Not many people may be familiar with Howard Hart, the California-based guitarist who packs a huge punch with fat guitar licks and great production. Seymour Duncan hipped me to Howard when I was putting together Guitar Masters, Vol. 1. I was really impressed with his guitar style, but even more so with his innate ability for production. He has a great ear for instrument placement in a mix, which is very important for instrumental music, so I immediately approached Howard to be part of the BHP Music compilation, Get the Led Out!. He fittingly chose “Four Sticks.”

What guitars and amps did you use to record “Four Sticks?”

The main guitar I used was an EVH Wolfgang, but a couple of the rhythm bits were doubled using the Ibanez RG series. But there are also some acoustics scattered throughout the mix as well – an Ovation steel string and a Montalvo nylon. I like layering guitar tones. A little goes a long way in terms of subtle differences in gain and bite. This particular track was done with a combination of a Mesa Boogie DC- 3 and a Genesis 1 – I actually love that thing for adding a little edge to the mic sound. The cabinet used was a Mesa with two 12” Celestions – the Vintage 30s.

Do you have your own studio or did you use an outside studio for this project? Were there any key players involved in making this song?

I used my own studio that’s set up at home. What’s funny about this track is that I had just returned from my honeymoon and was a little crunched for time, so I recorded the drums at a friend’s studio and we used Pro Tools. When we brought the tracks back there were a few problems and I had to put some extra time in to straighten it all out. I used bits from the Pro Tools session and everything else was done at the home studio. Everyone involved really put in 100 percent. Nick Sitar played drums and also came over to the studio to do the battery of percussion. Melisa Kary was key because she offered up a lot of great ideas during the recording process and helped out enormously with co-production. Rod Ratelle played bass and came up with the idea of using an upright acoustic/electric on the track – I wish you could hear more of it. It was great, but with all those guitars and the wall of percussion, the subtleties sometimes got lost. The vocal “ahs” on the B and C sections were an afterthought. It just felt like it needed something, so I asked Melisa and she made it happen. She’s done a lot of work in the past with producers like Michael Walden and really knows how to record and layer vocals. It’s a two-part harmony (keeping with Page’s concept), but we did two or three per-line – it was a lot fun building the beast.


How did you record the guitar and amp?

Believe it or not, I still love a Shure 57 for guitar. Close mic’ing is cool for certain things, but I actually like to back off the amp a bit – maybe four or five feet back and up a bit. Boogies and Marshalls sound good loud, but you have to worry about the “studio ghosts” that day, so they can actually be captured. I’ve recently been going through some old DAT tapes and doing a little re-mastering. There’s nothing like a great sounding amp in a great sounding room with all that breath being caught by the microphone.

What format did you record the song on?

The original drum tracks were done on Pro Tools. Everything else was done using Sonar, but as usual, I like to approach things with a tape mentality, in terms of performance. At this point in time, hard drive recording is incredible – but it still comes down to the musician. Rod did his bit straight through, with one punch to tighten up a kick. I like that because I believe you can feel it on a track, but I’m a digital man at this point.

Give us a little background on the song and how you envisioned the guitar sounding?

“Four Sticks” is an all-time favorite for me and, in my strange head, it has always sounded like an instrumental. Because of this, it seemed a cool choice for the Bohemian project. Page is always “touchy” territory; he was brilliant in the studio and his body of work speaks for itself. As far as envisioning the guitar sounds, I think what we hear in our head is always grander than the final outcome, but that’s just being neurotic! I’m pleased with this track and it was great fun to do. The solo section was interesting. It
was late and I played four or five solos, so I just picked one. The next day, it didn’t grab me so I got the idea of “orchestrating” it – dropping in harmonies, kicks, etc. throughout the take and it worked. It’s actually one of my favorite sections in the track – happy accidents!

As you can see, Howard really got the Led out with his version of “Four Sticks.” While sticking to the original, he brought his own flavor of guitar to the song that Jimmy Page himself would be proud of. “Four Sticks” is available at iTunes. For more on Howard Hart visit howardhart.com.

How many of you remember a band called Freak of Nature, formed by ex-White Lion singer, Mike Tramp, in the early nineties? It wasn’t a very memorable hair band and and was nothing spectacular in the music department, but it spawned a talented guitarist from Spain named Marcus Nand.

Nand was born into a musical family in England and started playing the acoustic guitar at the age of seven. When he was eight, his family migrated to southern Spain. At the age of twelve, he started playing semi-professionally in venues in the province of Malaga and later learned and played flamenco guitar with the Gypsies of Andalucia – a privilege reserved for few outsiders. With his unique background, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his love of music and has since played with Jeff Scott Soto, Carmine Rojas and Neal Schon to name a few. He also performed on the Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin and Steve Stevens’ album, Situation Dangerous.

What is most striking about Nand’s playing is his very fluid, classical acoustic feel. He first got in touch with me when I was producing Guitar Masters, Vol.1 through Seymour Duncan. His style is very reminiscence of the Gipsy Kings – when it comes to flamenco guitar he plays with confidence and authenticity. The song he sent me was “Rumba” and I immediately knew that it would be a perfect addition to the compilation.


What guitars and amps did you use to record “Rumba?”
I used a Takamine nylon string cutaway, a Godin Grand Concert and a ‘57 reissue Strat with a Seymour Duncan Little ‘59 mini-humbucker in the bridge. The Strat is so used that it actually looks like a real ‘57. It’s still my favorite guitar though. I used the Takamine for the flamenco “rumba” rhythms, the Godin for the the main melody and the Strat for the lead.


