Conference napalm::guitar

I sent in two songs:

On the mountain 	Copyright 1991 StAmound

people:

Dave Bottom
joe StAmound

Gear:

Tascam 688
Alesis Hr-16
Alesis Quadraverb
Alesis Midiverb II
Alesis Microenhancer
Symetrix 525 compressor limiter
Yamaha DD-5
Takamine EF360-S
ESP M1 Custom
Rivera TBR-1M
Midi rack:	Quattro & testerossa preamps
		Rocktron Intellifex
		Patch bayette II
		Metaltronix SP-1000
		Rivera Q-CAB
AKG D320 mike

performance:

All guitars Dave Bottom
Vocals joe StAmound
marginal drum program both of us

We did this in my basement studio, starting with an acoustic track. I added a 
midi sync track and ran the drums "virtually" dedicating the Midiverb to the 
drums. The lead guitar is three tracks, one for the slide in the intro (listen 
carefully and you'll hear it) and the volume swells, the other two are split,
one for the leads in the first half of the song, one for the second half.

Hold On:

people:

Al Young 		drums
Dave Bottom		guitar
Joe StAmound		vocals
Andy			guitar
John Knowles		bass

We mixed into the 688 via a soundcraft 24 X 8 X 2 board. Essentially I ran
the 8 submix's out to channel 1-8 line in's on the 688. I mapped the line in's
to the tape via dual, bypassing the eq section completely for (hopefully)
some noise minimization.

We mixed 11 (yes eleven!) drum mikes onto the 1-2 submix over to the 688, via
a symetrix 525 stereo compressor/limiter. I also used a midiverb II to put
a slight gated reverb on the snare. This was the most time consuming part,
the "studio" was actually the showroom of Captial City Music here in Augusta,
the owner/operator of which plays drums in the band (the soundcraft is his 
also). We used 10 SM57beta mikes and one other AT mike of some sort for the 
bass drum. Since the  board was right next to the drums in the same room
we did all the eq'ing and mixing by the trial and error method

"Ok Al, hit the snare a few times" we then recorded it and played it back.

"needs some more high end"

"Ok Al hit the snare a few times" etc. ad nauseam....

After a few years of this we set up the guitar amps in the basement and used
a snake (thanks to the store again) to run both guitar signals and in the 
other guitar player's case, his footswitch down to the amps, and used 
said snake to route the mike'd signals back to the soundcraft.

The bass player went direct into the board with no fx or compression. He was
using a spector bass with active electronics.

Headphones were another problem, but we overcame it by running headphones
on several power amps (yes direct but we turned them way down!)
using the aux sends on the 688 to drive the headphone "mix", it was rather
heavy handed but it worked.

After burning an entire tape trying  to get a good rhythm pass, I put in a new
tape and the next take was the  keeper.

Since I couldn't get the feedback I needed for my guitar part with the 
midi-rack of doom and speakers down stairs,, we drug my amp up and I re-did my 
track. I got a keeper first pass (this can be highly unusal for Dave). Andy
(other guitar player) then wanted to re-do his track, but rather than move his
amps up he played through mine. We did keep his original track and before you
know it I ended up bouncing his two tracks onto one. 

we punched in a couple of fixes to the bass track and then recorded the lead
vocal. We used heavy (hard?) limiting on this track and no fx.

After that Andy and I did two tracks of backup vocals, doubling them up.

After than I re-config'd the setup and used my quadraverb to put effects on
the vocals for a crude mixdown.

11 hours and one fairly decent 8 track cassette master. I never even ate all
day...

I did the final mix last night at home using a pair of Altec 886A speakers 
and some bose roomates, the quadraverb, the midiverb II and a alesis 
micro-enhancer. I attempted to minimize any eq'ing at mixdown to help with
the overall noise level. I think it came out pretty nice, other who have heard
it seem to agree. The worst part of it was the drums, which lack the low end 
punch they have live, and that's the one disadvantage of the cassette medium.

I used a sony UX-PRO cassette for both masters and submitted a tape mixed
onto yet another UX-PRO

dbii

   Here is some info for my submittion called "Manchester Days".

   Instruments used:

      Basses:

          Washburn XS-4 - Active
          G&L L2000/1000 - Modified with Duncan-Hawkbucker & Duncan-J-Style.
        * BC Rich Fretless - Double P-Style - Active and Passive.

