The Official Blog Of THE ELMS.

BRING ME YOUR TEA (GUITAR TABS)

At long last, here is a finished guitar tab for the left and right sides of "Bring Me Your Tea" from The Chess Hotel.  This is the album version, so it doesn't include the outro section that we play live.  That will be quite an undertaking, but I do plan to tackle that someday, too.

Also, this doesn't include the intro from the video, which was recorded separately later.  But as has been requested by others already, I hope to also finish and offer that at some point in the near future.  If you're using the video (posted below) as a reference, the tabs start at about the 2:34 mark.

I wish you guys could hear the MIDI Playback on this file (Guitar Pro 5 - tab software).  Hilarious!  Sounds like a really bad 1st Generation Ringtone.

Files are absolutely free - links posted below my signoff as downloadable/printable .pdf.  If you feel adventurous, record a video of yourself playing this and upload it to YouTube.  Or tell your guitar-playin' buddies to come take a shot at it.  If there are any takers, I'll gladly post your video here on my blog.

Note the unorthodox tuning, and enjoy.

-- Thom

-Bring Me Your Tea (Acoustic Left)
-Bring Me Your Tea (Acoustic Right)

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 17

Last day, just before shaving it off.

Side view.  Not bad, Nate.  Not bad.

Before shaving clean, we both had to participate in a little silliness.

He's French.  He's a cowboy.  He's a pornstar.  He's a French Cowboy Pornstar.

Last day for me.  Can't decide if the world ever needs to see a furrier Thom again or not.

Sideview.  I look exactly like my dad from this angle.  I'm definitely my father's son.

Youth Pastor Thom invites you to our X-treme Back 2 School Lock-in this Friday.  Free Pizza, Coca Cola, live music, and games!  Bring all of your secular rock CDs, and we will burn them in the bonfire.  (Then you can go out and buy those records again in 2-3 months when you realize it was stupid of you to participate in the exercise.)

Friday was the last warm glow of the tube amps.  Only thing left to be recorded were vocals, aux percussion, and B-3 Organ.  Nate arranged to have a B-3 w/ Leslie Cabinet shipped to the studio on Saturday, and Owen arranged for our good friend Dave Alan to come out and lay down some wicked wickulatory wickulation. 

B-3 Organ, along with Nate putting out a little vibe for you.  Both equally disarming.

The Leslie - rotating speaker cabinet.  Gorgeous sound. 

Dave Alan.

We're a pretty hands-on band; very opinionated.  Dave was a good sport, listening to everybody's input, and then executing it perfectly.

I think the tracks we cut this time around are the perfect marriage of Rock & Roll grit and class.  Dave's work on Saturday added yet another layer of class.  Especially what he played on "A Place In The Sun" - took it up a notch.  While he was playing, my soul welled-up with Hallelujahs. 

After Dave took off, Owen had plenty of singing to do, so Nate and I kicked-back on the couch and watched college basketball all night.  That is, until we got sick of having hair on our face, deciding we could justify offing it at that point. 

Stayed at the studio that night till 1:45AM, and then came back the next day at 9AM.  Ouch.  Not recommended. 

Owen re-sang the lead vocal for "Strut" while Caleb (intern) and I chased down a LaCie hard disk drive to back everything up to, and Nate sussed-out some details for our trip to SXSW. 

Eventually Nate, Caleb, and I started wheeling out all of our cased-up gear and loaded it back into the trailer.  Kind of a sad thing to do.  This is the mode that we've been fully entrenched in for the past 3 weeks, and shutting that trailer door finally brought on the realization that it was over.  The other side of this is that we're proud to have finished the work, and to walk away from the process knowing that it's the best we've ever done.  A triumphant feeling, for sure. 

After helping Brent load a few things of his to take home, we hopped into the van, drove back to our friend Jim's place in Bellevue, grabbed dinner at Cancun Mexican Restaurant, picked-up a case of Shiner Bock to bring back to the house, and indulged in mindless TV all evening (i.e. Rock Of Love.)  I now love this show after figuring out that the right reason to watch it is to do so for all of the wrong reasons.  Once you have that revelation, it gets way hella-better, SRSLY.

