“2005” is a small “best of” collection consisting of never intended to be released abstract instrumentals. Sessions were recorded in the years 2004 - 2005 (with exception to track 3). I recorded alot of pieces in that time but these were quickly jotted down ideas that had no formal written form, just a lot of improvisation. In the spring of 2011 I brought these pieces to life using better technology than I had at the time of conception... making them much better for release... here are their stories. (Read as you listen to each song here)
Descent:
Descent:
This piece came together in a brainstorming session by simply overlapping synth pads with a looped bass line and drums. I did a rough mix with it and right after, my hard drive crashed. The mix was saved to a CD, but the project was on the damaged internal drive, so I lost all of the original session tracks... meaning there was no way to do another mix, the rough mix was all I had of what I really thought had potential... I was pissed because I loved the synths and they weren’t loud enough in the mix. Another problem was that the toms in the drum kit hit way to hard... making it very unpleasant when turning up the volume.
So I had a problem... I had these bad ass synth tracks lost in the background that if you wanted to hear them you had to crank it up and get a headache from the drums. The song was shelved until I got some new technology in 2009. Using some new compression and EQ software I was able to level out all the problems a little better... in the Spring of 2011, I touched it up a bit more for an episode in a web series called “Innocence of the Dead.” The piece was to be played in the background under dialog. This was the ultimate test, and I wanted to be there to hear if the synths were going to stand out in such an environment. If they didn’t I was gonna pull the plug on using it... but they did... and the song was finally complete. This is the final version of this piece as heard in episode one of “Innocence of the Dead.”
Goose Wine
Goose Wine
This track was completely experimental and all one take... meaning all instruments were not recorded seriously. This is the product of a brainstorming session that became the final cut. The drums in this one are slowed down from their original recorded speed to give them that stuttering effect. I didn't like it at first... but it grew on me during session recording and became part of the song. When mixing it down it rendered that effect slightly different every time. I had to mix the song down 33 times and review all 33 different mixes to get the right fit. I spent more time mixing the final mix then I did recording all session tracks combined. All guitars and Bass for this piece were done in less than an hour.
Before mixing 33 mixes I toyed around with panning the guitars left to right... none of it worked for me, which is a very unusual thing. Not one instrument, except maybe a drum or cymbal, is panned in this mix... its all dead center. There was something about a layer of guitars all in the center giving way to that one guitar with an attitude coming out all by itself light at first, then screaming. I like to think all those other guitars were holding that one down, and if finally escapes screaming and choking in horror. It didn’t appear that way when I toyed around with panning the guitars.
Destructive (4-Track demo 98’)
Destructive (4-Track demo 98’)
I felt like it was important to release something recorded on analog tape... even if it was polished up and mastered in 2005 in the digital arena. Session recording took place in a practice booth located at the dorms of Berklee College of Music using a 4-track cassette recorder in the fall of ‘96. I spent all night recording with a programmed Roland DR-5 Drum Machine, a cheap $200 Yamaha electric guitar plugged up to a small 50 watt Peavy Bass combo with a distortion pedal miced up with an SM-57. Using alot of session mixing and bouncing I was able to get all the rhythm tracks crammed into 4. Ironically the most expensive instrument I had to work with my Fender Standard Precision Bass got lost in the cramming. Its there and its sound is deflated and lifeless, even though I worked so hard on it.
In the summer of ‘97 I got some new equipment... an 8-track reel-to-reel recorder, some digital effects processors, and a MiniDisc recorder. MiniDiscs at the time were poised to replace DAT (Digital Audio Tape). Using this equipment I managed to add more guitars to the chorus part and a solo one year later with the same guitar and a Dean Markely Bass Combo Amp.
In 2005 I toyed with the idea of breaking out the original tracks on the 8 track recorder and remixing from scratch. But unfortunately time is the killer of analog tape... the sound of the original tracks were degraded. So what you hear is a polished up mastered version of the original mix from Session Tape to Minidisc in 98’ re-mastered in 2005. The rhythm guitars really reflect the tight room I had to work with in Boston... there is no processing on those guitars. The room sound on the drums and Guitar lead was simulated a year later with a Lexicon Effects processor. In 2011 some slight EQ was applied and cutting measures of the first verse as it was way to long. And if you listen closely... you may be able to hear tape hiss.
Ugly As Pain
This one was actually recorded in late 2003 using Sony Acid Pro (I forget the version). Using primarily loops. The only live performance track is the Bass. The guitars are snapshots of performances processed into loops. The Bass was completely improvd... and kept as the bass line for the song. Only the sound quality could have been better, and the drum loop had no bottom end in the kick.. it was lost in the bass. I didn’t want to re-record the Bass track because the best part of the track was that I was winging it and not following any pre-conceived bass line. Those are the best kind of takes. Also it was the first time I cut a bass track with a pick. Everything I had done up until then was with fingers. The percussive sound of the pick followed the drums... so when I played around with different kits in an effort to replace the drums I couldn’t find one that worked well... so I was forced to make it work with the drum machine loop... or scrap the song completely.
Ugly As Pain
This one was actually recorded in late 2003 using Sony Acid Pro (I forget the version). Using primarily loops. The only live performance track is the Bass. The guitars are snapshots of performances processed into loops. The Bass was completely improvd... and kept as the bass line for the song. Only the sound quality could have been better, and the drum loop had no bottom end in the kick.. it was lost in the bass. I didn’t want to re-record the Bass track because the best part of the track was that I was winging it and not following any pre-conceived bass line. Those are the best kind of takes. Also it was the first time I cut a bass track with a pick. Everything I had done up until then was with fingers. The percussive sound of the pick followed the drums... so when I played around with different kits in an effort to replace the drums I couldn’t find one that worked well... so I was forced to make it work with the drum machine loop... or scrap the song completely.
In the Spring of 2011 I was able to utilize new compression and an ex-pander technology to process the kick drum of the loop with a deeper hit. To clean up the bass, I re-sampled the wave at a higher resolution, then applied a parametric EQ and Limiter to bring out the pick sound more distinctly.
The EP can be downloaded here ----> 2005
