Ribbon Mics

Sound really swell on drums. And everything else.

SOUP Theme

I composed & recorded a short theme song for Charlottesville SOUP (website link). SOUP is a great place to learn about and support artists with creative projects in the Charlottesville area. SOUP generates crowd-sourced funding on the local level as people come together over an affordable meal.

As for the music… fuzzy sounds, clean sounds. tiny sounds, big sounds.

Endings

Vevlo Eel

The Vevlo Eel record I recently mixed is out on Circuit Breaker Records. Check out the video for The End of Don’t and listen to the album here.

Mantis Soundcloud

Finally live on Soundcloud. I’ll be posting rough drafts, excerpts, and beats from studio experimentation here in the near future. If you are on Soundcloud, please contact me that way as well. Follow this link to go there now.

movements

Just finished mixing and mastering the Vevlo Eel record. Heavy sound. I really enjoyed working with that music… up energy, punch you in the gut style. On another tone, Humberto Sales is coming out to the studio next week to track some solo classical guitar music. Humberto’s solo repertoire consists of works by numerous South American classical composers. I’m excited to record with him. Otherwise, I’m turning inward for a moment to work on some new Rhythm Mantis material. Experimenting with rhythm generated approaches to composition framed on some poems & short stories I’ve written over the past year. I’ll post updates and samples of this music as it develops. Stay tuned.

Studio news

A few studio projects recently completed: in early spring songwriter Dana Radcliffe will release his third album recorded, mixed, and mastered at Rhythm Mantis Sound. Anthony Childs, a great songwriter with a leaning toward open guitar tunings and powerful lyrics, brought in some archival recordings he had made on four track cassette that we mixed digitally in Ableton Live. Also mixing the next Vevlo Eel record. Shred rock. I will post links to the music as it is released.

Bossaleros

Marlysse Simmons (Bio Ritmo) and I play our first show as a duo tonight at Escafe from 7-9pm. Piano and drums. The music is influenced by Brazilian jazz, funk, samba, and bolero. Originals & classic songs. More duo shows in Feburary. Check the schedule for more info.

“Bees” remix by Ti

Thierry Holweck of the French-American duo Panda Transport did a remix of the Frontier Diplomacy song “Bees.” Ross and I wrote “Bees” awhile ago and it was refreshing to hear it again with a new spin on the sonic environment of the tune. Listen here… 

Reflections on Recording

It’s an odd time in recorded music with technology at its cleanest ever and mixing ideals set for flawless timing, tuning, and a bent towards all things bright and loud. I’m not convinced that these trends in sound fidelity are necessarily all that positive. Regardless, it seems a lot of studios on the lower end of the scale (like mine and most local studios in any given town) are caught in an odd place… they don’t really have the equipment needed to capture that slick sound so they can either try anyway (often falling very short) or try to honor some of the desirable aspects of that sound while also capitalizing on the limitations of a small studio to try to supercharge the process within those limitations. I think this decision applies as much to a singer/songwriter as it does to a free improv group.

For some artists there is deep value in returning to a cassette 4 track for a drum part, or recording an acoustic guitar in the woods, and then dropping that into the computer later in the process. It makes the process less formal, can reduce technology preoccupation, brings a little wilderness in. My goal in the recording studio is to widen the lens during the recording process, to try different things to keep it exciting and inspiring. I think this is really important in the context of the prevailing flawless norms of our ProTools age. Somehow it keeps recording a little more human, flaws & all.