Recording - January 2014 - 64

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please go to www.recordingmag.com and click on Readers' Tapes,
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PLEASE state which part of your contact info we can publish
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won't print anything at all.

Stan Gadziola
Equipment: Mac running Apple GarageBand '11; Shure SM57
(guitar amp) and SM58 (vocal) mics; 1963 Fender Jazzmaster
electric guitar through Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp (using
amp's reverb); Dunlop Cry Baby wah; Casio MIDI keyboard controlling GarageBand software instruments: bass, keys, drums.

Music: "Night Traveler" is a male vocal rock song with
a funk feel. Stan wrote, programmed, performed and
recorded the track at his home studio. Stan reports, "I
had a bass groove I put down with GarageBand's software bass to a click track. I then cut up some basic drum
samples and programmed shots, hits and rolls. I did a
direct-in clean guitar rhythm track with my Jazzmaster,
added keyboards and software clarinet, and did some
lead guitar and fills with my Jazzmaster plugged into the
Fender amp, with a Cry Baby and miked with the SM57,
set clean with a touch of reverb. Finally I did the vocals
with an SM58 and mixed in GarageBand."
Recording: It's always fascinating to follow the rise and
fall of certain instrumental effects. Lately, the wah pedal
has been enjoying a resurgence to its early 1970s glory
days ("Shaft" anyone?) and Stan lays it on thick here.
The track intros with some nicely panned guitar parts
from Stan's Fender Jazzmaster, including the aforementioned wah-wah. Though we applaud the creative effort
that went into the arrangement, after several listenings
we start longing for some tonal guitar options to compliment the "spanky" Fender sounds.
Our other area of concern centered around the rhythm
section. While the drum programming was certainly
more than adequate for a guitarist (just sayin', no haters
please), the bass guitar riff was entirely masked by one
of Stan's guitar tracks, which mimicked it throughout the
majority of the song.
64

RECORDING January 2014

Suggestions: While we would never pass judgment on anyone's choice of instrument (you are talking to someone who
has owned 117 different guitars over the years. Yeah, I know,
it's a problem!), we would encourage Stan to contact some of
his guitar-playing buddies at tracking time and see if he
might borrow/rent some guitars with a different flavor to
augment his own.
As for the lack of bass, having a guitar ghosting the bass is
an age-old trick; in Nashville it was called "tic-tacking" back
in the day. That said, the idea was never to obscure the bass,
but rather to enforce its upper midrange tones. We encourage Stan to revisit his mix and restore the bass to its rightful
seat at the table. Considering that his drums are already on
the bright side, some bottom end is sorely needed.
Summary: A fix or two and you're good to go.
Contact: Stan Gadziola, gadziola@eastlink.ca

Steve Ryzinski / Lee Olsen
Equipment: PC with PreSonus FireStudio Project interface running Cakewalk SONAR 8 and Toontrack EZdrummer; AudioTechnica AT2020 mic; Avid Eleven Rack processor, PreSonus
Studio Channel channel strip; Fender and Paul Reed Smith guitars, Fender bass, 12-string acoustic guitar.

Music: "Running From Myself" is a male vocal rock song.
Lee played electric guitar (through the Eleven Rack) and
sang the backing vocals, and the rest of the sound sources
(bass recorded direct through the Studio Channel, lead
vocal, and miked 12-string acoustic guitar) were done by
Steve. No information was provided as to who actually handled the recording end of things.
Recording: Oh man, another journey into lo-fi evaluation,
folks...hang on to your hats!
Following the increased popularity of groups like the
Black Keys, we have seen an exponential rise in the number of reader submissions featuring weirded-up vocals.
Yeah, we know, weirded-up vocals are cool, but imagine our
dilemma in trying to establish whether they were recorded
correctly: "Was the mic pre properly overdriven?" Well,
guess what? According to long-established principles,
there is no such thing as a "properly" overdriven mic pre.
Ditto overcompression, vocals through fuzz boxes and,
well, you get the point.
As for Steve and Lee's track, it is obvious from the killer
sounding acoustic guitar that these guys are in possession of
more than solid recording chops.Therefore we can only assume
that the sibilant, fuzzy vocals, as well as the door slamming
tone of the kick drum, were intentional (if not, in the immortal
words of Ricky Ricardo, "You got some 'splainin to do!").
Suggestions: As we've said before in this column, one man's
ceiling is another man's floor. For some of us those classic
Steely Dan records of the late 1970s were the epitome of
rock recordings. Others much prefer Tom Waits growling
through a bull horn. The beauty of it all is that both are
right. Lee tells us, "Had a lot of fun recording with my
friend Steve. He brought a lot of passion into the project.
Very pleased with outcome." Works for us, guys.
Summarry: Creativity is the #1 recording tool!
Contact: Steve Ryzinski / Lee Olsen, leeolsen@msn.com


http://www.recordingmag.com http://www.recordingmag.com

Recording - January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2014

Contents
Recording - January 2014 - Cover1
Recording - January 2014 - Cover2
Recording - January 2014 - 1
Recording - January 2014 - 2
Recording - January 2014 - 3
Recording - January 2014 - 4
Recording - January 2014 - 5
Recording - January 2014 - Contents
Recording - January 2014 - 7
Recording - January 2014 - 8
Recording - January 2014 - 9
Recording - January 2014 - 10
Recording - January 2014 - 11
Recording - January 2014 - 12
Recording - January 2014 - 13
Recording - January 2014 - 14
Recording - January 2014 - 15
Recording - January 2014 - 16
Recording - January 2014 - 17
Recording - January 2014 - 18
Recording - January 2014 - 19
Recording - January 2014 - 20
Recording - January 2014 - 21
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Recording - January 2014 - 23
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Recording - January 2014 - 28
Recording - January 2014 - 29
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Recording - January 2014 - Cover3
Recording - January 2014 - Cover4
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