A Few Things, Late Summer 2014
2011:: The Shepherds: Civil War EP
I was reminded recently of an EP I recorded by my friends Douglas and Brooke Shepherd a few years ago. I loved working on this record, and really digging into the production side of the songs, these two in particular:
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7.14:: Peter Broderick/Gabriel Saloman split 12″
Beacon Sound‘s first vinyl release is finally out! Commissioned by Andrew at Beacon Sound, and a first-time collaboration between these two artists, this was initially a set of improvisations together. I tracked it at Type Foundry just following the Beacon Sound Weekender mini-festival last October. Peter and Gabriel took the tracks home and added/edited/re-envisioned to make one side each. What came out is a beautiful record, inside and out. Keep an eye on this store and label – there are some very exciting projects in the works, part of which is a re-opening on Mississippi Ave, in Portland, with much more space, and an art gallery in back.
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8.14:: Pickathon 2014
This year was my third working for Pickathon. What began as live broadcast mixing for one stage has turned into co-running the recording and broadcast mixing for the entire festival. We had an amazing crew of people working for us this year: local recording engineers Pat Kearns, Sean Flora and Josh Powell, live engineers Saaela Abrams, Ethan Pierce and Jeff Simmons, and mic-maker Chris Johnson.
The festival has been getting a lot of press this last year, much deserved because of its small, intimate size, chilled out atmosphere, focus on sustainability, and well-curated lineups. It makes for a truly unique experience, and for one of the best festivals around. I’m so happy to be part of it.
Central control for broadcast mixing and video, behind Galaxy Barn, one of the seven stages at Pickathon.
Some of what people have to say/show about Pickathon 2014 ::
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8.14:: Catherine Lee/Matt Hannafin Oboe and Percussion
I went down to Salem and did some recording in the concert hall at Williamette University with oboeist Catherine Lee and percussionist Matt Hannafin. They did a series of improvisations, some of which included them moving around the room while playing. The room was amazing – open, large, with a beautiful natural reverb – it sounded just like the reverb in old soundtrack music. We recorded to Pro Tools on my laptop using a True Precision 8 preamp, Apogee Enemble convertor. There were two condensors hung above the stage that I ended up using, along with a spaced pair of borrowed Josephson C617’s (with Microtech/Gefell 221 omni capsules) further back in the room. An AKG C414 was a few feet from the oboe for detail, an omni pair of Octava MC012 mics were over the percussion, and a Shure SM81 was under the tom acting as a bass drum. Mics at different distances like this allow for control over the roominess of the mix, and a balance between that and a closer, detailed sound. It was such a pleasure to work with these musicians in this space.
Stage view while recording.
The entire room from the back.
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8.14:: Terminal Orchestra
While visiting Upper Michigan, I did some overdubs for my friend Jesse and his project, Terminal Orchestra. We started tracking this record over the course of a cold, cold weekend back in October in a church deep in rural Upper Michigan.
photos by Jesse DeCaire
For this session, Jesse called up 8 of the players from Marquette string ensemble Eclettico to add to some of the songs on the record. We did the recording at Northern Michigan University’s Devos Art Museum, a spacious room with great acoustics, surrounded by art.
Here’s a little taste of his last record, which I did some overdubs on, and helped with some mixing: