Gregg Wright is a force to be reckoned with. He took the top spot in the Southern California Blues Society’s annual Battle of the Blues Bands, and will move on to represent Southern California at the International Blues Challenge, in Memphis. He has opened for Albert and Freddy King, but is probably best remembered as the guitarist on The Jackson’s 1984 Victory album and tour. His live shows burn and his records inspire.
You started off playing blues, went on a detour, then returned to the blues. What happened?
Blues was the music of my parents and grandparents. I didn’t want to know nothin’ about that. I was running away from that. Initially, I liked to play loud blues-rock – Hendrix, Beck, Cream, which really was a hyperamplified form of blues. I started with that, but it was easy for me to transition into classic blues because I heard my parents play that. It was a self-acceptance thing. I had to acknowledge that the blues was in me, regardless. I had to make peace with that.
How do you manage your artistic integrity on the traditional blues circuit?
By playing what I want to play, playing what I really feel inside, and not being afraid to express that. Ultimately, you have to tell your own story. You can’t tell Muddy’s story. You can’t tell B.B’s story. You can only tell your own. My feeling is that if you are true to yourself, it tends to make things move. Don’t worry about what the market is dictating or who says what you have to do.
You’ve managed to please traditional blues fans while playing with a harder edge.
Yeah, but I’m getting ready to upset all them motherf***ers (laughs)! I’m going to make them mad. The record I’m working on right now is just insane. I’m just letting it all hang out. We’re playing real rough with this one. King Of The Rockin’ Blues was just cruise control.
Are you liberated now that you’re accepted within the blues community? Winning the Battle of the Blues Bands gives you cred.
I do what my heart tells me to do. On the new record, some of it is real rock. Some of it is real rough, but leans toward blues forms. I had time to think about things and figure out exactly what it is I wanted to do. No matter what I do, if it’s rock or even if it’s something classical, at the core of it is going to be blues. That’s where I’m from.
Who were you listening to, coming up?
Hendrix and Santana. They were rockers, but they were rockers with the soul of a jazz band. They had a jazz sensibility as far as creativity and form. Post-Abraxas Santana was deep, heavy vibe s**t with the improvisation, especially Caravanserai. That s**t is just f***ing ridiculous!
You opened for Albert and Freddy King. Did any of that rub off?
Freddy King did because he had a rock edge to him. He had a big, fat, howling tone and some funky grooves behind his s**t. He was really one of the first blues-rockers.
What kind of gear are you using?
I’ve been using a 100-watt 1×12 Marshall Valvestate combo for 15 years. I’m also using my Fret-King GWR guitar. I’m playing that exclusively. When I play the Fret-King, it’s like heaven opened up. I suddenly heard my own voice for the first time. The tone of it, the feel – you can beat the hell out of the whammy bar and that Trev Wilkinson construction stays in tune no matter what. The pickups do everything that I want. On the floor, I use an old Fulltone OCD and a Boss DD-7 Delay. It sounds really good.
When you hear stuff that comes out that sounds like nobody but you, it’s a mind blower.
What’s next for you?
I want to get the new record and the International Blues Challenge out of the way. For today’s musician, there’s never been a better time. A guy can write his own ticket if he’s clever and has enough drive. I use everything available to me – iTunes, CD Baby, selling CDs at shows, and consignments at independent record shops.
An independent musician can be like the Viet Cong; you’re a little guy coming through tunnels and messing with the greatest army in the world (laughs) – quick, streamlined, and dangerous. That’s how you have to think. Music-industry people don’t have your best interests at heart. They don’t give a s**t about music. You’re just a commodity. You could be a Kleenex for all they care.
This article originally appeared in VG April 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
We are here at the Philly show checking out all the killer guitars! Here’s a ’54 Goldtop Les Paul, 59 TV Junior, ’55 Junior, ’59 Epiphone Coronet at Best Guitars.Show promoters Gary & Bonnie Burnette of Bee-3 Vintage with a ’44 Gibson Southern Jumbo and ’39 Martin D-18 with a shaded top.
’57 blonde and 2-tone sunburst Strats, and ’65 candy apple red and 3-tone sunburst Strats on display at We Buy Guitars.
(Right to left) 1970 Gibson Super 400 CES, 1963 Martin D- 21, 1924 L-5 Loar, 1939 D-28 from Laurence Wexer Guitars.
’59 Gibson EB-2 and ’60s Fender Coronado 12-string at Southworth Guitars.The first silverburst! Jim’s Guitars displayed this ’39 Rickenbacker Model 59 at Arlington.Mid-’60s Wandre Selene at Southside Guitars.Janet Stites, Rick Hogue and Jon Bookstein of Garrett Park Guitars with an Olson 2002 acoustic, a new Fender Custom Shop Junkyard Dog ’51 Tele (limited edition run for Garrett Park Guitars), and 2004 Fender Custom Shop John Cruz StratRare ’60s longscale Supro bass at Kummer’s Vintage.Circa ’75 Strat that was formerly owned and played by the great Roy Buchanan on display at Southworth Guitars.Assorted display of vintage guitars at Guitar Center’s booth.1967 Vox Teardrop Mark VI and 1969 Ovation Tornado at Vintage Guitar Specialists.’59 and ’58 3-pickup Les Paul Customs, and a ’61 Les Paul/SG at We Buy Guitars.1964 Super Reverb at Reel Time Sight & Sound1964 Super Reverb at Reel Time Sight & Sound.A pair of Gibson 79 combo amps at Jim’s Guitars.Howie Statland from Rivington Guitars with a pair of Les Pauls.More from Philly! Here’s a Bronson Singing Electric lap steel at Hank’s Vintage.1964 Fender Vibroverb in mint condition at Reel Time Sight & Sound.An assortment of National steel guitars from Kummer’s Vintage – 1920s Style I, 1929 Style II, 1928 Style III, 1939 Style 37, 1929 Style IV, 1930 Style IV, 1928 Style IV.1940s Epiphone Electar Zephyr 7-string lap steel at Hank’s Vintage Guitars. Jim Singleton from Jim’s Guitars.1952 Goldtop Les Paul at Hank’s Vintage Guitars.’61 Fender Precision Bass, ’73 Jazz, ’66 Jazz, and ’80 Veillette-Citron bass at Hank’s Vintage Guitars.’61 Fender Champ, ’52 Deluxe and ’56 Deluxe Tweed at Garrett Park Guitars.1960 Gibson ES-330TD, 1963 ES-345TD and 1971 Telecaster Bass at Jim’s Guitars.Drew Berlin with Dave Davidson and Richie Friedman of We Buy Guitars with a ’58 Gibson Flying V.Drew Berlin and Galen Criscione with a rare early Zemaitis 12-string acoustic.SGs and a Les Paul at Southworth Guitars.An early ’60 and a late ’60 Burst from Southworth Guitars.’61 Rickenbacker Capri at Southside Guitars.Display at Southside Guitars.Luigi & Sam from Southside Guitars with a ’65 red non-reverse 3-pickup Firebird and ’65 sunburst Firebird with P-90s.
Detroit native Pete Anderson made a name for himself in the ’80s, playing a ton of twang while Dwight Yoakam sang. In the last 20 years, though, he has become known as an player who can adroitly back virtually any act, a first-rate music producer, and a record-label head.
A disciple of ’50s rock-and-roll and the blues, his guitar style was partly affected by the country music played on the family turntable by his Southern-born father. Just 16 when he first heard Muddy Waters on the radio, he later attended the initial Ann Arbor Blues Festival, where he absorbed heavy doses of B.B King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, T-Bone Walker, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. The event turned him into a blues devotee, and his new album, Birds Above Guitarland, reflects that background. More important, though, he says, “The record is an extension of the previous one, Even Things Up, which showed me turning a page; I didn’t want to be a side man anymore, and I wanted to simplify my life. I was asking myself, ’What do I want to do?’”
