Not long ago I came across a new form of capos. In galaxy very close by. Actually it was this galaxy. More specifically it was in a town known as Anaheim. The Anaheim that sits in the California region of the planet earth. Capos are a funny business. Lots of musicians use the cheapest products they can find without thinking about how they affect the sound. I always look for the thing that will get the great sound. Oddly enough capos and the kind you use can make a difference. Which is why on such a faithful day where I found out about a company called G7th and their capos, I instantly made the switch. Why? Because they’re awesome. Actually it had a couple of better reasons. First their weight. They have a good solid weight to them. Second, their ease of use. They work on some kind of engineering magic where you can set the tension as simply as closing your fingers. That way it doesn’t clamp down too hard on the strings and push them out of tune. It’s a love thing.
Today I’d taking you into the studio for a little clip about my upcoming song “Till We Meet Again” wherein you see me making use of the G7th’s awesomeness. Click on that video and realize I too use capos to get the proper key and sound for a guitar and my voice.
So if you’re looking for badass capos, especially the one I use – then you need a G7th. You won’t regret it!
Capos And Recording
Yeehaw baby.
I think we’re ready. Let me double check my tuning real quick.
technically with the panning you don’t need to pan the microphones in my headphones
as we’re recording. That’s what I’m saying you can turn them back to center.
Alright. Let’s see if we’re
all set to go. That sounds beautiful my
head.
There’s a little drum pattern that starts at what? Bar 3? You can set the record button to
the song position line to start there
‘Cause that’s a two bar count in for me and I start at 5. Do what? A one bar pre-roll? That’s fine. As long as I know it’s two bars.
We were in love…
and it was magic.
happy
Come with me inside RA Audio studios as we set up a Taylor Guitar’s K4 EQ. Here’s an outtake from the recording of my upcoming single called “Till We Meet Again” as Robert Navarro and I go through the pre-production of my Taylor 615ce. The amazing thing is that it didn’t take a very long time to plug in the guitar, plug in the K4, wire it to the pre-amp. Of course Robert and I spent a bit of time listening to several settings then proceeded to make a few minor tweaks. Then it was off the race, or rather off to the recording track.
Watch the video and find out what setting we used on my K4 EQ to get one extremely awesome sound for the acoustic guitars on “Till We Meet Again”. Yes, in the final mix down of the song I did use a combination of the K4 direct sound mixed with the KM184 Sennheiser microphones. Definitely a very awesome addition to the sound of great acoustic guitar recording.
Till We Meet Again K4 Setup
Transcript:
The whole concept of, what did I use for this recording? For Taylor Guitars website.
Right now we’re about to set up the sound for the direct sound coming out of the 615 that I’m going to record for “Till We Meet Again” into the infamous Taylor Guitars K4 equalizer.
And Robert and I, who is currently the owner of RA Audio, are about to set all of this up. He’s waving at you. And, get the sound happening. And then we’re recording through a couple of nice Sennheiser KM184’s that… [you’re welcome]
Thank you.
That I got for Robert. Uhm. So yeah, we’re about to do some pre-production on getting the right sound. Then we’re gonna do a track.
So let’s get started.
One second he says.
Wish I had a remote. Tink. Tink.
Ok, should I bring some treble down and the bass up?
That’s sorta nice? Well, I don’t want sorta. I want bad ass nice.
Back off a little on the bass. Ok, this is half of what the bass was when I raised it. So that’s a nice direct tone? Wow! No mid or anything huh?
Interesting.
So for all those out there in Taylor land who want to know the K4 setting that I just used. We’re probably talking 12:30 on the bass, on the low end. We’re looking at about 11 o’clock on the high. And the mids? Nada. Zero. Center all the way. The volume is set at medium, like right at whatever 12 o’clock is.
So the K4 is set, for the 615ce.
Today I’m finally getting around to changing the strings on my Taylor 615ce with a set of Dean Markley Blue Steel acoustics. After several live performances and a couple of recordings, including a cover of “Not A Bad Thing” by Justin Timberlake, it’s time I sit down and get my first impression of a new line of strings.
Sit with me as I take off some old flat strings that got played to death. Then watch me do things I don’t recommend doing with your strings.
Get tuned up. Stretched out. Ready to play.
Finally top it off with what my initial reaction is to hearing how Dean Markley Blue Steel acoustic strings make me feel. Rather what I think they sound like on my favorite acoustic guitar.
First Impression Dean Markley Blue Steel Acoustics
Transcript:
Sometimes your strings are flat and you need to change ’em.
First things first. Sexy, minimalistic packaging going on. Some kind of sticky thing. Inside we have a package. Sealed strings. Let’s open ’em up. Let’s find out what they’re like.
They come in two winds. They look like they’re kind of color coded. Better read the packaging. High E, is black. The B string is blue. G string is black. D string blue. A string black and low E string, blue. Alternating color scheme. I’m using medium acoustics. Thirteen through fifty-six, my favorite kind. De-tune strings. Get ’em off. Here we go.
Low E string if I remember correctly that is going to be black. The B string. Agh. I can tell you right now that they don’t taste very good. String G. Cryogenically activated strings have a very very odd taste. Don’t eat your strings.
Fly and be free.
Black for the A. The lower strings, they don’t taste any better than the upper strings. Ah, what a symphony of sound that is.