* Note: I borrowed this bass from Brian Rost to whom I am extremely 
          greatful for his generosity in times of scant equipment.
              Thanks again Brian.

      Guitars:

          Dean Baby-Z

      Equipment:

          Tascam 246 4-track.
          SWR SM-400 head W/Goliath 4 x 10 cab.
          Rocktron 360 Stereo Compressor/Limiter.
          Radio Shack EQ.
          Alesis MidiVerb II
          Tascam M-?? Mixer.
          Roland SDE-1000 Digital Delay - oldie but goodie.
   I recorded the main melody with the G&L ---> Roland D'ly ----> SWR.
The SWR was miked with a high impedance Sure mike. I inserted the Compressor
on the channel buss of the 246.

   The regular bass was recorded D.I. with Washburn  using mild compression 
on the channel buss. At the end, I inserted the a Chris Squire'ish sounding
bass using: Washburn ---> SWR. The SWR was miked with a Sure battery powered 
electret condenser mike aimed at the speaker dust cover. I used very mild 
compression on channel insertion.

   The next thing to get recorded was the B.C. Rich Fretless. I went D.I. on
this using medium compression. The tone wasn't exactly what I wanted - It could
have been recorded better. I had only two days to figure out a solo and learn
how to play the fretless... I had to work the whole recording around this
due to the zillion or so takes for all the other instruments.
   The last thing to get recorded was the Guitar. It was set up similar to 
the delayed bass: Dean ---> Roland ---> SWR ---> Miked with Hi-Imp mike.
Medium compression was used on channel insertion.

On mixdown:

This was the hardest part of the whole process...
   I took the 246's four tape-outs to the Tascam mixer. I used the Midiverb
in stereo on two busses. Since I had only one delay, I had to create another
channel using a stereo panning pedal to select what intrument got to use the
delay. Sounds complicated... It was.

   The Fretless solo had a (as heavy as I could get it) stereo chorus to bring
the instrument out. I also had to add and change EQ's to work with the bass.

   The ending used the Alesis' largest room reverb to terminate the song. 
I had to use the volume pedal to share and switch the delay between this and 
the fretless solo.

   Anyway... I hope to be able to contribute more on following tapes.

Regards,

   John D'Errico

 Okey Dokey,

My submission called "Manchester Days" (see .2), is an original that I 
wrote; and finished this past week.. I don't claim any resposibilities 
for any mipselled owrds though.... *8^)

/John D.

	These tunes (1 original, 1 cover) were recorded on a Yamaha MT2X 
	4-track.  A MIDIverb II was used for reverb, mic's were Radio 
	Shack PZM's.  Writing original music has always been difficult for 
	me, and doing covers is a means for me to get music onto tape and
	practice my recording skills (that's my excuse anyways).  All the 
	singing and playing is by yours truely.


	"Country Girl" - music and lyrics by Neil Young

        There were so many instruments to lay down on this tune, I had to 
	fill the 4-track with rhythm instruments and background vocals and 
	mix down to stereo.  I then brought that stereo mix back in on 
	tracks 3 & 4, and finally added a couple more vocal tracks and the 
	electric lead.

	Guitars: Sigma 000-18 copy, Gibson 12-string, Time 6-str. electric
	Piano: Wurlitzer Spinet
	Drums: Roland TR505
	Bass: Hofner solid body
	Electric piano, organ, tympani, harmonica: Yamaha DX100
	Sequencer: Yamaha QX7


	"Non-Believers" - music and lyrics by J. Cheney

	One of very few songs I've written.  This was recorded three years 
	or so ago, when I first got the 4-track.

	Guitars: Time Electric, Sigma 6-string, Gibson 12-string
	Amp: Marshall "Lead 12" (used line out)
	Synth: DX100
	Drums: Yamaha RX21, except ride cymbal: DX100
	Bass: Hofner
    

2 instrumental jams - Tom Desroshers and Bob Conroy:
    
We played over a backing tape with bass, drums, keyboards. 
Just put the tape in and jammed over the backing parts. 

We recorded about 15 minutes of stuff to backing tapes. 
They're improvised, but we did them more than once if we had 
real bad clams.

There's two of the tunes here, each about two minutes long. 
First is a funk-type rhythm in F#. Second is a "Kansas City" 
type thing in C. Basic I IV V. 