That query first struck him in the mid ’90s. Whenever Yoakam’s schedule included time away from music, Anderson would assemble a band to record and do short tours. But, “That solo work ended up being something I didn’t want to simply dust off every six months. I wanted to focus on it, because it was really my future.”
Another big part of that future involved his then-new label, Little Dog Records, and a new recording studio Anderson built with his wife, who is a recording engineer.
Those who have followed his career know Anderson’s solo work has always fallen on the bluesy side.
“I played a lot of blues as a kid – I was a ’roots’ player who had quite a career playing country. I constantly studied music, even while I was playing whatever was appropriate for Dwight’s records.”
(LEFT TO RIGHT) This ’56 Fender Telecaster – refinished in red sparkle – is the primary guitar heard on Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc… Anderson wrung his share of notes from this ’59 Fender Stratocaster on the Yoakam hits “Fast As You” and “Long White Cadillac.” Pete made heavy use of this ’59 Fender Tele Custom while backing Yoakam.
Birds Above Guitarland he adds, is the type of music that comes most naturally to him. “It’s the majority of my influences. And now more than ever, I’m trying to be cognizant of playing like me; guitar players are often infatuated with other peoples’ playing styles – it’s intoxicating to hear different stages of B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, and Robben Ford, and go, ’Man! What’s he doing?’ or ’What’s his technique?’”
Well before this newfound musical focus, Anderson had re-trained his professional efforts with Little Dog and began to groom the careers of unknown artists, serving as producer, co-songwriter, guitarist/musician, engineer, etc. – whatever needed to be done. The move helped him steer clear of being pigeonholed as a country picker.
We started our discussion with a brief look back.
What year did you start with Dwight?
We started working clubs together in ’82 or ’83 and tried to make Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., for two years, borrowing studio time and all that, and finally got it done as an independent EP in early ’85. It’s funny, the band that recorded that album – Jeff Donovan, Brantley Kearns, myself, Dwight, and J.D. Foster – had been fired from every gig it had in Los Angeles (laughs)! Every club gig! And, pretty much every label had turned down the record.
Given your musical background and Dwight’s style, did it help at all that you were right there as the “cowpunk” surge began on the West Coast?
Yeah, we lied (laughs)! We’d tell the club, “Yeah, we’re cowpunk! We can do that.” But you have to understand, we were guys who made music for a living. We went into honky tonks and played four hours a night for 40 or 50 bucks. But it seemed if we lined up a four-night gig, we’d play two nights then get fired. If it was two nights, we did one. Playing “I Sang Dixie” got us fired!
Did audiences just not react to what you were doing?
Well, when you walk into a bar and there’s a Pac-Man machine and a pool table and a TV, you’re the distraction. The club is just covering its bets and bar owners didn’t know what they had. I’m not casting aspersions – they’re not talent scouts – but in every “country” bar, we got fired because, “You don’t play enough Alabama.” We were playing Bill Monroe and Hank, Sr. – country music. But yeah, we got fired from every club – every one.
What turned it around?
Going to play for nothin’ – clubs in the Valley didn’t pay – and we created a product. We called ourselves cowpunk – which, as far we could tell was all these young bands that had become bored with playing punk and said, “We’re gonna do country music, but like punk, ’cuz we’re revved up like hot rods.” Okay, well… rock and roll started with guys playing really loud in the garage while their parents were in the living room listening to Hank, Sr., hollering, “Turn that s**t down!” So, we went to Hollywood, told everybody we were cowpunk, got onstage and played what we play – loudly – and the press started writing about us.
Given your background and attitude toward playing guitar, were you going for anything specific stylistically, as a player back then?
When we made Dwight’s first record (the 1986 smash Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.), I’d play Albert-Lee-styled stuff. But after that album, I thought, ’I’m not gonna do that anymore, because I’ll only be second-best. I’m gonna go down my own path and figure out how I want to play.’
Guitars of The Big Dog at Little Dog
The unique relationship between Pete Anderson and Reverend Guitars – builders of his two signature models – started when Anderson saw a Reverend ad featuring rock-rapper Kid Rock – flippin the bird! Anderson got a kick out of the fact a fellow Detroiter was sporting the appropriate attitude.
“A few years later, he called looking for a signature model,” recalls Reverend founder and designer Joe Naylor. “Apparently, he approached several companies, but no one could do what he needed.”
What Anderson needed was a new type of hollowbody – one that looked and sounded like an old pawnshop prize, but of course with modern playability and reliability. “It also had to resist howling at stage volume!” said Naylor. “I told him, ‘Yeah, we can do that, no problem’ and I think he was taken aback – maybe even suspicious. But, half a dozen prototypes and a year later, we nailed it.”
(LEDT TO RIGHT) The PA-1 has a laminated, hollow maple body, korina neck, Uni-Brace asymmetric bracing, Reverend CP90 pickups, Bigsby B70, roller bridge, and locking tuners. The PA-1 RT uses Reverend’s Revtron pickups. The Eastsider T has a chambered korina body, maple neck, and Reverend Talnico pickups. The Eastsider S has a chambered korina body, maple neck, Reverend’s Talnico bridge and Salnico middle/neck pickups, and a Wilkinson vibrato.
Naylor’s efforts made it easy when, later, Anderson wanted something… more “traditional” and very familiar to those who may have first caught him playing with Dwight Yoakam.
“Pete has a strong history with the Fender Telecaster, but we tweaked it with a lot of covert features to create the Eastsider,” Naylor said, adding. “We’ve enjoyed a great working relationship, and his signature models have been some of our best sellers.”
As you started to put together the songs for Birds Above Guitarland, were there any significant changes in your approach as a producer?
Well, the biggest plus for me is it’s the first time I said, “Hey, are the vocals loud enough?” (laughs)! I’m really happy with all of it, but very proud of the vocals.
I approach making a record as “songs come first,” then try to be creative with the guitar. I never play to impress as a guitarist; I’d much rather create a likeable song and play something within it. And that’s a slightly greater challenge. I think the ultimate example is “Midnight At the Oasis,” by Maria Muldauer. It’s a cool song and Amos Garrett played a great solo that fits but is also completely jaw-dropping. I follow players who play within songs – Steve Cropper, Cornell Dupree, Amos Garrett. James Burton always gave you a hook or something cool.
Did you also have to give some thought to your technique?
Yes. I realized that most blues guys played with their fingers, except for B.B. King and maybe Muddy Waters. Freddie King used to thumbpick. When I worked with Dwight, I started palming the pick, and eventually started playing completely with my fingers. That was a big step. Then I started to focus my left-hand technique on the blues side of the page, which is kind of deliberate and slow. So, I’ve been conscious of taking what attracts me or fits comfortably, while still being conscious of what people like, what I have that’s a little different, or what might make somebody say, “I want to hear Pete play!” That’s the goal, instead of being the second-best B.B., Albert, Freddie, Robben, Derek, or whoever.
When I’m working on melodies and harmonies, I try to create a certain intensity and fidelity. The biggest example of that would be Elmore James. I can pick up a guitar, tune it to open E or open D, grab a bottleneck slide and play (hums a melody). But I can never, ever, ever play like Elmore James (laughs)! Take that intensity and add the stylistic complexity of, say, Wes Montgomery, who played the most beautiful stuff you’ve ever heard in a fashion you never heard before. That’s what I’m thinking.
What are some personal highlights on the album?
There are a lot, like the solo on “Red Sunset Blues.” I played the melody with a baritone with tremolo, kind of spaghetti-western, then used my Reverend Eastsider for the solo, and played stuff I had never played before – complex, exotic playing that was completely different. I also love the solo on “Out of the Fire” which is sort of an updated honky-tonk/Bill Doggett/multi-interval thing.
Which amps do we hear on the album?
Well, for the most part, I play through a very old Line 6 Pod – first-generation. In the early days of that company, Tim Godwin was their artist rep, and he got me involved. We modeled two of my amps – a blackface Fender Deluxe I had used in the Dwight era and I beefed up with a Twin transformer, and my Silvertone 1489. And they did a great job on both. If you put them side-by-side through a cab with the same speaker, some air around them, and a bit of noise, like beer bottles clinking – you won’t be able to tell the difference. So that’s what I use for the most part, direct. My engineer, Tony Rambo, lives to re-amp guitar parts, so we did some of that through the Silvertone on the bluesier, Chicago-style stuff. We fired up my old blackface Deluxe and mixed and matched cabinets.
What’s the story behind the blackface Fender Twin you bought from Jody Maphis – the son of Joe and Rose Lee Maphis, who is now a guitar player and a drummer in Nashville.
I don’t remember how we started talking about it, but he goes, “I’ve got an old Twin.” I said, “Really? I’m looking for one.” And he said, “Yeah, it’s a blackface something. So, he brought it out and it was all beat up! I asked, “What do you want for it?” He said, “200 bucks. Everything works.” I was on the road at the time, so I had him drop if off with my road manager, and as I was getting on the bus, he was laughing, “Hey that piece of junk Jody Maphis brought over is [in the luggage hold].” He thought Jody had pulled a quick one. But I cleaned it up, gave it the once-over, replaced tubes and stuff, then put it in a new cabinet. I also did a mod created by Jim Williams (a renowned amp tech in the L.A. area) where you change the value of the Bright switch.
What was the motivation for modding it?
When I was touring early on, I’d use two Deluxes, but they just weren’t loud enough. So I figured I’d get a Twin. Thing is, a Twin doesn’t sound much like a Deluxe, so I asked Jim, who is a brilliant designer-type and a Deluxe freak, and he said, “The Bright switch is wrong – it’s not the value of a Deluxe.” I said, “There is no Bright switch on a Deluxe…” And he goes, “Yes, there is. It’s just that Leo saved the money and didn’t put the actual switch on it, but instead he gave it a value and shorted it (across the Volume potentiometer).
I run it with the Middle on 10, Bass on 4, Treble on 5, put the Volume on 2 or, 3 – which is really loud for a Twin. I put two EVs in it, hit the Bright switch, and it’s like a giant Deluxe. Every steel player that comes in my studio wants that amp.
Do you ever run a boutique amp?
I have a Zinky Tonemaster, and it is one of the greatest amps of all time. It adds real punch, sort of like an old-school blond Bandmaster – killer, beautiful power, just a muscular amp. We use it whenever we want something a little more husky.
(LEFT) This Silvertone 1472 sees a good bit of action in Anderson’s recording studio. (RIGHT) Anderson’s modified Fender Deluxe Reverb is fitted into a taller cabinet to house a 15″ Eminence Speaker.
Which guitars did you use on the disc? You now have two signature models from Reverend…
Yes, I’m so happy with the Reverends that I used them on the whole record, except for the Tom Anderson baritone on “Red Sunset.” But all the soloing and other parts were my Eastsider, which has a korina body, two pickups, a multi-radius fingerboard with 6105 frets, an Earvana compensated nut, and locking tuners. I also used my PA-1, which is the first one we did together. It’s a hollowbody with a Bigsby, and on my personal one I installed a set of Seymour Duncan vintage-style humbuckers on a P-90 chassis, so they fit in the guitar comfortably.
On “Empty Everything,” I might have also used the Epiphone Joe Pass I completely tortured and that served as the prototype for the PA-1. The song has a very Chicago-blues feel, and I wanted to use the old-school Harmony pickups in that guitar because they’re really, really distorted.
As a label owner and record producer, what are some of your best memories of the last 20 years?
Well, we got in on the ground floor of what’s now Americana. Its needle has been up and down, and now it’s up again because of Mumford and Sons, acoustic guitars, and people are coming around to that being a viable musical “style” for lack of a term.
I couldn’t be more proud of the records we’ve made on Little Dog, and I’d go into any label-head card game and say, “Here’s my Joy Lynn White, here’s my Adam Hood, here’s my Moot Davis.” I’m very, very happy with our catalog and I’ve never made a record that I was not completely enthralled with.
And now, of course, it has become a digital world. I’m reformulating my distribution and making sure it’s locked down. I’ve been handling distribution internally, and it’s very difficult on top of simply running the label, my career, the studio… So we’re getting ready to jump into the digital thing really hard. One thing about that is you can do compilation records very easily. In the digital world, you come up with some art and a sequence, so I want to start doing The Roots of Americana Volumes 1-12 or whatever, and expose more people to the artists who are or were part of Little Dog.
It’s funny how the paradigm has shifted. It used to be if you didn’t have a record label, you weren’t in the business because record companies controlled the studios, the distribution chain, access to the media, and access to record stores. Now, the last thing you need is a record deal. Now, the recording studio is your laptop, distribution is your web page. The majority of what a record company offered is now irrelevant.
Photo: Will Seyffert.
What are some of the harder lessons you’ve learned from running a label?
Well, I learned that I can’t love what an artist does more than the artist themself does. That was a big lesson. When you see somebody’s talent and want to make a record and help them be successful, but they don’t want it as much… I can’t be more excited about you than you are. And that’s tough, because I see some stuff where I go, “Geez, this is brilliant!” I’m a sucker for great songwriting and talent, but I can’t work with someone with a lack of will. So few people have the same intensity and concentration that Dwight and I had.
That sort of ambition is pretty rare?
I hate to say it, but I think it is. It’s just not something I see every day. The story of Pete and Dwight is about two guys who literally came from nowhere and willed themselves a career, hearing “No” at every turn. “We don’t need you. We don’t want you.” I stood there from day one with a song called “I Sang Dixie” – one of the greatest country songs of all time – thinking, “What am I missing here?” But we kept going and that first album, against all odds, sold two million copies.
This article originally appeared in VG December 2013 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Tommy Castro: Lewis MacDonald.Fans of Tommy Castro might be shocked with some of the guitar tones on his latest record, The Devil You Know. His straightforward R&B sounds are still there, but, he says, “I had fun trying new stuff.”
On his dozen or so career albums, Castro has made significant effort to mix it up.
“I’ve done the big-band thing with the horns, and had a great time doing that,” he said. “I remember I had the smaller band and thought it’d be great with the horns – and I could do it to sound more authentic. Then I really started getting into these guitar-and-drum bands. I thought it was a great idea, just a guitarist and drummer, which sounds killer, like the White Stripes. I was really digging that. But then I saw Tab Benoit with a trio, and it sounded too cool. There was all this space, but it was very groovy and rhythmic. That setting gives the guy on guitar a chance to play. I thought, ‘Next time, I’ll cut things down.’”
The new disc has the tried-and-true funk R&B Castro has always dealt, with his slinky guitar tone and leather-lung vocals. The title cut, however, shows a different side of his guitar tone.
“It’s an interesting combination of gear. I used an Echoplex, an Octofuzz, and a phase shifter. I wanted a big, fuzzy, wacky, gnarly tone for the fills. It was so fun I felt like a kid playing with toys. I just cranked it up and played.
“I wanted to take it up a notch. I’ve never been happy with my guitar playing – I had a career before I was [a decent] player and I’ve been trying to catch up. I’ve made a few improvements, working with tones and different effects and guitars. In the old days, I played my old Strat into a Super with reverb. That was about it.”
Showing a sense of humor about his playing, he adds with a laugh, “I didn’t know I was going to have a career that lasted so long. So I finally got tired of that tone. After a while I just felt I had to do something else.”
