Recording - November 2013 - 64

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Clark Millis
Equipment: TASCAM DP-24 tabletop multitrack recorder, Shure
SM58 and SM57, Behringer B1031a Truth monitors, Gibson Les
Paul Studio, Gibson EB-3 bass, MXR compressor, Marshall
combo, Casio CTK-558 for drums, percussion and strings.

Music: “Goddess Serene” is a male vocal rock song. Clark
wrote, performed and recorded it all at his home studio.
Recording: Clark tells us that after quitting his band
some thirty years ago, he has recently taken up music
again with all new equipment except for his 40-year-old
bass and old reliable SM58. Welcome back, sir!
While we are not sure whether Clark had any recording
experience “back in the day”, a whole lot has changed during that time, including the disappearance of those crazy
old tape machines! Anyway... the present tense finds Clark
with his performing skill intact and a pretty good handle
on the recording end of things as well.
Starting with the rhythm section, while the pattern
from Clark’s Casio keyboard is bare-bones, it does provide a solid foundation for further expansion. The bass
guitar is fairly strong in the mix, not surprising as it is his
main instrument, and offers a good round tone. We also
liked the harmony guitar tones and placement.
On the down side, we could have used more reverb on
the faux strings in order to give them some “air”, and the
lead vocal seemed a bit shy through our monitors.
Suggestions: First off, coming back to any creative
medium after such a long break is a success story in and
of itself. Clark has fashioned a pretty fair recording here,
certainly one that could be called a solid demo. In his
cover letter, we are told, “I am not a singer and am still
learning to play the guitar.” Well, Clark, my wife would
say the same about Bob Dylan.
64

RECORDING November 2013

We would be happy if you would spend some time experimenting with the onboard reverb in your TASCAM recorder,
find a nice hall setting, and slap it on those strings. As for
the vocals, Dylan, Young, Cohen, Garcia, some of our greatest artists were... um... “stylists” more than vocalists. That
said, they were brave warriors, so don’t be shy, take their
lead, and turn that vocal up!
Summary: Keep on truckin’, Clark.
Contact: Clark Millis, cmillis@netzero.com

Rodger Bennett / RB And The Stompers
Equipment: HP Pavilion 1330 computer (Windows XP) with TC
Electronic konnekt 8 interface, running Sony ACID Pro 6 (for
drum and piano samples), Sony Sound Forge, and Steinberg
Wavelab. Shure SM7 mic, Gibson Les Paul through Line 6 POD,
Fender Precision Bass.

Music: “Jenna” is a male vocal rock song. Rodger oneman-banded it at his home studio.
Recording: Here we have a very cool arrangement with a lot
of moving parts. Rodger intros the song with an Abbey Road
flavored piano, which quickly gives way to a Elvis Costellomeets-the Kinks sounding track. So how did he do with such
an ambitious undertaking? Pretty darn well, actually.
Strong points here include some great tones on the programmed drums and the “ragged but right” electric guitars. Rodger has also nailed the sound of the British
Invasion harmonies, particularly in the chorus section. Jolly
good fun, as they say!
We also dug the inclusion of the tambourine at the twothirds mark, although its volume, combined with the panning placement, made it stick out a bit far through our monitors. Other trouble spots in the track included some rough
timing on some of the programmed tom fills, and a curious
sub-frequency boom during parts of the chorus.
Suggestions: Let’s start by giving Rodger his props. This is
a fairly complicated arrangement for a one-man band, and
the fact that it seems to strive for a certain era/genre makes
it even trickier. That said, he has solidly accomplished his
mission in our view.
Now for the fix-me-ups. First, we suggest that Rodger
revisit his drum programming and see if he can grid/quantize the tom fills for a smoother effect. The tones are outstanding, and a little TLC on the timing should turn things
right around. Next is the tambourine. Now, many have snickered at me through the years when I tell them that the tambourine is one of the most difficult instruments to record
and present in a mix. Well, we stick by our opinion, folks.
Tambourines, to put a new spin on the old saying, should be
heard, but not really... heard. The great ones know how it’s
done, the rest of us keep on trying!
As for the sub frequency, we’re not sure if Rodger heard it
or not (no monitors listed! Again!), but it’s likely a frequency
buildup issue. Our advice to Rodger—and all the rest of our
loyal readers—is to study up on the power that is high- and
lowpass filtering. These are powerful tools that can often aid
where conflicting frequencies occur... assuming you can hear
them. Rodger, what are your speakers (not) telling you?
Summary: We like it, not far to go to make it pristine all
around!
Contact: Rodger Bennett, RBennett613@nc.rr.com

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Recording - November 2013

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