How did you capture the guitars and amps?
The flamenco “rumba” rhythm needed to sound organic. The only way to really do that is to mic a real nylon string or flamenco guitar. It takes me ages to get a guitar sound, so I just move the mic around until it’s right. I have no technique for that – it’s really just trial and error. I doubled the rhythms and hard panned left and right to get that fat, Gipsy Kings-type of sound. You can actually quadruple track that type of rhythm to make it sound great, especially if the takes are loose and there is space in the track. Then, I sent them to a group track and compressed the group.

The melody was a little simpler. The Godin guitar has a great preamp so it’s relatively easy to make it sound good. It’s also the type of nylon string that sounds good with a pick so that’s what I did. I just used the XLR out and went straight in and compressed. EQ-wise, I find if you take around 1.5k out of pretty much any direct guitar signal it makes it sound a little more natural.

I used to be a tone junkie and always used Marshalls straight and modified – and still do live – but I’ve found that for home recording, the Line 6 amps and POD do the trick. I used the POD straight in for the electric guitar tone on the solo.


What format did you use to record the song?
The song was recorded entirely on hard drive using Steinberg Cubase SX3.


Give us a little background of the song and how you envisioned the guitar sounds.
The song came about because I was doing some tests for an upcoming project. I wanted something not to showcase my guitar playing, but to be a melodic image evoking experiences for the listener. Well, I guess I wouldn’t have minded it showcasing my playing, too! I guess I wanted to do something with commercial appeal.

There are many aspects to my guitar playing that I can’t always use in the same track. With “Rumba,” I wanted to do something with all those aspects, such as flamenco rhythm, some cool lead playing and electric guitar. I always try for textures when recording guitars, and I’m a firm believer in the right tool for the right job, but sometimes it’s hard to combine nylon string and electric. I actually enjoy doing that and wrote a whole vocal record of [nylon string] combined with electronic instruments, which I’ll finish one of these days.

Check out Marcus’ performance on “Rumba” which is out on the Guitar Masters, Vol. 1 compilation. For more info visit marcusnand.com

The name Rob Balducci may not be a well known, but he’s a young, up-and-coming guitarist from New York. I met Rob while producing bassist Randy Coven’s new CD when Rob joined the project. He brought a level of professionalism to the sessions, not to mention a fresh take on Randy’s tunes. It turned out that Rob was signed to Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label, with three solo CDs to his name.

His 2002 release, Mantra caught my attention and I had the pleasure of asking him about his recording process.

What was your main guitar and amp setup for Mantra?
I have been endorsed by Ibanez guitars for over 12 years and they are my choice for guitars. I used my L.A. Custom Shop Ibanez RG, which I call the “The Grinch.” It has a basswood body with a maple top. I am also endorsed by DiMarzio pickups – my favorite pickups are the Steve Special and the Air Norton Humbuckers. I also used an alder RG with a maple top, and a mahogany RG 7-string with a maple top. All of these guitars have rosewood fingerboards.

For this record, the main amp was a Mesa Boogie Mark IIc+ that was modded by amp/ rack guru, Mark Snyder. I also had Soldano send me a modded 100-watt head. The two amps sounded awesome together and I went back and forth between them for the majority of the CD. I also used a Fender Bandmaster head for some cleans.

For speaker cabs, I have a pair of original 1969 Marshall vintage 4x12 cabs with 25W Celestion Greenbacks in them. They have the original red tolex.


What mics did you use to record the guitar parts?
We used a Shure SM57 in conjunction with a Shure SM81. The CD was produced by Ben Fowler and engineered by Ben and Tony Lewis.


What pedals did you use on this project? Were there any in particular that you relied on for the album’s tone?
I am an overdrive junky. For this record, I used a Boss OD-1. My overdrive tones are a combination of natural amp overdrive and overdrive pedals. I also use a Chandler Tube Driver pedal, which is awesome! I like to run my amps hot and then throw the OD in front to bring the harmonics out and add sustain. I also used a combination of Morley wah pedals, including the Bad Horsie 2.


Do you have a favorite “can’t live without” guitar processor that you used on this project?
We used a TC Electronic 2290 delay and an Eventide. I love the delays on the TC 2290 – they are very clean and transparent and do not degrade or color your tone.


Was the album recorded on a digital or analog format? What studio did you use to track and mix?
The CD was recorded in analog format. We recorded the drum tracks at Avatar Studios in New York using a Neve board. In two days we banged out all 11 tracks. I just love Avatar Studios; I think it has the best drum room in New York City. The vibe is so great and the studio itself has such history.

As for the guitar and bass tracks they were recorded at a small studio in New York called No Mystery. We did the bass tracks first and then I locked myself in the studio and did not leave for three days. I remember coming out of the studio and calling my doctor because I could not feel the fingers on my left hand! We mixed the CD at Emerald Studios in Nashville.


What is your compositional process?
My songwriting process is one that I have built upon since I started writing instrumental music. In my songs, I consider the guitar to be the vocal and the compositional style is as if a singer was singing a chorus/verse etc. In my process, each song that I write has some sort of relation to my life or experiences – an inspiration that means something to me. This is where instrumental music is so great – it crosses all language barriers and cultures. Words do not get in the way and the power of the music can draw you in, which is what excites me about writing songs.


What are some of the current projects you are working on?
I am currently working on my fourth CD, which is titled Violet Horizon. This will be my third CD for Favored Nations. I am very excited about this new CD. It is being produced by fellow axeman, Carl Roa, and myself.

I am also very excited to be recording and writing with bassist Randy Coven. This is my first time writing with another artist and the tunes and tones are amazing. I will also be performing clinics for Ibanez throughout the rest of the year.

For tour dates, check out Rob’s site at robbalducci.com. Rob will also be featured on Randy Coven’s release next year on BHP MUSIC, Ltd.

