Freakwitch T-shirts

I forgot to mention this: there are Freakwitch t-shirts in production even as we speak. They should be ready within a few weeks, and we will be selling them for $20 (plus shipping if we can’t hand one to you) each. The shirts will be black T-shirts, with the Freakwitch logo (at the top of Freakwitch.net at the moment) either centered across the chest, or in a smaller spot on the breast. So you can go big and brash, or small and subtle.

Get ’em while they’re hot. You can say you got one of the VERY FIRST Freakwitch T-shirts ever made. If you are interested in ordering a shirt, email me at JWL -at- Freakwitch -dot- net.

recording acoustic guitars

Yesterday I did a lot of work in the studio. In short, I modified the new ribbon mic, replaced the tubes in the preamps, rearranged the recording space to do acoustic guitar overdubs, and started experimenting with mic techniques. I wrote about it in much more detail over on the Freakwitch forums, so go read it if you want some more advanced audiogeekery. Bottom line: once again I am blown away. These are the best sounding acoustic tracks I’ve ever recorded. Very very cool. Mixing this album is going to be a treat.

I did kind of get a late start yesterday, which isn’t really a problem since I accomplished everything in the studio I’d hoped to anyway. Plus, I got to trade massages and spend the afternoon in a wonderfully squishy, comfortable headspace. Mmmmmm….

I know it’s probably getting old to read me saying this, but damn. Life really is good….

Recording, and Love

Sorry for the sparse blogification as of late. Lots happening. Not the least of which is that we are officially finished editing basic tracks for the Freakwitch album. We have the following tunes ready for acoustic guitar overdubs: Too Bad For You, Seems Like, Tempted, Trouble On The Island, My Own Way, Beauty, Breathe, Tip of My Tongue, Sway, Life’s Too Large, and Make It Through. Plus, I’m optimistic that we can nail Phasing and Surprise as a full band soon.

So this Friday, I’m heading to the studio earlier in the day. I’ll finally get to complete the ribbon mic mod, install the new tubes in the preamps, strike the drum kit, and set up the space for acoustic guitar recording. I’m really looking forward to getting this ball rolling.

Additionally, Freakwitch now has a lead guitar player. This is a very exciting development; Todd is a good guy who has known Matt longer than I have. His style seems to mesh really well with what Freakwitch does, and it will only get better as he gets more comfortable with the material. The electric guitar has an energy about it that no other instrument has, and it’s good to inject the Freakwitch sound with that energy.

So things Freakwitchy continue to move in very exciting directions. This summer things should blossom. We have two goals: finish the album (should be done this summer) and start gigging, regularly. The tentative plan (we have a business meeting this week to hammer out these details) is to pick 4 markets (Portland, Boston, and 2 others) and start regular gigging in those markets. Very exciting stuff…. this band has a LOT of energy, and as we get tighter and Todd gets more comfortable, it’s just going to continue to grow. I think once we get this out in front of people, it will get some attention, either “finally!” (if they know us already) or “who the fuck are these guys, and where did they come from!!?” (if they don’t know us).

On another note entirely, I’ve been experiencing and theorizing about the nature of Love as of late. As I wrote to one of my dearest friends recently, “Love is both a verb and a noun. I can easily control love-the-verb. Right action. No problem. But love-the-noun has a life of its own. It’s either there, or it isn’t.” Over the past few weeks, I’ve been blown away by the amount of love-the-noun in my life, which of course makes me all the more enthusiastic about “doing” love-the-verb. :-)

I say once again: I am surrounded by blessings. Life is good. :-)

Happy Beltane, or, what a difference a year makes

Happy Beltane to everyone.

It’s been an interesting Beltane thus far, especially compared to last year. Last year was about as fiery as it gets for me. I enjoyed the fire, and it was an amazing time, one I will never forget and always treasure. But the fallout was very hard to deal with: heartbreak, sadness, guilt, and a full spectrum of other emotions. Lots of healing and lots of growth have happened since then. It was a very hard year, but ultimately one of the most fruitful of my life. I don’t regret what happened, but I do own my part of the hurt from that. To those I hurt, directly or indirectly, this time last year, I bow to you. Namaste. And to you, with whom I explored the highest heights and the lowest depths, I wish you love and happiness. May there always be peace between us, so mote it be.

Having paid attention to the annual solar cycles every year for nearly two decades now, I’ve noticed a palpable shift in energy each year at this holiday. It remains one of the most powerful pagan holidays of the year for me (along with Samhain), for many reasons. And I still feel a bit burned by last year’s fieryness. So this year I’ve held my Beltane exuberance in check, trying to stay grounded, and stay in the moment.

But, indeed, the energy is still there. And it’s still wonderful feeling. And I don’t think it’s gonna blow up in my face this year. :-)

It truly has been an amazing year. Lots of difficulty, lots of “fertilizer.” But the fruits of all this karmic labor are overwhelming to me.

I have never felt more blessed.

Freakwitch community forum

There is a new community forum on the Freakwitch.net site. There are forums there for both album production as well as Quitchcraft Productions, which is our studio. I think that much of my audiogeek babblage will be located there for a while.

So, if you are interested in Freakwitch, go check out the forum. Register, and speak freely. We’re trying to get all this infrastructure-type stuff in place before the album is done sometime this summer.

Also, Freakwitch.com and Freakwitch.org both now redirect to Freakwitch.net. This means that all 3 domains are now under our control.

last audiogeek explosion?

I ordered the tubes today. Now, I’m done. For a while.

I know many of my readers are bored. I’m thinking about setting up a separate blog just for my audio engineering stuff, as we move through the Freakwitch album production. Or, I could continue to leave it here.

So what do you think? Should I set up a separate blog for this? Or not? Leave a comment.

Anyone?

::crickets chirping::

Bueller? Bueller?

So because everyone is so enthralled

…I thought I’d explain why I ordered the Shinybox 23 as opposed to the other models.

First of all, there are 2 basic ribbon mic types in this range, the big one (Shinybox 23 et al) and the small one (Shinybox 46, et al). The small one is generally cheaper, and they share the same capsule. However, in the smaller body, the capsule is not symmetrically mounted which means one side of it sounds brighter than the other side. Not good when using the M-S technique.

So the larger chassis it is. The question is then, why the Shinybox, and not the Nady or the Apex or the …. myriad of other rebrandings this mic exists under. Answer: first of all, I like the little guy. Secondly, the Shinybox comes with a groovy case, and is still cheaper than the Nady. Thirdly the guy who runs Shinybox seems to genuinely give a rat’s ass about sound quality.

I placed the order yesterday but I haven’t heard anything yet. Hopefully soon. The site says I should hear within 48 hours.

audio geekery part 912

So I decided to order the Shinybox 23. Waiting for the guy to call me back to answer one last question about it.

In addition, I’m thinking about upgrading the tubes in my ART TubePAC preamps. This is a lower-gain tube than what comes stock, which should clean up the sound a bit. This mod will be cheaper though, I’d need 4 tubes so it should be less than $50.

EDIT: there are two cheaper tubes available, that will probably work just as well.