Today, we were all able to sleep-in for 12+ hours.  Nate did some cycling.  I walked to a Starbucks a few miles away.  Owen was able to go for a walk with Jim, but had some things re: mixdown to take care of.  I wish I could say who is 99% lined-up to mix the record.  There is one certain guy who, for the past 3-4 years, we've often said to ourselves, "What would it be like if _________ got his hands on one of our mixes?"  But it seemed like something that would never happen...

... that is, until Owen Thomas, who generally refuses to take "no" as an answer from Life, tracks down the guy's number and leaves him a message about what we're doing.  _______ called Owen back the next day and talked to him for about 45 minutes.  Said he loved the songs, loved the band, and was willing to figure something out so that we could work together.  YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME.  We'll disclose the info when that 99% officially becomes 100%.  But if not him, whoever ends up mixing this will do more than ok, because, just like us, for them... it ain't a hobby.

-- Thom

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 16

On Day #16, Nathan was suddenly suspect of everything.

Me on Day #16.  Look at that face.  I am nothing if not a sweetheart.

Apologies for the lack of activity here the past few days.  Here are the guitar/amp combos for the last couple of songs, as well as that day's progress board and some more Brent Milligan console artwork supplemented by some inspired art from engineer Andrew Bazinet. 

I Don't Want To Kiss You

1. Tele through Marshall + Fender Super Reverb (trem+springreverb) +slapbackdelay
2. Sheraton through Fender Deluxe +keeleycompressor

A Place In The Sun

1. LP Deluxe through Marshall + Super Reverb (trem+springreverb) +slapbackdelay
2. Goldtop through Princeton +slapback (SOLO)

Kickin' Like A Mule

1. LP Deluxe through AC30 +EchoPlex
2. Goldtop through Marshall +FuzzFactory
3. Goldtop through Princeton +FuzzHead (INTRO+PRE-CHORUSES+SOLO)

She Never Let Me Down

1. Sheraton through Vox AC30 + SuperReverb (+tremolo +springreverb)
2. Goldtop through SuperReverb
3. Goldtop through Princeton +slap (doubled on CHORUS)

Lily

1. Goldtop through Tonemaster and Deluxe Reverb +EchoPlex
2. Goldtop through Tonemaster +longdelay

On Thursday and Friday, I finished guitar tracks for "She Never Let Me Down" and "Lily."  Tried my best to channel Adam Levy on the latter.  A guy wrote in via Twitter to say, "Adam Levy and Norah would be proud to hear this guitar track," so... mission accomplished?  Who knows. 

Owen did a lot of singing on Day #16.  Owen... can... sing.  Nate and I sat on the couch in amazement.  And the thing about Owen Matthew Thomas is that he's never really considered himself a singer before - only a songwriter who sang because somebody needed to do it.  If I could think of a cooler way of saying "he's found his voice," I would say it.  But since I can't, screw it.

After posting this, I'll work on the final blog for TGAM Sessions.  Appreciate everybody's patience.

Much love,
Thom

Brent manning the board / producing while Owen cuts a vocal.

Aristotle's Golden Mean meets TGAM.

"Ring for service - or to be obnoxious."

Who's the idiot who removed the bell before realizing it was an intrinsic part of this message?  Oh.  Crap... sorry.

We saw an ad for a new record label in a local magazine.  At first, it seemed to suggest that Dennis Haskins (Saved By The Bell's Mr. Belding) had been signed and was releasing a record, but upon further scrutinization, we realized he was just the keynote at a convention (which, is actually still sort of funny.)

But if he did make an album, any idea what it would sound like?

The Neanderthal-like tendencies of 4 guys who haven't seen girls in 3 weeks.  Necessity is...

The Elms' studio vernacular for a perfectly played performance.

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 14

Mugshot-y enough for ya?