Native Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel’s technique has been described as fingerstyle, a unique way of playing the guitar similar to the way a pianist plays piano using all ten fingers. In fact, guitar legend Chet Atkins honored Tommy Emmanuel with the title of “Certified Guitar Player” for his lifetime contribution to the instrument, a rare honor shared by only three other people in the world – Jerry Reed, Steve Wariner and John Knowles.

His career has spanned over four decades and includes 16 music and instructional recordings. Among his achievements was receiving a 2007 Grammy nomination for the song “Gameshow Rag” from his CD, The Mystery, which was released on the Favored Nations label. Tommy was also voted one of the Top Three Favorite Artists in an Acoustic Guitar magazine readers’ poll. Tommy was honored by Australia’s Rolling Stone magazine as most popular guitarist for two consecutive years. He also has four Platinum and Gold albums, and garnered the “Golden Guitar” award in both 2006 and 2007 at the CMAA Awards in Australia.

Ironically, back in the mid-nineties, Tommy and I had something in common: NAC Radio. I had signed with Instinct Records and just released my acid jazz album Last Kiss Goodbye, which received quite a bit of airplay at NAC Radio. Around that same time, Tommy’s CD, Midnight Drive, was cruising the same stations on the dial. Oddly, we had never spoken until this interview.

I asked him about his most recent CD, The Mystery, and, in particular, the song, “Cantina Senese.”

What guitars and mics were used to record the CD?
In “Cantina,” I played three parts, sometimes in unison and sometimes in harmony. I used my maple guitars and mic’ed them with two Neumann 149s. I got a drum machine to play the bass drum and conga parts, then overdubbed brushes and real drums around it. Two of the guitar parts were played on steel strings, with one panned to the left and one panned to the center. The third part was played on a very ordinary Takamine nylon string that I borrowed. I wanted to get the sound of a real guitar trio with a party atmosphere.


Where was the album recorded?
At a friend’s place in Nashville called Azalea Studio; we mixed it at Wistaria Studio in Virginia. Kim Person engineered the album – she is a great engineer, specializing in acoustic guitar. She can get such a great natural sound from the guitar.


What acoustic mic’ing techniques did you use?
I used a Neumann KM184 pointing down the neck of the guitar towards the soundhole. Right in front of me, I used a handmade mic that a friend of Kim had designed, similar to an old Telefunken 251 and centered to the soundhole about 8” in front of me. I also took a direct out from my guitar pickup into my AER acoustic amp that was mic’ed in a separate room. When we did the mix, we left both acoustic guitar mics dry and put just a little reverb on the amp mic to create that big, beautiful depth – that really crystal clear sound, like you’re right in front of my guitar.


What preamps were used?
Kim used Pendulum preamps, which were made for her studio (Pendulum Audio specializes in high-quality, handbuilt vacuum tube recording equipment designed for amplifying stringed instruments – check them out at pendulumaudio.com).


Digital or analog?
We recorded the whole album in three days using ProTools. For preproduction, Kim goes into the studio the day before and sets up the mics and tweaks the sounds, so everything is ready for me to record. The next day, I find the right spot on the mic and just go from there. I like using my custom guitars that were made for me in Australia.

As an engineer friend of mine once told me after he had witnessed Tommy playing alongside Les Paul at New York’s Iridium, “You’ve got to check this cat out!” I now advise you to do the same at tommyemmanuel.com.

One of my mentors in studio recording was a wonderful guy named Geoff Gray who owned Far & Away Studios in New York. I remember graduating from the Center for the Media Arts and finding work as an assistant engineer at his studio back in 1989. I learned quite a bit about studio recording and producing musicians during my tenure with Geoff. Since then, he has relocated Far & Away Studios to Boulder, Colorado and continues to work with many different artists. He especially enjoys working with new acts and helping them create the best recordings possible. To Geoff, building good relationships with his clients has always been key and many have become long-time friends.

Recently Geoff was in town and stopped by Jungle Room Studios for a chat. In addition to working on mixes with me at the studio for the upcoming album Fretworx, he gave me the lowdown on Far & Away Studios and some of his favorite techniques for recording guitar.


How did you come up with the design of your studio? Were there any other studios that influenced you?
I remembered the first time I walked into the Power Station/Avatar Studio A and thought, “This is the most sonically and visually comfortable room I’ve ever been in.” I wanted to create that in Colorado. We used indigenous pine and brought the outside to the inside – Rich Eberhardt came up with the overall design.

They don’t make Martins and Strats and Les Pauls out of carpet. Wood just sounds great for a recording environment. The studio houses 17’ ceilings, natural light, stunning views of the Flatirons [rock formations near Boulder], three iso areas and a live echo chamber prefaced by a tube two-track Ampex.


Can you share your mic’ing techniques with us for both amps and acoustic guitars?
We have various amp rooms and, depending on the size of the room, I vary the mics. Generally in the smaller areas I go to a 57 or 58 off-axis and close to the grille. We use the big room often for overdubs and that is perfect for the Royer 122s back about 18”. Unlike the amp booths, we encourage leakage from that room. The Royers are bidirectional so I have to be cautious of the player standing near it and stomping on pedals.

For example, in the case of Sammy Dee Morton’s record, he didn’t want to use headphones, so we had the Fender in the big room poking out of the iso booth. I used a 57 and 58 to hedge my bets – we chose the 58. On the bass amp we used an EV RE20 on the big speakers and a Sennheiser 421 on the 10s. This was also live in the room 12’ from Sammy’s amp. We printed the drums in the same room, too.

With acoustic guitars, a DPA 4041 near the soundhole is amazing. This is an omni with a twist. If the acoustic is a major part of the song, I always use two Neumann KM184s, one pointed up toward the bridge, back 15” or so; the other pointed near the neck joint, also about that far back. I also like mono guitar accompanied with a mono Nashvilletuned Taylor mic’ed up with a DPA or KM 184 near the neck joint.


