Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Listen to MFT#008 w/ Cowboy Angels while you read!!!

The studio has been incredibly busy this past week and I feel like I’ve been running around like a chicken with no head. Despite being slammed with sessions, I still managed to find time to record another session for all of you fine people to enjoy. This week I invited Dan Schepper to come in and perform a few Cowboy Angels tunes. I’ve known Dan for a number of years now and I consider him to be a pretty swell guy. Dan is probably known to most people as the drummer for Everything, NOW!, but over the past couple of years his solo project, Cowboy Angels, has been turning some heads. Unlike the psychedelic space folk music that he plays in E,N!, Cowboy Angels can be pretty diverse. At times it sounds like a crunchy old school rock and at others it borderlines some sort of back-country shoe-gaze. Regardless of the styles and genres being utilized, every element has some strange vintage feel to it. The timeless tones that remind me of countless old records.

Since Dan writes and plays EVERYTHING it was a bit of a challenge to record a multi-tracked session in such a way that it would sound like a live performance. To pull this off we opted for single takes. Essentially we froze a piece of time with our technology so that Dan could go back and rock out with his past selves. Is your mind blown yet? I bet you never thought of a recording engineer as manipulator of time! No big whoop.

Back to Dan… He recorded 5 songs. 3 of these 5 are NEW. I could tell you which songs are new but that would take all of the fun out of the hunt. Do yourself a favor and head CLICK HERE to listen to MFT#008 featuring a multi-tracked performance by Dan Schepper. Try not to tap your foot. I dare you.

Now if you’re longing for something to look at while your ears are being stimulated, take a gander at some of these amazing photographs taken by Lauren Bultman Photography. She always does an amazing job and I’m not just saying that because she’s my fiance.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Last but not least… You can find Cowboy Angels on the internet in the following places.
1. http://cowboyangels.bandcamp.com/
2. http://www.facebook.com/cowboyangels
3. http://www.myspace.com/wearecowboyangels

Listen to MFT#006 w/ Raafiq Alim while you read!!!

This week I am mixing things up a little bit. Until this point I have only featured bands and acoustic artists… This week I had the opportunity to work with Raafiq Alim (formerly known as Merc Versus), a 10-plus year veteran of the local/regional underground hip-hop scene. He has been compared to such diverse artists as Mobb Deep, Outkast, Wyclef Jean, Wu-Tang Clan, and A Tribe Called Quest. His inspirations include Kool G Rap, Sam Cooke, Bad Brains, Peter Tosh, and The D.O.C. Being from a unique geographical location in terms of hip hop (Indiana), Raafiq represents a rare perspective of the culture. He is currently Vice President of the Indiana chapter of the Universal Zulu Nation and is managed by former Def Jux artist and underground hip hop legend C-Rayz Walz.

The first three songs featured in this session are a collaborative effort between East Harlem, New York native Udi the Erratic Assassin, Indiana native Raafiq Alim aka Merc Versus to form BEDLAM BRETHREN. I took my time to fine-tune these tracks and add subtle changes to make the listening experience unique. The final 2 tracks are previews of a second collaborative effort titled, Mystery School. The Mystery School tracks are not complete. They are merely previews featuring Raafiq Alim’s contributions. The finished versions of these songs will be made available on an upcoming album titled, “Class Envy.” There is no set release date as of this time.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.If you’ve been following the MFT sessions that I have been releasing you may notice that this particular session is a bit different; and not just in terms of genre. The whole performance is a different creature. There are no amplifiers or drums for me to capture… the music is essentially pre-recorded and ready to go. This makes it rather difficult to capture the feel of a live performance and so I have opted to approach the hip-hop genre a bit differently. Although there are still elements of the live performance in terms of vocals, I have opted to create a unique mix of the music in addition to the vocals so that there are subtleties in the music that you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else. But that’s enough shop talk… I was fortunate enough to sit down with Raafiq Alim and ask him a few questions regarding his transition from Merc Versus to Raafiq Alim, his affiliations with the Zulu Nation, and his outlook on current hip hop trends.

(Ryan Lash, Jim Flatford, Kyle Beaty, Ryan Cochrane)

Listen to MFT#005 w/ The Bashville Boys while you read!!!

It’s always a pleasure to work with The Bashville Boys and this session was no exception. They are a fun group of guys that have a real passion for the music they play. I have been looking forward to finalizing this session from the moment the guys had expressed an interest in being feature for MFT#005. The recording process went fairly smoothly with the small exception of trying to figure out how to record Jim’s vocals while simultaneously recording his Mandolin without excessive microphone bleeding. It proved to be a challenge but after a quick bout of trial and error we managed to get good results. Problem solving is a big part of any recording session so this is nothing out of the ordinary. These MFT sessions are all recorded live so it’s not only a challenge for the bands to exert the best performance that they can, it is also a challenge for me as a recording engineer to make sure that everything sounds as close to perfect as possible.

Lauren Bultman Photography was there to document the session in its entirety. As always, she did a wonderful job capturing the digital likenesses of everyone in the band. Please take a moment to check out the photo gallery below and get your giggle on. There are some boy band poses that should not be overlooked.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.The weather was PHENOMENAL! This was the first session that the basketball court was used since I started this Musical Family Tree collaboration. That’s not to say that things got serious enough for an actual game… But Ryan Lash got pretty excited about the basketball goal having an adjustable height. He was the slam dunk master. He almost wore himself out before the session had started but was able to regain his energy by eating nearly 5,000 calories worth of cookies and cheese puffs. This session could have easily picked up a three-way sponsorship of cookies, beer, and cheese puffs. Delicious.

Now it’s time to address a new addition to the original MFT format… In the past I have been including video interviews of the bands but starting with MFT#005 I have decided to switch over to a podcast instead. I have my reasons. I am a recording studio… My strengths are in audio and when it came to setting up lights and video cameras I was beginning to get a little overwhelmed. I feel that I am better equipped to deliver a podcast than I am a video. Furthermore, I feel that it’s easier for bands to participate in a podcast. There’s a lot less pressure and stress when you don’t have to worry so much about whether or not you’re making a dumb face and etc. Besides, the photo shoot already covers the visual aspect of the show. Duh! So give the podcast interview a listen and if you are in the mood to leave any feedback, send it to reberrecording@gmail.com.