Another Sunday, another song laid down for Creeping Time’s upcoming album. Ken was in charge of this tune and came in with some ideas for the sound he wanted to achieve – ‘chicken pickin‘. Usually, our order of operations is drums/acoustic guitar/bass tracking, followed by a vocal scratch track, then Kjell’s fiddle parts, and, if time permits, a pass at some electric guitars. What usually happens is my finding myself having to rush my guitar parts because time did not permit. This time, however, we tracked the electric guitars before the fiddles, leaving me in the hot seat. It was really great to take the extra time to explore various intro/outro/solo options and really nail the rhythm parts. Unfortunately, this left Kjell sitting around for the session and only getting a few passes at his violin sections. Though, even with just that little time, Ken had a  good point that Kjell’s parts really put the “CT” stamp on the song.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Recording Studio

Dave Forrester, Creeping Time’s drummer, took his turn at producing the latest song for the upcoming album. His main idea was to record a bluegrass style song without drums. And therefore he didn’t have to come to the session, either. Was that some sort of trick to get out of it, or is it a purely genius move to improve the overall sounds of the album? You be the judge.

Anyway, for the session we brought in a few extras to help out. Matt Heron sacrificed his health and volunteered to add a double-fiddle while Johnny Fitzpatrick supplied some banjo. With Ken unable to attend, we still ended up getting a nice set of base-tracks. Though bluegrassy in instrumentation, any track where Kjell cuts loose on the fiddle will always have a signature that is undefineable.

We tried standing around an omni-pattern condenser supplemented with two small diaphragm condensers to get a stereo image. But it ended up sounding better having the large diaphragm condenser focus on guitar, mandolin and vocals while the small condensers captured the details on the banjo and fiddles.

Nice work, boys! I hope you’re feeling better, Matt.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Recording Studio

After a little hiatus from the recording project, due to holidays/sicknesses/etc…, Creeping Time was back on the wagon (or is it off the wagon?) and laying tracks for yet another tune. Kjell Anderson took control of the most recent song and the latest arrangement has a lot of really nice pieces that were never thought of previously. As those dumpster-diving kids would say, “another check in the bag”.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Recording Studio

Nettlehoney’s album is complete. Recorded, mixed, and mastered. All that remains is lots of DIY duplication and packaging, but that’s all in their hands now. All in all it’s a really great record. A great set of tunes that rides the fence between old timey’s trademark repeating melodies and more modern (or classical?) compositions that sweep the spectrum of dynamics.

From my perspective, I did my best to capture the band’s energy and skill. It’s easy to listen back and find issues with various details that I could have improved on. But overall, I think it does a great job of capturing some great performances.

Look for Nettlehoney busking at Folklife. I have a feeling they’ll be there the whole time.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Recording Studio

Tracking is complete on Nettle Honey’s new record. Now it’s time to mix it down. The big question is whether to make it super clean or to mix in the ambient room sound hot and heavy. Like most things, I think moderation will be the key.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Recording Studio