Castro pulled in some help from very talented friends, too, starting with the producer, Bonnie Hayes.
“She’s a songwriting expert,” he said. “She’s a great songwriter and teaches it in colleges and camps. She really knows her way around, works fast, but she is really all about songs. So, her and I collaborated on a few things and she helped shore up some other things that were in the works.”
Other folks who helped on the album include Benoit, Marcia Ball, Joe Bonamassa, and, on harp, former J. Geils member Magic Dick. “There was a plan, but I didn’t know who would be on it. On my last album, I made a point of having no guests. I was actually silly enough to think that was going to be my hook! It was going to be ‘the record with no guests’ because everyone was putting out records with guests. But for this one, I just kind of left it up to the universe to see who would be on the album.”
For much of the record, Castro used his most-familiar guitar, a black ’60s Strat, but also grabbed “a whole bunch of things. To be honest, I’m in limbo at the moment,” he said. “I have my Strat and a Firebird I got from Gibson a couple years ago that I’ve been using a lot for slide. But, I’m building a Warmoth with their Jazzcaster body and a Strat neck. I’m going to put a humbucker on the bridge, a P-90 in the bridge and a Strat pickup on the neck. I figure that might be a very interesting guitar because I won’t have to switch much to get the different sounds. It’ll be black with a white-pearl pickguard.”
Among his amplifiers, Castro relies mostly on a Mesa Boogie TA-30, though he had access to many different amps in the studio while making the new record.
Beyond the different guitar sounds, Castro says long-time listeners will hear other differences. “We started approaching the music from the drums up,” he said. “We wanted to make a record that didn’t have all the same grooves and beats. I had a little epiphany. Started listening to all this music I was really digging, and noticed all their great different approaches to rhythms. I realized I had been using the same beats over and over. Not much variation. So, we really had fun with that and I’m really pleased with the way things worked out. And, I think it’s more than a little different!”
This article originally appeared in VG July 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
As he gears up for a co-headlining tour with Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G., Marty Friedman has 13 solo albums of his own material to pick through. He’s going on the road in support of his latest album, Inferno. The album includes guest appearances by Alexi Laiho, Danko Jones, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and Jason Becker, and offers the most uncompromising music of his career.
Inferno sounds like maximum-strength Friedman… with no artificial additives.
Definitely. A lot of factors go into the kind of record you’re making. As an artist, you try to ignore everything and just make the best album you can. Some of those factors – like record-label recommendations or your manager telling you to be more like this or that – tend to creep in. I’ve been lucky that they haven’t crept in so terribly much in my career, but this time I was like, “F**k everybody!” On this record, I am not listening to anyone, and I’m not doing anything that I’m not completely in love with. For better or worse, it’s really pretty much my bag right there.
When you were in the writing stage, did you know you were going to have guests on the record?
I knew that I wanted to have some cool guests on the record, but I didn’t want it to be the typical thing where a guest comes in and just plays a solo on a song. That has been done to death, and I’ve done it, too. This album was all about breaking those kinds of typical things. I wanted a commitment. I wanted to work on a song together so it really was like we’re in a band together – our band for that one song. I wanted to make something we both have an investment in.
I wrote the songs with the actual guest; a lot of time, it’s their song. I just rearranged it, produced it, and played my guitars on it. It’s like a complete band rather than a guest performance. For me, it was the best decision I ever made. I wanted something deeper, and I got it.
How did you go about getting Rodrigo Y Gabriella to guest?
The idea was to have guests who were influenced by me in some way, and they’ve mentioned my influence several times in the press. I hadn’t met them, but the record company suggested I go see them play in Tokyo. So, I met them and they were absolutely the sweetest people. They were the first to immediately jump on and do the record. I became a fan of theirs that night.
Regardless of how popular a player is or how well they’re doing, there’s something about playing on someone’s album whom you respect as a fan. You get this kind of excitement.
What went into getting Jason Becker?
We’ve been best friends forever. I didn’t know if he was up for doing a collaboration like he and I used to do in [the ’80s speed metal band] Cacophony, but when I saw his movie, Not Dead Yet… there’s a scene where he’s working on a piece of music with his dad. I called him and asked if it was being used for anything. He said, “No, I’m not using it… And I have a bunch of other stuff, too. Let’s make a song.”
It was exactly how we used to write in Cacophony. I’d have the basic outline of an entire song and take a bunch of his ideas and stick them in where I thought they would go nicely. The only difference is he wasn’t able to play the stuff he wrote. I had Ewan Dobson play the role of Jason on the acoustic parts, and he just tore it up. He was mind-boggling in capturing Jason’s spirit. It was like Jason was in the room.
Danko Jones does an awesome job on vocals.
If Danko and I were in the same band, that’s exactly what we would sound like. Inferno has more ripping on it than any of my albums before, but Danko and I in the same band would be the coolest thing. When he got onboard, I was very excited.
I love my playing in a band context. Being a solo artist, you’re in the front all the time. It’s a little bit awkward for a guitarist to be the front man. It takes a lot of ego, and patience from the listener; I can’t really listen to guitar in the front all the time – it sounds so much better after a vocal in a lot of cases. I really wanted to have that vocal stuff to play off of, and a band context for a lot of the record.
This article originally appeared in VG July 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
The members of Lionize blend heavy rock with reggae to create infectious tunes… kind of like if the guys in Deep Purple were Rastafarians wrapped in trippy sci-fi imagery. Nate Bergman is the SG-wielding architect of the group, and recently shared the strategy on the band’s latest album.
You guys worked hard on Jetpack Soundtrack.
We’re a rehearsal-oriented band; we demo’ed for a year, and when home, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m to four p.m., we go in the basement and jam. We spent six months doing that; we record, listen back, and get a feel for the sound – tempos and ideas.
One of the producers, Jean-Paul Gaster, has a great studio in his house, and we spent eight months there taking ideas and trimming the fat. He was a huge part of finding the [best] parts.
Are you a riff collector, or do you make up stuff together?
All of the above. Six times out of 10, we’re coming up with it off the cuff, just jamming. Someone might have an idea for a melody; sometimes, Hank has a bass line, or Chris will come with most of a tune. If most are more upbeat and rock, we’ll approach one with a slower, sort of reggae, vibe.
There’s cool use of dynamics on the record.
Dynamics have been missing in rock bands. Our favorite bands – Deep Purple, Sabbath, Led Zeppelin – they’re so multifaceted; it’s heavy, it’s loud, then suddenly it’s an acoustic guitar with tablas. It’s boring if you don’t look for new ways to present a song; dynamics and volume are an easy fix.
You keep changing your rig.
I wasn’t satisfied with how older Marshall plexis thin-out and the newer ones don’t sound like the old ones, so I had an amp built by Brooks Harlan, of Big Crunch. He makes an amp called the One Knob. It’s basically my hybrid of a JCM800 and a plexi. It’s 120 watts, and you just turn the knob up. Then, I got hip to the Laney Pro Tube heads. My rig blended two Laney heads with a treble booster in front of a plexi. The One Knob was on every track, with the SG or a thinline Tele.
Are you a pedal guy?
I’ve investigated tons of modern pedals and tones, but it never gets better than an SG into a tube head turned all the way up with some Vintage 30s. I’m a firm believer that your Volume knob is your boost, but I have a Dunlop MXR Classic Blue Box Octave Fuzz. I also have a 1972 Thomas Organ Wah, a Line 6 DL4, a Keeley Java Boost, and a couple treble boosters.
What are the specifics on the SG?
It’s an ’06 Classic. A friend makes pickups and wired a pair of humbuckers that blend a P-90 and a humbucker. I also had fatter frets put on, and Grover tuners.
