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Description
Performance Credits:
Vocals/lyrics: Huy Dao
Drums/production/tabla-faking: Bryan Anderson (a.k.a. The Composer)
Guitars/bass: Mason Wolak
Although this is now the 2nd "real" song by Tiny Man Inside, it's the first where I (Bryan) have had a chance to share creative control in the writing of a song with Mason and Huy, as 'Stain on the Flag' was already part of their repertoire.
It was close to a year ago when Mason and I began playing a game of virtual ping pong -bouncing riffs, beats and ideas back and forth over the internet. The ideas largely revolved around odd time signatures, heavy playing and some Middle Eastern flavors... all of which fed off each other and slowly grew into the monstrous song you have before you.
This process took a short (3/4 of a year) hiatus for various reasons including Huy's geographical positioning... which was quite frustrating at the time, but in retrospect has given us all time to substantially hone our techniques with regards to both recording and performing. Looking back on the 'almost finished' recordings from February this year... they sound like we're playing with toys under a blanket compared to the sounds we have now.
So we present to you guitars with a bone snapping crunch, drums with a razor edge, vocals with a trenchant bite and some tabla being played with an Arabic calculator.
---- Bryan Anderson (The Composer)
Hardware. USA: Dual 1.8 GHz G5, 2 GB RAM; Dell Latitude D510, 1 GB RAM, Digidesign MBox, Mackie Onyx 400F, Presonus TubePre, JoeMeek SixQ channel strip, AT2020 condenser mic, JoeMeek JM37 condenser mic, ’98 Gibson Les Paul Studio, ’82 Gibson SG, Dean bass. Australia: Behringer Eurorack UB1002 Mixer, 2x Behringer C-1 Mics, Drumkit, eMac G4 1.25 GHz, 1 GB RAM
Sound Engineering/Software: All overdriven rhythm guitars were tracked in Pro Tools 7.0. The guitars were recorded direct, using a Presonus TubePre preamp and the signal was then fed into a Digidesign MBox at line level. The IK Multimedia plug-in Amplitube (version 1) was used to craft the overdriven guitar sounds, using the modern hi-gain amp setting (a.k.a. Soldano) as the basis for the sound. The Waves Renaissance Ax plug-in was used to compress the initial signal during the tracking. The soundscape was further sculpted using the Pulltec EQ bundle to give added “crunch” and density. All rhythm guitars were triple-tracked.
The sustained/harmonized high-pitched guitar line during the verse sections was recorded using both the TubePre/MBox/ProTools setup and a Mackie Onyx 400F/Tracktion setup. Two separate tracks (one featuring the root note and the other featuring the harmonized note) were recorded with the MBox, with each track panned hard left and right. A third track was recorded with the Onyx 400F, using a Rectifier amp setting in IK Multimedia’s Amplitube Two. A harmonizer rack was added to the signal path and set to match the notes in the two previously recorded tracks. The three tracks were then blended together during mixdown.
The clean rhythm guitar sounds were recorded in Tracktion 2.1 using the high-Z input of the Onyx 400F audio interface, and further modified using the Amplitube Two plug-in. The THD bivalve amp simulation was used as the basis for the clean sounds. The clean guitar solo in the middle tabla section was also recorded using this setting, with additional reverb and delay processing added during mixdown.
All bass guitars were tracked in ProTools 7.0 with the TubePre/MBox set-up. Initial equalization and compression was provided by the Digidesign JoeMeek plug-in suite. The source tracks were then imported into Tracktion 2.1 and re-amped using the Amplitube Two plug-in with the “ThickBass” setting.
Vocals were recorded in two separate stages. All “whisper” parts were tracked using an AT2020 condenser mic through a TubePre preamp with a high gain setting for added harmonic distortion. The signal was fed into the MBox and recorded in Pro Tools 7.0. The verses and choruses were tracked using a JoeMeek JM37 condenser mic using the preamps in the Onyx 400F. A JoeMeek SixQ channel strip used as an insert for real-time processing of the signal. Mild 2:1 compression was used on the vocals with a 4.5 db cut at 6 kHz, along with a very slight (~ 1 db) boost at 800 Hz. The vocalist (Huy) has already expressed his desire to re-record the word “Fire” in the song’s first verse.
Drums were tracked in Digital Performer 4.6, using Behringer C-1 mics through a Behringer Eurorack mixer. Kontakt was used to construct the tabla sections with relevant samples downloaded from Mean Beat. The completed drum tracks were forwarded to Mason and Huy, who then tracked guitar, bass, and vocals as detailed above.
Digital Performer was used for the final mixdown, using the standard dynamics plug-in suite included with the program. Vocals were further processed with a pre-amp and an EQ cut below 600 Hz. Spatial effects during the verses were created by sending the guitars tracks into an aux delay track in swells. Additional spatial effects were provided by the Ambience Reverb plug-in ( Smart Electronix ).