Today, we start off with a special message from our good friend and co-writer, Jim McCormick:

---

It's been a great couple of weeks watching the band make this record.  And by that, I mean watching them get up way too early with enthusiasm (hi, Thom) and grogginess (hi, Chris), and come in much too late and chatty (hi, Nathan and Owen.)  You see, they've been staying in my condo with me.  Seriously, the bits and pieces that I have heard have sounded transcendent and expansive beyond anything I've heard from the band before, and I can't wait till they let me listen to rough mixes -- (hint hint hint).  And since I'm not twitterpated with Twitter just yet, let me use this opportunity to say:  "Jim is 'stoked' to visit The Elms in the studio later today... posted from TwitterFon 2 seconds ago."

Our guest-blogger, Jim McCormick.

--- 

Now that that's overwith...

Yesterday kicked my butt, but had a few welcome surprises. 

A fantastic mix engineer named Dave Way stopped by the studio and hung out with us for a couple of hours.  Dave is responsible for some really stellar-sounding records from the past 15-20 years.  Cool guy. 

After putting Dave in a cab back to the airport, we grabbed lunch and started in on "Thunderhead."  This one sounds cinematic, like you're driving through The Painted freakin' Desert.  No conceptual problems with this one, but since we're tuned down to F#6 tuning (tune the guitar down a half-step, and then drop the "A" to "F#" and the "E" to C#"), I had some serious tuning issues.  I compensated for the lower tuning by putting on thicker strings, but didn't bother doing a quick intonation job.  The new tuning and string gauge changed everything.

So an embarrassing thing happens when, in the midst of fighting these issues (one chord would be "in", but another would sound "out"), I see Gary Louris of The Jayhawks walk into the Control Room with Owen.  We were punching specific chords, where I would tune the guitar especially for that particular chord beforehand.  Not exactly the ass-kicking experience you hope to be providing when the frontman of one of your favorite bands steps in to check things out, but Nate tells me he said he was really impressed with the guitar tone. 

While Owen and Nate hung out with Gary in the lounge, we started in on it again, but eventually Brent stops me and says, "You know... these punches just don't sound as cool as what we had before, even though the tuning might've been a little out.  The original unfixed track sounds like Pearl Jam."  Milligan obviously knows how to speak my language.  I was more than happy to move on at that point.

Owen ripped that song's vocal track a new hole.  If you didn't hear them over the webstream last night, you missed out on a stellar performance.  I was sitting there on the Control Room watching him work, while noticing on my laptop that 90% of all the people I'm following on Twitter were live-tweeting about American #Idol.  All I could think was, "What the f*ck is wrong with all of you people?!" 

Alright.  Gotta head to the studio in a few minutes and play this one to the nines.  If I get finished today, I get to watch UNC play tomorrow at 11 CDT. 

-- Thom

If you were a Les Paul stop tailpiece, this is what you'd be forced to look at all of the time.

Oh so close.

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 13

Nate's holding up rather well.

Gotta stop taking these pictures at the end of the day.

This whole thing feels like it has flown by.  And that's unfortunate, because for the first time, I've actually enjoyed the recording process.  I've always liked having new music when it was all said and done, but getting there was invariably stressful.  Not this time.  This has been 100% fun.

Nate finished his last track yesterday - "A Place In The Sun."  Downhome.  Nate and I both come from a similar musical background.  Growing up in different states, we spent time playing in southern Gospel bands.  The difference is, I think Nate actually enjoyed his tenure playing it.  I hated it, because 6 months after I kerranged my first E Chord (I was only 9), my (immediate) family gave me the choice to either play in the (extended) family band, or watch them sell my guitar.  All I wanted to do was rock, so while they'd spend 75% of rehearsal time fighting, I'd kick on the distortion and practice "Black Dog."

Eventually, a huge altercation arose over whether or not we should wear dressy clothes or full-on suits to a gig at Brother Bob's little ol' Assemblies of God church out yonder there in Splitlog, MO, and the bond in the group wasn't strong enough to weather it, so we split up, citing sartorial differences, and I was free to get back to playing Zeppelin and Aerosmith. 

Anyhow...