There’s less reggae on the new album.
It’s present, but merged with other sounds. To me, there’s a syncopated bass-and-drum thing that makes it reggae. We’re a rock band that loves reggae, funk, and jazz. Jetpack Soundtrack is the evolution of that sound.
This article originally appeared in VG July 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Simmonds onstage with his Zion guitar at the Windsor Blues Festival. Kim Simmonds: Arnie Goodman.Under the aegis of founder Kim Simmonds, Savoy Brown has always been a band “subject to change.” Formed in 1965, some of its incarnations went on musical tangents, but the blues has been its keystone genre.
The band’s most recent album, Goin’ to the Delta, is a return to basic electric blues, with Simmonds reassuming lead vocals in a guitar/bass/drums format. Pat DeSalvo plays bass, while Garnet Grimm plays drums.
“There’s so much involved – personal feelings, [the] actions of those around you, and ‘the muse,’” Simmonds said of the band’s “go with what you know” approach. “All I know is that the new album has resonated with people.”
Simmonds has also garnered recent praise for a solo acoustic blues project that built his confidence as a vocalist. Accordingly, the new album is credited to “Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown.”
“I felt I was making a statement, and putting my name in front emphasized that point,” he said. “The marquee name has changed over the years; ‘The Savoy Brown Blues Band’ was how it first appeared, and it has changed here and there in an attempt to keep things fresh – simply ‘Savoy Brown’ or ‘Savoy Brown featuring Kim Simmonds’ etc.”
Its songs were penned by Simmonds, who noted influences including “…Albert Collins on ‘Backstreet Woman,’ Lonnie Johnson on ‘Just A Dream,’ and B.B.King, plus Chicago musicians like John Primer and Magic Slim.”
He has been through numerous guitars over the decades, and another facet of the full-circle approach on Goin’ to the Delta is the Zion guitar shown on the cover; he has used the instrument for more than 20 years.
“I used it on all tracks except the slide songs,” Simmonds averred. “It has a hard, generic, non-colored sound that was perfect. Plus, it’s a guitar few people in the blues world use, so I knew it would be a different sound to listeners’ ears. I primarily used the middle pickup to get a less-colored sound – bright, but without the treble pickup. I was looking for a guitar tone that wasn’t immediately identifiable.”
For slide, he relied on a DBZ guitar. DeSalvo, meanwhile, holds down the low-end with a G&L Climax Bass.
“He plays an important role, musically, and manages me on the road!” Simmonds said. “Pat has come into his own these past few years. He’s classically trained, yet able to rock out. I’m not sure why the trio works so well with Pat and Garnet; it’s probably simple chemistry.”
The approach to recording the album was also basic, and any rhythm guitar parts were utilitarian, though the instrumental “Cobra” has a rhythm part that’s more up-front in the mix.
“There is rhythm guitar on most of the tracks, but I deliberately didn’t play counterpoint, so the overdub is simply part of the drums and bass. That’s how I conceived the songs and production.”
The mix on “When You’ve Got A Good Thing” is different, as well, and includes a light reverb.
“The nature of the song demanded a slightly different approach,” Simmonds said. “The album was recorded quickly, with me playing and singing live. We wanted spontaneity.”
Asked about favorite songs, he lists “Laura Lee,” “Sad News,” and “Nuthin’ Like The Blues.”
In concert, he relies on a Heritage guitar and the DBZ for slide. Simmonds also has the future mapped out for his ongoing musical efforts.
“My next release will be an acoustic album of instrumentals called Jazzin’ on the Blues,” he said. “I’ll tour Europe and the U.S., and this summer, I’ll tour with Johnny and Edgar Winter, and in 2015, do the Rock Legends Cruise.”
Simmonds faces the future with a positive attitude.
“This is how life should be – the older you get, the better you get. After all, age teaches you!”
This article originally appeared in VG July 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
There has been a sea change in the music industry over the past several years. Recording has become more of a do-it-yourself component of the creative process, and less an end achieved in a professional studio. This shift has, on one hand (and rather sadly), signaled the demise of the studio industry, putting several legendary recording facilities out of business; on the other, it has put more creative power in the hands of the musicians, where many would agree it belongs.
Whereas previously even top artists were likely to have only “demo” or “project” studios at best, the amateur or beginner can now easily operate a home studio capable of turning out broadcast-ready master recordings on par with much of what we hear on the radio. But, owning the gear is barely the start of it – you still need the know-how to achieve professional-sounding recordings, and a lot of that still comes from time-tested techniques that professional engineers have developed over decades of crafting the art. Alongside these, however, the new breed of home recordist also needs to know what to do to get the job done, and that often means shortcuts, workarounds, and technical violations that would have been major no-nos for the old-school professional engineer.
In a new series, Vintage Guitar will equip its readers with the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve successful, professional-sounding home recordings. Since you, as a guitarist, are not only responsible for recording guitars, but often must play the role of engineer and producer to capture the rest of the band, as well, we will cover subjects like miking and recording drums, vocals, bass, keyboards, and other instruments, as well as mixing and mastering techniques, in addition to several methods for recording great acoustic and a electric guitar tracks.
To kick it off, this month, we guide you through the basics of setting up your own home studio, a starting point that applies to everyone entering the brave new world of self-recording.
What could be any player’s project room – while not a professional studio, it has everything needed to capture great recordings, and all within easy reach.
SetUp
The term “home studio” covers many and varying configurations, and there isn’t one right way to set one up, but certain “standards,” if you will, apply to the majority of them.
As with many ventures, this one necessarily starts with a question: What do I need to get a functional studio going? The answer depends on your intent. The equipment in a home studio can be as sparse as the bare minimum of ingredients necessary to plug in and record a voice or an instrument, or can be expanded exponentially to include the wherewithal to simultaneously track a full band. Even the most basic setup, it’s worth saying, can be used to make “professional” recordings if you use it right, so it’s worth emphasizing from the start that technique matters more than gear – and we’ll cover technique extensively in subsequent installments – as long as you have at least the basic minimum equipment required to record music.
If you are working purely with digital virtual and/or MIDI instruments, and recording only instrumental compositions, you can survive on the bare minimum and keep your recording truly “inside the box” (a phrase usually used to describe a recording process during which no audio signal ever leaves the computer after it has been recorded, until you burn it to a CD or share it as a digital file). But this is a guitar magazine, so we’ll assume you’ll occasionally want to record at least some external “live” sound source, and will need, at a minimum, a microphone and related accessories with which to do so.
So, the simple answer to our initial question is this: one computer loaded with digital audio workstation (DAW) software, one hardware interface or mic/instrument preamp (“mic pre” for short), speakers or headphones on which to monitor sound, one microphone, one mic cable, one mic stand. That’s it, and that is really what’s at the heart of this series: if you have just invested in your starter bundle of recording gear, great – get to work! If you really need a bigger setup to achieve your ends, though, such as enough mics and to record a full drum kit with at least a guitar, bass, and vocal recorded alongside as “guides,” you will need to invest more time and money, and the sky really is the limit. Even so, it’s just more – and perhaps better – of the same thing, so the basic “What will I need?” question still applies, but in multiples (be aware, though, drum tracks on several major hits have been recorded with a single mic, and we’ll show you how to do that, too, later in the series).
ProTools, like many other popular DAWs, creates a virtual studio on your computer, with recording, automated mixing, editing, processors, and countless other facilities.
Basic Components
Most home studios consist of these basic “work station” ingredients, in some form or other. These are the hardware and software components that work together to form the recording system that formerly comprised a tape deck, a mixer, and a selection of outboard processors in the good old days of analog recording. They will be referred to throughout this series, so it’s worth laying down some basic definitions at the outset.
