Long Journey

[GONZO-X]

Long Journey

http://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/long-journey

a friend goes on a long journey across the ocean, to a new and unfamiliar land, and it's put to music.

guitar gear:
Taylor 414, Carvin DC200K, custom Williams Hybrid strat, Carvin LB70 bass, mesa boogie Mark2b 60w head, roland 1x12 cab w/greenback, mxr dynacomp, Boss DS-1, Boss NS-1, Dunlop plexi slide.


Long Journey
Going on a long journey, never been before
Got a dry anticipation, for a distant shore
Ah yeah, take me there.
Gonna see the sunrise, in a different way
No one said it'd be easy, but it's a brand new day.
Going on a long journey, oh yeah
Long journey, take me there
Oh yeah
Long journey, oh-yeah, such a long journey,
Yeah
God help me, help me please
Let me have what I need
Won't take no more than that,
Your advice, I will heed.
Oh yea, long journey
I've never been before
Got a dry anticipation
For a distant shore, for a distant shore?.
Distant shore?..
Gonna see the sunrise, in a different way
No one said it'd be easy,
But it's a brand new day, brand new day.
Oh yeah
Take me there.
©2005 Robert F. Gilliland

 

[gregsk777]

Nice! Sounds like you have a resonator going in the beginning?

 

[GONZO-X]

gregsk777

thanks for listening, man, i appreciate it.


that loosy-goosy string rattling, that sounds like a resonator at the beginning, is just the way i held the plexi slide to do those parts...

i skimmed the strings, letting it rattle between the slide and the strings...
that effect was intentional, with close micing it's a cool sound to my ears.
page used to do this with some of his zep stuff.

 

[gregsk777]

Cool technique, it definitely adds to the roots rock sound of the whole song! I also like how it also translates to the distorted rhythm guitar.

Great song. Has that open road feel!

 

[maximusbs]

Yea man, I like that acoustic slide riff! I think it is recorded very well - a few more details about how you did it would be enlightening . Are you a Kings X fan? Hmmmm....those dense harmonies......This is probably my favorite from you man. However, it sounds like you didn't give much thought to the lyrics, they're kinda repetitive and don't go anywhere (ironic for a song about a journey). I don't wanna throw stones here, cuz I struggle with lyrics, but it was the only thing I could pick on here

 

[GONZO-X]

gregsk777
yep, this particular riff is one of those kinds of things that works on acoustic, clean electric, grungy, or high gain.
there ARE some harmonics in some of the chord changes that get blurry at high gain, but i mix the acoustics louder for specific chords to stick out, and bring em back when it's more standard chording.


maximusbs
thanks man, glad you dig it.
king's x, yes, big fan here.
that lyric issue.....well, it's a real simple song, simple concept, and like some of my favorite classic rock tunes that are dirt simple, i just tried to reinforce the riff hook.
this song idea DOES lend itself to story telling ala Dylan, but i guess i just didn't feel like talking!
LOL

recording details:

vocal recording:
all vox into the AT4033, into the A-Designs Audio MP-1, then into the dbx compressor, with a 4 to 1 ratio, and just kicking in every once in a while....
i've got reverb in the cans, but the track is being recorded dry......
i do the effects on mixdown....

bass:
well, i've tripped across the combination of sounds i'm going to use on the whole project....
i go into the sansamp, and that goes straight into the digital convertor and into the vs onto it's own track...
then, the bypass from the sansamp, goes directly into my boogie!
clean channel, but set fairly hot, where the sound is thumpin'......turned down a bit, so as to not fry my speaker! (30 watt celestion, not a bass speaker!)LOL
...and the at4033 picks it up, and i run that into the A-Designs Audio MP-1, into the dbx compressor, and to it's own track.
then, i blend the two together, straight up panned....
only, i find that if i invert the sansamp signal, it makes it sound deeper when blended with the miced bass sound, and that sounds pretty good!
so, the idea is, to blend a real miced bass sound, that doesn't have a lot of range (think midrange) with the sansamp signal direct, which has TONS of deep sound, plus some high end definition.

Elec. Guitar:
the rhythms, get the at4033 into the ART DPS preamp, set on neutral.....
the solos, get the sm57 into the art dps preamp, again, neutral....

acoustics:
mostly done with a Taylor 414, but in this photo, i've got an old Hofner 12-string that i blended in at certain moments.
i use a sort of x-y mic setup with two mics, at about the 12 fret:

 

[maximusbs]

...more than generous with the details, thanks! I think the 'silver bullet' I was looking for in the details was merely that Taylor....hard to beat that tone..but damn $. The x-y setup is typical - I'm lookin for an interface that has 2 or more pre's for less that $150 that won't suck and don't crash - so I can do the x-y setup for real. Thanks for the pic, that was actually very informative. Interesting use of stands and shelves rather that tables and the hardwood floor...was that by choice or just luck? We should all post pics of our home studios, I think it would be interesting. Compared to most guys setups, I think mine is the most laughable. What the heck...



Yes, that's a home stereo receiver running my monitors!!

 

[GONZO-X]

maximus

your welcome, man....
the taylor is worth every penny.
but i have to be careful not to pickup too much of the soundhole, it's almost overwhelming.
off axis micing helps.

the stands remove a lot of standing waves.
plus, it's infinitely variable, i can pull them out off the walls, at odd angles, it's just easy.
i don't work with the VS machine anymore, i moved onto Sonar since this was recorded.

you use what you got, and improve it when you can.
it's not use to get hung up on what you DON'T have, that's my belief.

 

[GONZO-X]

last bump before i pull this one down...