Monday 28 November 2011

October Update. In December.

I think the title says it all really. October and November came an went and no blog update so I guess this is a bit of a round up of the last couple months for me. It has been a little bit mental.

October
  • The Banana Sessions released the first track and video from the upcoming MIXTAPE album. Check it out, it is brilliant:

  • I did 5 days at the brand new Gorbals Sound in Glasgow working with Neil Primrose (of Travis fame) on his new unnamed project. We did 4 tracks over the 5 days in the lovely studio 2. A top bunch of guys in an outstanding studio and some killer music. Happy Garry.

  • 5 days working on the new Precious and Grace EP down at our studio at The Depot. These guys have really upped their game an progressed a lot since their last EP in June.
  • I started work on the upcoming Horndog Brass Band Album at Castlesound and The Depot. This one is shaping up really nicely. If you were at any decent music festival this summer I am sure you will have seen these guys. I also just recently received an amazing guest vocal for one of the tracks from the states. Very exciting! Top secret still though.
 
  •  On location for a few days with the George Watson Pipe Band. These things are always really interesting as you never know quite what space you are gonna get. We ended up in a great, well treated rehearsal space in Redford Army Barracks.

The Mashup Session



If you have not heard about this then where have you been the last few months!? This project was up until last month a bit of a pipe dream for me but now it exists!

The idea is simple. Two bands collaborate in the studio to produce one track which is recorded, mixed and released in 24 hours for free. The emphasis being the song, by one of the two acts, gets reworked in the style of the other. So far we have done two of them which are available FOR FREE from here:

Donna Maciocia V The Mike Kearney Ka-Tet
Stanley Odd V The Banana Sessions

Check out the project on Facebook, Twitter and check out the video diary from the sessions at our YouTube.

November / December

Rogass and myself spend the last week of November working on the new HOMEwork recordings. After the release of their last record the band wanted to take a slightly different route with this new project with the emphasis being on playing live together to capture the energy of the stage show. Check out my techy geek corner for more info on the drum sound!


I was on the panel for Born to be Wide last week on their 'In the Studio' seminar. It was a good turnout and great fun being put on the spot and having to give my opinion on matters regarding studio life. You should really check out these superb networking events. Olaf, Michael and the team really put a lot of effort into making them a quality evening.

This week I am working in Castlesound on a Salsa project whist Stuart is away then from Friday I am doing a folk record with Modhan down at the Depot. Before Christmas I also need to have the Project: DSB album mixed, Kat Healy's album done and dusted and the first round of HOMEwork mixes in the bag. Busy but all in all, a very nice way to wind down until the New Year.

Techy Geek Corner


So, the HOMEwork drum sound. This is a wee trick I have been messing about with on and off over the last few years which, in essence, is simply re-amping a drum sound in the room with the kit. This time last year I used a PA system to push some thicker frequencies into the room for the Stanley Odd 'Antihero' EP drum sound (as in more bass and low mid frequencies) as I tend to find room mics only really capture the upper high mids and cymbals of a kit. So, using a PA you I would re-amp the kick and snare into the room making the kit much larger than life. With HOMEwork I reworked this idea and faced all the speakers into the drum kit (rather than a room) and, again, pushed the kick and snare back into the kit mics. The sound I ended up with was a super thick kick drum which bled into all the mics. This gave the kit some real solidity around the 60-70hz zone and, in keeping with the live feel of the session, made the kit sound more 'amplified' as it would be in a venue. Good fun and a wicked trick!

Over and out!
Garry Boyle - www.garryboyle.comwww.garryboyle.com

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