Eddy Dyer – Far Be it From Me

This album was a treat to be a part of. It begin 13 years before I got involved. I’ll let Eddy tell the story:

“In 2003 my father died as I was traveling sacred pre-Christian sites in Ireland. Over the trip I wrote an album’s worth of songs dealing with loss, impermanence and grief. Started putting the album together and tracking in early 2004 then experienced a severe breakdown, and scrapped the project.

On Sunday, June 4th,2017, 14 years later, after losing both my brother Michael and my dear friend and longtime musical partner Brad Clarke earlier this year, I recorded the whole thing in one epic session; 13 songs altogether; 10 originals plus covers by my dearly missed friend Van Lawton, The Cure and PJ Harvey.”

Needless to say, this record has ghosts. We tracked the record in one day at The Halo Studios in Maine. We got Eddy’s guitar and vocal takes in about four hours, then spent another three or four recording tin whistle and backing vocals. There were a lot of room mics on this album, pretty much all the overdubs (whistle, backing vocals) were recording with ribbon room mics, where I had the performer stand in a different spot of the room for each overdub. For multiple takes, it sounds like a room full of musicians playing when you add them all together.

For the technically minded, this is the first album I’ve ever mixed using the Harrison Mixbus 32C DAW. This is a great mixing platform based on the open-source Ardour DAW, but with Harrison’s emulation of their famous 32C analog console bootstrapped on to it. I really like the workflow, and especially the sound, in mixing this way. I definitely plan to continue using Mixbus for mixing.

Podcast Episode 12: The Dead Speak

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October 31st is a good day to tell tales of the dead. For this episode, I recorded Pete Witham & The Cozmik Zombies doing their song “Dancing With The Dead.” Thanks to Jon Wyman and the guys at The Halo for the recording space. Pete Witham wrote the song, sang it, and played lead guitar. Drew Wyman played upright bass. Steve Dunphy played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals.

Spoken word contributions came from several of my favorite Gods & Radicals writers. In order of appearance, they are:

The background sound on this podcast is a result of an accident with a campfire, a time machine, and a cave. It’s a long story.

Artwork in the image above is “Hornblower” by Danial Ryan. Used with permission.

What is remembered, lives. Hail the Dead!

Audio recording produced by James Lindenschmidt. ©2016 Crafted Recordings. Some Rights Reserved (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Morgan Lindenschmidt – When The Words Fade, We Fade

Morgan Lindenschmidt - When The Words Fade We Fade - Cover

When The Words Fade, We Fade, the new EP by Morgan Lindenschmidt, is finally here. Check it out on her Bandcamp page:

This one was fun. The basic tracks were recorded in the same way as Rest Inside (her debut EP), using my recording rig. The first track (An Aftertaste) was recorded at home, with the rest of the tracks done over at Halo Studios’ live room. The performance of An Aftertaste on the home recording was just too good, so we kept it. All the songs basic tracks were six tracks total: stereo ribbon mics on the guitar, an AKG 414 on vocals, a pair of Gefell room mics, and a DI out of the guitar.

However, there was much more post production on this one. I used the DI output to reamp the guitar on several tracks, including Little Hoaxes/Little Hopes above, which is my personal favorite track on the album. This one has a lot more texture and sonic depth than the previous recording, and the growth of the artist as a songwriter and performer is apparent since her debut EP. I also did the mixing and mastering on this one.

 

Morgan Lindenschmidt – Thigh-High Apprehension

I just realized I never posted this video here. It’s a song I recorded with Morgan Lindenschmidt a few months ago, from her upcoming EP.

This recording was done at Halo studios in Windham. It’s a simple recording using an AKG 414 for vocals, a pair of Coles ribbon mics on the guitar, a couple of Microtech Gefell room mics, and a direct line out from the guitar. All live, no overdubs, no edits, one take.