I start out first on both tunes. My guitar is the cleaner one. 
Tom's is the grungy one. We alternate back and forth.

Tom's equipment:                    
	tune 1 - Schecter Strat     
	tune 2 - 62 ES335 
	Boss ME-5

My Equipment:
	Charvel model 6
	Boss BE-5
    
    Hope you like it,
    Bob

    
    	
    	This is what i did....
    
    
        I don't claim a bit of playing, singing or recording well, but i
DO have a good time.  I stopped writing music in 1976 - almost a year to
the day after joining DEC and yes, the reasons were related. But, after
belated learning about cheap (or relatively so) 4-track cassette recorders,
I've been having a wonderful time recording these old nightmares from my
formative years.


1. Cliches (in wah wah sauce) - recorded 2 years ago, written in 1973. After
an afternoon of 'BCN, i assembled my own collection of muscial and lyrical
cliche's.

        Equipment:      1982 Ovation collectors  edition
                        $99 Casino toy keyboard
                        $50 nameless bass
                        Yamaha DD-5 drum pads.
                        Joe Jasinewski's old wah pedal(thus the sauce).
                        Fostex X15
                        $49 Audio Technica mike
                        some dinky 40 watt Yamaha amp (x-somethin or other).

                I overdubbed bass, drums and a guitar on one track,
                key's on another, 2 wah guitars on remaing two. then
                mixed to a Teac reel-to-real at 7.5 ips. Brought that
                reduction back to cassette and recorded vocals.

2. I want to Love You  - recorded last month, written 1971. One of those
"that song sucks, atw (according to wife)" 4 chord wonders that i'm prone
to get into. The Neil Young style guitar lead (big mistakes) comes more 
from trying to play too fast on acoustic with light gauge D'adderio's than 
anything deliberate.  I had cleaner attempts, but this had the right 
"tension(feel)" (sounds artsy) despite the mistakes, so i kept it.  
The cheesy organ and stupid electric sounds were played in disgust as i 
was ready to abandon the whole thing. All in all, it kind of captured the 
songs true grace, so i saved it :-)

        Equipment:      1982 Ovation collectors edition
                        CZ101 (once was Rodney Mashia's, from Len F)
                        $50 nameless bass
                        Yamaha DD-5 drum pads.
                        Brian Rost's old chorus pedal.
                        Tascam 424
                        $49 Audio Technica mike
                        some dinky 40 watt Yamaha amp.

                I overdubbed 3 drum tracks into 1, and then bounced that
                with bass and chorused rhythm guitar onto track 4. Added
                CZ101 organ and electronic noise ontrack 1, vocal on 2
                and lead guitar on 3. If I could spend the bucks on myself,
                I'd go for a compressor, good sequencer, HR16, and and a
                Qverb. Running vocals thru the guitar amp for echo is too
                noisy, and a compressor really would have helped the bass.
                I'd love to pan percussion across the stereo field, but
                i make do with what i have. (hell, i'd like a 688 for that
                matter)


3. Hiway Song - recorded the other night (10/29), written 1972. I was
        trying to decide among my old fostex efforts what to include and
        instead tried 4 quick takes of this one. This is the one with
        the least flagrant errors. 

                Equipment:      1982 Ovation Collectors edition
                                the old stereo chorus (guitar)
                                dinky 40 watt Yamaha amp i put the vocal
                                thru at mixdown.

        Pretty simple diddy in drop-d tuning. Hitting the strings with my
        finger nail on down strokes is how i get some bite out of the sound.

    

I sent Buck a copy of my 3-song demo tape, recorded at WellSpring Sound
in Wellesley, Mass.  The engineer was Catie Curtis.  Catie also sings one
of the harmonies on "The Water is Wide."  I'm not sure if Buck included all
3 or just 1 or 2 of the cuts, but I'll describe them all:


Guitar -- Martin D16A (6 string)
Not sure of all the recording equipment.   I think it was a Ramsa board,
8 track reel to reel (they have more tracks than that, but I only needed
the 8-track).  Really cool, old tube mics.  We recorded the guitar and
lead vocals at the same time.

