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