Do you use digital or analog for recording? What is your setup?
We use a hybrid of Pro Tools HD and a Studer 2-inch. We have the 2-inch outs normalled to the HD-ins so that I can have both digital and analog. Guitars generally get recorded directly to Pro Tools through Sony DMX converters, but go through an old LA-2A, or LA-3As in the case of two acoustic mics. I love old Symetrix 202 mic pres for all guitars. We have API 312s that sound just great for all guitars – sometimes it’s the Neve 1095s. During mixdown, I love the Neve 1095 EQs and the old API 550As. Shelving with the APIs on acoustics is a beautiful thing.


What mics do you use to record the guitar?
I think a 57 is just great, the Royers are amazing in the right circumstances, a 421 on a cab is fun and the DPAs never cease to amaze. The DPA 4023s in the ORTF pattern back from the cab are shocking. I’ll often combine the 57 with the Royer, but try to keep them on the same speaker in a multispeaker cab so that I don’t have phase nightmares if I use them both.


Do you have a favorite “can’t live without” guitar processor that you use?
Eventide Harmonizers are my favorites. We have three and they all have different stock programs. For a Haas effect I use the 949; for delays and sick effects I use the H3000s. We have oddities that we sometimes dust off like an Acousticomputer, MXR Flanger/Doubler, Effectron Delays and tape delays to chambers.

If you live in the vicinity of Boulder, do yourself a favor and check out Far & Away Studios for your next recording. Say Brian sent you. And check out Geoff’s work on “Dazed And Confused” on Get The Led Out – Led Zeppelin Salute. He recorded all of the guitars at Jungle Room Studios in New York. For pictures of Far & Away Studios visit myspace.com/farnawaystudios.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Zakk Wylde replaced the late, great Randy Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne’s band. Even though there were a couple of guitarists before him, Zakk is truly the only guitarist who did the gig justice. The Wylde Irish boy from New Jersey really showed the world he could take the guitar farther than any of his predecessors, and in the past two decades with Ozzy, as well as in his own solo projects, he has emerged as a major influence to metal guitarists everywhere.

Thinking back to the early eighties, I remember when Randy Rhoads played guitar for Ozzy and how in awe we all were of Randy’s techniques on those two ground-breaking records, Diary of a Madman and Blizzard Of Ozz. When Zakk came along everyone was wondering how anyone would be able to follow in Randy’s footsteps, but Zakk proved himself to be worthy of the task and then some. In 1992, when I saw Zakk at the Coconut Teaser in L.A. with his southern rock band, Pride and Glory, I was able to see what an amazing showman he was, and hear his great vocal talents as well. I later picked up a Randy Coven album with the song, “I Wish” on it and there was Zakk singing his heart out, sounding very much like Gregg Allman. Later, in the nineties, he formed the heavier-than-thou band, Black Label Society, and has released eight albums with them, most recently Shot to Hell.

I had the pleasure of rapping with Zakk on the phone about everything from his three kids to recording Shot to Hell and beyond.

Where was Shot to Hell recorded?

We used Ameraycan Studios in North Hollywood.


What is your typical guitar and amp setup?

For guitars, I’ll bring the Les Paul and the Rock Replica Randy Rhoads polka dot V guitar made by GMW Guitar Works that I like to use on solos. I will also use a 12- string and 6-string acoustic – I bring the whole arsenal.

I like to go through different amps to see what works, but I’ll usually use just one. I’ll bring the Marshall JMP, JCM800 and JCM2000, but usually use the 800. I will also bring a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus. You bring all your crayons with you; it’s not like you’re going to use all 64 of them, but if you need them, they’re there.


Any pedals you can’t live without?

I have a milk crate full of all sorts of pedals. I always bring my pedalboard that I use live. The Dunlop Chorus pedal, the MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive Pedal, the Van Halen MXR Phase 90, the Dunlop Uni-Vibe and the Dunlop Wah pedal. Whether it’s for Ozzy or Black Label Society, they all work great for me.


What are your main axes?

I leave the “Holy Grail” – my original 1981 custom Les Paul – at home now. I use the Gibson Signature Bullseye Flying V with EMG pickups and my Custom Les Paul.


Did you record the album analog or digital?

It’s recorded all analog. We didn’t rehearse; we just went into the studio and wrote the record – that’s where all the magic happens. We’ll then dump it into ProTools if we need to shorten it or copy and paste. We record the whole album in one shot, then dump it down digitally. Back in the day, when we recorded everything on analog, if you had to edit something you had to cut tape and if you made a mistake you were screwed.


What about mics?

I like the Shure SM57.


How did you come up with the cover of the nuns playing pool and hanging with the devils inside the booklet? And that close-up of you in full devil makeup?

A buddy of mine owns a bar in Santa Clarita, and the people at the photo shoot were like someone’s grandmother or grandfather. They were just hanging out having a great time posing for these pictures, and we were all drinking all day and laughing hysterically at these characters. They were great people to work with and we had a lot of fun doing it. The next day, I woke up on the sofa with my makeup still on – the horns still stuck to my forehead – and when my little boy saw me he starting touching the horns on my head and screaming, “I want my daddy back!” I probably ruined him for life. That will win me the Father of the Year award in Good Housekeeping!

You can check out Zakk Wylde and Randy Coven’s great rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” on the compilation Guitar Masters, Vol. 1.

Eric Johnson’s NASA Tone

The man who needs no introduction to the world of guitar and outstanding tone: Eric Johnson.