1. This Little Piggy's Got the Blues  (original)
   - a little blues tune about being cold in the wintertime.
   - guitar and lead vocals (no harmony)

2. Remember (original)
   - I wrote this Labor Day weekend, 1990, when hundreds of thousands of
     troops had been sent to Saudi Arabia to defend Kuwait.  It's an 
     antiwar song (anti-Bush, too).  
   - I play guitar and sing lead and harmony vocals

    
3. The Water is Wide (Traditional) -- I know Buck is including this in V4
  - I play and sing lead and the high harmony vocals.
    Catie Curtis sings the lower harmony.

    I told Buck to consider my contribution 'filler' since it's only
    about 90 seconds long, and I didn't spend much time doing it. It's
    a cover of the Christmas song from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'
    done for an 'audio christmas card' this year. I called it "Fa-hoo,"
    but I think the actual name may be "Welcome Christmas."
    
    Tom

    I submitted 8 tracks and suggested 3 for inclusion, but 2 of them are
    longish, so I don't know if they'll all make it...
    
    I'm not really a gearhead nor a seasoned producer, but FWIW:
    
    JUST BETWEEN US	everything: me
    THE CAGE		words: J. Kornik, everything else: me
    MAKE A WISH		everything: me
    
    Guitars: Yamaha FG235 (I think) and a Washburn G10V
    Bass:    None (yikes!)
    Drums:   Oberhiem Stretch DX
    Tape:    TASCAM 234 4-track, Sony 7" (antique), DENON DMZsomething
    Gear:    Scholz Rockman, Rocktron II noise suppressor (doesn't help,
    	     it's still noise), Effectron DD, Biamp reverb, DOD EQ, Audio-
    	     Technica PMsomething mike, RAT distortion.
    
    These are among my first demos, so I'll admit that they're pretty darn
    rough.  JUST BETWEEN US and MAKE A WISH are (obviously) love songs, and
    THE CAGE is a summary of the desparation and hopelessness of a (caged
    animal, POW).  I think the vocals are a bit overdone, but I'm still
    trying to figure out my 'style', and having fun at it.  Hope you do
    too.
    
    Jon

    Here is the rundown on my Vol IV subimssions:
    
    Track 1:  Round & Round
    Track 2:  Leavin'  
    
    
    Round & Round - B. Buckley/J. Adey
    
    PLAYERS:  Bill Buckley - Electric Bass, Pedal Steel, 6 & 12 String
                           acoustics, electric rhythm and lead guitars
              John Adey - Acoustic rhythm guitar, synths
              Jane Doe - Lead Vocals
              Terri Buckley - 2nd vocalist
    
    DISCLAIMER:  This tune was written and recorded circa 1985.  I
    engineered and produced the session on 24 tks.  A Fender P Bass,
    tuned to open D, was played thru a rockman.  The electric rhythm
    was a Strat thru a rockman, and the lead was said Strat thru a 
    100wt Marshall 2x12 combo (with 6550s...aack!).  Synth went direct,
    and Acoustics and vocals were recorded with Neuman U-87's.  It's an
    interesting little tune...lots of atmosphere, I think.  I don't know
    what I was listening to the time, but this shows the influx of my C&W
    influences.  
    
    
    Leavin' - B. Buckley/T. Buckley
    
    PLAYERS:  Bill Buckley -- Electric Bass, 6 and 12 string acoustics,
                              Lead guitars.
              Dave Cole -- Pedal Steel guitar
              Terri Buckley -- All Vocals
              
    DISCLAIMER:  I wrote this tune in 1987 after too many Bud-dreched
    nights in Oklahoma City.  You know, long, lost love and all that sorta
    stuff.  I was listening to a LOT of C&W in this time frame, and the 
    influences sort of show (not really!)  8^)  I recorded this tune on
    an Otari 8tk setup.  I used a Fender P Bass direct, whatever mics 
    (414's?) on the acoustics, and played the intro/outro solos on a
    Jackson Randy Rhoads thru a GK 250RL powering a Marshall 4x10 cab.
    The main solo was a Start thru a Boogie .22 running the Marshall 4x10.
    
    
    Gee, lots of Strats for someone who supposedly doesn't like them, huh?
    8^)
    
    

    Guess I have to fix my liner notes, since Buck put on a different song
    then I thought he was going to...  The song I wanted on there had a
    guitar solo that I thought showed about where my playing is currently,
    but that one didn't make it.  Instead you got a song with no solo and
    one that was done tongue-in-cheek.

