Studio diary: day 13

A very short Saturday afternoon session, just three hours. So here's an accordingly short diary entry. Jorge basically finished his rhythm guitar parts for "Cosmonaut" and "Instead" in the blink of an eye, and he also played a memorable solo for the first one, the solo for "Instead" still waiting to be eaten, chewed and puked on tape.

We also tried a few curious sound effects for the intro of "Cosmonaut", involving Jorge and myself playing on the same guitar. Well, thanks god we can afford a guitar each, otherwise it can get quite busy on the fretboard at times.

Without really having mentally prepared myself for it, I found myself singing the first song, "Instead". Jorge needs my vocals to play the solo accordingly, so it was my turn to deliver the goods in order to keep the flow. I didn't even have my lyrics sheet at hand, so I had to fumble through my mobile phone to find an early draft of the lyrics I had saved there once. Not exactly the best way to sing when you have to squeeze your eyes to read stupid tiny-written words on a tiny screen. I'm not exactly the kind of guy known for remembering his own lyrics, so it was a funny sight indeed…

The clock was ticking and we had just about 40 minutes left before leaving, so it was a hit & run vocals recording,

main and harmonies. I'm not too sure if I will have to redo them again, I was completely off-guard and cold, but we'll have to listen back next week. At least our guitar hero can now hear how the melody goes and record his mind-blowing solo. I think you will love it, I do.

St

Songs recorded (Feb 20)

Cosmonaut: guitars

Instead: guitars, vocals

Studio diary: day 12

Jorge arrived in Berlin the day before to start tracking his guitar parts today. After the formal introductions to Daniel, the studio, the chairs and all the living organisms in the studio, we went head-first into recording mode, starting with "Don't Lose Your Head". Jorge did some clean and dirty rhythm parts. The funy thing is that, recording with almost the same guitar as me (a Les Paul) and exactly the same amp settings, it sounds completely different to my tracks. That goes to show, tone is in the fingers, and no two persons can ever sound exactly the same. It's one of those things you discuss a lot in internet guitar forums, but only after seeing it first-hand do you really notice how true that is. Of course, that's something no guitar, amp or effect manufacturer will ever admit. Even if you buy Slash's signature guitar and Slash's signature amp you will never sound like the guy, but you might have lost a few coins on the way...

Anyway, shortly after starting tracking clean guitars on "The Wounds Inside", Timo popped in with his closest fanclub members to say hi and listen to what we had donde the week before. He nodded his in approval, so it couldn't have been that bad. Recording the songs took a wee more time than the one before, mainly some harmonics simply didn't want to come out the correct way and the wah pedal cracked, but after switching it the parts were ready to be marked as "good" and saved in the hard disk.

"Seattle Girl" was next on the to-do list and it almost took no time at all. Jorge had prepared his parts well. Well, except the ones he hadn't prepared well, but those were really the minority. Mainly it was my fault for changing accents here and there and forgetting to tell him beforehand, but nothing that could not be fixed on the spot.

And before really noticing it, Timo was off again and a little later, Tobi arrived as well, also to see if we had done our homework. He seemed to like it to, always a good sign. We were recording "Ink", and I must repeat it, that song is fucking killer. I bet your life that you won't be able to keep your head still when you hear it, believe me. Even in the more controlled, relaxed and mostly clinical environment of a recording session, that songs always makes everyone's feet tap and everyone's head nod. And all that after listening to it for the five hundred billionth time. It's a little special thing, that tune.

Jorge was finished for the day and he had done more songs than we expected, being the first day and that, so just before wrapping up and going home he had a try at his mega solo on "Instead", which he almost nailed a few times, but always almost. I mean, I would kill to play a solo like that, but still we all knew he could do it better, and so we left it there for the next session in a few days' time. Ah, this is slowly getting shape...

St

Songs recorded (Feb 16)

Don't Lose Your Head: guitar

The Wounds Inside: guitar

Seattle Girl: guitar

Ink: guitar

Instead: guitar

Studio diary: day 11

Last day recording my guitar parts. It was meant to be a short session, so without further ado, we immersed ourselves into "Talking To Nobody's" intro, the one that didn't work out last time. We decided to try a few different pedals for it, Big Muffs, Overdrives, Marshalls, but none of them really gave us what I was looking for, so after some puzzlement and head-scratching, we changed the guitar, brought out the new ES-335 and plugged it directly into the amp. And there it was, exactly what we had in mind. Sometimes the easiest path is the best one. And the 335 is a fucking great guitar, that has to be said too. She can be gentle and smooth or scream like a hysteric bitch on coke, and everything in between. Lovely.

While we were at it, I decided to re-track the dirty rhythm guitar with the 335, just to annoy the mixer later with more tracks (one guitar take more adds 4 to 5 tracks to the project), but mainly to blend different sounding guitars playing the same. The results are quite cool and broad-sounding. A wall of sound, more or less.

