Attila

I had been talking to Attila for some time about coming out and recording some jams...and they finally have.

Last night we managed to track drums, guitar, and bass for 2 songs to be used for an upcoming demo. Normally I do not like to do recording on weeknights, I like to leave enough time for everyone to be comfortable and not rushed doing their thing, it helps the creative process. I am glad we got this worked out though regardless of what night it happened on.

They showed up a little later than we had agreed but were prompt in setting up their gear, knocking out some rehearsals of the songs, and being ready to record. Within an hour of their arrival we were tracking drums. Sean was interested in working with a click track, so we tried that a few times, but we ended up doing the final takes without it. He blasted everyone in the studio for a while but laid down some really solid drums. I opted not to use a room mic and instead used a mic on the beater side of the kick in hopes of a more awesome kick on the final mix. Nate did the reference tracks so was already warmed up and ready to rock out his guitar parts, we busted through those and ended around 12:30 AM(when I saw my neighbor in the morning, I waved to her and she just gave me a stern look of disapproval.....uh oh). Last up was Paul on bass, he toughed it out till the bitter end and then recorded his bass tracks with the quickness, probably spent 25 minutes on the bass total.

Attila was great to work with, very easy going and open to suggestion to overcome some small hurdles which is very beneficial when trying to do so much work in so little time. I am stoked to get some vocals on these mixes and have them finished up and ready for the people and their tour.


Drums
- 2 DR-HX1 condensers overhead
- 1 SM57 beta snare
- 1 DR-STX1 Floor Tom
- 1 M-Audio condenser over toms
- 1 DR-KX1 kick drum mic
- 1 DR-STX1 beater side of kick


Bass
- PostEQ Direct Line from MARKBASS SD800

Guitar
- SM57 Beta on cab
- 1 DR-HX1 condenser @ 3 feet

The Fifth Sundays jazz group

On the first Sunday in December the Fifth Sundays came to record at the O Zone Lair. They also responded to my ad looking for jazz groups. We did things a little different than normal due to some band scheduling(some members had gigs that day..hardcore!), by different I mean started later in the day and not bright and early.

A little after 1 pm Michael showed up with his drums, strategically placed to fit inside his mitsubishi 3000 GT, a very impressive packing job in deed. We had planned on him showing up early to set up and test out some mics he owned verse the mics that I own. This was great, I was able to set his mics as well as my mics all at once while he played the drums. We listened back and his Oktavas sounded outstanding as overheads. The mids were in your face bringing the toms out like I have not heard before. The condensers I typically use were more airy and bright. Both sounded good but I wanted to go with the Oktavas since I had the opprotunity. We also tested out kick drum mics, and his AKG112 sounded really good in comparison to mine so I also used that.

The rest of the group showed up a little after 3 and we were recording tracks by 4. All 4 members were very prepared and very easy to work with. They brought an acoustic bass, a guitar, and a lady on sax and flute. The guitar and sax also wanted to record some vocals so we decided to overdub them after we laid down the music and that worked out great.

I enjoyed recording jazz the past two days because, as far as sonic energy is concerned, jazz is much different than rock. Everyone played very low key, the drums were very quiet in the room, but I was unable to jack up the trim levels to get more drum sound due to the occasional hard snare pop or anything else loud that happens. Doing that would peak out the track. Thankfully the Firepods preamps are extremely quiet so boosting the gain on the drum tracks does not bring much extra noise.

Drum Mics
- 2 Oktava condensers overhead
- 1 DR-STX1 on snare
- 1 AKG-112 kick drum mic

Bass - He played an Upright acoustic w/ a pickup and a mic attached going into a combo amp
- Direct line from combo amp
- DR-STX1 on amp

Guitar Mic
- SM58

Horn/Flute/Vocals
- 1 M-Audio condenser

Willis Wilson Jazz Group

A few months ago I put up an ad about free studio time for jazz groups, to try and get some working jazz in the studio that I could record live instead of track by track. Willis Wilson hit me up about his group. We scheduled some time and then he broke his hand....

He has finally healed and brought the group to the studio. I was a little uneasy at first because the drummer, being the first one here, told me he had never met Willis or played with his group. Fortunately all 4 of the musicians that recorded were very professional and had no problem clicking together.

The guys got set up and worked out the first song, Red Clay. We tracked Drums, Bass, Trumpet, and Trombone first, then Willis and Davey went back over that with keys and guitar. Once they were satisfied we moved onto Tell Me a Bedtime Story. For this we tracked Bass, Drums, Keys, and Guitar, then Willis went back over it to lay down the trumpet.

The two tracks came out sounding great just as a raw mix, I was even a bit shocked myself at how good it sounded. With some quick mixing of EQ and some light effects the final mixdowns already sound pro. I think everyone had a good time and we were able to record some really good tunes. Willis is a beast on the trumpet, I would really like to hear him do some straight ahead jazz and let it all out, and the other musicians were all on top of their game as well. I look forward to doing more recording with each of them.