    The two songs on here are from a five song home recording project my
    songwriting partner, Jason Herbel, and I did back in Sept/Nov.  Both 
    songs are original music.  I played all guitar and bass parts and sing
    on one tune (Thanks a *lot*, Buck, that was the one I didn't want on
    there!  My singing sucked bad and the song was in the wrong key for
    me...).  Jason sings the lead vocal on the other song and programmed
    the drum machine.

    Before I describe the songs, I should say that this was the first
    recording I'd done on this particular 4-track, and the first recording
    I'd done using any outboard equipment and with real live vocals, and it
    shows.  It's also the first recording that Jason and I have done
    together and these are among the first songs we'd written together, AND
    the first time either of of had really done any singing!  

    SO, there's a lot of NEW things for us that occurred during the course
    of trying to record the songs that are on this submission. We also
    started this particular project with the intent of just slapping the
    recordings together to see what the arrangements sounded like (since we
    don't have a full band to play them) and then after a lot of the basic
    tracks were recorded, it kind of turned into more of a production, but
    some of the choices we made early on didn't fit well with this goal and
    there are some performance errors that probably wouldn't have been
    allowed to remain had we known.  So there are a number of things that
    ended up on there that I'm not very happy with, but we learned a lot
    from doing it, and expect that our next project will benefit
    substantially from them.  We like the songs a lot, and we had fun
    recording them.

    Both the songs were recorded on a Yamaha MT-44 4-track and mixed using
    a Peavey 600S 6 channel mixer, where reverb was added from an ART SGE
    and delay from an ADA S1000 digital delay.  The drum sounds are from a
    Korg DDD-5 drum machine, which Jason programmed to sound close to what
    he plays on his real drums.  The tape was mixed down to a
    Nakamichi(sp?) BX-150 cassette deck that I borrowed from a friend. 
    
    The first song is called "Picture of You".  I wrote the music, Jason
    wrote the words, and we did the arrangement together.  
    
    Jason sang the lead vocal into an AudioTechnica ATM31A mike (borrowed
    from Jeff Cooper) through an Audiologic MT66 compressor.  I sing the
    harmony vocals and the answering vocal lines in the chorus using an EV
    PL-50 mike (also borrowed from Coop) run directly into the 4-track.  
    
    There are two rhythm guitar parts on this, one was recorded using the
    RG560 and one using my Gibson Les Paul Jr.  They are panned left and
    right, but I don't honestly remember which one ended up on which side,
    but the LPjr is the brighter sounding one.  They were both recorded
    using my Marshall JCM900 Dual Reverb amp, playing through a pair of
    1x10 speaker cabs from a Marshall Microstack.  The amp was close miked
    using a EV N/D-257 mike.
                            
    The bass used was an Ibanez Explorer copy (borrowed from Steve Jensen)
    run through a Boss Limiter stomp into the recorder. I did a little
    EQing for clarity using a Tapco 10 band EQ during mixdown.  
     
    The second song is "Out The Door".  This is the one I didn't really
    want on this compilation, but what's done is done.  Jason and I wrote
    the song together (yes, it's meant as a joke).  I sang the wimpy lead
    vocals on this one, Jason sings the backing lines.
    
    The rhythm guitar was done using my Ibanez RG560 through the JCM900 as
    described above.  The bass was also Steve's Ibanez. The guitar solo was
    done with my Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.
    
    FWIW, I'd intended to rerecord this song in a higher key to get it up
    into my voices (extremely limited) range better.  I sound terrible on
    this version...
    
    Some negative things that I thought about both songs on this tape.  The
    guitar sound, drums, and vocals are pretty thin sounding.  The guitar
    sound is a result of running the Marshall through the 10 inch speakers,
    close miking it with a vocal mike, and not using a second ambient mike.
    
    All the basic tracks were adversely affected by some poor EQ choices
    during the first stereo submix that the first four tracks went through.
    I wasn't used to the speakers used and they had a "bass boost" feature
    which made me think the mix was too bassy and I ended up trimming off
    way too much.  That submix worked out ok, in terms of getting a nice
    stereo field and that, but the EQ really screwed it up and it was
    bounced to an external deck and back, adding a lot of extra tape noise
    and signal degradation.

