SpeakerSonic Studio

Today I'm working with Dan Penta, one of my favorite artists. Dan and I have been friends a long time and we've recorded together on many of his recordings since 2007. His moniker has changed many times, but his constant barrage of fantastical songwriting has not. Cockroach, Whisper Doll, Daniel Bernstein, The Everybody Knows, Erratic Rabbits and Jagged Leaves are just a few since I've known him.

We're getting a pretty sweet acoustic guitar sound today. The goal is a very natural and organic sounding guitar for some, rootsy style, new songs. Simple set up; Vintage (1972) Martin D-18, with a Neumann U87 into the Trident 80B. I'm also adding a bit of color with an API 550b and an LA-3A compressor. I read somewhere about an idea that I've been incorporating into the sound. If you add some low end to an acoustic or vocal on the way to the compressor, the compressor mostly responds to the low end rather than the higher frequencies. Thus, it compressors the lower frequencies while leaving the high frequencies uncompressed. This lets the higher timbers dance much more freely and dynamically once you roll off and subdue the low end in post. Such a beautiful and full sound in a singular acoustic guitar.

We also used the old 12 string ovation for one song. It adds a nice jangly texture.

We recorded acoustic for 4 songs today. 2 of them went quick and easy, and of course, 2 of them were a struggle. Most of the issues we had were getting Dan's mix, vibe, and tempo on track. The songs all have the same setup, live drums, bass, scratch guitar and scratch vocal. But it all comes down to how they sound when you work on them. If the new guitar is too loud, the player pushes the tempo, too soft, the player drags the tempo. We tried a few different things until we got it just right. I even muted the acoustic while recording it, so that the focus was on the drum and bass entirely. Whatever works!

I realized today what glue Dan's guitar playing is to the sound of this new project. There was slight push and pull in the overall feel of the track, but once Dan's mighty downstroke is implemented into the song, all seems to smooth out seamlessly.