The Madeira is back in the studio! We got there at 5:30 pm, and had everything set up and mic-ed up by 7:30 pm. Playing all together in one room, we recorded two takes of the first song, "Leviathan", with the second being the one, having it in the can by 8:15 pm. The next song up was "Farthest Shore", which was on our live album. Had that one in the can by 8:45 pm, with the second take again being the one. Next up: the opening song for the album, the furious rocker "Journey to the Center of the Surf" - the second take was again the one, and we were finished with that one by 9:20 pm. That was all we intended to do tonight, but given that it was only 9:20, we tackled one more, another one from the live album: "Caravela". I decided to do my lead in three separate tracks, so that one took the longest, but we were done with it by 10:45 pm. Four songs done, nine to go the next two days - so off to an unbelievably good start! My guitar tone on these tracks is probably the most overdriven yet - and with the reverb and the Strymon El Capistan (and the EP Booster), at points it sounded like shoegazing guitar. Well, something different! It's not all gonna be like that, for sure.

OK, I'll write another report tomorrow after we're finished.

Ivan
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Looking forward to hearing it. Looks like you were able to keep the groupies out of the studio. They can be a real distraction!

Exciting news! Thanks for the pic's too.

Curious, to hear if you've tried using the ABY (tonebone switchbone box)after a single reverb unit since your settings on both seem to be aimed at the same sound. ...or do you vary the reverb as much as it appears you are doing between the Band Master and Surfer depending on the song?

BTW - interesting to see you're plugged into the 'Glassy' (Normal) side of the Surfer with the Tone and the Vibrato side of the Band Master... and how relatively high the Bass knobs are set on both. Made me go look up your last batch of recording pics from 2011 and indeed, it looks like you're a tad higher there. Must just be another part of your ratcheting up of the sonic boom (along w/ a lil more overdrive)

Maybe the ol' adage goes for both the channel and splitter now that I look closer at both sets of photos (if it ain't broke...)

Anywho - here's to the rest of your time going as smooth as the first night!

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

Cannot wait to hear this!!!

Great pictures Ivan! It's amazing how much work you guys got done in just a few hours. Really looking forward to this album. Good luck with the rest of the songs!

Paul

Good luck with the rest of the recording. You guys have to be the most prolific band on here!
Looks like 2015 is off to a great start for instro!

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Hey, thanks very much to ALL!! We really appreciate your support and your well-wishes! We had another AMAZING day in the studio today. We got there at 10:30 am, starting at 11 am, and recorded until 7 pm, with half hour lunch break. In the seven and a half hours of recording, we were able to knock out another seven tracks, leaving us only two for tomorrow, plus acoustic guitar and percussion overdubs. But we're way ahead of schedule, pretty unbelievable! Paul, yes, we do work VERY fast in the studio. There are several reasons for it: 1) we really work hard to be well-prepared in advance, and 2) we cheat. Cheating is done through ProTools. Eric Klee Johnson, who owns the studio where we record, is a ProTools whiz, and we've come up with a system that works incredibly well: we record two takes as a full band, with the second take usually being the keeper, but both takes starting at exactly the same place in ProTools, going off the click track, so the two takes are aligned. There are usually mistakes by everybody in that second take, but they're probably not in the same places as the first take, so Eric is able to simply pull out the parts from the first take to fix the mistakes in the second take. It only takes him a minute or two to do that, and it greatly reduces the need for many takes or to record over and over again until we all get it right. It's really an amazingly efficient and effective way to work.

The songs we did today: we started with "Here Be Dragons", a song that's the little brother of "Tribal Fury" - so more metal than surf! I did multiple guitar parts on that one, so it took a bit. The solo is another pure Maiden experience. Then we toned it down a bit, and I switched the Bandmaster with the AC-30 for the next several songs, to give it a smoother, more mid-rangey vibe. First up was "Hail, Poseidon!", a fast but not aggro track, more trad than the stuff we had recorded last night, co-written with Jeremy DeHart (formerly of Aqualads) who contributed an absolutely killer chorus part. From there on we were onto "Sirena", a co-write with our own Danny Snyder! A bit of a middle-eastern vibe with the signature Danny-Snyder arrangement, full of twists and turns, great dynamics, up and down, an amazing arrangement! (Danny, even Eric said so when we walked into the control room after recording it.) Next up: an as-of-yet untitled track (working title: "Prelude To Launch"), written by Patrick (who wrote the record six songs for this album!) with a contribution by me. It's got a bit of a Latino vibe, more melodic and rhythmic. Got some lunch (the previous song should have been called "Prelude to Lunch"!), I switched the Gomez with the Bandmaster for the next batch of tunes, and we started playing the slower stuff. First up: the album-closing track, "Into the Deep", a haunting mood-piece written by Patrick. I had to overdub a very intense, shoegazy section for the climax, which was a blast, using the gorgeous, chewy Fender Harmonic Vibrato! Then on to "Dawn in Cadiz", an achingly gorgeous ballad (if I may say so!) co-written with Alex Faide of Los Twang! Marvels! His lead parts are a huge challenge to play right, and that one definitely made me sweat! But it sounds great, I think. Finally, we finished with the album title track: "Ancient Winds", written by Patrick, a bit in the style of "Undercurrents" and "Cities of Gold". I cranked the echo, and it came out beautifully.

So, an excellent day's work, I'd say! Everybody is playing at a level we've never played before, I'm so proud of my bandmates and feel extremely lucky to be in a band with them!

I almost exclusively used my SG101 Dakota Red '65 AVRI Strat today ("Here Be Dragons" being the one exception), and as a show of my continued gratitude for receiving it as a gift from the SG101 community, I wore my SG101 t-shirt! Thank you, Jeff BTD, Paul, Brian and all others who were responsible for it! It's my best-sounding guitar, and it will be on more than 2/3rds of the new album. Check out the multiple photos with my SG101 shirt and my SG101 guitar!

OK, we'll wrap things up tomorrow, and I'll post the final reports. I'll also answer some of the questions from above at that point, too. Thanks again, all!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
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The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Last edited: Mar 14, 2015 22:44:46

indeed! Thanks for the write-up Ivan and good luck wrapping it all up!

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Looks like a well equipped studio.
Just like everyone else - I'm looking forward to hearing the new record!

Cheers,
Jeff

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Really admire your prep for this project. As I recall you had played a gig in Dec or around there where you had played the material. I dream of the day The Kahuna Kings could be so well organized to be able to record a record that way. Good tip on using a click track for full band recording so you can cut and paste efficiently without having to experiment with the tempo pastes between takes. I use much the same method when getting the initial drum track for a song but I need to add a click track next time.

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Last edited: Mar 15, 2015 05:18:45