EQ Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 24)

RUSH “Nick said, ‘I’ve been a fan since I was 11 years old,’” relates Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson. “And he told us that when he heard the bass pedals back then, and the way we wrote a chorus or a bridge, it stayed with him forever. He didn’t think we should give up on those things — just that we should celebrate our original concepts with a modern package. That really struck a chord with us.” LOVE IS IN ALLAIRE Initially, the plan was for drummer Neil Peart to cut his drum tracks at Allaire Studios in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, and then return to Toronto to finish the album with Lifeson and bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee. “I got the vibe from Neil that he was very passionate about going to Allaire, explains Raskulinecz. “We were all trying to talk ” him into going somewhere that was a little more conveAlex Lifeson with his Telecaster and array of amplinient for Alex and Geddy, because they were pretty dead fication laying down guitar tracks for the Snakes set on staying in Toronto. But I could see something in Neil’s & Arrows sessions while Nick Raskulinecz mans eyes, and when he called me up about three weeks the Pro Tools rig. before we were to start recording, I asked him point blank, ‘Neil, where do you want to do your drums?’ He said, ‘I really want to go to Allaire.’” “There really aren’t many good drum rooms in Toronto, explains co-executive producer and equipment ” co-supervisor Lorne Wheaton. “The Great Hall at Allaire is the same room we used for Neil’s DVD, Anatomy of a Drum Solo. It sounds great, and Neil is used to it. That’s the reason we went there.” “I wanted to use my studio for recording guitars, says ” Lifeson, who had planned on Peart and Lee doing a few at Allaire, and then resuming the project back in Toronto as soon as possible. “In fact, I had everything already set up, because I was looking forward to being in my own space. It’s a small, private studio, but it’s a really goodsounding room.” Less than 40 days later, Snakes & Arrows was done. And the band had not moved an inch since they settled in at Allaire. “Once we got there, we realized there was a great advantage to being at one studio for the whole recording project, says Lifeson. “The energy in the building was so ” positive, and the gear is great. They have everything there — amazing guitars, basses, and synthesizers that the owner had been collecting for years and years and years. ” PRODUCING LEGENDS Although Rush has made tremendously successful and classic albums during its existence, the members still looked to Raskulinecz to play the role of a traditional producer. He helped them rewrite and arrange material, and tweak their performances. “It is real easy to love a band, and then be disappointed in their material when you are working on an album, ” the producer says. “But I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was just honest. The first time I heard some of the tracks, I told them exactly what could be better about them. I thought we were missing an up-tempo tune with some weird off-time bits, and a big, kick-ass sing-along chorus — which is ‘Far Cry.’ I felt we were missing an acousticbased, modern-day ‘Closer to the Heart’ with a really catchy chorus — which turned out to be ‘The Larger Bowl.’ And I challenged them to write the most screwed-up, complicated instrumental that they had ever written, and they came back with ‘The Main Monkey Business’ — which they wound up recording live.” 24 EQ SEPTEMBER 2007 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - September 2007

Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly Ben and Vesper Kaiser Chiefs Toolbox Ozma Porcupine Tree Rush The Software Power User Guide Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drumheads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Chameleon Labs TS1 and TS2 Primera Bravo Se Disc Publisher Roland MC-808 Magix Samplitude Professional 9.1 Massey Tape-Head Big Fish Audio Revolucion Reggaeton Sonivox World Beats Sony Pocket Diva Adobe Audition 2.0 Cakewalk Sonar 6 Room with a VU: J Street Recorders, Sacramento, CA

EQ Magazine - September 2007

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