So last year, my good friend and fellow musician Christian made a horrible decision. He let me have access to his Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute drum kit for use in the studio. It's actually the one pictured on the studio website's home page. As an engineer, I was pretty familiar with most drum manufacturers and I certainly knew a good sounding kit when I heard one. However, as a guitarist I was not quite prepared for what this thing sounded like. His kit was six pieces (without snare) and included a 24 inch bass drum and when he set it up and started playing I began wondering if there was a volume knob on the drums that had been left on 10: they were so full, deep, resonant, and yes loud. Lou
Last week Jessie Frye was in the studio once again, but this time not for a recording session. Instead she was shooting a music video with her band for an acoustic version of the song ‘Faded Memory.’ The initial version of this tune caught a lot of attention as it represents a collaboration between Frye and synthwave phenom Timecop1983, né Jordy Leenaerts from the Netherlands. To describe Timecop1983, think of Tron (the original movie), or the opening sequence of Miami Vice with the music from any John Hughes movie and you pretty much have the aesthetic. It’s extremely well done and certainly a bit of nostalgia for anyone born before 1983. I’ve known Jessie for a few years now and always enj
This week the band Many Sparrows is in the studio recording their second album. I met them through a friend, Drew Hall, who recorded with me a couple of years ago. I also mixed a live album for a local church that featured some of the members of the band. Many Sparrows consists primarily of husband and wife songwriters Daniel & Asia Wall, and some friends of theirs from their local church community. Their sound is very organic, folksy, Americana, front porch, and definitely tailored for the Christian music community, albeit with the occasional trumpet and flute. They are recording 10 songs that they have written over the last few years that seem to come from a place of struggle, or at least
