Recording - February 2012 - 80

Steve Cohn/Slush Puppy
Equipment: PC running Steinberg Nuendo 3 with Waves Platinum plug-ins and iZotope Ozone for mixdown, plus Native Instruments B4 for organ sounds and XLN Audio Addictive Drums. Mics: Shure SM57 (vocal) and SM58s (electric guitars), Samson condenser (acoustic guitar). Fostex VF-160 hard disk multitrack used to capture guitar tracks. Gibson J-45 and Larivee LV-05 acoustic guitars, Gibson ES335 and ES336, Epiphone SG (slide) electric guitars, ’62 Custom Shop Fender Jazz Bass. Guitar amps: Fender Hot Rod, Fender CyberTwin and Yamaha DG-60. Bass recorded direct with Tech 21 SansAmp.

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Jenna Starar/Starar
Equipment: CAD M179 mics, M-Audio ProFire 2626 interface (no data given on recording DAW platform or software), Yamaha guitar and bass, Gretsch drums.

Music: “Thanks” is a female vocal country song. Jenna Starar sang and played guitar, and Steven Starar played the bass and drums. The duo also wrote the tune. No credits were given for the recording duties, which we assume the duo handled themselves. Recording: Boy, country music sure has changed. “Thanks” owes as much to Britney (and even more to Shania) than it does to Patsy and Dolly. What we have here is a very dry and in-your-face lead vocal, accompanied by (to our ears) an increasingly dominant/ active bass guitar, riding together over the top of the music bed in an awkward, almost karaoke fashion. Strange. The backing instruments seem well tracked and the tones are generally good throughout, although the ultra-wide panning on the drum fills could cause a touch of vertigo under the headphones! Again, not your usual country sound. Suggestions: A talented duo indeed. Since no monitor speakers were listed in the equipment list, it’s hard to know if Jenna and Steven were hearing the same “top heavy” mix as we did. In any event, we would love to hear Jenna’s fine voice with a dash of reverb and set back into the mix in an integrated fashion. Regarding the bass, with the exception of Yes’s Chris Squire and Les Claypool from Primus, bass players are not the lead instrumentalists on most recordings, and certainly not in any country songs that we are aware of. A band, as well as a successful recording, is a blend, not a topping, guys.
Summary: Step back and then move forward.
Contact: Jenna Starar, starar@ntlworld.com
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RECORDING FEBRUARY 2012

Music: “Long Way Home” is a male vocal country rock song. Steve wrote the track, programmed the drums and organ parts, and played the bass. Jim Stone played acoustic and electric guitar solos. Rick Adams played acoustic guitar and handled all of the vocals and last but certainly not least, Karl Holzenberg played the electric slide parts. Recording: Steve tells us that these guys have been playing together on and off for some twenty years, starting way back in college, now recording for fun in a variety of genres from blues and folk to reggae and jazz. Good on ya fellas for keepin’ it alive! Steve tells us that the band put the song together over the Internet, sending tracks back and forth over box.net, and then Steve did the final mix in Nuendo. As for the recording, we are somewhat perplexed. The bulk of the track (until the outro) is a mixed bag. We felt that the “room” effect placed on the drums was out of place with the rest of the sound sources, while the bass had a muddy quality and perhaps a few sour notes. On the upside, the tone of the first electric guitar solo was absolutely brilliant, one of the best we heard. Some strong points in a not terribly focused track... Imagine our surprise, then, when at the outro these guys suddenly morphed into the Allman Brothers Band! When that slide guitar hit, things just took off. Next thing you know, from out of nowhere, we are hearing just a killer recording, performed with all of the swagger of Duane and Berry in their short time. The bass is walking and articulate, the drums are perfect for the genre, and my God, don’t lose that slide player, boys— Karl’s tone, touch and choice of notes are magnificent. What happened all of a sudden? Suggestion: Start the song with the outro?! Seriously, whatever happened at the end was magic, and if you could reproduce that quality in the rest of the song it would be mighty fine indeed. You’ve shown you can nail it, now you need to get that consistent quality over the whole recording and you’ll be ready for our Spotlight e-newsletter!
Summary: “Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low”!
Contact: Steve Cohn / Slush Puppy, jaco2506@hotmail.com

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Recording - February 2012

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