Tama Starclassic from above. We are particularly glad of how the snare, the kick and the second tom sound. This time, I recorded the snare with two microphones and it sounds so much better! We used three Shure SM57′s and one SM58, one Sennheiser e609, two Oktava MK012′s and one Shure Beta 91. A better set of microphones than what I used before.

Toshiba Satellite in action with a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8r which worked smoothly with a very crystal clear sound. It was great to record drums with Reaper for the first time, it worked flawlessly!

Beautiful Meinl Byzance ride.

Drum recordings will start on Saturday. I’m leaving Paris à 6am for Lyon where I’ll record David at his rehearsal room. Unlike Spleen Arcana’s first album, this time David will play on his own drumkit, a Tama Starclassic, which is a far better model than mine. So I guess we’ll find a better sound!

For gearheads, my recording setup will consist of my Toshiba Satellite laptop with a brand new M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8r. I’ll also bring my Joemeek VC1Q mainly for its compressor that I’m used to put on the kick or snare. My daw of choice remains my faithful Reaper.

Stay tuned for upcoming updates from the drum recording sessions…

I received yesterday a distortion unit I wanted to try for a long time, a MXR Distortion +. It’s a vintage model, according to its serial number, from 1979. So it’s the second “block” logo version. You can find a good article about differences between models here. I guess I’d like to try the orginal “script” version but I read that the block logo sounds smoother actually. Anyway, I did some recordings using it on my current sessions and I am quite amazed by its sound!! I dare to say it’s probably the best distortion unit I have had. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a distortion, it’s more of an overdrive with a bit more gain than a TS9 for example, more open sounding. I may record some parts I already recorded with my Supa Fuzz because it sounds better sometimes, depending of the song. The fact is both are truly complementary. I recorded a quick video playing stuffs randomly to show you how it sounds (the funny thing is that you hear more of the acoustic sound of the guitar than the distortion itself but you’ll get the idea) :

The last weeks, I spent a lot of time searching for a new guitar lead sound. Now I only use my Supa Fuzz replica made by Lumpy’s Tone Shop which is a great warm and full vintage fuzz. I don’t use my Tech 21 British anymore. I tried a HBE Germania treble booster to go with it and add some bite but it didn’t really fit my “no amp” set up. However, I found by coincidence a great sound by stacking my Big Muff after the Supa Fuzz : Huge fuzz with endless sustain! A bit noisy though… But it’s the best combo I’ve ever tried actually (better than using a TS9 as a booster). I recorded many lead parts for the longest track of album too and it sounds quite different from my first album. I think I won’t add too many guitar tracks but time will tell…

I tested an Electro Harmonix Bassballs today as I was searching for a kind of wah bass sound for a particular part of “the longest song”. I didn’t play too much with it yet but I’m not sure that it’s what I’m looking for. Maybe I should try a Q-Tron someday. Anyway, I’ll spend more time tweaking it tomorrow and see if it will do the job.

Not many updates here at the moment but the recording of Spleen Arcana’s second album (which still remains untitled) is going well. I’m working on bass and guitar parts while David is working on his drum parts. He sent me demos of the second song of the album which he recorded on his edrum kit (picture below) and it sounds really great! He brings many ideas to the song and I hope that we’ll be able to record his acoustic drum kit as soon as we can and the best way possible!

I don’t want to say to much about the album but I can’t wait to share it with you already! I plan to record other vocal parts in my “countryside studio” in the summer or ealier if possible and when the drums will be recorded, it will be time to mix and think about the artwork cover… Stay tuned!

A glimpse of the third closing song :

As you can see in the video above, I’m currently recording bass for the second song of the album (heavily using my deluxe VT Bass). I think I can tell that I finished the bass lines of this song yesterday. So I started recording the guitar tracks and there’s some kind of heavy part which features my new fuzz pedal. I think it sounds quite different from what I planned.

David came to Paris some days ago and it was a great opportunity to talk about the drums recording. I’ll send him the songs very soon so he can write and record demo tracks on his electronic drumkit. Then will come the recording of the acoustic drumkit but it’s another story.

Back in Paris. Vocal recordings went quite well. As you can see in the pics above, I recorded some bodhran beats for the final song of the album which talks about a country I truly love (easy to find…). So what’s next? I need to record the last guitars and bass tracks. Most of keyboard parts are already recorded. At last but not least : We have to record the drums! David and myself are not really sure about how it will be done yet. Well, plans have changed actually and we may try something different this time. I hope it’ll work!

I’m thinking about the artwork as well… I can’t wait to see if the idea I have in mind will work or not. I hope so!

Stay tuned…

Arrived yesterday and I setted up the rig. Tried to record some lines. Everything works well but I need to find the best sound for the songs. Lot of work ahead! Stay tuned…

Time has come to move to the north for some days to record vocals and percussion in my “countryside” home studio (where I recorded The Field Where She Died and where lies a lot of memories). I can’t wait to start recording vocals even if lyrics are not totally finished, it’s interesting to work in a different way this time. I need to write more lyrics for the first song of the album but I believe that it will be done “in the recording flow”, I just hope inspiration will be there…

As you can see on the picture above, I bring with me my first “mobile recording rig” which includes : - A Joemeek VC1Q (I can’t help using its comp!) - A brand new Great River ME1NV preamp which is awesome, pure 70s vintage british sound - An EMU 0404 USB - A Toshiba Satellite L505-10P laptop - My fav mics : Studio Projects C1, Oktava MK319, Shure SM57

I hope everything will work fine! Anyway, I’ll update this studio diary as much as I can even if it’s not even sure there’s an internet access over there! It’ll be inspiring to be surrounded only by trees and close to the ocean and far away from urban insanity.

More to come soon…