BAD FOG OF LONELINESS

Some times when I get new gear I feel real good.  Others it's a little bittersweet.  I bought a bass guitar from my friend ______ today.   _______ is one of the most natural guitar players I've ever seen.  He plays as if the guitar were an extension of his arm and hand.  He also has a wicked addiction.  Not the kind where you do shit and in a few years you come out of it.  ______ is a full blown lifelong junkie.  He's the greatest guy in the world, gentle as a lamb, but that itch gets him and his skin starts to crawl and there's no stopping it.  Over the years I have bought many pieces of gear from ______.   Not shit, but vintage tone monsters.  Fender amps, Gibson guitars, most recently a 1948 Richenbacher (that's right CH not CK before they changed the spelling) lap steel.  I saw David Gilmore play "that great gig in the sky" with one the other night.  I saw one once on EBAY listed for 1800 dollars.  ______ sold it to me for 200.00.  Well today ______needed to give the pawnshop $ so I am going to buy it so it is not lost.  It is a very wierd Ibanez hollowbody.  I love hollow basses.  They have a fat round warm tone.  This one we used on the Storch's CD for the bass on "Roll away the stone".  Anyway _____ looses another guitar, addiction wins, and so do I.  I sort of feel like a whore. This is a picture of the lap steel.  It was ______ grandfather's guitar.  How fucked is that.    

Boo Yah Check Us Out

As you can see by the pix, the Fed Ex guy came.  I am sky high.  Check it out our guitar rack is full of new and vintage gems. Teles, strats, les pauls, 335, rickenbacker, jazz bass, the works.  The drawer of mics is just one in our new mic locker.  Look close, EV635a, Elvis, RE10, RE16, EV630, SM57, I5, AKG D1000E, Unidyne5455D, c'mon who has that type of selection.  Next is our new Arsenal Audio EQ R24.  Two channels of four band passive "PULTEC" style EQ.  Ya baby!  The next pic is the money shot, the Retro 176.  The is what makes the great singers you know sound great.  Eight tubes and full on optical compression.  The mac daddy.  The next picture, loaded sideways cuz I'm an idiot, is our new eight track half inch tape deck.  Tape saturation here we come.  Nothing sounds quite like it.  Well I gotta go try this shit out so enjoy the photo's.  I know I'm gonna enjoy the real thing.  Peace and music,  what more could an old man want?  Later Marc 

Still waiting for fed ex

Two more days to go.  I'm still watching for the fed ex guy.  I finally got my RE10 today.  Can't wait to try it.  It looks cool as shit, sort of like a mini RE16.  Still trying to figure out what style period design my piano is. It sort of looks like what would happen if a piano had sex with a school desk.  Maybe this thing is the Alien.  It's sound is right out of piano heaven.  The special dampening feature gives it that John Lennon sound when engaged.  It's almost mellotronish.  

I was looking at some pictures of the Music Shed in New Orleans.  My Michael had sent them to me while recording the Modern Skirts CD.  The Music Shed is where Robert Plant and Allison Krauss recorded their Grammy winning album Raising Sand.  I couldn't help but notice they had only one item in their rack that I don't have.  And guess what?  I will thursday! I must be becoming an equipment snob.  Nobody in South Florida can even touch ELEGBALAND's front end. I spent 319.00 on five cable to connect them today.  Remember, cables are the most important part of the signal chain.  You can have the best shit around, but a cheap cable can ruin the whole deal.  When it comes to cables, you get what you pay for.  Tip of the day, try Blue Jean Cables from Colorado.  Custom made and top flight cable.  

Finished "Please don't bury me" last night with Greg and Jeff.  We were having a very non-productive evening when in a flash, Greg had a musical epiphany. He played his torso for the percussion.  We mic'd him with a Cascade Radiator dual ribbon thru an API pre and an 1176 style compressor.  He played the first two beats on the chest and then hit the tummy for the three beat.  Flippin genius.  Sounds like a horse galloping thru the song.  Next he put on his Frankie Vallie hat and did a high harmony on the chorus.  Pure vintage Stanley Brothers flavor.  Summertime is finally  back and Kitty Cottage/Elegbaland studio is showing it.  Yodays pix are the entrance to Elegbaland, the view off Captain Ricks boat, the Royal Poinciana that shades our summer days, and, Gregs compression settings for playing his torso!  Have a great day y'all.  Hi Muse.

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS

It's been raining for 8 hours.  Not a drizzle mind you, this is a deluge.  The lightning and thunder are spectacular.  The power goes out every 15 minutes.  Dark as night it is.  I put a portable recorder outside and captured some of the thunder.  Great big booms and cracks that light up the sky.  Very apocryphal.  

John came over and dropped off our new crown condenser mic.  I think after the rain i'll try it on guitar.  Speaking of guitar, the sessions with John Storch the other night were epic.  I truly believe I got the best acoustic sound I have ever gotten.  Johns playing is so liquid and the mic and pre choice really provided the perfect companion for achieving the consumate tone.  I can honestly say what is on tape sounds exactly lie what we heard in the room.  The way it sits in the mix is beyond words.  This session is definitely worth of a reference CD label.  

John and his "invisible" band are playing in Orlando tonight.  Can't remember where though.  I know they will smoke because Greg is bringin' the heat. 

Today's pix are: my little friend "mommy squirrel", she eats right out of my hand; our studio logo "two cats that dig music; and Oya the sitar playing cat (and Elegba's brother).  Notice the Neil Young behind him playing his Grestch White Falcon.   

yeah baby, new gear

Well we did it. John and I pulled the trigger on a new RETRO176 and an ARSENAL AUDIO EQ.  I can't friggin wait.  Is it good.  All the Tom Petty, Lindsey Buckingham, Johnny Cash, Flea, and Sheryl Crow shit was done using one.  Are they any good?  I find myself looking down the street for the delivery guy now.  Jeff Chafin's session should be the first one to use it.  He's one lucky bas&$@*%.  I also got my new mic locker this afternoon.  Two thousand dollars worth of fine cold steel.  It's awesome.  Weighs a ton. Hopefully my new EV10 will arrive to its fine new home on wheels soon.  

Gonna record those Storch boys tonight.  I believe it's Johns' turn.  His guitar playing always gives me, as Ry Cooder would say, chickin skin. He can wiggle a note around with the best of em.  Saturday Greg and I are back to the Prine sessions and then sunday it's Andy for the guitar on my songs.  If the stars all align right maybe this time it will really happen.  I'm starting to get a little antsy to get things moving. 

 Today's pix are the guys who wrote and performed the "ode to Elegbaland".  Greg lovell and Jesse Dalton (owner of the best name in rock and roll)  I chose the pics of them on the big screen ten feet tall because to me that's what they are, larger than life.  Thanks guys.  Till later, Marc

P.S., I promise to catch up with all those I've been neglecting soon.  You know who you are! 

Lessons learned

Had a rude awakening yesterday.  I was at work and a little hungry.  I saw someone had left a chocolate easter bunny in the lounge, so I broke off his ears and ate them.  Evidently the bunny had been left out and open since easter.  Twenty minutes later and my stomach was doing summersaults.  I must have run to the john 15 times in an hour.  I lost so much fluid that I think i'm still recovering.  I can tell my electrolytes are all out of whack.  I feel guidy and weak.  Lesson: don't eat something you don't know about.  

Greg and Jesse spent the rainy afternoon at ELEGBALAND and came up with the "ode to elegbaland".  I think it's going to be our new theme song.  I love it, very tropical sounding.  Greg used his new ukelele.  Sort of a tribute to George Harrison's favorite instrument.  It is really creative because they had no drums to use.  They were in the house because we had a session.  The oercussion came from what they found in the room.  The tympani, a banjo head, the guirro and a bell.  Greg played uke and the nord keyboard.  I love these guys.  

Getting ready to order our RETRO 176 and ARSENAL AUDIO units.  I don't know of anyone in Florida who has a RETRO.  I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS ONE ANYWHERE.  This thing eats LA2A's for breakfast.  In researching compressors, this thing constantly is at the top of the foodchain.  It is based on the UREI 175B compressor which was first designed by Bill Putnam prior to the 610 as a broadcast amplifier and limiter.  These things run 10 thousand dollars for a vintage unit.  The only problem is most people want two to use at the end of the signal chain in mastering.  Needless to say, ELEGBALAND will have the best vocal tracking facility in Florida. 

Todays pix: the best fuzz unit ever (the L&M Soundreader), Gregs vintage KAY guitar (my favorite guitar ever now), Our ever evolving rack at E land, and our mascot (the Big Lebowski) thanks Keith.  Till we meet again, Marc

 

John Prine Revisited

Had a great day.  Won a matched pair of Telefunken TD7's on ebay today.  Won a EV RE10 yesterday.  My mic collection is starting to go full tilt.  There's Peluso, Sennheiser, EV, Telefunken, Cascade, AKG, Audio Technica, Heil, Shure, Unidyne, Blue, Rode, Oktava, and, Audix.  Sometimes I can't believe it myself.  We have some serious microphones.  Tube mics, ribbon mics, dynamic mics, condenser mics,and, crystal mics.  You name a style, we got it.  

