EQ Magazine - December 2008 - (Page 14)

PUNCH IN ALEJANDRO ROS MS. MINIMALISM Keeping it Simple with Juana Molina BY MICHAEL ROSS “Solo” and “simple” are the operative words used when describing Juana Molina’s bare-bones operation, but the beauty lies in the primitivity of her work. With their hip-shaking rhythms and unique synth lines, Molina’s loop-based songs can inspire even the most ardent party-pooper to dance. On her latest outing, Un Dia, the Argentinian songstress layers vocals, guitars, synths, and percussion into a Boss RC-20XL Phrase Recorder, and then archives the results in MOTU’s Digital Performer in order to explore the creative possibilities of looping. Starting as a way to perform her compositions live without a band, looping has since become the essence of her craft. “At first, I didn’t know I was playing a loop,” she says. “I was just playing something over and over. Ten years ago, I thought that was bad, so I interrupted it, and put a chorus in the middle. I had these concerns about everybody thinking the loop was boring. Then, looping became more common in everyday music. I should have listened to myself back then!” To record Un Dia, Molina employed her usual method of setting up her live rig in her house. Replacing the small Behringer mixer she uses live with a Mackie 1604, she goes straight from the mixer into the RC-20XL, and then into a MOTU 828 interface. Molina’s guitar— an antique Martin—sports a DiMarzio magnetic acoustic pickup that she combines with the signal from a Neumann TLM 103 linked to an Aphex 207D preamp. She acknowledges the system has limitations. “I don’t really care much about the sound quality,” she confesses, “because sometimes when I pause to fix the quality, I forget the idea. Why would I need quality for no ideas?” A firm adherent to the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” philosophy, Molina admits to being very conservative—to the point of returning almost every new piece of gear she buys. “I bought the big Boss RC-50 Loop Station, and it had too many pedals,” she says. “I would have ended up a shoe-gazer! The only advantage would be that it is stereo, and while some of my keyboard sounds are stereo, they get turned into mono when sent to the RC-20XL.” All of Molina’s recordings have been made using the TLM 103 and a Shure SM58 to mic every instrument, with her trusty Korg 01W synthesizer supplying almost every other sound. However, her recording space’s negligible soundproofing allowed a chorus of unlikely contributors to her last album, 2006’s Son. “The birds in my garden were very apparent on Son,” she says. “I didn’t make them participate as heavily this time.” This Month on EQTV Join us at EQtv—EQ’s own video channel chock full of tips, tricks, tutorials, behind the scenes footage of some of the hottest sessions, and tons more. To check it out, visit www.eqmag.com and click the pretty little link, or go direct to www.eqmag.tv. You’ll be glad you did. This month you’ll see: • Extra footage from the Arabian Prince interview • Video of the “Indie 500” preamp shootout. • In the studio with American Idol runnerup Amanda Overmyer • Behind the Scenes with Nero Order and Bart Thurber at House of Faith Studios AND TONS MORE!!! 14 EQ DECEMBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.tv http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - December 2008

EQ Magazine - December 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In My Morning Jacket Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Cakewalk Sonar 8 Propellerhead Reason 4 Indie 500: Lunchbox Pres and Compressors 500 Series Preamps 500 Series Compressors Gadgets and Goodies Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - December 2008

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