Things have swung full circle, because with "A Place In The Sun", it sorta feels like we're playing The Elms' version of a southern Gospel/Country song, except, with loud fussy tube amps and spring reverb and tremolo and an Echoplex.

"Kickin' Like A Mule" took a strange but good turn, too.  I wanted a sound that seemed like it was "burnt", so I cranked an AC30 and rolled-off some of the top end.  Surprisingly, Brent really dug it, and while I was afraid that everybody would want to temper it with a more conservative guitar track on the right side of the stereo spectrum, Brent says, "You know... we need to go really Buck on this one.  If you're going to put your foot through something, go all the way with it."

So he pulls out this pedal he brought from home called "The Fuzz Factory."  I can't describe this pedal.  It cannot be tamed.  You tweak one knob and it completely changes what any of the other knobs are doing.  Almost impossible to find a setting and keep it. 

And then, for a few other sections that didn't contain the Fuzz Factory track, he busts out another special from Keeley (I've mentioned Keeley's compressor several times) called the FuzzHead.  The reason all of this feels significant enough to bring up, is because I typically shoot for what I think are really good "textbook" tube guitar tones.  But we've got plenty of that on the record.  Even though this was initially outside of my comfort zone a little, it was so much fun that I couldn't help myself.  Jarring.  Hopefully you'll find the same.

Owen sang the vocals for "County Fair" before we called it a night.  All of us are still in love with that one. 

Congrats to Ty Lawson on being awarded ACC Player of the Year.  And here's hoping that his swelling goes down so he can play Friday.

-- Thom

The Fuzz Factory.

The Fuzz Head.

The Board.

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 12

"We're looking pretty rough these days, Thom." -NB

Chris came back to town, and brought the fury of Hell along with him (influenza).  It's that time of year again.  I just had a bout with it some 3-4 weeks ago, so I'm hoping I have enough antibodies built up to keep from having to deal with it again. 

But here's the deal... despite battling a fever, chills, and an overall sense of blah that comes along with that, our boy got in the tracking room and rocked it anyway.  Drums are officially finished as of yesterday.  Once he knocked them out, we sent him on his way back home to Louisville, where he is hopefully currently snug in a warm, soft bed recovering.  Pictures of him below.

The tracks were stellar.  "A Place In The Sun" and "Kickin' Like A Mule." 

Nate cut bass tracks for KLAM and re-cut his track for "The Good Guys."

Our friends Jared and Kip are in town, with a few cameras set up in the tracking room documenting.  It's a little distracting at times, but that's the price you pay if you want footage of all the noise you're making, right?  They're both a good hang though, so that makes up for the extra gear and BTUs. 

Started a rhythm section-less track last night called "I Don't Want To Kiss You."  Brent handed me his Tele, plugged it into a Marshall, and then he ran the bypass from my tuner into his Super Reverb where he cranked the tremolo and spring reverb.  Close-mic'd my Marshall with a 57, but used the drums' overheads as distant room mics to capture an admixture of the Marshall and the Super Reverb.  Pretty wild.  I'm typically not a fan of "the down numbers" unless you can do something a little left field with them - make 'em just quirky enough.  Owen and Brent had been talking about stripping IDWTKY down to something really basic, but I had no idea they were meaning something like this.  Pretty cool.

Owen and Jim took off to a Warner Chappell party in town, and the rest of us stayed at the studio and kept working (we didn't mind.)

Nate cut a bass track to anchor the root notes, and his playing was so spot-on that it's hard sometimes to distinguish it from my guitar track.  They almost move as one instrument at times. 

Cut a quick, simple little guitar solo, and then Brent got experimental on the percussion front.  Shaker, a triangle (you read it right), and then, to get a distant chime-y sound, walks 10 feet away from the mic set up, stands on a guitar amp, and plays the tambourine.  Nate captured a wild picture of it below.  There's something crazy and angelic about it.

Brent comes back into the control room, looks at his phone, and says, "Oh sweet.  Colman's going to drop by."  Our good Aussie friend Paul Colman walks into the control room about 15 minutes later.  I hadn't seen him since 2005.  He was always like a big brother to our band.  Nobody has been more supportive of us than Paul.