Computer
This is whatever system you work on – PC, Mac, desktop, laptop, or tablet. System and software requirements often differ, and we won’t usually specify because the variables are too extensive.
Audio Interface
An audio interface (“interface” for short) is the piece of hardware that translates analog audio signals from a microphone or a line-in from an electronic instrument into digital signals that your computer and DAW can work with, which it feeds to them via a USB or FireWire port. They invariably include a set of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog (AD/DA) converters, and often have mic and/or instrument preamps with level controls so you can plug mics or instruments directly into them without need of further external preamp units. Basic, entry-level, small-box interfaces might have two channels (that is, two inputs with preamps, and two sets of AD/DA converters), while mid-level units might have eight analog inputs (with preamps on a pair or more of them), plus other digital inputs that can be used simultaneously. Rather conversely, high-end interfaces often have no onboard preamps, because they are intended for use in better-equipped studios that are likely to use superior external mic pres anyway.
Digital Audio Workstation
Called a “DAW” for short, this is the software that provides the “virtual studio” in which you work. It allows the interaction of your hardware interface and your computer’s hard drive, gives you essential tools such as an on-screen mixer window, editing window, and virtual processors for mixing and treating your recorded audio tracks. In short, the DAW provides everything needed to go from audio input to finished product – it is the gateway for sound coming into and going out of your computer. Some basic DAWs, such as Apple’s popular Garage Band, can work directly with your computer’s sound card, eliminating the need for a separate interface. Popular DAWs include ProTools, Digital Performer, Logic, Cubase, and several others, and many major makers offer renditions of their systems at varying cost and skill levels. Many audio interfaces (at least those offered by makers which are also software developers) will include a basic DAW with their hardware, which is often good enough to get you rolling until you know what you want from a more advanced system.
Hard-disk Recorders/Workstations
Several units still exist – at the time of writing, at least – that take the place of the old analog cassette-based “portastudio,” and might be used instead of the computer/DAW/interface combination. These usually incorporate some form of internal hard-disk-based multi-track recorder, with a multi-channel mixer that includes mic preamps for audio input as well as facilities for mix down of recorded tracks, along with onboard digital effects and processors. These workstations can offer a lot of features in one place for a reasonable price, and might be a good alternative for a recordist who can’t invest in a good computer around which to base a home studio. The flipside is that they will often pose limitations when compared to a computer-based recording system, which is inherently more expandable.
Microphones, Outboard, and Hardware
If you mainly plan to record your own guitar and vocals to backing tracks assembled from samples or MIDI-triggered instruments, you can probably get by with one decent microphone run through the XLR input and mic preamp on your interface. If you want to record anything from acoustic guitar or piano in stereo, multi-amped electric guitar, or full drum kits, you will clearly need more mics, and your interface will need two or more preamp channels to accommodate them – or, to further increase the quality of your recordings, you might consider adding an outboard mic preamp to the gear list. A push toward professional multi-track studio capabilities will find you bringing on other outboard gear too, such as compressors, possibly an EQ, maybe a good old-fashioned multi-channel mixing desk to handle your routing, and so on.
Most home studios will require different types of microphones to get the job done properly. Here are a Beyer-Dynamic M201 dynamic mic (left) and M160 ribbon mic.
Microphones
The proliferation of Asian-made microphones designed and manufactured along the lines of many classic European and American professional mics makes this a golden age for the budget recordist. While these might not equal the expensive originals, they are often pretty impressive for the money, and can yield great results when used right. Do your research, read the reviews, and you can put together a decent collection of mics suited to a range of applications for the price of a single high-quality studio mic of yore.
In the next installment of this series, we’ll cover the three major types of microphones – dynamic, condenser, ribbon – and their uses, many of which will naturally cross over. A selection of something from each category (and a matched pair of condenser or ribbon mics if you intend to make true stereo recordings of any instrument) will usually do a small home studio proud, but if you really only need one mic to get your work done, you’ll need to put some thought into what you need from it. In brief, consider the dynamic mic sturdier, the condenser mic more sensitive and more high-fidelity, and the ribbon mic, well, fatter and more “vintage” sounding, perhaps (if delicate to handle), but those are just ballpark characteristics.
Microphone Preamps
A microphone preamp is anything that takes the low-level signal input directly from a microphone and ramps it up to a line-level signal, adding an amount of gain according to where you set the Gain or Level knob. This can be done by a mixer and/or any interface with built-in mic pres, though better quality is derived from stand-alone units that specialize in this function. We use these units to get one or more channels of audio input of a higher quality than the preamps in our interface; or, if tracking several mic inputs simultaneously, we might need a multi-channel mic pre (which could also be a decent mixing desk) to send line-level inputs to a multi-channel interface without its own multiple onboard mic preamps (“tracking” is the term for recording individual instrument or vocal tracks as part of the overall process of “recording,” although you can also “track” multiple instruments – or multiple mics on the same amp or instrument – simultaneously).
A couple channels each of decent external mic pre and compressor will do wonders for one’s tracking capabilities, and the sound quality of the final results.
The most basic mic pre might have nothing more than a knob that you turn to add a certain number of decibels (dBs) of gain, as required to input a signal of an appropriate level into your interface, and thereby your DAW. Most stand-alone mic pres will also include a few, or several, extra features, such as a phase-reverse switch, a low-frequency shelving switch to cut the response below a certain frequency, a pad to cut the overall input level of particularly hot mics or loud instruments, a source for phantom power to run condenser mics, and possibly more. In terms of connectibility, any useful pre really needs a low-impedence (a.k.a. low-Z) XLR mic input (some also have a high-Z 1/4″ input to connect other instruments or use as a DI), and balanced line-level outputs on XLR and/or 1/4″ stereo TRS jacks, or possibly both of these, including perhaps an unbalanced 1/4″ option.
Usable mic pres are more affordable than ever, though the cheapest aren’t likely to sound better than one included in basic interface. But there are plenty of decent stand-alones that provide good service, decent sound, and useful features at a reasonable price. Read the reviews, shop thoroughly and carefully, and discern what might work for your studio.
Compressors, EQs, and Outboard Effects
Many instruments recording in professional studios are done so with mics run through compression and EQ during the tracking process. These days, it’s a breeze to apply such processing after the fact, “in the box,” as an early part of the mixing process, although the more advanced your home studio, the more likely you’ll want to own at least an outboard compressor to record certain things through, and a decent outboard EQ, too. In the real world, engineers often apply several layers of compression to some tracks, recording them through a compressor patched between the mic pre and the recording deck (hard drive, tape, whatever), then treating them with further compression in a drum or guitar group, or in the mix as a whole. Using the compression and EQ software plug-ins included with most DAWs, you can usually work around these in a basic studio setup, so outboard units aren’t a priority from the outset (a “plug-in” is processing software loaded to individual tracks in your DAW’s virtual mixer, providing compression, EQ, myriad effects and even virtual instruments on individual tracks, or on your mix as a whole).
Fans of vintage analog recording might also like some analog outboard effects for authentic flavor: a spring reverb unit, tape echo, or what have you. You’re even less likely to track through these since recording through an effect ties you immediately to that sound, but if you use an outboard mixer or have an interface with auxiliary send/return capabilities, you might bring your mixes out of the box and run certain instruments or groups through analog effects for a retro flavor. Otherwise, and for the resolutely “in the box” recordist, such effects can generally be put off until future expansion demands.
Miscellaneous Hardware
Mic stands, mic clips, and/or shock mounts, pop screens, speaker stands… these aren’t the sexiest components of your studio, but need consideration nonetheless. Ask any aspiring recordist who has made do with inferior, malfunctioning, or cobbled-together hardware until frustration drove him or her to take the plunge on the good stuff and they will tell you the investment is worth making now, rather than later. Consider what you need at-hand to get the job done, investigate what’s available, and plan your studio budget.
