Prize Beagle Recording

Shot of Therapy photos

2007-07-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

Link to photos from Shot of Therapy live at Quenchers. Shot of Therapy is Joe Irizzary, his twin brother Tony, Darren Amaya (who is also the bassist for Bible of the Devil), Eric Bandurski on cello, and me on drums. Loads of nice images. I dunno if Quenchers has ever looked so good before on film...

In the studio with Milk at Midnight

2007-07-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

So I really meant to do this in some sort of order, writing about the Mr. Russia session, its importance as a a trial run of the studio, and the two excellent tracks that came out of it, but I'm woefully late in getting an MP3 of the Bowie cover Boys Keep Swinging out of the studio and onto the web, and the story seems really anticlimactic without the audio, so I'll have to follow up with that later.

Currently, I'm in the thick of producing a full length recording for Milk at Midnight, who are among the best Chicago bands not getting the attention they deserve. The easy (and frequently made) comparison is Flaming Lips meets Modest Mouse, but there's a bit more to it. Namely, putting the power back in power trio. This band is loud. Their drummer, Eric, beats the shit out of the kit. Twin 4x10 stacks push high and low frequencies (Rick alternates between 2 cabinets and a Bass and Guitar w/octave pedal privileges, while Danny sports an SG through Marshall sound) at resolutely unsafe SPLs. Enjoyable, most definitely, but it does present certain challenges to the studio.

As of Monday the 16th, we've finished the principle tracks and are about to dive into overdubs. Thanks to some sound wiring advice from my pal Joey Hats, I was able to change the way I monitor the tape machine and run tape tracks and digital tracks in sync. I was able to put up a few effects mics for the drums, capture both sides of the kick drum, and capture a couple different room options, including a wall mounted PZM and a pair of 414s. The toms all got a close mic treatment using Sennheiser e604s, and I went with the Beta 52 and Beyer M88 on the kick and snare, respectively. Rick's bass/guitar rig was sent to the basement (with no supper) for isolation purposes and was recorded with a C3000 and a Sennheiser 421. Rick uses an overdrive pedal on most of the songs, and combines it with an octave pedal when on the guitar. The mic combination gave me one darker, more midrange track and one brighter track to combine to different effect at mixdown.

We're going whole hog with overdubs, stacking up as many ideas as possible. Choirs, strings, organs, synths, pianos, and, of course, more guitars. There's a lot of room in the songs and the arrangements lend themselves very well to adding all the extra touches. We're a bit away from posting any tracks, but there may be a few snippets of overdub material that may surface. More on the guitars and overdubs later.

Good Dog!

2007-06-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

Greetings to you wherever you are. Welcome to Prize Beagle Recording, Chicago's latest entry in the category of affordable recording spaces. Besides being a big advert for the studio, I'd like to experiment with using the site as a record of what's happening at 'The Beagle,' and talk about the recordings I'm making and the artists I'm working with, trying to illuminate some of the technical (and social) considerations

I think it will make the whole thing a little more interesting, and will perhaps give readers a taste of what goes into a recording session - from the thrill of sonic discovery to the agony of an occasional (but inevitable) computer crash. I'll also post mp3s from Prize Beagle clients and projects, and tout any interesting music and recording related things happening in and around Chicago.

I'll also talk about hockey. I can't spend all my time recording.