With "Talking" finished for now, we did the missing clean guitars and solo on "Don't Lose Your Head", which officially concluded my guitar parts. But as we still had a little time left, we listened to a few songs just to check that no more guitar work had to be done by yours truly. And of course, after a few playbacks, we decided that "One Another" needed an little bit of beefing up and did a few takes on it with the 335 at full blast through an overdrive pedal just for the sake of it.

And then finally took out the Telecaster to double some acoustic guitar parts on "Twelve Years". They blended very nicely together, so we tried the same trick again on the solo part, this time again with the 335 doubling an acoustic guitar on a darker tone.

And almost without realizing it, we were done with my guitar parts. Of course, sure as hell that after Jorge does his bits next week I'll have to redo a few details here and there, but the bulk of it is finished. Whopee! I hope the vocals go as swiftly as the guitars, I am really not looking forward to recording them. Vocals are a pain in the ass, but I guess it's a necessary evil, don't you think? And to top it all, I still have to write lyrics for 3 of the songs... fuck.

Have a nice weekend.

St

Songs recorded (Feb 12) Talking To Nobody: guitars
Don't Lose Your Head: guitars
One Another: guitars
Twelve Years: guitar

Studio diary: day 10

Yawn! Daniel and I were so tired today that we didn't even crack the usual joke on the shitty weather, we merely grumbled and nodded, completely lost for words amidst yet another full-scale blizzard. It's starting to get on everyone's nerves this snow and the damp cold, it's not funny anymore (it was at the beginning of November for about one and a half minutes, but now the novelty of a white city has worn off, it's simply annoying).

And so we found ourselves back in the cellarful of noise, ready to continue with our god-given mission of putting to tape our latest paranoias in the shape of songs. Not having had a bite for the whole day, I was starving, but the only place I could find something in Weissensee was at the gas station. Imagine what kind of junk shitty food it can be... well, it was, but at least it kept me with enough energy to record for a few hours.

We started with "Instead", tracking some crunchy guitars with the Les Paul, and finishing it with a cool effect involving an E-Bow, feedback and the pickup switch on the guitar. It looked rather ridiculous, with Daniel and me with our hands on different parts of the guitar, but it worked out pretty well. After finishing with the E-Bow and packing it again in it's bag (I'm a tidy guy, I pack up everything after I use it, at least I try), I discovered with amazement that Daniel cannot even see a piece of cloth or anything made of felt, like a tennis ball or my E-Bow bag. So it was of course mandatory to try and rub the bag on his arms and face. Boy, it was as if I was pointing him with a gun. Well, not really, he probably might not have reacted with such fear and loathing to a gun. It's funny what an amazing number of different phobias are out there...

Daniel needed a coffee after that, a I needed some more heavy guitars, so we started with "Cosmonaut", which until now, was the only one left untouched. Being both in a silent mood and focused on the duty, it took no time at all to finish all the rhythm tracks. We spent some more time looking for the right sound for my solo (which precedes Jorge's, to be recorded next week), and we tried different sounds and guitars, but it looks like the Les Paul has won again over the Tele. She's got something, that little guitar, I tell you. A Tele can cut through any mix, but the Les Paul fits like a glove, it's hard to explain. And so we were ready with "Cosmonaut" for now.

Time to change gears and go for a more pop tune, "Talking To Nobody". After a desastrous try at getting the intro harmonies right (and deciding that I still had to fucking decide once and for all what I want to play and stop wasting precious studio time on it) we focused on the rhythm tracks. The song has a steady cushion of acoustic guitars, so we tried a few sounds that could suit them without being too bland or too heavy. Which is not always easy. I finally decided to do it the harder way, let's see how it all turns out at the end...

With the rhythm guitars and a few licks here and there finished, it was solo time. It's a really simple melodic solo (well, as usual, I'm not exactly a shredder) and tried a funny combination of double-tracked solos, with the Tele and the Les Paul again fighting to be number one. Who won? You'll probably have to check it for yourselves when the album comes out. Here's a clue: we still don't know either. I'll leave it to the mixer, let him surprise me.

Somehow without noticing it, it was already time to go, and we were both glad it was so. We were starting to get too tired to be focused on what you're doing, so it's better to leave it and come back again the next day with a fresh pair of ears and a few new jokes in the pocket.

St

Songs recorded (Feb 10)
Instead: guitars
Cosmonaut: guitars
Talking To Nobody: guitars

Studio diary: day 9

With the bass tracks finished the day before, it was again guitar-time. Thanks god. I was anxious to play some crunchy riffs at full volume!

We arrived early on in the afternoon and started playing around with an old Laney 100-watt head from David, Daniel's partner in the studio, plugged into a 4x12" Crate box. Very nice overdriven sounds without sounding too dirty. Perfect for the day's first song, "Don't Lose Your Head".