Bass traps in at least a couple of corners are almost always essential for well-balanced recordings.
A Room Of One’s Own
In addition to the gear, you also need a room in which to work, and the way you set that up can often be as much a factor in your success as a recordist (or lack thereof) as the gear you put in it. In her 1929 essay that carried this title, Virginia Woolf famously declared the need for “a room of one’s own,” in an age when women were unlikely to have a private space in which to gestate creative thought. These days we’re more likely to say “you need your own space,” but the same principle applies to recordists today as it did to would-be female writers of the early 20th century. This space might, of necessity, be a shared family or communal space, and if that can’t be helped then that’s just the way it is. Even so, you will – with your cohabiters’ permission – want to make it “your own” as much as possible in order to get it working for you as a recording venue. Whether large or small, the room that will henceforth be known as “your studio” will need to fulfill certain requirements.
First among these is the ability to have at least the core essentials of your recording system permanently set up. That means a desk or table on which your computer or laptop (or other recording workstation) sits, monitor speakers correctly set up either side of it, any mic/instrument preamp or recording interface within reach to the right or left of your computer keyboard (or mixer), and your mic and its stand and cable easily accessible. And, of course, you also want whatever instrument(s) are your main stock in trade to be readily to hand, too. Insist on this kind of accessibility, and you are making it easy to get something done in whatever spare time your life affords.
Aside from this priority, the three main requirements from this room have to do with sound. Namely, that the space works to:
• Keep internal sound in.
• Keep unwanted external sound out.
• Allow music produced or monitored within to sound as natural as possible.
Basic absorptive-foam room treatments won’t keep sound from escaping (and possibly annoying the neighbors), but it will help to tame an overly lively room.
In truth, the first two are virtually impossible to achieve in any total sense in the home studio. That doesn’t mean you can’t track full live bands or produced broadcast-quality recordings – you certainly can. You just have to work with certain realities.
Real soundproofing involves a lot of construction and expense, rather than simply putting foamy stuff or egg cartons on the inside of an existing room. Considerable noise retention requires layers of solid material, ideally with insulation in between – essentially building a room within a room – and you have to seal gaps, cracks, joints, and fissures between walls and floors as well as ceilings, windows, and doors. The geometric foam used in squares on walls and wedges in the corners is for sound absorption, and isn’t soundproofing in the least. It’s important, and most home studios benefit from it, but it won’t contain sound within any room.
Research correct applications of sound-absorbing room treatments – it’s certainly worth the effort. A totally “dead” room can often sound dull and boxy, but you’ll want to deaden prominent reflections, notable frequency “honks,” or exaggerated bass in order to capture the realistic and reproducible sound of the instruments you are recording. Even heavy curtains, thick quilts and blankets, and furniture padding can work to this end. Since few of us can budget for a room that enhances the sound of any music performed within it, the usual aim for a home studio is aural neutrality. Get even close to that, and you have a room you can work with.
Desk Positioning
In addition to a neutral room, the position of your mixing station and placement of monitors will have a major affect on accurate perception of recorded sound while seated at your workstation. If your room is extremely small, your options for positioning might be fairly limited. The basic rules to follow here, as far as possible, are to:
• Position your monitor speakers some distance from the wall behind them
• Position your work station as symmetrically as possible within the room, or the portion of the room you are working in
• Place your seat at a symmetrical position between and in front of the speakers.
If you get all of these “as right as possible” within the parameters you have to work with, you’ll achieve two important functions in your listening environment – minimizing reflections of monitored sound and creating an accurate stereo field.
If you are working in an extremely small room and can’t achieve one or either of these objectives, you can partly overcome the handicap by adding more sound absorption to the walls and corners behind the monitors, and to those behind/to the side, if reflected sound is likely to bounce back from behind you and skew your perceptions of frequency and the stereo spectrum. In a medium-sized room, however, one that still allows you to place speakers in an optimum position (at a distance from the wall behind them that’s about half the distance from the front of the speakers to the wall behind you), you don’t usually need to totally deaden things, and ideally you do not want to do so. Also, avoid placing monitors in corners at the end of a narrow room (in any room, really), as this will accentuate bass frequencies, and make it impossible to know how the low end in your mix actually sounds in the average listening environment. The control room in a professional studio isn’t usually an enormous space, and isn’t swaddled in absorption foam. Retaining a certain amount of liveliness in the listening room yields a more natural feel, and will give better results provided there are no conflicting or misleading room tones or reflections.
Set up your available gear and available space following these guidelines as closely as possible, and you’ll be ready to get to work. Future installments will discuss techniques to help you do so.
Digital Recording Basics
The user’s manuals included with any interface or DAW should offer some tips on the basics of digital recording, but it’s worth covering a few essential terms and reference points here. As compared with old analog tape recording, digital systems will do a lot of the technical work for you, but you do need to understand a little something about digital “resolution” and digital distortion in order to get the most out of recording with these new wonders.
(LEFT) Maxing out the meters in the DAW indicates digital distortion in the track; this is a bad thing. (RIGHT) Most DAWs will present a setup window where you can select the bit depth and sample rate you want to work in.
Resolution
Thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras and HD TV, most of us are familiar with the concept of “resolution” as it applies to visual media. Just as the higher the number of elements composing your picture means a better picture quality, increased audio quality is defined by increasing bit rates (also “bit depth”) and sample frequencies (also “sample rates”). “Bit rate” determines the number of decimals in each sample of audio taken in the recording process, and “sample frequency” determines the rate at which samples are taken (as a per-second figure).
The standard for CDs is 16 bits at 44.1kHz, which means a 16-decimal sample is taken 44,100 times per second. Today, the ability of good digital recording equipment to work to higher rates of both parameters means that most projects are recorded at bit rates of 24, with sample frequencies of 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, or even 192kHz, and the result is converted down to 16/44.1 in the mastering process. Higher bit and sample rates require more processing speed and more memory, though, and recordists using fairly basic starter systems might not want to go to unnecessary extremes for this reason. With audio recorded with the intention of CD-quality release at best, 24-bit/48kHz is a good basic standard, with the second figure upped to 88.2kHz or 96kHz if you seek even better fidelity.
Why record at higher settings if the end listener won’t hear it? Well, in some ways they will. Even though the CD is limited to 16/44.1kHz (and MP3 conversion compresses it down further), the processing used when applying software plug-ins (for reverb, delay, compression, and so on) will usually sound better when working at higher bit depths and sample rates. Also, perhaps you will some day want to release the results on a format with higher resolution capabilities – who knows what the future will bring? – and will be glad you captured the best-sounding recordings possible from the start.
Digital Distortion
With analog recording – and analog sound reproduction, in general – we sometimes value some of the distortion characteristics: a little tube distortion or tape compression, for example, can contribute to fatter or warmer sounding instruments. Digital distortion, on the other hand, is never desirable in the recording process, and sounds entirely nasty when it does occur. No soft, warm, fuzzy blurring of the audio along the lines of gentle tube clipping, digital clipping is a harsh kkktchhhkkk that sounds like the overload it is, and indicates “technical failure” in a recording. For that reason, you will want to do your best to avoid digital clipping throughout the recording process. This is not to say that you can’t record, for example, a distorted electric guitar amp into a digital system, or even a distortion digital instrument for the sake of that sound as a creative element, but that you want to avoid letting the signal from the mic or DI’d instrument distort at the point of input into your interface, computer, or DAW. Once digital clipping occurs in the recording process, you can’t do anything to clean it up, and are really stuck with it unless you edit that segment out, or re-record it.
