Small Town Sleeper - Day 1
Ok, so its actually day 2 right now, but i'm going to blog about Day 1, then do another blog about Day 2, and I'm going to attempt to keep up daily with blogging about this album.
Preface. Small Town Sleeper is an amazing pop rock band from Urbana, Ohio. I met them many years ago, began developing them, signed them to my production company, produced a ton of songs with them, gave them time to grow into the amazing band that they are, and then got them a record deal. I've been back and forth lately to Ohio to do pre-production with them, working up new songs, changing up older arrangements, trying ideas, etc..... and today we started the album, kind of.
Bright and early. Dann arrived in town at 7:15am, after having driven all night from Ohio. When he got here i told him "go sleep for an hour, we've got to leave for the City at 8:45am". Dann and I took the train in to see Sear Sound Studios at 10am, and Electric Lady Studios at 11am. Now, I plan to record the majority of the album (including drums), out of my own studio, however, I am going to spend a couple days in other rooms to get some variety of sounds happening.
Sear Sound. Unbelievable. Its been around for 42 years, and has the sickest allotment of vintage gear you've ever seen. Much of it Sear has owned long before it was ever considered "vintage". They have a Neve 8038 console, built in 1972, as well as many pieces of outboard that i've never even seen with my own eyes before. it was crazy. The highlight was a 1 inch 2 Track machine aquired from Abbey Road Studios in London. Apparently Abbey Road had it in their basement and they were just going to throw it away. Sear Sound saved it. By the way, Sgt. Pepper was recorded on that machine!!!!!
Electric Lady Studios. Our next stop was to see Jimi Hendrix former digs. I've worked out of this studio countless times, but havent been there in a while. Probably one of my favorite drum rooms on Earth. The Tracking Room at Emerald in Nashville ranks pretty high too. I think we'll cut some drums for this record out of Electric Lady's Studio A. Amazing sound. The vibe at the Lady is just so cool. I love it there.
Back to my own studio. Lots of busy work, prep work, etc... today. Dann, Will, and Derek all got into town today, Troy gets in tomorrow. I've got them all staying in a house that we have set up as an additional recording/editing/ creative space, as well as a rehearsal room. I'm efficient. I also went shopping for food for the boys. Food bill = $504 at Costco. I hope that lasts them at least a week or two! We also put new drum heads on a TON of drums today. I have a great Pearl kit, and Dann has a Yamaha, and i'm renting a DW kit, a bunch of snares and cymbals from Collosal Drums in NJ. We put new heads, top and bottom on everything so we could hear what it all sounds like, pick our favorite drums, and use those to record. That about wraps it up for today. As my body is not at all used to seeing the morning sun, I'm tired, its late. Tomorrow is another day, Day 2 in fact.
- Ken Lewis
Preface. Small Town Sleeper is an amazing pop rock band from Urbana, Ohio. I met them many years ago, began developing them, signed them to my production company, produced a ton of songs with them, gave them time to grow into the amazing band that they are, and then got them a record deal. I've been back and forth lately to Ohio to do pre-production with them, working up new songs, changing up older arrangements, trying ideas, etc..... and today we started the album, kind of.
Bright and early. Dann arrived in town at 7:15am, after having driven all night from Ohio. When he got here i told him "go sleep for an hour, we've got to leave for the City at 8:45am". Dann and I took the train in to see Sear Sound Studios at 10am, and Electric Lady Studios at 11am. Now, I plan to record the majority of the album (including drums), out of my own studio, however, I am going to spend a couple days in other rooms to get some variety of sounds happening.
Sear Sound. Unbelievable. Its been around for 42 years, and has the sickest allotment of vintage gear you've ever seen. Much of it Sear has owned long before it was ever considered "vintage". They have a Neve 8038 console, built in 1972, as well as many pieces of outboard that i've never even seen with my own eyes before. it was crazy. The highlight was a 1 inch 2 Track machine aquired from Abbey Road Studios in London. Apparently Abbey Road had it in their basement and they were just going to throw it away. Sear Sound saved it. By the way, Sgt. Pepper was recorded on that machine!!!!!
Electric Lady Studios. Our next stop was to see Jimi Hendrix former digs. I've worked out of this studio countless times, but havent been there in a while. Probably one of my favorite drum rooms on Earth. The Tracking Room at Emerald in Nashville ranks pretty high too. I think we'll cut some drums for this record out of Electric Lady's Studio A. Amazing sound. The vibe at the Lady is just so cool. I love it there.
Back to my own studio. Lots of busy work, prep work, etc... today. Dann, Will, and Derek all got into town today, Troy gets in tomorrow. I've got them all staying in a house that we have set up as an additional recording/editing/ creative space, as well as a rehearsal room. I'm efficient. I also went shopping for food for the boys. Food bill = $504 at Costco. I hope that lasts them at least a week or two! We also put new drum heads on a TON of drums today. I have a great Pearl kit, and Dann has a Yamaha, and i'm renting a DW kit, a bunch of snares and cymbals from Collosal Drums in NJ. We put new heads, top and bottom on everything so we could hear what it all sounds like, pick our favorite drums, and use those to record. That about wraps it up for today. As my body is not at all used to seeing the morning sun, I'm tired, its late. Tomorrow is another day, Day 2 in fact.
- Ken Lewis
posted by Protools Mixing at 1:25 AM
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