Amps!

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, guitars have always been kind of an afterthought on our recordings. We've usually gone direct (without the benefit of a proper DI, even), and then applied software effects. These tracks have *never* been able to find a good place in our mixes, ever.

This time around, I've invested in a couple amps; a Guild Thunder 1 that I got off eBay, and a Blackheart 5w head / Epiphone 12" cab combo (a horrific mismatch aesthetically, but I've heard better things about the Blackheart head and the Epiphone cab, so hey....)

Already, it's a revelation. I swapped out the stock Chinese tubes from the Blackheart and put in some new JJ tubes. The difference was subtle, but definitely noiceable; More depth, more roundness.... when I sweep my fingers across the strings, it sounds big, warm.... all those vague, positive adjectives people use when describing tube amps.

I haven't really had a chance to break in the Guild yet, but on first listen it sounds Vibro Champ-y, which is exactly what I was looking for. Kinda wish the tremolo had an "intensity" control, but how many times am I really gonna use the tremolo?

I'm excited and a bit nervous to record with these amps. I LOVE the guitar sounds on our fist album Geography Cones (MP3 sample of "Mumble Mumble"), but I doubt I'll be able to come all that close to them with the equipment on hand. For that album (which was recorded at Tiny Telephone), I played a Schecter Hellcat through a Rocktron Silver Dragon pedal into a fully rebuilt and modified vintage PA head. I don't recall what kind of cab it was running through. If I remember correctly, it was mic'd with a Coles 4038 (yummm) and a dynamic mic, blended at mix. Jason played a Jazzmaster through an original Vox AC15. I'm in the left channel, Jason is in the right. The whole album was tracked on and mixed to tape.

Generally speaking, I support the sound source > mic/pre choices equation, but when we tracked Arms Down, the Beyerdynamic M88 we used on the guitar amps harshed out a lot of the more distorted guitar tones that sounded fabulous in the room. (The mic worked *great* for cleaner tones, though; the guitar sound on "Just So" (mp3) is my favorite on any of our songs, tons of attack and not too smooth.) Jason and I tracked primarily through silverface Fender Vibro Champs, which I liked a lot...... Generally speaking, I'm looking forward to having the time to mess around with some different guitar/amp/mic/pre combinations for different songs to see what works.

First potential issue: My Oktava ML-52 ribbon sounds KILLER on the Blackheart/Epi combo.... but I don't have a pre that can give it enough gain without making some noise. Unless the noise is coming from the cable, or the power source. Diagnostics ahoy!

How Did I Get Here?

Hi there.

Over the last several months, I have been amassing a humble but (hopefully) versatile and (hopefully) powerful arsenal of recording equipment. I am starting this blog to chronicle what will happen when I attempt to use it.

Recording ourselves has always been an integral part of how Get Him Eat Him operates. It helps us to fine-tune arrangements, understand our songs, and . It's also my favorite thing to do.

Here's a rundown of our past experiments:

"Not Not Nervous" from Casual Sex: The Demo
(mp3)
This was our first-ever recording, and my second-ever time recording drums. We borrowed a handful of SM57's and mic stands from our friends Jefferson and Kevin, and set up Jeff's drumset in my tiny dorm room. (I can't remember where my roommate was at the time, but he was definitely not around.) I actually remember propping the door shut with something or other, so that complaining neighbors couldn't interrupt.

I still can't remember the plugin I used on the vocals during the chorus.

"Leaders In Doubt" from The Rude Reach
(mp3)
I still had no idea how to mix music when I was working on this, but I loved the flexibility of having the kit mic'd separately. Weird panning and phasing issues with the snare, awful guitar sounds (as I recall, I plugged straight into my sound card's breakout box -- durr -- and then used an amp simulator plugin), but this is still my favorite of our EPs.

"Exposure" from Do As I Tell You
(mp3)
The "hi-fi" EP, as it were. Drums and bass tracked at the University's recording studio. This is the only Get Him Eat Him EP where we actually mic'd a guitar cabinet, rather than using a direct signal and amp simulation, and I think the guitars sound great. We put Raf's Electro Voice RE16 on my Tech 21 Trademark 60 -- it sounds kinda quack-y. Lots of midrange. Due to time constraints, I wound up pitch correcting and compressing the crap out of the vocals, which still kinda kills me. I think this is my least favorite EP overall; the attempt at a "slick" approach effectively saps any potential charm and character from what remains a fairly amateurish recording.

"Get Down" from ...Challenges You to a Game of Basketball
(mp3)
A weird one.... probably our least considered EP. We were already working on Arms Down when this was mixed, so there was a little bit of that chasing your own tail feeling going on. We tracked drums to Raf's 8-track reel-to-reel, then bounced to 2 tracks using a Behringer mixer. Levels are all wonky; way too much hi-hat, not enough snare or kick. Needed a ton of compression to sound "cool"; "good" wasn't really an option by the time we got to mixing.

What do I want from the next batch of songs? Basically, I want to try my best to make it sound good and see how it turns out. On Sunday, we record "Catalysts" for the very exciting Lifted Brow project. Primary goal: get a good take of the song. Secondary goal: learn something about how to make this equipment sound good, find out what works and what doesn't, begin to assemble a picture of what I may need or may be able to sell before a more substantial recording session in the fall.

Feel free to drop me a line -- matt AT gethimeathim DOT com -- or to leave your comments, thoughts, and/or suggestions here!

Love,
Matt / GHEH