bit 96kHz FLAC files.
Demo sessions began in 2010. Several unreleased songs that began as Additional Moog tunes were recorded and later abandoned (including Way Out, Beachparty, Fuzz For Lights And Ties & Soul Star). A batch of new songs came into being. "We Are Finally Happy..." and "Hall of Ghosts" were the first to be written specifically for the album, although both "A Random Quiet" and "Tonight, It's Over" were both older, unfinished songs which were completed.
"Volunteers" was written in Denmark. I didn't have an instrument so I had to vocalize and remember the parts. "The Wandering" was the last song to be written and recorded for the album. Drum tracks from two abandoned songs were chopped up and reassembled with some extra overdubs to form the percussion bed for the song.
Everything was recorded at my studio with the exception of Gerry Hogan's pedal steel parts which we tracked in the stone Old Blacksmith's shop - a place normally used for wedding ceremonies in Gretna Green, Scotland.
The album was mainly recorded on Pro Tools although several tracks (vocals, guitars & bass) were recorded to tape first (Studer A80 with Dolby SR) and directly recorded back into Pro Tools. Reaper was also used as an alternative DAW on one of the songs. The recordings were made in 24 bit at 44.1 kHz.
The drums were recorded in a fairly open sounding room with wooden floors. Everything else was recorded in the small, dead mix room.
Mics used etc :
Kick - Shure Beta 52
Snare - Shure SM7 (large diaphragm dynamic)
Toms - Shure Beta 98
Overheads - Shure SM81 (ride side) , MXL 69V (hat side)
Room - PZM about six feet out into the room and on the floor
(Altiverb used to enhance room sound)
Bass - DI'd through tube preamp or via Ampeg B15/SVT patches on Pod XT (Viola bass & P bass)
Guitars - SM7, Beta 56, MXL 69V (Gibson 335, Fender Teles, Rickenbacker 360, Vox AC10, Vox AC15)
Acoustics - SM81 (ORTF pair), Rode NT1 (w/U87 Joly modification) (Martin D42, HD28, D15, Fender F3)
Vocals - SM7, Neumann KMS105, Rode NT1
Plug Ins : (Can't remember them all but these were among the go-to ones)
Main reverbs : EMT 140 plate & EMT 250 Altiverb
Main compressors : Bomb factory 1176, Massey C4, Waves API 2500, Waves SSL 4000 G Buss, C1 gate, Softube FET & CL1B
Main EQ : Waves API 550A & B, API 560, Q Paragraphic, Softube Trident A
As well as different reverbs on different parts of a song, mono and ping pong delays were used on many songs along with some backwards reverb.
All songs were mixed to analogue tape (15 ips, Dolby SR). Some mix automation was used in combination with manual gain riding and the songs were mixed in sections onto the tape (intro / verse / chorus etc) and then edited manually with a razor blade. Everything was mixed (to K-20 meter standard) with 0VU as the average, to ensure there was plenty of headroom.
The tape mixes were transferred back to 24/96 through Prism converters.
Bob Katz mastered the album from the 24/96 WAV files at his studio in Florida. He shared the sonic vision of keeping the album sounding natural and un-hyped, using modest compression and EQ. The album was deliberately mastered without heavy limiting to make sure dynamic range was maintained. The dynamic range for the whole album averages out at DR-12.
The album is currently available on CD, as an mp3 (in 320kbps format) and for the highest audio resolution as 24 bit 96kHz FLAC files.
