Oh well, it's descriptive enough of what I intend to discuss. My original idea for this post was to discuss my philosophy on bass overdrive/distortion, but I decided that in order for you to understand such philosophy, I need to put it in context. I will cover bass OD in another entry.
My recording method, though not exactly of industry-standard quality and though not without some sacrifices, is actually quite effective, and very efficient. It allows me to record quickly whenever I write music, and have a listenable product within a short period of beginning it. I shall start by explaining drums.
One thing that allows me to produce music so quickly is that I do not record drums. The primary reason for this being that I do not have the equipment, time, and patience required to do so. Therefore, I use Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2.0 drum programming software. The drum samples are very realistic, and getting a good sub-mix of the kit itself is rather easy. Writing the drum parts themselves are as easy as MIDI-programming (because that's exactly what it is). Doing this is usually one of the first steps I take in recording. I do this in producing both Hairy Parrot and S.I.Q. (In the latter of which I work closely with our drummer, Paul Wood, to ensure accuracy). In general, my philosophy when programming drums is to put a kick drum hit wherever the bass guitar is playing a note.
When recording bass, my own instrument, I record the signal direct (without amps or cabs) using a line configuration called a split-signal chain. Using the split-signal chain, I record one bass track clean, and another distorted (which I will go into more detail about when I speak of bass distortion) all at the same time. Later, in editing, I then make the clean signal carry most of the low frequencies, and have the distorted signal handle most of the high frequencies. This allows me to have distorted bass that looses no low end. Also, when I record, I consider no playing technique to be off limits, though I generally prefer fingerstyle when playing live. This means that I will use whatever technique a section warrants; if a section is really tight rhythmically, I will use a pick, if a section uses a lot of octaves, I will slap, etc.
Recording guitars is fun, generally speaking. There is a rising trend among up-and-coming metal bands that involves recording guitars direct (once again, without amps or cabs) with the use of an amp and cab modeler. This means that the guitar signal is traveling completely electronically, with no microphones involved, with the modeling unit providing any and all amp sounds. Modelers are very versatile, because they allow the user to achieve multiple different amp sounds all with one unit, rather than having to own multiple (often expensive) amplifiers. I, as well as the rest of my band, use such units (currently the Boss GT-100) to record guitar. To create the proverbial "Phil Specter Wall of Sound," we have programmed various sets of four different amp tones each. This is where the process of S.I.Q. And Hairy Parrot differ. In S.I.Q., I have my two guitarists track all their rhythms four times each, using a slightly lower gain set of what we call our "Go Meat" metal amp patches. Using this method of stacking, we end up with 8 tracks of rhythms, each panned a certain way, to give that great big stereo wall of sound feel. In Hairy Parrot, I only do 4 tracks of rhythms, though with slightly higher gain versions of the "Go Meat" patches (which I have affectionately dubbed Hairy Rhythm 1-4). Later, lead sounds and clean sounds are recorded either as a mono or stereo track, depending on what the sonic needs of each are.
Recording vocals is probably the simplest part of the process. I have a microphone, and our singer (or a Hairy Parrot guest singer) sings into it.
Lastly, I am a firm believer in producing a great studio product, and that nothing that can contribute should be held back. After drums, bass, and guitars are all finished, I use the synthesizer engines built into Protools to construct and program background sounds, like an orchestra, choir, organ, synth lead, or even just ambient sounds. For example, I happen to be a fan of pairing a clean guitar track with the sound of a music box, xylophone, or vibratone. In Hairy Parrot especially, these extra sounds are vital.
I think that is a pretty good summation of my process of recording. As I said, it's not exactly standard, but it allows me to be quick about producing music for both Hairy Parrot and S.I.Q.
On that note, just to let you know, I intend to release Hairy Parrot's next song early next week. Be on the lookout for that, because it's a goodie!
Cole Millward
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