To keep all digital signals safely distortion-free, be very sure that your interface or DAW meters (both, in fact!) stay well short of the red overload zone at all times. Coordinate any gain controls on external preamps and the interface’s input levels to present a clean, safe level to the analog-to-digital converter, and keep already recorded tracks well below the red zone in the DAW when mixing. Recordists who worked in the analog realm in the good old days might recall the advice that you sometimes push levels recorded to tape so that they are just touching on the meters’ overload zone, in order to get the best signal-to-noise ratio. The inherently low noise of digital recording means that that standard no longer applies, and you should in fact do something close to the opposite: keep recording levels well down into the safe zone – not even high in the yellow warning zone – and you can always bump up the volume later without increasing your background noise.
When mixing several recorded tracks together, even just to monitor existing tracks while overdubbing new instruments, you also need to rein in signal levels to avoid digital clipping in the DAW. If you need more volume, but pushing up the individual faders is putting you in the red, try pulling down individual tracks, then pushing up the master just short of the red, and if you still need more volume in the monitors, turn up the monitoring system.
In addition to being Vintage Guitar’s resident amp historian, Dave Hunter is the author of several books on gear and technique, including The Home Recording Handbook (Backbeat Books, 2012), which covers in further detail many of the techniques discussed in this series.
This article originally appeared in VG July 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Though many collectors focus on instruments in fine original condition, every so often one emerges that, regardless of condition, is no less exciting than a paleontologist finding the “missing link.” Everything there is to know about the Gibson L-5 designed by Carl Kress can be learned from this example, with the model designation “Special” hand-written on the interior paper label, all of its original parts, and serial number 89849 (consistent with a manufacture date of 1933).
While one’s initial impression might be that this is a “floor sweep” model made by assembling whichever components were laying around due to wartime materials and labor shortages, the body is perfectly standard for a ’33 L-5 with a 16″-wide body (they went to the 17″ Advanced body size in 1935). Its neck specifications include features from other Gibson models: the fingerboard inlay is the same as an option on ’30s Style 3 Mastertone banjos and the Style 5 Deluxe Mastertone banjo; inlays are enclosed in rosewood rectangles with an ivoroid border like they were cut from a previously made fingerboard (it’s possible that leftover banjo fingerboards were used); the peghead inlay (which also has an ivoroid border around the center inlay) is the same used on the style 5 trap-door banjo circa 1924; the body, pickguard, bridge, and tailpiece are all perfectly consistent with 1933. And though the tuners are a style encountered on some wartime instruments, these are not typical of an instrument from ’33. However, the (wide and thick) neck and peghead dimensions, as well as the heel shape, are unlike any other Gibson instruments from ’33; the neck is standard only in that its outer parts are maple. In ’33, an L-5 would typically have two pieces of maple with a dark center lamination Gibson called “ebonized veneer” (many who have studied these instruments believe it to be stained pearwood) and though this has two pieces of maple, it has a very wide center rosewood lamination with two narrow ivoroid strips.
The semi-circular heel is also not typical of 1933, and the peghead shape is longer and significantly different in shape than any other Gibson. Though long, it’s not the same as a Super 400. A few 17″ Advanced model L-5s from the late ’30s were made with an identical peghead inlay used in the same manner with the same border, but they were standard L-5s except for the peghead inlay. The ebony fingerboard is typical of an L-5, but the inlays with rosewood blocks with pearl inlay and ivoroid borders are unlike anything on an L-5 (though there are some L-75 models with this pattern).
Joe Spann, author of Spann’s Guide to Gibson 1902-1941, has researched Gibson’s factory work orders, serial numbers, and shipping records, all of which indicate there were at least four of this model, all of which were shipped to New York Band, in Manhattan. There are also photos of Carl Kress holding one as an endorsement. Spann also points out this guitar was shipped from the factory in 1933. Like many of Gibson’s more-expensive instruments, it was likely returned to the factory by the dealer in an exchange program. The extant Gibson shipping ledgers show it was shipped a final time on June 22, 1937, as an “Old Style L-5” in a #515 case to New York Band.
In ’33, the L-5 was the top-of-the-line model in the Gibson catalog, costing $275 plus case. To put that in context, in the ’30s, a Martin D-28 was $100, a D-45 was $200, and this guitar certainly couldn’t have cost less than a standard L-5.
Carl Kress was a tenor- and plectrum-banjo player who transitioned to guitar in the ’20s. Working in New York at the height of the swing-jazz era, he was one of the fathers of early jazz guitar along with Eddie Lang and Dick McDonough, both of whom recorded duets with Kress. Much of Kress’ work was with popular bands of the era such as Paul Whiteman’s band, Jimmy Dorsey, and Tommy Dorsey. He was also a first-call session musician in New York City with the top bands of the day as well as an independent solo artist on guitar, and a true innovator of early jazz guitar.
This guitar was made in the early days of big-band popularity. Kress and many early jazz guitarists were banjo players who had converted to guitar. Rather than adapting to standard guitar tuning, Kress used what is thought to have been (low to high) Bb F C G B D – a compromise of tenor and plectrum banjo tunings with the addition of bass notes of Bb and F on the low strings. This gave Kress a unique sound, which stood out amongst his peers of the day and made his playing quite recognizable. The unconventional width and depth of the neck of this guitar seem to cater to this tuning and allow for the heavier-gauge strings to accommodate the two lowest strings. Similarly, the string spacing would be desirable for the unusual chord shapes required to play in this tuning, and allow for the unique bass note options. It’s a fascinating example of the segue from the jazz banjo (tenor/plectrum) to the jazz acoustic archtop guitar.
With the advent of the L-5 in 1923, there began a mass change within 10 years from banjo playing to guitar playing in the popular music of the day. This specific instrument from 1933 shows a holdover of the jazz banjo days with its banjo style inlays and custom design for banjo inspired tuning, and is a tangible representation of the transition that brought the guitar from the parlor and onto the stage.
This instrument is an interesting piece of Gibson history, with value far beyond its appearance or playability.
This article originally appeared in VG July 2013 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
M&V Guitars and Pickups Atlas P Bass-Style Pickups
Price: $75
Info: www.mvguitars.com.
Let’s face it – when it comes to boutique pickup options, bass players have gotten the short end of the stick. And as for the venerable Fender Precision Bass, well there’s only so many ways you can put a new harness on the old warhorse.
Enter M&V Guitars and Pickups, which offers proponents of the low-end theory a real alternative to stock P-bass offerings – the Atlas Large Pole Precision Bass pickup. What’s different about this pickup is M&V’s placement of four 0.375″-diameter Alnico-magnet pole pieces directly under the strings as an alternative to the traditional P Bass’ eight 0.1875″-diameter steel pole pieces energized by ceramic bar magnets and offset from the strings. The Atlas’ massive magnets are scatter-wound with 42-gauge enameled wire into coils registering a nominal resistance of 11k. The company says they sense string vibration over a much narrower range than the big-pole Music Man dual-coil humbuckers with series or parallel wiring, resulting in less frequency loss due to phase cancellation.
To our ears, it’s a punchier (and somewhat brighter in the treble settings) signal than stock P-Bass pickups. With a little downward EQ adjustment on the amp, the M&V-equipped P Bass sat nicely in the mix, but with greater clarity of note than we were accustomed to hearing, especially when playing up the neck. Though unmistakably Fender-ish, the tone in the upper registers is a bit reminiscent of the bridge pickup in a Rickenbacker 4001S – crisp and almost gated. For players looking for the Fender sound, but just a little more “in-front,” this may be just the ticket.
This article originally appeared in VG Overdrive issue No. 039. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
The members of Lionize blend heavy rock with reggae to create infectious tunes… kind of like if the guys in Deep Purple were Rastafarians wrapped in trippy sci-fi imagery. Nate Bergman is the SG-wielding architect of the group, and recently shared the strategy on the band’s latest album.