The first time I heard Eric was back in 1985 when he did a guest appearance on Steve Morse’s solo record, Stand Up. He contributed vocals on the song, “Distant Star,” in addition to his signature guitar tone. The following year, Guitar Player magazine showcased Eric’s song “Cliffs of Dover” on their promo vinyl record that came with every issue. Spinning that song for the first time on the record player had a very powerful effect on me and prompted me to see him at the China Club in New York the very same year. He put on an amazing show and I felt like I had witnessed a great guitar player before he really exploded onto the scene. Four years later, “Cliffs of Dover” earned Eric a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental, topping fellow nominees the Allman Brothers Band, Danny Gatton, Rush and Yes. Even before this song gave him the recognition he deserved, he had been a session player in the seventies for such artists as Cat Stevens, Carole King and Christopher Cross. In fact, Eric had played on the Grammy sweeping Christopher Cross selftitled album in 1980. Since then, Eric has released several solo CDs, and his most recent, Bloom was released in 2005.


The History of “Columbia”
I had the pleasure of talking with Eric about his CD Bloom and the song, “Columbia.” For me, that song in particular felt like the CD’s signature song due to its “Cliffs of Dover” vibe as well as its positive, upbeat progression. Eric has a keen sense of songwriting and composition, and that has always placed him head and shoulders above other guitarists, hence his Grammy Award which is rare for a rock instrumentalist.

When I caught up with Eric and asked him about the origin of the song he said he wrote it in memory of the space shuttle Columbia which disintegrated over Texas, his home state. Being a born and breed New Yorker, I could relate to his need to express himself over such a devastating tragedy hitting so close to home. Eric told me that he had always been a fan of astronomy and NASA, so when the tragedy hit he immediately felt compelled to sit down and write a song. Written as a commemoration and tribute to the lives that were lost, Eric said, “I wanted to make it more of a positive message, a salute, a celebration rather than just concentrating on a few moments of tragedy, but instead the bigger picture of these brave people’s lives.” After the song was released, he mentioned that crew-member Kalpana Chawla’s husband contacted him and told him that he, along with other astronauts at NASA, really enjoyed the song because it was an uplifting tribute instead of a dirge.


Setup and Gear for Bloom
Eric’s typical setup is a BK Butler Tube Driver or an AC Booster through a Marshall JMP Super Lead and a Dunlop Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, or an old Ibanez Tube Screamer through a Marshall JTM45. “I have a couple of different Marshalls with a little different circuitry. Some are more Hendrix rhythm, big- Fender-sounding and not as grainy with bigger, thicker rhythm tones and overdrive. Then I have some that are more Super Lead JMP that have a lot of gain within the amp. I’ll crank that up and get a lot of distortion from the amp. I also have a Twin Reverb that has Eminence speakers and when you crank it up it has an interesting type of lead tone.” For the song “Columbia,” Eric used a Strat with the Butler Tube Driver through a JMP Marshall. Eric will sometimes use two amps at a time with a switcher to get a stereo effect, but when overdubbing he likes to concentrate on one amp at a time. Eric says that the BK Butler works really well with the Marshall. It was nice to talk to an artist who really writes from the heart and has true meaning behind his compositions. Check out Eric’s genius on Bloom from Favored Nations. Also, expect a new album from Eric later in the year.

Channeling the Guitar Hero – Doug Doppler

Favored Nations’ artist Doug Doppler is now a certified guitar hero through his involvement with the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the ‘80s. Doppler became part of the WaveGroup Sound production house family in 2007, contributing six tracks to the Eighties version of the multimillion-unit selling Guitar Hero franchise. His remake of Extreme’s “Play with Me” serves as the game’s Furious Fretwork Encore – a difficult track to play, and a perfect showcase for Doppler’s amazing guitar skills. In fact, on YouTube, videos of people playing to Doppler’s cut have already generated over 100,000 hits. A former student of Joe Satriani, Doug was chosen by his former teacher to preside over teaching duties at the Berkeley, California studio. It’s no wonder why Ibanez endorsed Doug, asking him to write a promotional song for the Zero Resistance tremolo from their new S Series guitars, which Doug entitled, “Zero Gravity.”

The Doppler Effect
For the song “Zero Gravity,” Doug used an Ibanez S470 into an M-Audio Black Box set on a Dual Rectifier model. The Black Box is a creative tool for the guitarist, combining amp modeling, drum machine features and an audio interface for computer-based recording. It boasts some of the greatest guitar amps of all time – including the Fender Bassman, Fender Deluxe, Fender Twin, Vox AC30, Marshall JTM45, Marshall Plexi, Marshall JCM 2000, Hiwatt DR-103, Soldano SLO-100, Mesa Boogie Maverick, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and Bogner Uberschall – and programmable drive and tone controls, not to mention 99 built-in drum patterns.

Doug adds, “At various points on the track I introduce various effects like delay and chorus, all of which originated in the Black Box as opposed to using plug-ins. The Black Box, like many modeling devices, shines in its plug and play nature.”


Digital Domain
“I’m a Pro Tools shop, and this track was cut with my Digi001, which has since been upgraded to 002. I do a lot of session work these days, and have become a bit of a mad scientist in the edit window,” Doug says. A good thing to point out is that guitarists have become much more proficient at recording their own tracks and editing them together through the convenience of cut, copy, and paste functions. This is especially true with the editing procedures of ProTools. Doug goes on the recall, “Oddly enough, on this song, I didn’t edit the guitar tracks at all. It was written and recorded in one day, with the exception of the bass track, which was added a few days later.”

“One of the track’s cool incidentals was the drum loops – most loopheads would recognize them from Garage Band. What was fun was how I used them in the track. I cut the track to a drum machine beat and then took the BPM into Garage Band to grab some loops and set them up along the timeline in a linear array. Then I imported them into Pro Tools and sliced and diced and did some stacking as well. What’s cool about this approach is that you get an instantaneous palette to work from instead of loading a bunch of samples and trying them over a section, one at a time.”