Three minutes later, Owen and Jim come back much more animated than when they had left us.  Among all the reasons why, one of them might've been that Owen met and talked to one of our heros for quite awhile - The Jayhawks' Gary Louris.  Told Owen that he might drop by the studio sometime this week.  That wouldn't be all that bad if it happened, right?

While Owen sang the lead vocal for IDWTKY, Paul and I slipped out back and hung out on the studio's loading deck for a good hour and a half.  Was great to catch up with him, and... I'll say that it's been awhile since I've really wanted to have a conversation about faith and spirituality with anyone.  But with Paul, it's pretty damn easy.  Kinda told him where I'm at, and then got to hear his no-B.S. take on it.  Good hanging out with him.

Hoping to get 3 songs finished today.  Wish me luck.  We're definitely on the homestretch here.  Several photos below.

-- Thom

Chris listening to playback.

Chris showing the Sabian who's boss. 

Nate started feeling a little under-the-weather, too.

The Transfiguration of Kip.

The aforementioned tambourine photo.

Paul Colman, ladies and gentlemen.

Paul and Owen.

Nate's Staffordshire Bull Terrier... Petty.

Petty Gary Bennett and Owen's Tele.

Homestretch, people.  Homestretch.

31

Thanks to everybody for the Birthday wishes.  I felt the love.

Nathan's family came down from New Castle, IN on Saturday afternoon, so we all went downtown Saturday night to celebrate my birthday an evening early.  There was only one thing in this world that would satisfy:

So good.

Danny (Nate's dad), Vickie (Nate's mom), Katie (Nate's wife), and Nate brought me a chocolate cake, an assortment of Cadbury chocolate bars, and this little toy chicken that walks and lays eggs (bubblegum drops.)  Owen bought my dinner.  Good BBQ, chocolate (also good), and good people. 

Le Cake.

Danny and Owen discussing The Music Biz, etc.

The Womenz.

The Bennett Preservation Society.

Katie and The Birthday Boy.

Piece of Cake... you're going to get ett.

I really don't know what to say about this.

Peyton Manning Shrine.

"Hey Thom... it kinda looks like you, doesn't it.  Heh heh heh heh..."

We've been staying with a good friend - Jim McCormick - the past few days, so post-dinner, Owen dropped me back off at Jim's house before he continued to Brent's home studio to sing a vocal on "Strut."  Jim and I hung out on his back patio, had a few Crown & Cokes, and had an excellent man-to-youngman talk. 

Got up today and went to Jonathan's Grille w/ Jim, Owen, and Nate to eat more Man Food and watch UNC beat the Duke Blue Devils (again.)  Now we're all just chillin' back at Jimbo's, watching Rock Of Love.  Who could ask for anything more?

I just heard a girl on the show say, "It's going to take a lot more than a can of salsa to break me down."

Work resumes tomorrow!  Thanks again, everybody.  I appreciate you all.  Talk soon.

-- Thom

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 11

Yesterday was productive.  We worked hard, and that always leaves you with a good feeling.

I feel like "The Good Guys" is a really important song for us.  It went in a direction that was a little different than I thought, which is fine.  Just took me awhile to re-conceptualize it.  Once I "got" it, I think we started cruising.  Used Brent's EchoPlex - an actual tape delay.  Really warm, thick slapback.  I dig.

I think all of these songs are going to sound fantastic once a mix engineer gets their hands on them, but sometimes a track sounds great just like it is there in the control room with all of the faders thrown up.  TGG is of that ilk.  Tough and sparkly at the same time.  Trust me on that one.

Milligan had to take off, so Andrew stuck around and we cut "Modern Failures 1 & 2" - these little 30 second vignettes that will start and end the record. 

Today is a day off; a re-charging.  Nathan's family is coming down from New Castle, IN.  Tomorrow is yours truly's birthday, so we're going to celebrate it tonight by going to Jack's BBQ here in Nashville.  Later, our buddy Jim McCormick promises to buy me a Shiner on draught.