Jeff and Greg come tonight to work on the Prine sessions.  "Please don't bury me" is on the chart for this evening.  Greg came up with some great ideas for filling out the material we've done so far.  Sort of a ribbon on the package.  If we can get the basic track recorded I'd like to start "Maureen, Maureen" also.  Greg's reading of this classic is haunting.  We have some super thoughts on how to track it also.  That's what I like about going from session to session.  We took a wicked cool technique from the VIVA sessions and are applying it to the Prine material. 

 I've been spreading myself real thin lately.  I have a ton to prepare for this week so I'm ready for Jeff Chafin (and my new piano). I have to set the drums back up.  I have to remove the mic brackets from the old piano.  I have to create a template for the session and decide which mic pre's to use for what.  I have some new ideas i want to try.  Till tomorrow, be cool. 

Todays pix are:  My mom and Mike's Hope, as Willie said "Me and Paul" (Alestra), and my Blockhead. Enjoy, Marc 

A DAY WITH NO PLANS

Was supposed to record the lead guitars to CIRCLIN and HEROES today but Andy had a radical change of plans.  Oh well, me and Greg are going to work on DEAR JOHN (That fucking guitar).  I have been waiting a long time for this.  The song is very near and dear to me.  It is about a very close friend and the heartbreak that life sometimes brings.  Sometimes we have to give up the things we love to save our own lives.  Other times we don't have the choice.  

Made a deal with a friend who owns the local piano store to trade studio time for a new piano.  It is a 50 in studio upright made in London by Knight piano company.  I wasn't sure at first until I hit low C.  I struck the note and was sold.  If God had a piano, this is what it would sound like.  A major upgrade for ELEGBALAND.  It has direct hammers and a removable action for servicing.  Top quality.  

Went downtown last night for dinner and ran into Marie N and Phillip.  She is one of my favorite chicks ever.  We went to the bandshell and saw Rod McDonald and his band.  The lead guitar player was one of the best i've ever seen.  Bill Meredith was behind the drums.  They were top notch.  

John Ralston is back home and I can't wait to see him.  He drove all day yesterday from New Orleans.  I10 sucks driving east in the morning with the sun in your face and nothing but highway to watch.  I'm real jazzed to hear the new tracks. 

Todays pix are: my friend Andy McManus playing mandolin, my daughter Tiffany and my granddaughter Hunter, and, Our newest member of the ELEGBALAND family zoo, Jimmy M (the lizard king).  Jimmy is now in residence at the poinciana tree over our pond.  

Good morning Muse.  How are you Nikki, Sorry I've been so busy, but I can't help it.  I get so into this shit I kind of get blinded to everything else.  Marc

Up for air

Finished the VIVA sessions .  That music still haunts me. Strange, powerful, like european gypsy jazz  folk punk sung by Tom Waits or a drunken Leon Redbone.  The lyrics are confessional and I believe therapeutic for Tony. Desperation Alley might have the most descriptive lyric I've ecer heard.  I won't give it away, but it's somethings God might do after a long friday night.

Tonight I get back to recording Bill and John Storch's guitar tracks for their new CD.  I LOVE recording guitars.  That's whereI belong, I can really delve into coaxing the tone from an amp. Me, my red box, a Cascade Fathead and two good channels of Vintech (Neve) with some nice compression to smooth it out. 

Saturday, Andrew Chance McCausland is coming over to lay down the lead guitar for Circling the drain and Heroes.  He has dobro, baritone.lead and slide parts ready to go.  Greg will sit as head cahuna and decide if everything fits.  I kind of like leaving the arranging to him. At first it felt real weird, but, after hearing the songs progress, I'm sure he knows what he is doing. He learns faster than anyone I know.He has a knack for getting rid of the clutter and finding the beauty in the structure of the song. Then, he wraps it in harmony.  Genius. 

JR sounds like he did some serious recording with Mike.  Mike said think Tom Petty (Into the great wideopen). Holy shit, Tom Petty. I can't %#(^%)@ wait.  

Gotta go get ready, till we meet again, Ola Marc 

No internet

To everyone who thinks I dropped off the face of the earth, My internet at home is freaking out and won't let me send. Trying to get it fixed today. Will find out when I go home from work. Sending this from work but they won't let us do much here. Sorry, will return ASAP. Marc

VIVA LA PIX

Just a few pics from the VIVA sessions this weekend. These guys rule.  Kick ass high energy music with lyrics for the thinking man. 