This is an important tip to remember when working with drum programming; always have enough samples to access while programming, so you don’t have to stop and load samples and break the creative flow. Nothing is as bad as stopping and looking for a certain drum fill through hundreds of samples and the subsequent loss of concentration.


Gravity at Work
Rob Nishida, head of artist relations at Ibanez, sent Doug a new S470 guitar to try out during the recording of “Zero Gravity.” “The funny thing is that the fine tuner accidentally broke, and it took the low E down to B while the rest of the guitar stayed almost perfectly in tune. The point being, if you play a power chord shape on the low E with that tuning, you end up with octaves, and that’s how that track came about – me fiddling around in the studio. In terms of the sound design, once I had the composition in place, I picked the effect treatments I wanted to use for each section. This song is really a tremolo demonstration and some effects sound better for certain types of bar work than others. I did a little experimenting and found what seemed to work. The track is an interesting blend of the creative and experimental, which for me is one of the greatest pleasures in the digital domain.”

A great characteristic of the digital domain is the endless creative possibilities it affords. Inspired by the S470 and the Black Box, Doug was able to call up any desired amp tone combined with ProTools to perfect “Zero Gravity.” This is a perfect marriage of the digital domain and the devastating riffs of the Guitar Hero.

Check out “Zero Gravity” on the guitar compilation, Guitar Masters, Vol. 1 from BHP MUSIC, available in music stores. You can also check out his killer chops on the upcoming instrumental CD, GET THE LED OUT! A Led Zeppelin Salute, due out next month.

Joe Satriani – Creating the Engine

Most people think of Joe Satriani as a shredder, but in fact he released an album back in 2000 entitled Engines of Creation, which blended electronica with rock guitar elements without losing that characteristic Satriani sound. Combining such disparate influences as Jeff Beck’s Who Else and You Had It Coming with ‘90s electronica artists such as Apollo 440 and the Chemical Brothers, Joe was able to inject live rock guitar elements into electronic music.

On Engines, Joe takes some great jungle grooves, like the opening track, “Devil’s Slide,” and blends them with synths and overdriven guitars to create a melee of contoured, driving tones. What Joe brings to the table is his great sense of melody and acrobatic finger stunts.

On the cut “Attack,” Joe deftly matches the rhythm figure with the drum n’ bass groove, resulting in the perfect marriage of two genres typically thought to be incompatible. The tune, “The Powder Cosmic 2000, Pt. 2” aptly demonstrates Joe’s sense of guitar work over funky loops and features a synth tone reminiscent of Jan Hammer’s ‘70s fusion work. The chill track, “Slow and Easy” infuses many textural layers of sitar and soundscape synth as Joe’s melodic playing rides sweetly on top. All in all, this album exemplifies how guitar can intertwine perfectly within elements of electronica and still appeal to the guitar enthusiast.

Joe was gracious enough to take some time out of his busy schedule and answer a few questions about the album.


What inspired you to make an album of this style? Were there any particular artists or songs at the time that influenced you?
I enjoy making stylistic left turns with each recording project; Engines was the most radical of turns. I was getting into Boom Boom Satellites, The Prodigy and Crystal Method at the time and was dying to work my guitar into that kind of production style.


Did you use your home studio for this project or did you enlist an outside studio to track and mix?
Eric Caudieux and I recorded the record in his living room in Studio City. It was all ProTools and Logic Audio. There may have been a few stray guitar tracks from my home studio, but all the real creative work – recording and mixing – was done at Eric’s.


Did you use digital or analog to record and what was your setup?
I would plug my Ibanez JS1000 guitar into various pedals and into a variety of amp heads, then into a Palmer speaker simulator. Then I used a few different mic pres – Neves, V72s, etc. Sometimes we would aim for traditional sounds, other times not. Sometimes a plug-in would do the trick and other times it’s just all the pedals we found on the floor plugged in and turned up!


What pedals did you use on this project?
We had much success with the Moogerfooger pedals, the Fulltone Ultimate Octave, a DigiTech Whammy pedal and a preamp called a Hafler Triple Giant.


Were there any in particular that really gave you that electronica feel?
The Hafler Triple Giant had the most robotic distortion, totally devoid of warmth and feeling. But, in the context of a song like “Borg Sex,” it was perfect!


What mics did you use to record the guitar parts?
No mics, no speakers! We thought it was a cool thing at the time to make a record completely “in the box.”


Do you have a favorite can’t-live-withoutit guitar processor that you used on this project?
It was most likely the SansAmp plug-in. I still enjoy using the SansAmp designs, both their plug-ins and rackmount preamps. Eric and I would use it here and there to spice guitar sounds up a bit. Sometimes, as in the song “Until We Say Goodbye,” it was the guitar sound!

Andy Timmons – Creating Killer Tone

Stanley Clarke – Bass In Your Face

Our guest in this month’s column was referred to as a legend by age 25 years old. He is also a noted music composer, orchestrator, conductor and performer for such films as Boyz n the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Passenger 57 and Poetic Justice to name a few. He has been quoted as saying, “Film has given me the opportunity to compose large orchestral scores and to compose music not normally associated with myself.” Sony has even released a CD entitled Stanley Clarke at the Movies which showcases his true diversity as a musician.


In the 1970s he redefined and reshaped the way bass players approached their instruments. He took Larry Graham’s (Sly and the Family Stone) slap-funk technique and pushed it to the next level. He’s one of the renowned members of the progressive jazz fusion band Return to Forever with Chick Corea. He is also the inventor of the piccolo bass and tenor bass. I had the pleasure of speaking with Stanley and asking him about the Larry Graham song, “Hair”, which he covered with Joe Satriani on the Guitar Masters, Vol. 1 compilation.

