In the Studio

Phil, Matt, Eric and I have been spending the last couple of days tracking drums for four (fifth one's up for tomorrow's session) out of six songs that are lined up for a new worship record Phil is putting out. No, I couldn't go more than two days without patching cables, setting compression, placing mics, etc. WELL, maybe I could, but I don't consider this to be work at all.

First of all, I'm much more comfortable in the studio setting than with live sound (it's what I've learned the most about, plus you can screw up more and just fix it rather than living with a mistake you made during a live show- props to you live sound guys). Second, these three guys are three of my favorite people to do music with (The Neighborhood, worship sessions for Bridgeway and Norman Community, etc.). I'm overwhelmed that these guys would ask me to engineer the sounds for this project. I mean, I've written a few keys lines for the songs over the time we've been playing them, but to actually have this role in creating the most important part (drum sounds) is a big deal for me.

What a refreshing and life-giving thing to come back to in Norman! 

The first day was an adventure: Phil and I are used to creating make-shift studios together (we co-produced a girl's singer/songwriter record a year and a half ago using just a couple pre's, a compressor from the 60's, and a 002), but THIS time, we hit a jackpot. Our friend Zack has some recording gear, so we went to take inventory before setting up a tracking room. Phil didn't exactly know what some of the gear was, but after I anxiously told him of all the professional records he had heard that used these mics, pre's, and compressors, we quickly called Zack to get formal permission. Here are just the pieces that we took away to use for the drum sessions:

*Shure Sm7 (broadcasting mic- great for vocals and kick drums)

*(2) matched Cascade 'Fat Head's- ribbon mics (we're using as overheads for some warmth)

*'Red' large diaphragm condenser (by 'Blue')- we've moved this one around between the kick (always good to have a couple there for versatility in post production), side-snare, over-tom, etc.

*AKG C414 large diaphragm condenser mic- customizable patterns, HPF, dB response

*(2) Empirical Lab 'Distressor's (one of them is the EL8x- optional british mod version)- the compressors I'm most used to from working at Black Watch. They're some of the standard compressors used in every professional recording studio.

*Black Lion modded 002 interface- beefed up preamps... sadly, this one may have the power harness problem mine had last summer, so we're using Eric's. But we're not needing the onboard pre's because of all the pre's we have as outboard gear.

*Dual channel Boutique tube pre with sweepable EQs

All in all, a good $9,000 loan in gear from Zack.

We also are using:

FMR audio 'really nice preamp (RNP)'- Dual channel preamp

FMR audio 'really nice compressor (RNC)'- Stereo linked Compressor (overheads)

Vintech Dual channel tube pre (1: kick 2: snare)

(2) Shure Sm57's: top snare, floor tom, trash cymbal, etc.

So, basically it's become a much bigger deal than before, running the 4 onboard preamps of the 002 and scraping by to get the other 4 line inputs to have some preamplification worth listening to. We have great tube warmth and some great compression to choose from, with great mics to match it all up with.

Phil and I have a history of using Shure Sm57s as overheads (big no no, but we were desperate), so again, this is a playground of gear we're swimming in.

It's great, too, because Matt recently acquired a new (from 1962) Ludwig drum kit (not that he needs more, he has about 5 kick drums, 15 toms, and 12 snares to choose from because of his connections with the Flaming Lips) that sounds great on these recordings.

By using the Flaming Lips' drummer's broken C&C transparent orange shell as a kick drum extender to get more low end, and taping ripped open Little Ceasers and Pizza Shuttle boxes around mics as shields for more isolation, I'd say these are the best sounds I've been able to engineer for drums (although I'm incredibly inexperienced in comparison to the people who have taught me).

So for those of you who have skipped to this paragraph because all I did was geek out for the majority of this post, I'm just documenting an incredibly undeserved blessing from the Lord during this break from traveling around with Nick and the band. Thank you for being part of my life (Wildweek Staff especially), and I pray that the Lord would bless you for being such a huge blessing in my life.

Lord, thank you for the way you speak to me through creating music. I pray that everything we do to see this worship record come together would be worship to you. You've given us some great tools, now find us faithful in putting it to work. Blow our minds with what this record will do for people. We want this to be a furthering of your kingdom; not just some cool rockstar record. A tool for knowing you more. Not a glamorous milestone of musical success. We please you, Lord. Not Man.

I love you, Lord.

I love you, reader of this post.