Drum Mics
- 2 DR-HX1 condensers overhead
- 1 DR-STX1 on snare
- 1 DR-KX1 kick drum mic

Bass - He played an Upright acoustic w/ a pickup attached going into a combo amp
- Direct line from combo amp
- DR-STX1 on amp

Guitar Mics
- SM58

Horns
- 1 M-Audio condenser

Keys
- Direct line from Hartke 3500 head

Miles from Pangaea

Miles from Pangaea made another stop by O Zone Lair studios to do some more recording. The first day, drummer Jared, could not make it out to the house so we spent the day setting up equipment in preparation. Since I play drums I took a seat behind the set for what we thought would be a quick jam session, but turned out to be far from quick at all. We ended up playing for about two hours. Bret picked up his guitar and he and Dave played off each other over the top of Frank and I holding down the rhythm section and in some places invoking changes for the other two to play off of. We played a few short jams that were cool, but the real fun came out of a 30 minute jam that left us wondering where we had been the past half hour. If you would like to listen to this jam click here. After that it was time to call it and day.

Sunday was my first time being in control of the recording session. Bret was there the entire time to guide me through the process, as well give me suggestions about how and why to do things a certain way and what type of levels to aim for. It was a really great experience, and since I really enjoy the music Miles from Pangea writes and records it made the process even more fun on my behalf.

Everyone showed up around 12:00 to begin work for the day. We started with the drums and as always Jared was right on point with his beats and knocked out his tracks in a decent amount of time. After he was done laying down his drum tracks it was now Frank’s turn to do his bass work. By this point it was getting later into the day and spending a full day in the studio can be very daunting. We managed to finish up the bass tracks for all of the songs but did not have time to work the guitar at all on this night. Dave came by later in the week to finish up the guitar tracks. Dave did a great job on his guitar and we got through all of the tracks in one evening after work.

These guys make great music and it’s always fun to work with a band that has everything together when they come to the studio and are ready to record. We try and give all bands that record with us a relaxed atmosphere and a creative environment. Hopefully that will help us to keep producing quality recordings and music for all to hear.


-Steven Mosley

Beatrix Kiddo

Beatrix Kiddo, from Athens GA, finally made it to the Lair. There was a bit of confusion on time of arrival because I had to work the day after Thanksgiving and no one else did, so they showed up in the morning and Steven entertained them for the rest of the day. They were staying the night and recording all day Saturday as well so we had plenty of time. By the time I got to the house, they already had all of their gear set up and had rehearsed their songs a few times. We had recently removed the ceiling from the studio giving us about 2 more feet of height in the live room, so all of the equipment was in another room. Steven brought it all back in and had most of the drum mics set up and all of the recording gear in place which was great. I felt like an A list engineer being able to walk in and just start pressing buttons.

Once I got settled, we started working on drum tracks. Chris is very talented and did a great job busting out his tracks. He knew exactly what he wanted to lay down and stayed in high spirits and focused the entire time. We did drums until about 9:30pm. Wes attempted to record some bass for one of the songs, but had spent too much time with his bottle of whiskey throughout the day to really make it happen. I do have to say he made a very honest attempt at making it happen though. We decided the rest of the night should be spent sharing new music and enjoying some drinks and company....and everyone passed out at 10:30(these are real rock stars) leaving me to spend some time doing some work online.

Saturday everyone woke up bright and early ready to get back on it. Steven hooked us up with breakfast and we jumped on the bass tracks. Wes, being in a more stable state of mind, ran through all of the songs with the quickness. I really enjoy his style on bass and we were able to record some really awesome tracks. After about an hour and a half of bass, it was time to color the songs with the guitar. Taylor was already set up and ready to go with plans for each song already laid out. We worked through one song a time until complete. He mixed and matched guitars and pedals throughout which came across on the recordings really well.

All three of these guys are very talented and they work together really well. There was no drama and the entire session was balanced with collaboration and agreement from everyone. This is exactly how I like to work and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I am really excited about mixing these songs and continuing to work with Beatrix Kiddo.


Drum Mics
- 2 DR-HX1 condensers overhead
- 1 DR-STX1 over toms
- 1 DR-KX1 kick drum mic
- 1 M-Audio condenser on the snare/hi hat
- 1 DR-STX1 on snare
- 1 SM58 room mic

Bass Mics
- Direct Line w/ Ibanez Soundgear 5 string

Guitar Mics
- SM58
- DR-STX1

Beatrix Kiddo photos

Wes Kyatt

Wes Kyatt plays with a group called Beatrix Kiddo that is coming from Athens GA to record in a few weeks, they were supposed to stop by this weekend but things didn't work out, leaving an open spot. Wes hit me up asking if I would work on his solo stuff with him and I agreed.

Wes and Lauren were prompt showing up which was nice. We started with guitars, Wes laid down some great rhythm and lead tracks, then worked on bass for a while. He worked out the bass line and I have to say, it is stellar and going to sound great when I get done with this mix. He gave drums a try but as he does not have a kit of his own, it was choppy at best and we agreed to have O Zone take care of the drums, Steven will be working on that and will most definitely dominate the situation. After a few vocal takes I had to make him stop singing, he changed the key of the guitars to be much lower than he originally planned and he needs to work on it a little more and then come lay it down.

I am not sure that I am interested in working with too many single musician groups, mostly because I really enjoy recording a working band, a band that can play all of its songs already and knows how they want to lay them down. The whole process goes faster and the feel of the finished project is a bit different. Wes is a really talented artists though and we will continue to work with him for sure.