He shared the story of how he stumbled upon that particular song. “I think it was before they even recorded it. I was standing in a club in San Francisco with Carlos Santana. Carlos had on this trench coat with all these tape recorders underneath his coat – he’s a real fan of music and loved to make recordings of live shows. He said, ‘Man, you have to check out Graham Central Station.’ It was in this little club. I knew Larry with Sly and thought he was an amazing bass player. When I heard ‘Hair,’ I said ‘Oh, Shit!’” So as a homage to Larry, he recorded the song with Joe Satriani.

Stanley has a home studio where he does most of his solo projects for albums and film/television scoring. For the recording of “Hair,” Stanley told me that he used his famous Alembic basses and F2 preamps. He recorded using two SWR amps and cabinets. One cabinet had 2x15” speakers and the other cabinet housed 4x10” speakers. He then mic’d each cabinet separately and took a direct signal out of the amps themselves. This gave him the flexibility to blend during mixdown.

Stanley recorded using the Fairlight hard disc recorder, which at the time was similar to ProTools. Interestingly enough, he used an analog mixer to monitor and EQ the signal. During mixdown, his engineers still liked having something physical to work with and used the analog board. When mixing on digital hardware, such as ProTools, many old school engineers like the feel of actual faders underneath their fingers to control the mix and utilize the onboard EQs. I have a vintage Trident 32x16 console and the EQs are so musical I want to be able to physically turn the frequency knobs to affect the tracks. It also allows me to bus certain tracks and use vintage outboard effects processors, like the Eventide H3000 and the Lexicon PCM70.

As far as outboard gear, Stanley told me he is a fan of the Fairchild limiter, which he used on his first four solo albums. But with the new technology of today, there is a current Fairchild plug-in that Stanley feels gets 95% of the sound of the original hardware. He explained that because of the Alembic’s wide dynamic range you need a really nice limiter to control the sound when recording. This also affects Stanley’s choice of mics; when choosing a mic, he considers not only the source, but the room ambience too. For instance, when he wants a really big bass sound, he uses an outside studio. In the past, he’s used studios that housed separate rooms for each instrument, and he really likes the feel and sound of each instrument being physically separated.

With his new release, The Toys of Men he discussed the present state, or rather the lack of instrumental music on the radio, saying, “The airplay thing is really tough – there is really nothing out there. I do have some faith in satellite radio. They have so many more possibilities and programs. All of my friends who have XM are musicians and are into the technology. As for the average guy, satellite radio just needs to figure out how to reach them and build up their listenership. Not until cars come with satellite-ready radio will it catch on.”

It was a rare pleasure getting tips from the man who revolutionized the sound of the bass. I can only look forward to what lies ahead for this ever-evolving artist. For more on Stanley, visit stanleyclarke.com.

Doug Stapp –
Dr. Frankenstein

I don’t know if many of you are familiar with Texas shredder Doug Stapp, but once you hear his remake of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein,” you’ll become an instant fan. Together with Shrapnel recording artist Scott Stein, they created a guitar-centric arrangement of Edgar’s ‘70s rock classic. Michael Molenda, editor of Guitar Player magazine says, “Headbangers can get off on Doug’s killer version,” and 20th Century Guitar magazine calls it “spot-on.” Not bad for an up-and-coming guitarist. One of the great things about this explosive, in-yourface rendition is that it was all done live. Before recording, Doug had never played with Scott or the drummer, but when the guys got together in the studio, they were able to bang out the track in just three takes. What’s great about this version is that you can really feel the energy of the live performances and hear how well Scott and Doug harmonize together. I caught up with Doug to chat about the recording of the song.


What was your setup – guitars, amps, etc. – for the recording of “Frankenstein?”
I used a Carvin Legacy amp and an Ibanez Jem guitar.


How did you record the guitar?
Well, 95% of the track was recorded live. I think there were only a couple of rhythm overdubs and a couple of minor miscue fixes on guitar. Scott’s cab was in an iso booth with one SM57 off-axis and a ribbon mic. My cab was in a hallway of the studio with one SM57 off-axis and a ribbon mic. I can’t remember where the ribbons were set – it was a pretty “live” mic job though and the amps were super loud.


What format did you use to record the song – analog or digital?
We recorded and mixed the whole session in about six hours, completely in Pro-Tools. The studio we used was loaded down in current Pro-Tools gear and the engineer was amazing. He really knew what we were looking for.


Give us a little background on the song and how you envisioned the guitar sounding.
The background actually goes back many years. Scott was a big influence on me when I was a teenager – I first met him when my band opened for Haji’s Kitchen and he was their guitarist. They did an amazing version of “Frankenstein” on seven strings that night and it just blew me away. That version was originally a version that was written by Scott and Derek Taylor when they had the band Tommy Lamey. If I’m not mistaken, in the early ‘90s Derek first had the idea to do a crazy version of the song for a show they were opening.

Fast-forwarding quite a few years later, I emailed Scott to see if we could do that version for my new record and thank God he agreed. We decided to keep the song a bit more like the original, but add our own flavor on top. Putting sax, guitar and keyboard parts between two guitar players in harmony was a blast, and I have to thank Scott, Derek, and the Haji’s guys for putting the idea in my head to re-do this amazing song, and of course thank Scott for arranging the whole thing. The take you hear is the third take, 95% live in the studio. We were looking for a big, raw feel and we got exactly what we were looking for – thanks to great engineers.

The creation of “Frankenstein” in the recording laboratory would garner even Mary Shelley’s approval. Check out Doug’s work on Guitar Masters, Vol. 1, available at record stores and online. You can also listen to Doug’s new CD, The Earth Says Hello, online at dougstapp.com. Keep rockin’!

Steve Vai, the Bulgarian Blaze

Brian catches up with Steve Vai to chat about his new track, "Freak Show Excess."