After setting the amp and the mics it took no time at all to get the parts done. Timo was there too and we tried several different intros, but decided that keeping it clean would be the best, at least until we think about something else to start with...

"Ink" was next on my personal list, and being one of (if not the) favourite songs on the bunch, I spent some time getting just the right sound for it, a dirty, in-yer-face, heavy kind of sound. I think I found one that suited the song well, so we went into recording mode. Funnily, for this song I needed to feel the air moving and the blast coming out of the amps, so I left the coziness of the controol room for the dark, loud and definitely more RnR recording room. With me, the best way to record stuff like that is loud, very loud. Extremely loud if possible. So, armed with the Les Paul and the headphones I did a few takes, which I fucking loved. A great, great feeling. Unfortunately, when in "blow-your-brains-out mode", you tend not to be as precise in your playing as you should, and some details tend to be overheard. So after listening to the playbacks, I had to concede and accept that maybe I play much better and might need less takes when in the control room. OK, less power, but more precision. At least I had my headphones to turn up the shit to deafening levels without actually making the other guys deaf in the process.

With "Ink" in the can (in the hard disks rather) and a huge silly grin on my face, our 80's cover needed some love, too, and so we tracked some angry guitars on "Eye In The Sky" (or as Timo calls it, "Ei Im Himmel"). We used my brand new Telecaster for the first time, and must admit that it blended really well with the thick sound of the Les Paul. A lovely combination, indeed. So much did we like the result that we tried it again in "Vertigo", with the Tele on the spotlight during the verses and the Les Paul in the choruses. So much for the "one guitar, one amp" approach. We reverted our own rules once again, haha.

Now a little break until next week, where we'll be doing more guitars, and (hopefully/hopefully not, I can't decide) some vocals. Thanks for watching. FrogTV will be back next week.

St

Songs recorded (Feb 3):

Don't Lose Your Head: guitars

Ink: guitars

Eye In The Sky: guitars

Vertigo: guitars

Studio diary: day 8

Greetings, people of the Earth! We come in peace (but are quite loud).

Having found a tiny gap in Timo's overbooked agenda, we gathered yesterday in the studio to continue tracking bass lines (you know, that mighty "Broummm!" you can sometimes hear on our records). Getting there was not easy at all, Berlin looked yesterday more like Stalingrad than ever, with a heavy snow blizzard and almost no visibility at all. Grrrreat! I think we should call this album "Snow", "Siberia" or rather "White Shit" or something like that... hmm, I sorta like "White Shit", I'll write it down on my list of possible titles.

And so a little later, while Daniel and I were testing a new Telecaster to use later on, Timo arrived looking like Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine, black robes, hooded and mumbling somthing about shit weather and fucking traffic... our lovely bass player was finally there!

Daniel had set up everything beforehand, so it was a quick start, which was good, there were lot of songs to do. We started off with "Twelve Years" and as usual, the first one of the session is always the trickiest one, especially if your fingers are cold. After a few takes (and gives) we were all satisfied with the result and could move on to the next ones, "Don't Lose Your Head", "Instead" (where the subtle difference between a minor and major chord led to some discussions on the right way to approach the bass lines) and "Vertigo", all of them done pretty quickly otherwise.

"One Another" almost drove Timo crazy, because it's so new we all still don't know the song structure that well, which means that it's either a complete perfect take or punching in can become a drag ("Where the fuck am I? Second verse? First half of the second bridge? Where do we come from? Where a re we going? Is there life out there?") You can imagine...

Thanks god we are blessed to have Daniel around to tell us stories about his life as an engineer, which I can tell you, made us laugh like hysterical hyenas for minutes and minutes. Something along the lines of setting up mics the wrong way, trying to get the perfect mic sound out of an unmic'ed source... hilarious. He could write a book. Maybe he should. As long as the word "Schminke" is in, of course...

Anyway, we still had two songs to go and little time, so we put on our focused faces and went straight into "Talking To Nobody", which Timo really nailed. Left was only "Eye In The Sky", with Timo's spotlight moment, so we had to really get that one nicely on tape. Which, after a few tries we did. And before we'd noticed it, it was half past nine, and time to wrap up and go home. Well, before getting home we still had to battle our way through Stalingrad's streets, which is not always easy when it's dark, icy and on top of that you can't see shit because you're short-sighted. A truly amazing combination, indeed.

But we managed to finish all the bass parts and now we can focus exclusively on more guitar work. Of course, after a few days we'll hear out a thing here and there that might need fixing, but that's just detail work. Timo did a great job yesterday, now he can sit back and laugh at me while I try to get my guitar parts right. Damm.

St

Songs recorded (Feb 2):
Twelve Years: bass
Don't Lose Your Head: bass
Instead: bass
Vertigo: bass
One Another: bass
Talking To Nobody: bass
Eye In The Sky: bass