record a new album

For the last two weeks, I was cooped up in the studio getting the last takes for The Commission’s first CD single off their upcoming album. Despite some stumbling along the way for the other A-side, “Scanlines”, I squeezed out some great performances from everyone in the band. Though I am amazed I got through this last week without bitch-slapping one of them.

“I love it. Now make me hate it.”

It’s been several weeks since my last blog / 43 Things entry. That’s because I’m back at the mixing console again for The Commission’s first full length album.

I’m pleased that I’m getting to use a pair of AKG C451Bs as drum overheads that weren’t available to me when recording their demo two months ago. So far, I’ve spent two weeks with Brad, the drummer, and the difference on the cymbals and ambience is remarkable. Jay, the primary songwriter and one of the guitarists, has taken a liking to my collection of Menatone pedals (Blue Collar, King of the Britains, Top Boost in a Can – but particularly the Blue Collar). They are sublime with just about any clean, chimey, EL34-based tube amp. And as a set, they’re incredibly versatile. We’ll probably be using them on a majority of the guitar tracks.

Unfortunately, my mixing console has developed a strange intermittent clicking sound in the output stage. However, I’ve discovered today that it could be a RAM buffer issue. Hopefully, tweaking a few settings at the driver level will solve the problem. For the moment, it’s merely an annoyance.