Vocals/lyrics: Huy Dao
Drums/production/tabla-faking: Bryan Anderson (a.k.a. The Composer)
Guitars/bass: Mason Wolak
Although this is now the 2nd "real" song by Tiny Man Inside, it's the first where I (Bryan) have had a chance to share creative control in the writing of a song with Mason and Huy, as 'Stain on the Flag' was already part of their repertoire.
It was close to a year ago when Mason and I began playing a game of virtual ping pong -bouncing riffs, beats and ideas back and forth over the internet. The ideas largely revolved around odd time signatures, heavy playing and some Middle Eastern flavors... all of which fed off each other and slowly grew into the monstrous song you have before you.
This process took a short (3/4 of a year) hiatus for various reasons including Huy's geographical positioning... which was quite frustrating at the time, but in retrospect has given us all time to substantially hone our techniques with regards to both recording and performing. Looking back on the 'almost finished' recordings from February this year... they sound like we're playing with toys under a blanket compared to the sounds we have now.
So we present to you guitars with a bone snapping crunch, drums with a razor edge, vocals with a trenchant bite and some tabla being played with an Arabic calculator.
---- Bryan Anderson (The Composer)
Hardware. USA: Dual 1.8 GHz G5, 2 GB RAM; Dell Latitude D510, 1 GB RAM, Digidesign MBox, Mackie Onyx 400F, Presonus TubePre, JoeMeek SixQ channel strip, AT2020 condenser mic, JoeMeek JM37 condenser mic, ’98 Gibson Les Paul Studio, ’82 Gibson SG, Dean bass. Australia: Behringer Eurorack UB1002 Mixer, 2x Behringer C-1 Mics, Drumkit, eMac G4 1.25 GHz, 1 GB RAM
Sound Engineering/Software: All overdriven rhythm guitars were tracked in Pro Tools 7.0. The guitars were recorded direct, using a Presonus TubePre preamp and the signal was then fed into a Digidesign MBox at line level. The IK Multimedia plug-in Amplitube (version 1) was used to craft the overdriven guitar sounds, using the modern hi-gain amp setting (a.k.a. Soldano) as the basis for the sound. The Waves Renaissance Ax plug-in was used to compress the initial signal during the tracking. The soundscape was further sculpted using the Pulltec EQ bundle to give added “crunch” and density. All rhythm guitars were triple-tracked.
The sustained/harmonized high-pitched guitar line during the verse sections was recorded using both the TubePre/MBox/ProTools setup and a Mackie Onyx 400F/Tracktion setup. Two separate tracks (one featuring the root note and the other featuring the harmonized note) were recorded with the MBox, with each track panned hard left and right. A third track was recorded with the Onyx 400F, using a Rectifier amp setting in IK Multimedia’s Amplitube Two. A harmonizer rack was added to the signal path and set to match the notes in the two previously recorded tracks. The three tracks were then blended together during mixdown.
The clean rhythm guitar sounds were recorded in Tracktion 2.1 using the high-Z input of the Onyx 400F audio interface, and further modified using the Amplitube Two plug-in. The THD bivalve amp simulation was used as the basis for the clean sounds. The clean guitar solo in the middle tabla section was also recorded using this setting, with additional reverb and delay processing added during mixdown.
All bass guitars were tracked in ProTools 7.0 with the TubePre/MBox set-up. Initial equalization and compression was provided by the Digidesign JoeMeek plug-in suite. The source tracks were then imported into Tracktion 2.1 and re-amped using the Amplitube Two plug-in with the “ThickBass” setting.
Vocals were recorded in two separate stages. All “whisper” parts were tracked using an AT2020 condenser mic through a TubePre preamp with a high gain setting for added harmonic distortion. The signal was fed into the MBox and recorded in Pro Tools 7.0. The verses and choruses were tracked using a JoeMeek JM37 condenser mic using the preamps in the Onyx 400F. A JoeMeek SixQ channel strip used as an insert for real-time processing of the signal. Mild 2:1 compression was used on the vocals with a 4.5 db cut at 6 kHz, along with a very slight (~ 1 db) boost at 800 Hz. The vocalist (Huy) has already expressed his desire to re-record the word “Fire” in the song’s first verse.
Drums were tracked in Digital Performer 4.6, using Behringer C-1 mics through a Behringer Eurorack mixer. Kontakt was used to construct the tabla sections with relevant samples downloaded from Mean Beat. The completed drum tracks were forwarded to Mason and Huy, who then tracked guitar, bass, and vocals as detailed above.
Digital Performer was used for the final mixdown, using the standard dynamics plug-in suite included with the program. Vocals were further processed with a pre-amp and an EQ cut below 600 Hz. Spatial effects during the verses were created by sending the guitars tracks into an aux delay track in swells. Additional spatial effects were provided by the Ambience Reverb plug-in ( Smart Electronix ).
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awsome song...I love every part of it. reminicent of "Rage" Rock on