We'll work on my birthday, which I don't mind at all.  I'll do as much as I possibly can, but hoping that the guys will let me spend a little time in front of the TV to watch UNC vs. Duke. 

Now that we're streaming the second camera of the tracking room, Ustream's chatroom will no longer let me in.  Keeps saying "io error - security issue."  I miss jumping in the room and hanging out with folks.  What kind of crazy shenanigans have you chat regulars been up to?

Alright.  Here are the guitar/amp combinations for tracks from the past few days:

The Wildest Heart

1. Goldtop through Marshall SL100
2. Goldtop through Fender Deluxe
3. Goldtop through Marshall +reversedelay +tremolo (SOLO)

Strut

1. Goldtop through Tonemaster through 4x12 (MAIN+SOLO)
2. LP Deluxe through Princeton
3. LP Deluxe through Fender Deluxe +slapback (guitar licks in the turnarounds and outro)

The West Of Town

1. Goldtop through Princeton
2. Goldtop through Tonemaster through 4x12
3. Goldtop through Tonemaster through 4x12 +slapbackdelay (SOLO)

The Good Guys
1. LP Deluxe through Matchless HC-30 through Marshall 4x12
2. Rushing acoustic
3. Goldtop through EchoPlex through Vox AC30 (SOLO)
4. Sheraton through Marshall SL100 (ARPEGGIOS)

Modern Failures 1 & 2
1. Martin 000-18
2. Sheraton through Fender Super Reverb +tremolo +springreverb

Have a great weekend, everybody.  Talk to you soon.

-- Thom

The Mayhem Knob.

Lookin' better and better every day.

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 10

Nice and full.

A little furry and a lottle tired.

It's just a number, but something about yesterday felt special, being Day #10. 

On the way to the studio, I don't know why he did this, but Owen decided to turn the dial to this Christian radio station here in town called WayFM.  Owen and Nate were laughing, but I was just sitting in the back seat getting more and more pissed off because every single song we heard, the guitar track was a diluted version of every U2 guitar track dating back to 1984.  One song ripped off "Where The Streets Have No Name."  The next ripped off "Pride (In The Name Of Love)."  Irritating.  I can't imagine The Edge would be happy if he heard his sound bastardized like that.  If any "christian rockers" are reading this, the type who routinely drenches their signal in multi-tap delays, please, for the Love of God, grow a set and start playing guitars that sound like guitars again. 

To any christian rock listeners, start demanding more from the people you listen to.

Can you tell I've been grumpy the past few days?

That whole experience really set the mood for me yesterday.  "Scrappy" became the byword for the guitars on "The West Of Town."  Trying to remember how else Brent got me in the frame of mind to play it.  "Dude... this has gotta feel like, we only got five minutes to cut this guitar track, because then we're jumping in the camaro and heading into town to chase women."  I can't really relate to that; I don't own a camaro.  So you be the judge when you finally hear it. 

Really like the guitar solo on this one.  Never really played anything "swampy" before.

Before I knew it, it was 3:45, and I realized I hadn't eaten yet.  Owen started vocals for TW... wait... better not write that one out as an acronym...

Try again.  Owen started vocals for The West Of Town, and even though I knew they'd be working on that, I didn't want to leave the studio in case I was needed in a moment's notice.  So I ordered a Jimmy John's sandwich to be dropped off.  It got there 50 minutes later.  Jimmy John's:  We Deliver... very slowly.

Beach Club.  Hit the spot.  I got over having to wait for it.  Or maybe not, since I'm griping about it here.

Owen, Nathan, and I crowded around a room mic to cut some gang vocals on the choruses (chori?) of The West Of Town.  Nate and Owen can actually sing.  My voice was just there to rough it up a bit. 

Brent is fantastic at tracking percussion, so we oftentimes let him at it.  Yesterday, he stacks 4-5 tambourines and plays them all at the same time... the Polytambo.  It looked heavy, but sounded boss.  His arms started wearing out after awhile, and Owen diplomatically suggested that he either lose a few of them, or cut a small section that could be duplicated throughout the track (oh shut up, you elitist recording snobs - it's just a tambourine track), but Brent persisted:  "No, I just need to man-up and play this part right", much to the delight of the elitist recording snobs.