Stretch ’em out just a little bit. Blue steel’s generally don’t require a whole lot of stretching on the electric side. So hopefully they won’t require a whole lot of stretching on the acoustic side.
Handy dandy PolyTune by T.C. Electronics. Awesome app for getting your guitar in tune.
Ok. We’ve got it tuned up. Let’s clip the strings off. Once you’ve clipped the strings it’s a good idea to tune once again. Just incase there’s any slippage.
That’s interesting… No slippage whatsoever, it’s still in tune.
As far as sound goes.
They have a good solid tone to them. Not overly bright but nice and solid at least with the fingertips.
They have a real nice solid tone to them. I really dig it. Don’t sound overly buzzy. They sound nice and big and full. That’s actually a really good thing. I like that.
Dean Markley I think you’ve hit an A+ out of the park home run with these strings.
Ah Falling In. This is one of those songs where I constantly get asked to play it. Especially for the girls. Must be something about the acoustic guitar and a guy singing at them that causes them to swoon. Aw who the hell am I kidding. It’s the fact the song is about what every girl or woman on this planet wants. That is, to fall in love. At least all the ones I’ve met. I decided to essentially throw down a live acoustic performance of the song then put up the lyrics on it. What better way to enjoy and ‘read’ the song at the same time. For those out there who’s wondered – how the hell is he playing that song?!? Wonder no more. It’s pretty plain as day to see what it is that I’m doing guitar wise on the song.
Yes, that’s slap ‘n’ pop on an acoustic guitar. It all came down from a dare from someone who felt slap ‘n’ pop couldn’t be effective for playing a guitar. I took that challenge and Falling In was the result. Another tidbit about the song is that major songwriters whom I’ve shared the stage with have always been amazed by the guitar line and how it works with the melody. One of the funniest comments from a star writer was “You’re a victim of your own coolness with that song.” It’s definitely one that people always comment on. In fact, I ask you to comment on it too.
Falling In
In the speechless hush of the 5 a.m.
She’ll spy upon what my sleeping brings in
And if the coffee burns before we see again
The she’d never learn how my feelings creep in
I better grab her with both arms
And hold on tight ‘cause shes’s
Falling in to trouble
Falling in to my life
Falling in to fables
Falling in and it feels so right
In a crowd of thoughts I can wonder how
I’ll ever figure out what may be in her head
And if the world should end before we meet again
Then I’ll never know what two lovers can hold
She better grab me with both arms
And hold on tight ‘cause I’m
Falling in to trouble
Falling in to her life
Falling in to fables
Falling in and it feels so right
Through the course of the day
I think of things to say
And then they fade away
In the course of a fight
I feel things aren’t right
Then it goes all night
We’re falling in to trouble
Falling in to our lives
Falling in to fables
Falling in and it feels so right
Hit me up with your rendition of my tune. Especially want to see all the budding guitarists out there playing along!
You might be asking yourself, why the hell hasn’t Jody posted anything about the last four songs?!? It’s a very valid question and my response would be: The NAMM Experience.
In January of each year there’s a rather large convention that happens in Anaheim California (a majority of the time). That convention is known to the outside world as: NAMM. To us musicians it’s known as “The Giant Candy Store.” Meaning it’s like being a kid in the world’s largest candy store of musical gear. It’s a great place to geek out. If you’re into musical gear stuff that is. I am.
The other plus to NAMM is it’s a bit like a huge family reunion. Where many of us who are busy creating music often don’t get to see each other until NAMM. Yikes. My buddy Robert Navarro said in passing this year: “I know a lot of people. But Jody seems to know everyone.” It’s a bit of an overstatement. However it was funny to hear.
Let’s dive in to a little picture recount of some of it.
The pic is from a solo performance by a Doobie Brothers member doing great renditions of their songs in the Taylor Booth.
The show can’t be complete without posing with the BadCat freak of the year.
This is by far the greatest tremolo system ever invented for guitar. I’m not kidding – it’s perfect.
The mandatory badge shot…
For the inner child of mixing engineers everywhere: The Raven by Slate Audio. The coolest touchscreen mixing console.
Wanna know where audio recording is heading? To smaller devices. Namely iOS devices. Apogee is leading the charge with their mobile lines and the new king of that is: The Quartet.
The award for most unique instrument of the show is: The Wheel Harp. I can’t even explain it. But it’s very cool, with a very distinct sound.
Essentially we all hit it. The NAMM wall. Wherein you’re tired and somehow I managed to get a shot where there were relatively few people around. Feet hurt from being walked on for hours on end.
There is the little slice of what has kept me from getting to the rest of the songs. I will be diving right back in extremely soon after I finish up another interim song and a couple of things for some placements. Stay tuned.
Here’s my parting shot:
Aw, I’m getting a little choked up. I’m getting featured on Taylor Guitar’s website. This is actually pretty cool. I was asked by Taylor Guitars if I would do a little clip about how I got a particular guitar sound for the trailer Goats. Well, here it is in all it’s glory.
The bonus is, I’ve been asked to do more of them. So stay tuned. As I complete projects that utilize my favorite acoustic guitars (Taylor Guitars ahem hem). Then there will be more of them.
Enjoy
p.s. – There’ll likely be an update before long when Dean Markley also ends up posting this.