VIVA LA VOX

Spent the weekend recording VIVA LA VOX. What a bunch of great young guys. Wasn't sure of how I would like the music, but I was blown away. The musicianship was superb. James (the bass player) Anthony (the drummer) ans Tony (the guitar player/singer), were one of the tightest groups I have ever recorded. The song structure was very advanced and the lyrics were nothing short of genius. I cornered Tony alone and asked if the songs were autobiographical, he said yes. I knew it. You can't write this shit without living it. Pulled out all the stops for recording techniques. Saturday was great. We nailed down all the instrumentation for all seven songs. Greg showed me what he is really made of, and damn, I was impressed. He ran the whole session while I just ran around doing engineer stuff. It was brilliant. Then came Sunday. I woke up, went out to the studio, and discovered the A/C wasn't working. Not good for my equipment on a 95 degree day. I put a wall unit in the bathroom door and called the man to fix it. Greg ran the session while I ran around obsessing about no air. He sat in there all day and finished every bit of the session in the sweltering heat. If I could I would kiss him. Anyhow, at five p.m. the guy came and the air roared back to life. The room cooled down and Greg went to visit his mom. Did I mention it was mothers day? I ran some bass tracks through the MC77 and then met up with VIVA again after dinner to do some extra percussion. At 9p.m. Greg came back and comped the vocals with Tony. All in all, two marathon recording days and everything went according to schedule. We are done except for the rough mix.
We took a few tricks from that session with us and are going to try them on the John Prine sessions.
JR's doing fine in New Orleans. So far, they have done some neat stuff with Dave. Now Dave is back in Chicago and Derek Dickens is on the way. Mike tells me the songs are brilliant. I hope the boys have enough sense to do some serious drinking before it's all done. P.S., John next time you might want to hide your stuff from Hope! Just kidding, was any of it mine?
Well I'm at work so I will finish this later and post some pics of the session. Later, Marc

P.S. Greg thank you from the bottom of my heart.

VIVA LA RECORDING SESSION

Well, the time has come.  I have been setting up for two days now for the VIVA LA VOX session.  I have used every pillow and blanket and towel in our house.  The studio is like the inside of a massive padded elevator.  I even made up a few gobos to deaden some of the moving air heading in mic directions.  Mic placement was very planned for the room sound.  During our trial run last night it proved to be ear nirvana. Notice in the pics some of the techniques.  We put a EV hammer in the bell of a horn suspended from the ceiling.  The snare really pops in it. Notice in the foam below the snare the ribbon mic catching the snares from below, perfectly complimenting the I5 from above which catches the thud.  An NT5 was placed in the bridge of the bass pointing up the fretboard to catch the slap effect, while a 4033 condenser supplies the boom.  For guitar, we put a gobo in front of the BLAZE deluxe to stop drum bleed.  A RADIAL JDX provides the amp tone while the direct guitar passes through a RADIAL JDI.  That way we can use the acoustic signal also, plus, we can reamp it later.  How is that for cool?  The last pic shows the intense cabling required to send these signals all down the line to the recorder.  

As soon as Greg shows up we have t get all the drum direct signals in phase.  This will be the single most important thing we do.  Some people think you can just throw up a mic and record.  And, you can.   But, when you hear our recordings you will hear the difference.. You WILL go wow.  Enjoy the pics, will write more when the weekend is done.  Marc

Down the rabbit hole

What a strange day.  Went to my mom's 76th birthday party.  Lots of real old people.  My dad was bombed drinking rusty nails.  Should have seen his eyes.  Met a delightful old man named Don who gave me a vase for the flowers we got my mom.  Don is gay.  Big fuckin deal.  Anyway, half way through dinner I start telling the story of the making of the BLACKFINGER video at the gay pride festival.  Here I am telling the story and a dozen old fucks are waving at me and pointing to Don.  I'm thinking, what the fuck, he knows he's gay.  I wasn't talking about him.  I thought my dad was going to shit.  They all changed the subject and ignored my story.  I was pissed.  It went downhill from there. 

JR packed up and went to Mikey's yesterday.  The studio looks like we had a fire sale.  He took the Yamaha DSX and the Nord Keyboards.  The LG1 and the J45 made the trip.  Jenny, the 12 watt Supro, went as did the best of the Cream City pedals.  Apogee Trax 2 mic pre's as well as the Altec went.  The Blueberry and some SM81's got in the car.  I think he's got enough on board to start his own studio!  Hope he doesn't.  Dave Vandervelde flew down from Chicago to join them.  Dave is a one man band (John's quote).  He also is a fine dude.  I know the next three weeks are going to be magical.  