    Even with the limited equipment that we had to use, it could have
    sounded much thicker, but we didn't have time time or inclination to
    basically rerecord the whole thing after we discovered the errors...
                                                                        
    The guitar sound in "Picture of You" suffers badly as a result of the
    EQ choices described before from the first stereo submix.  It's
    unfortunate...  There's also some ungodly hissing noise that got picked
    up somewhere.  It's not terribly noticeable when the rest of the music
    is playing, but at the start and end of the song it's pretty horrid.
    (Yeah, I know..."buy a gate"). There's also a programming glitch in the
    drum machine part (at least that's what I'M claiming, Jason seems to
    think otherwise) at one point that makes everything sound kind of off
    time.

    Anyway, despite it's shortcomings, I hope you enjoy it as much as we
    enjoyed doing it.  We're still writing like crazy and expect to start
    another recording project before long.  I expect the next one to be a
    substantial improvement in recording quality, due to the knowledge of
    recording techniques we gained from doing this one and improved
    equipment.

    Greg

     
    
      My two entries (more specifically):
    
      Castle Walls/Best of What I got - This is a live cut from my GLYFIX
    days. The sound is recorded off the board. The band was a six-piecer
    so it sounds pretty full. The Castle walls intro is something we
    started out using when we played a Halloween party and it just sorta
    stuck - besides it gives the fingers a chance to warm up.
      
      The band GLYFIX:
      
        Steve Graves - lead vocals
    	Grace Lanni  - keys and lead vocals
    	Tim Bovenzi  - percussion
        Ed Anderson  - bass
        Brian Ackley - guitar 
        John Reaume  - guitar
    
          My guitar set-up for this gig was the B.C. Rich ST-III through 
        the Kitty Hawk rack. (Testarossa, Intellifex, SP-1000). It should
        sound pretty full. The guitar sound is a little back in the mix
        mostly because of my stage volume carrying the  guitar out front.
          
    
    
        Rock n' Roll Party in the Street - 
    
          This is a cover of the tune by AXE (did they do anything else? ,
        I don't think so). We used it as an encore frequently and it always
        seemed to go over well. This was not live, but a basement tape.
        Although the mix is OK, I could use do a better job with it today 
        just because I've spent more time with the Tascam 424. 
    
          The band CHEMISTRY:
    
          Grace Lanni     - keys and vocals
          John Reaume     - guitar and vocals
          Billy Redington - percussion and vocals       
          Dave Newton	  - bass
    
          Guitar equipment for this recording: Fender Strat Ultra into
       Digitech GSP-21 right into the Tascam 424. That's it!
    
    	  My next entry will be an original - already working on it!
    
    							-B()()M-

	I need to update my liner notes, as one of my submissions has been 
	switched also.  I originally sent Buck two covers and one original,
	but because of the length of the tunes, we decided to include only 
	one of the covers on the tape.  Now it seems that the original was 
	omitted instead.

	Anyhow... 

	These tunes were recorded on a Yamaha MT2X 4-track, with my MIDIverb 
	II used for reverb.  Mic's were Radio Shack PZM's.  


	"Country Girl" - music and lyrics by Neil Young

        There were so many instruments to lay down on this tune, I had to 
	fill the 4-track with rhythm instruments and background vocals and 
	mix down to stereo.  Brought that stereo mix back in on tracks 3 & 4, 
	and finally added a couple more vocal tracks and the electric lead.

	Guitars: Sigma 000-18 copy, Gibson 12-string, Time 6-str. electric
	Piano: Wurlitzer Spinet
	Drums: Roland TR505
	Bass: Hofner solid body
	Electric piano, organ, tympani, harmonica: Yamaha DX100
	Sequencer: Yamaha QX7

	
	"Fishin' Time" - Music Neil Young, lyrics by Matt Lapine

	Matt is a good friend and fellow DEC'ie.  He and I have spent many
	good times over the years fishing on a quiet lake in Northern Vermont.  
	Matt wrote these lyrics in fun, but also in appreciation for those 
	fishing trips.  When I saw the words, written to the tune of "Comes a 
	Time", I just had to record this tune...  Thanks Matt!