Owen is all about The Vibe.  One thing we all believe helps evoke The Vibe is a string of white Christmas lights.  He ordered some online last week, and they arrived yesterday morning.  I like 'em.  You'll see them below in the pictures. 

Finished the night by attacking the guitars for "Strut."  Owen's had this concept all along of this song having a really wild opening guitar track.  I had no idea just how wild he was meaning for it to be.  I felt like I was playing it hard, but he kept asking me to turn the amp up, create a little chaos, etc.  So eventually, I just started swinging my arms at the guitar, beating the holy living crap out of my Goldtop.  And I had the Tonemaster's A Channel turned up to 8.  It was not happy about this.  Love love love the track, but I'm afraid that my Goldtop and Tonemaster are going to leave me this weekend and check-in to the Shelter for Battered Gear.  To them I say, "I'm sorry.  I don't know what happened.  I lost control.  I'll never do it again.  I love you."  Next time, I think I'll opt for a watered-down homage to "Walk On" instead. 

That is all.  I'll be in a better mood next time, promise.

-- Thom

See?  These people have the right idea... sort of.

Brent Milligan's Polytambo.

The Polytambo in action.  Like the Christmas lights?

More console musings from Milligan.  I hate nicknames, but don't mind this one so much.

Seeing red.

TGAM SESSIONS - DAY 9

Today was supposed to be a Bass Guitar Marathon, but after scoping the passes, we realized that a lot of Nate's scratch tracks were keepers.  We signed-off on 4 of 6.  He re-cut 2.

"The Wildest Heart" is a bit of a departure for our band, so of course, my parts are a bit of a departure for me, too.  Dialed-in a sound, played the whole thing through, punched a few points, and listened back.  Loved the way that I played it, but hated the sound.  Didn't have enough X Factor.  Gave the sound a little more juice by turning up the level on the Keeley Compressor a few notches.  Replayed it and really liked what we ended up with. 

The guitar on the other side was even stranger territory for me.  I was worried that the part was a little too "musicbox-y," but upon hearing it back in the track in tandem with the other guitar, it worked.  Owen and Nate seemed really into it, so I sorta relented on it, and it ended up growing on me eventually.

Didn't want to waste much time by going out for dinner, so we had Jimmy John's delivered to the studio.  After eating our sammiches, Owen cut lead vocal and BGVs for TWH.  The really nice Neumann u67 that we wanted to use was crapping out on us, so Owen sang into one of the overheard drum mics instead - they rigged it up so Owen could hold it.  Fantastic vocal performance. 

A few of our friends from APA in town came out to hang.  Good to see them, and they promised to take us out for AYCE sushi sometime soon for lunch. 

Finished the night by cutting the guitar solo.  I used a reverse delay for it.  Pretty trippy.

As you may have noticed from Day 8's blog, we nixed "The Wanderer" from The Progress Board.  A few weeks ago, "The Wanderer" was my favorite song of the new bunch, but I was alone in that.  However, since "Long Gone" has risen to the top as my new favorite, and since we're budgeting our Time & Money, I was happy to do a little politicking:  send "The Wanderer" home in exchange for granting "Long Gone" immunity.  You never know how things will turn out when everything goes to mix, but for the moment, everybody thinks "Long Gone" is a shoo-in for the album.  I've got my fingers crossed.

Anyhow... big-ups to those who noticed it (The Wanderer) was gone.  You're observant for sure. 

Many thanks to Kristin from Ipsento Coffeehouse in Chicago.  She sent us some coffee beans that we are looking forward to tearing into tomorrow.  The only thing keeping us alive the past few days has been coffee, so you're a lifesaver, Kristin.

Gonna finish some laundry and go to bed.  G'night, y'all. Zzzzzzzz....

-- Thom

Feel the passion. Mmmmmmm.