Finished Souveniers  last night with Jeff.  Greg engineered the session.  He also played a cool nashville guitar part as well as a kick drum.  His production on this project has been nothing short of amazing.  He has THE ear for this type of music.  Nowadays I find his insight to be critical.  I think it's his knack for finding the cream in a song and bringing it to the top.  His sense of timing and pitch is so helpful to me.  He hears the "other" beats and contrary patterns that I am just not sophisticated enough to pick out until made aware. Every day I get to work with him I can feel myself grow as a music person.  It is a great feeling.

Just finished up my four day call stint for this month.  They like to kill me anymore. I'm not as young as I used to be.  I feel it the next few days.  It's real hard to stand in one place for 8, 10, or 12 hours without sitting down.  Granted there is the adrenaline rush but after years the buzz just doesn't get you off like the first time. Especially when you're dead tired.  Or worse, tired and hungry.  

Getting ready for the VIVA LA VOX session this weekend. Greg has offered to help with the engineering and I'm gonna take him up on it.  There are so many variable involved in a live situation, it helps to have another set of hands and ears.  

Well, that's running long so adios till next time folks, Marc

P.S. todays pics are: Dave Vandervelde here at Elegbaland, my Mikey, Jeff at the piano, Jeff on harmonica, and Jeff and Mike playing guitars in my living room.

Call Weekend

On the second day of my monthly "call weekend" at the Mecca. Yesterday was a mess. How can so many people manage to #(^&@^& themselves up over such a beautiful weekend? Gunshots, car wrecks, how the hell does a man fall in a sewer hole? It's friggin Saturday, why are you near a sewer hole? Swine Flu, yup, hear it comes. Nice to know every sick &^#*) in town is going to be brought where I am. Very comforting.
On a brighter note, my new gear hunt is turning into a major choice for me. Do I get all three pieces I want? Or, do I get the best of each one, one at a time. I keep going back and forth. I know what I should do, but can I? I should just break down and get the Retro 176 or the Vintech X73i. Perhaps the LA2A.
Greg officially gets the studio to himself today. I know he can do it. He is very intuitive. He has a great background with live sound and is well versed in the signal flow if the recording chain. The big question is, will the ghost in the machine rise up to confound him. It always seems to find me. Remember the mantra Greg: Reboot. And don't forget, apple save.
Going to spend the rest of the week getting prepared for"VIVA LA VOX". It should be a radical change recording live rather than track on track. More ambient room sounds and mic bleed, but, when it works right, a beautiful full palate of sonic goodness. Mic selection and compressor settings will be CRITICAL. Phasing will also be a major issue. Mic placement is paramount. Greg worked with Charles Dye to come up with a great solution for recording the room. That one will remain a trade secret.
Well gotta go, Trauma Hawk lands in 5 minutes. What did they bring us this time? Marc

my favorite things

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it does. Greg came up with the coolest idea for an intro to "circlin", that I've ever heard. His mind does work in mysterious ways. I won't say more because I don't want to give it away. Suffice it to say, I'm stokked. I think Greg missed his calling, he could have been a world class producer. Of course then the world wouldn't know of BLACKFINGER.
Chuck and Fire Zuave in town at Propaganda last night. Chuck is a big time stone buster. If you can walk the walk. He still has the third or fourth best band I know. Ha. Propaganda was packed for the show.
John leaves monday a.m. for New Orleans. Wow, talk about watching your ship sail. It is with great regret that I bow out of that trip. The cold world of responsibility has put a damper on my going. I had time off for my surgery and now it is time to buckle down and make some cash to pay the bills. No good timing this month, or probably next for that matter. Thanks JR and Mikey for offering to pay my way, but you guys need to live your lives and have fun. I had my turn, now it's yours. Enjoy it!
I'm writing this from work(Trauma Call Weekend). I hate the call weekend at the Mecca. You can always count on a good shoot em' up, or a multi-passenger car rollover, or something of the sort. I will probably be here all day. We already have 8 cases and the Trauma Hawk hasn't even landed yet today. Some poor fool always gets to drunk at SUNFEST and will fall in the intracoastal, or, get run over by a boat, or climb on stage and fall off. Either way we always get at least one of them.
I can't tell you how much fun music has become for me again. For a while I lost it and was just trollin' along. This project of mine has given me new motivation. The support from my friends is overwhelming. Again thanks to all who helped, espescially JR, Greg, Marie, Keith and Blackfinger. I am truly a lucky man to have you as friends.
Can't wait to get to the studio tonight and hear what Greg has conjured up. I think he is doing an electric guitar for "Heroes".
I feel amazing today. WOW. Marc
P.S. no pix because I am at work. Hi Nik. Hi LJ.