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last updated 27 April, 2008
OK, let's keep it simple. It's all done with wires, circuits, computer chips and software - not a reel of tape or mixing desk to be seen. Not that those days weren't fun but I just could not fit it all into a fifteen foot square block built shed that has become our studio. Well actually it's a bit more than that – it is an ex-Goat Shed – when I first moved in it had a stable door and shit on the floor. Now of course that's all changed – I painted the walls.
So we have a computer, a microphone, a keyboard, a few rack units and that's it - the magic really is in the machine. Ever since the early 90s I have used Samplitude Pro audio software and despite all the alluring bells, whistles and flashing lights of Cubase, Sonar, Nuendo, ProTools et al ... I will continue to use it. For my mind it simply has the best sound and most flexible approach to audio recording. All of which brings me onto one of my favorite topics, midi – I never use it (well almost never!) - just to connect my keyboard to my rack units but that's about it. The whole thing is difficult enough as it is without getting random bits kit to talk to one another.
As I see it, there are two parts to the process - the writing/performing and the sound creation/mixing. The second part of the process is almost always subservient to the first. A good example is 'Mermaid Kiss' from the first album. Evelyn and Jamie bought along four tracks that they had just recorded as a demo, two vocals, a guitar and an electric bass played with a violin bow! I listened and then listened again, wondered what the hell they were up to and just what could I do with this awful bass recording. In the end, all of what they initially recorded ended up on the CD with little else added. The guitar was doubled, with one side slightly delayed – this opened the whole guitar sound up to fill the space that would usually be taken up by another instrument. The bass was given some heavy EQ – basically cutting the boom and leaving the growl. The treatment of the recorded material was dictated by the simplicity of the song. The fun is that they are all different.
'Human Zoo' (on Salt on Skin), on the other hand began life in the machine. I wrote all the backing tracks, drums, basic guitars and keyboards straight into Samplitude, effectively producing an almost finished mix for Jamie to take away to add lyrics. The weight of the sound came before anything else – it just would not sound like it does if it had started as a guitar based song. Nigel added the electric icing to the cake and now all that remains is to get the whole thing mixed – loud!