	Guitars: Sigma 000-18 copy, Gibson 12-string
	Drums: Roland TR505
	Bass: Hofner
	Strings: DX100, PROteus/1
	Sequencer: Yamaha QX7
    

>>2 instrumental jams - Tom Desroshers and Bob Conroy:
    
    
    Both submissions arrived nameless, so I thought I would offer some
    background as to the names I chose to add to each submission:
    
    Jam #1 -- "Crossroads" ...This reminded me of that cheesy Ralph Macchio
    movie where he is "cutting heads" with Steve Vai...hence the name here.
    
    
    Jam #2 -- "Six String Shuffle" ...the shuffle blues feel is undeniable.
    And since it is so heavily guitar oriented...

    
    
    
    
    "Long Gone"

 Lyrics by Steve Trinward
 Music by Tom Gallo

 This an original tune that I wrote from some lyrics that Steve
 sent to me via Email. 

 It was recorded at by friend Carl's house, at little at at atime
 from August to November '91. The guitar solo was recorded at my
 house at the beginning of December.

 The musicians to be credited are:

 Carl Ayotte - All vocals, Keyboards and Acoustic Guitar
 Charlie Bennett - Guitar Solo
 Tom Gallo - Bass/Electric Guitar/12 String    

 The arrangement was done by both Carl and Myself. 

 Guitars:

 Fender Telecaster (electric rhythm)
 Fender Strat (Guitar Solo)
 Yamaha 12 string acoustic
 Yamaha 6 string acoustic
 Fender P-Bass

 Other Instruments:

 Ensoniq SQ1 Synth (organ part)
 EMU Proformance/1 (piano sounds)
 Alesis HR16 Drum Machine 

 Recording gear used:

 The majority of the recording was done on a Tascam 388 8 track.
 The 8 tracks where then mixed down to two tracks on my Tascam
 424. The guitar solo was recorded on the 424.

 Other misc. gear:

 Stereo Chorus Pedal (boss?)
 DBX 163X compressor
 Alesis Microverb
 Alesis MEQ230 EQ. (on the bass)
 Alesis MidiVerb II (on guitar solo)
 Yamaha REX-50 (on guitar solo)
 ART Power Plant Preamp (on guitar solo)

    Suppose I should enter the liner notes for "What Am I To Do".
    
    Instant Now! (at the time) was:
    
    Bob Martel		bass and lead vocals (and keys)
    Dan McBride		drums
    Joe Minville	guitar and backing vocals
    
    The lyrics were written by Bob and the music jointly by Bob and I. 
    He came up with the basic structure of the piece and the intro.,
    guitar solo, and backing vocals were written by me.  I also contributed
    to the arrangement.
    
    The recording technique was really 'primitive'.  An old (ancient might
    be a better word) Yamaha 4-track was used as follows:
    
    3 tracks of drums recorded while we all played through headphones with
    no vocals.  The drums were then mixed to one track.
    
    Next, Bob layed down the bass line.
    
    Then I did the guitar part.  We've done so many different versions of
    this song, that I really can't remember whether I did a rhythm track
    and then threw down a lead track, or if it was just a single guitar
    track done all at once.
    
    Lastly, we did the vocals.  Again, I can't remember whether we did a
    lead vocal followed by two background vocals, or whether we only did a
    single background vocal...my mind is going...
    
    I think Bob recorded a keyboard track on this at the very end.
    
    Bob did all the mixing, so I can't comment much about it.  We did use
    my Multiverb 2 to add some reverb to the vocals.
    
    Hearing this version will be as much a surprise to me as it is to
    everyone else hearing it for the first time!
    
    The guitar equipment was:
    
    mid-80's standard Telecaster thru a...
    Marshall 50 watt channel switching head and a...
    4x10" Marshall bottom
    effects = a bit of chorus on the guitar
    
    Dan was a very busy drummer.  He was replaced by Glen Orsi (much
    better).  The newer versions of this song are about a zillion times
    improved over the version you will be hearing, but it don't matter
    because Instant Now! is dead.
    
    Got a new thang goin' along more modern (post-modern?) lines.
    
    joe.

    >               -< I coulda swore I posted this already >-
    
    You did, but remember the KDX200 crash back in January?  It wiped
    clean 2 weeks worth of new notes.
    
    Food for thought to everyone..

re:Dan the Drummer


He was busy...

and easily one of the *loudest* drummers I've ever played with.

Jams at Joe's were, uh, ear shattering...;^) ;^)