Recording at Fidelitorium - Part 2
(continued from Recording at Fidelitorium - Part 1)
Two other records that I assisted Mitch on were the Bird’s of Avalon’s 2008 EP and the upcoming Amy Speace album. The BOA recording was of special note because they bucked all convention of the day to record the EP using two 4-track machines, similar to how the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s” was made. It was another experience I’ll never forget, with all hands on deck pushing buttons trying to make it work. I felt like a true tape-op for a moment, and the band rose to the challenge with no fear of the consequences. In one of those “isn’t it a small world” moments, I realized on the Amy Speace session that her band and I had already met in New York when they were backing the up and coming singer/songwriter Charlie Faye. I had recorded a demo with Charlie the previous year at my studio in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC.
Certainly a highlight of my time spent at the Fidelitorium was the Brian Vader Ark self-titled album produced and engineered by rock legend Bill Szymczyk, who made his way producing a dozen #1 hit records, including the Eagles “Hotel California”, B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” and the Who’s “You Better, You Bet”. Other legends on the project were Joe Vitale, drummer for Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Willie Weeks, who’s credits include George Harrison, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, and Steuart Smith, the current guitarist for the Eagles and who recorded many hits with Rosanne Cash, Melissa Ethridge, and many others. This was the session were I learned to keep my mouth shut, and make sure the coffee was strong. Other than Bob Engle, the ProTools expert for the project, everyone else on the album has multiple gold and platinum records on their walls. In one of the first days I suggested that Willie try a SansAmp direct box to get the bass sound he was looking for, and I foolishly tried to bait him into using it with the line “you should try it, it’s been used on several big records”. Immediately Joe and Bill were standing over me asking about making “big” records and I knew I was in for it. These guys loved having a good time, and ribbing me seemed to be a part of their fun. I only saved myself when I came back with the line “I think you miss understood me, when I said big records, I meant 12 inch vinyl rather than 7 inch.” I barely got away with that one, but everyone laughed. Whew!
I’ve also had the good fortune of working with multiple time Grammy Award winner Jaime Lagueruela on a couple of projects. He ended up mixing two songs on the Kraft Quartet’s album “Boiled Peanuts”, the title track and “Falafel House”. Mastered versions of both songs (which are original compositions by Aaron Bachelder) can be heard on the Kraft Quartet’s website or myspace page.
Other projects I brought to the Fidelitorium were the Drunk Stuntmen, who Mitch produced when they recorded live to 16-track tape. They recorded the entire album in only 3 days, and Mitch showed himself as a true master dialing in the sounds on the spot. He also mixed several projects for me, including more tracks for the Kraft Quartet and some of the Hellsayer’s album “All You Need To Sleep” that I co-produced with Wayne Robbins. I also spent a week in the studio in Feburary of 2008 recording drums and guitars for the Kraft Quartet and Jumpin’ Salty with my friends, and Mitch and Mark Williams engineered the sessions. All of the drums were printed to one mono track, they came out huge and punchy, and only having one fader to push has made mixing them much easier for me!
Most of the albums I’ve worked on were mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering in Chapel Hill, NC. In addition, Dave Harris mastered a couple and Greg Calbi mastered the Sammies “Sandwich”. Tracks from all of the sessions I’ve worked on are available to listen to on my myspace player at myspace.com/morgankraft. There is a drop down menu on the player that defaults to “Featured Playlist”. Select the playlist “Engineer Credits”, click play and enjoy.
Morgan Kraft – October 2008
Two other records that I assisted Mitch on were the Bird’s of Avalon’s 2008 EP and the upcoming Amy Speace album. The BOA recording was of special note because they bucked all convention of the day to record the EP using two 4-track machines, similar to how the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s” was made. It was another experience I’ll never forget, with all hands on deck pushing buttons trying to make it work. I felt like a true tape-op for a moment, and the band rose to the challenge with no fear of the consequences. In one of those “isn’t it a small world” moments, I realized on the Amy Speace session that her band and I had already met in New York when they were backing the up and coming singer/songwriter Charlie Faye. I had recorded a demo with Charlie the previous year at my studio in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC.
Certainly a highlight of my time spent at the Fidelitorium was the Brian Vader Ark self-titled album produced and engineered by rock legend Bill Szymczyk, who made his way producing a dozen #1 hit records, including the Eagles “Hotel California”, B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” and the Who’s “You Better, You Bet”. Other legends on the project were Joe Vitale, drummer for Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Willie Weeks, who’s credits include George Harrison, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, and Steuart Smith, the current guitarist for the Eagles and who recorded many hits with Rosanne Cash, Melissa Ethridge, and many others. This was the session were I learned to keep my mouth shut, and make sure the coffee was strong. Other than Bob Engle, the ProTools expert for the project, everyone else on the album has multiple gold and platinum records on their walls. In one of the first days I suggested that Willie try a SansAmp direct box to get the bass sound he was looking for, and I foolishly tried to bait him into using it with the line “you should try it, it’s been used on several big records”. Immediately Joe and Bill were standing over me asking about making “big” records and I knew I was in for it. These guys loved having a good time, and ribbing me seemed to be a part of their fun. I only saved myself when I came back with the line “I think you miss understood me, when I said big records, I meant 12 inch vinyl rather than 7 inch.” I barely got away with that one, but everyone laughed. Whew!
I’ve also had the good fortune of working with multiple time Grammy Award winner Jaime Lagueruela on a couple of projects. He ended up mixing two songs on the Kraft Quartet’s album “Boiled Peanuts”, the title track and “Falafel House”. Mastered versions of both songs (which are original compositions by Aaron Bachelder) can be heard on the Kraft Quartet’s website or myspace page.
Other projects I brought to the Fidelitorium were the Drunk Stuntmen, who Mitch produced when they recorded live to 16-track tape. They recorded the entire album in only 3 days, and Mitch showed himself as a true master dialing in the sounds on the spot. He also mixed several projects for me, including more tracks for the Kraft Quartet and some of the Hellsayer’s album “All You Need To Sleep” that I co-produced with Wayne Robbins. I also spent a week in the studio in Feburary of 2008 recording drums and guitars for the Kraft Quartet and Jumpin’ Salty with my friends, and Mitch and Mark Williams engineered the sessions. All of the drums were printed to one mono track, they came out huge and punchy, and only having one fader to push has made mixing them much easier for me!
Most of the albums I’ve worked on were mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering in Chapel Hill, NC. In addition, Dave Harris mastered a couple and Greg Calbi mastered the Sammies “Sandwich”. Tracks from all of the sessions I’ve worked on are available to listen to on my myspace player at myspace.com/morgankraft. There is a drop down menu on the player that defaults to “Featured Playlist”. Select the playlist “Engineer Credits”, click play and enjoy.
Morgan Kraft – October 2008
