A Recording Weekend at The All Nighter

Back country road. Sun shining down. You pull down the long driveway to the end and start unloading your gear. You've rehearsed these songs to death and are ready to etch them in stone. Jittery, a bit nervous. You look off to the left and see a woman watering a vegetable garden. This is Paula, she is your lovely host. She greets you and shows you around the barn in renovation where she plans to host many great concerts and parties. You are anxious, but calmed by the country air, soothing atmosphere, and friendliness that surrounds.

Then you meet me (Tommy C), and that is all shot to hell (jk). I show you around the studio and guide you through the setup process. Once settled in we work on getting drum sounds. This is so vitally important to the process and is paid extra special attention. We tape, turn keys, remove heads, loosen snares, tighten snares, remove tape, move mics, high five, finished. The kit breathes, it pumps. No more cardboard.

Next we turn our attention to guitar amps. Knobs are turned, mics positioned, repositioned, we are moving ear friendly waves of sound into Pro Tools and are happy. Move on. I like to run bass direct and have a wonderful Sansamp bass pre/eq that we put the signal through. But here's the deal: There are no rules in audio and the buck doesn't stop with me. Let's mic up the bass amp as well if you desire. Listen, use our ears. Choose the direct sound only. Amp sound only. A Combination of the two, ahhh that's it!


So now that we have tones honed in it is time to record. My philosophy is that to get an authentic sounding end product we need to start authentic. Band plays live! Just like at any rehearsal or show you've ever done. Feed off of each other. Play off each other. Feel the energy! A metronome is optional, although recommended. Great music has been made with or without. The object is to capture takes that "feel" great, not necessarily perfect performances at this point. We can fix flaws here and there, but if the feeling is there we are on to something and can build off of that. It's been a long day and we are all satisfied with our work, but hungry. It's time to relax, maybe order a pizza, start a fire, or throw on a dvd in the lounge.

After a night spent hanging out around the campfire passing the acoustic around you wake up well rested. You put on coffee and make breakfast on the griddle in the band lounge. The shower is calling your name. You stank. Once refreshed it is time to get back to work! The day is yours. Guitar overdubs and vocal tracks are calling your name. Percussion tracks are begging you to add them. This is going to be a fun.... Get out to the All Nighter! Contact me at Cappel Recording to book time