My jaw is hitting the floor....but I'm not surprised at the magic, just excited.

bigtikidude
Is the Reverb and treble sounding kinda on the tame side?)

Yes, yes it is.

Not that is lifeless and dead)

No? Damn, that's what we were going for. It appears we failed.

Seriously, I'm not sure what your expectations are for the proper level of reverb on the lead guitar, and it's quite possible my guitar sound falls short of it this time around. I did try to vary the sounds from track to track more than on Sandstorm, and there are several tracks where I did not have the reverb very high. I definitely also strived to get a warmer, less piercing sound than on Sandstorm. But I should also point out that the album preview was put together with rough mixes - the actual mixing of the songs begins in a week. We just wanted to put this up on our sites in order to capitalize on the publicity coming our way from that Guitar Player tidbit. So, things will sound much better in the end, I think. But I don't know if we'll reach your MARQ (Minimum Allowable Reverb Quotient), BTD, though! Stay tuned, and keep your fingers crossed.

Ivan

PS Again, thanks to everybody for all the nice comments, and Jake, I figured you'd get a small thrill from the title.

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

Carpe Cool. Ditto on the sentiments - can't wait for the CD as well.

CUTBACK

bigtikidude
I hope people didn't complain to you about the last ones, to make you change. Jeff(bigtikidude)

Jeff, think about that statement. If any of us were so concerned about other people's tastes, would we even play surf music? Do you really think Ivan isn't secure enough in his decisions to decide what his guitar should sound like? Pretty insulting. And I'm not even going to comment on your following statement

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

I'd buy this CD without hearing a sampler, but that little teaser has really piqued my interest. I want to hear where some of that stuff was going! It's like when my wife has the TV remote and keeps changing the channel just as I'm getting interested...torture!

Don

Great preview! Sounds like there is a lot of variety in the songs and an effort to try new directions. I appreciate turning the reverb down occasionally. The wettest settings become more precious when they are used a little more sparingly. Dude, to answer your question, the tank still adds a lot of warmth to the tone even when turned down. I hate to play without one.

Brilliant cover Ferenc! Hipgnosis couldn't have done better.

bigtikidude
But to make my point. its not just me noticing alot of band playing live with very Ventures sound lately. I can't understand getting a reverb tank, and then setting it to where it can't be heard. whats the point of that?

Some bands care more about how their gear looks onstage than how it actually sounds.

-Warren

That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.

bigtikidude
and I wasn't saying that Ivan or anybody should or would change their art because of what somebody said.
But I was wondering, if somebody else said the 1st album was too piercing, because they didn't understand the surf sound.

Some said that, many said they love the sound of it, there was a bit of everything. In the end I came to the conclusion myself that my lead was a bit on the harsh side, which in some ways is fine - it's aggressive, and in general I dig it. But I wanted it warm and aggressive this time around, and I think I got that. In addition I think the lead guitar tone on Sandstorm was a bit too similar from song to song. This time around I wanted more variety - and I got it! Don't worry, BTD, there are six out of thirteen songs that feature heavy reverb and aggressive tones (though probably not as trebly). Of the rest, one is all-acoustic, one is an Atlantics cover, one is a Euro-instro cover, and the other four songs required less reverb (three of them are slow) - but believe me, it's still there! The tones are not dry by any stretch.

Stormtiger
I appreciate turning the reverb down occasionally. The wettest settings become more precious when they are used a little more sparingly. Dude, to answer your question, the tank still adds a lot of warmth to the tone even when turned down. I hate to play without one.

Yep, that's exactly right. Well put.

Brilliant cover Ferenc! Hipgnosis couldn't have done better.

YES!! Hipgnosis! Oh man, I spent a lot of time staring at those old Hipgnosis covers from the seventies. Those guys were amazing. And you're absoutely right, Doug, our cover in definitely in that vein - that's the perfect reference.

Stormtiger
Great preview! Sounds like there is a lot of variety in the songs and an effort to try new directions.

Brian
dp, from the snippets I have heard, this won't be Sandstorm II. It will be its own animal, but probably not a camel.

Thanks, guys, and you're right. We didn't want to make Sandstorm II. We tried to do something different while somehow retaining what we liked about Sandstorm. I hope we were able to do that and that you all will like it.

Ivan

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

IvanP
In the end I came to the conclusion myself that my lead was a bit on the harsh side, which in some ways is fine - it's aggressive, and in general I dig it. But I wanted it warm and aggressive this time around, and I think I got that. In addition I think the lead guitar tone on Sandstorm was a bit too similar from song to song. This time around I wanted more variety - and I got it!

So I've been wondering. Ivan, what did you do differently with gear settings, recording methods, etc to get a warmer sound? What made Sandstorm sound so aggressive? What did you mix up to get more variety this time around?

Just for the record I love the harshness, but I guess I'm willing to accept a warmer Madeira.

Thanks, Spud! Outrageous comparisons, but I appreciate it.

wooza
So I've been wondering. Ivan, what did you do differently with gear settings, recording methods, etc to get a warmer sound? What made Sandstorm sound so aggressive? What did you mix up to get more variety this time around?

I did several things. First, I used a '64 Showman with a real JBL rather than a Dual Pro with Weber Californias - that right there accounted for a lot (though I also used my AC30 in both cases). Second, I turned down the treble a bit, and skipped using the bridge pickup altogether - and used the neck pickup a lot more than ever before (there was some middle pickup, too). Third, I used vintage Neumann mics for both amps (I forget the models now, but they were two different mics) rather than SM57s like on Sandstorm. Fourth, we used sixties compressor/limiters (I'm blanking on the brands at the moment), and squashed the recorded guitar signal quite a bit on the front end, much more than on Sandstorm. I think that's pretty much it. But these four things made a big difference. I honestly think that the guitar tones I got on this album are my best ever - as well as sounding the most vintage (I guess these two are the same thing ).

There you go!

Just for the record I love the harshness, but I guess I'm willing to accept a warmer Madeira.

I think you'll be happy with it, Ben. I hope so, anyway!

Ivan

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