On Steve Vai’s 2006 release, Real Illusions: Reflections, he conquered new territory both rhythmically and sonically. One of the tracks that really caught my attention, both as a listener and a musician was “Freak Show Excess,” which features unusual rhythmic patterns derived from Eastern European music.

Steve says that one of his big influences is Bulgarian wedding music from the band Evo Papisov, and you can really hear it in the way he phrases the melody. Often, when hearing artists interpret Eastern music, it sounds awkward and foreign. Steve is able to make it much more palatable to the Western ear. I had the pleasure of catching up with Steve to ask him his recording techniques for the track.


What guitar and amps did you use for the “Freak Show Excess” recording?
I used a Carvin Legacy amp and an Ibanez Jem guitar.


Where do you record, and what programs do you use? Any special guests on the song?
All of my solo records are recorded in my home studio using Pro Tools. Billy Sheehan and Jeremy Colson were on this song.


What is your mic setup for recording the guitars?
If I remember right, most of the stuff is close mic’d, but the change in pitch of the microphone gives the distinction. Also, EQ plays a vital role. I always keep a pair of C14s and a pair of 414s spread apart in the corners of the room. This is mixed into the sound at various levels depending on the desired effect. It’s important to me to try and create a space for each guitar; the song should tell you what to do.


What kind of challenges did you encounter during mixdown? Did you use any special plug-ins or outboard gear?
It’s a very dense, fast moving track, so I didn’t put many effects on it – it can get messy quick. I usually use Wave and Renaissance plug-ins for EQ, then compress analog before it hits the drive. I’m not a fan of digital compressors or reverbs. During mixdown, I usually use an L1 limiter plug-in. Before I decided to mixdown internally and not come out analog, I spent a tremendous amount of time checking the mixdown phase using various formats.

I didn’t listen to what people were saying on the best way to mixdown regarding coming out of Pro Tools and going analog or digital-to-analog and back to digital, ad nauseam. Most people guess, or go on a hunch or a feeling, or just do what they heard someone else say is the best. I put my own ear to it and frankly, I kept it in the digital domain. Going out to analog does not warm it up to me; I think that’s an illusion. I don’t know if all systems act similarly, but since I was using Pro Tools, I didn’t go crazy trying different systems. The one thing I do with Pro Tools that makes a big difference is mixing down to two tracks through the stereo bus, instead of bouncing down. To my ear there is a big difference in the sound.


Are you currently working on a new project or album?
I had a new record out in July. It’s called Sound Theories, and it was recorded live with the Metropole Orkest in Holland. I was commissioned to compose an hour of music by Holland’s NPS (National Public Radio) for a cultural event. The show was broken up into two segments; the first part was pieces that I composed for the orchestra and it doesn’t include me on the guitar. The second half contained songs from my catalog that were arranged for the orchestra, and I played the guitar along with them. We recorded five concerts with them, then I edited together Sound Theories.

I encourage all guitarists to check out “Freak Show Excess” and hear for yourself how Steve wonderfully articulates the melody through the track. To check it out, a quick search on YouTube.com will reward you with a video of Steve demonstrating his guitar techniques in this song.

Billy Sheehan - Shy Boy at LaMoures

Keeping TABS on a Bass Legend

In the early ‘80s, I was a young musician growing up in New York City. I was walking to catch the train and the sweet smell of grit was rising from the pavement – when there used to be mysterious puddles of water on every street corner, even though it hadn’t rained in weeks and the squeegee patrol was out, aggressively commandeering people’s windshields at the Willis Ave Bridge.

I was on my way to LaMoures club to check out the band Talas and their incredible bass player who was causing quite a buzz in the guitar community. Once inside, I staked out my little claim of space, had a cold brew – which I believe I had snuck in because I was under age – and waited. Like most of the crowd, I was skeptical of what kind of performance I was going to see, but that changed as the show began.

Talas was a great band with a lot of energy, but what I really witnessed was the best bass player I’d ever seen, even to this day. Lanky, long-haired and dressed in spandex, the bass player ran out to center stage with his Fender P Bass and performed Eddy Van Halen’s “Eruption.” Most people couldn’t perform “Eruption” on the guitar, let alone the bass – and in addition to performing two-hand tapping, he was doing acrobatics while playing to boot!

This was the man who would become the legendary bass player Billy Sheehan. Voted the “Best Rock Bass Player” five times in Guitar Player magazine’s Reader’s Poll, Billy earned a place in their “Gallery of Greats” alongside Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee and Eddie Van Halen, to name a few.

Just recently, the B3 Tour was in town and I caught Billy’s performance with Jeff Berlin & Stu Hamm at B.B. King’s on 42nd St. I spoke with Billy after the show and he agreed to play on a remake of the classic Jeff Beck song, “Blue Wind” that I was recording.

I got the tracks in the mail and they were stupendous. I’m an old two-hand tapping fool myself, and Billy played off the tracks I had given him and absolutely nailed it. I talked with Billy about recording “Blue Wind,” and about his “Unleash the Beast” track from BHP Music’s Guitar Masters, Volume 1.


What gear did you use on the recording of “Blue Wind?” I used my home studio. I have an Ampeg SVT (turned way down!), as well as an Avalon pre-amp for direct sound. We recorded in Logic on a Mac. I used my regular bass that I play on stage – the Yamaha Attitude with RotoSound strings.


How did you record the bass? We miked up the SVT cab, as well as split signals for a direct through a Radial Engineering direct box.


What format did you record the song on? I’m all digital. We used Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, and Cubase too, but I’ve been using Logic mostly. I use MOTU interfaces and a Yamaha 02R96 to route everything where it needs to go.


Give us a little background of your relationship to the classic version of “Blue Wind” with Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer? I’ve jammed on the song since it came out many years ago. In many ways, Jeff really got the music scene going again with his releases in the ‘70s. Wired and Blow by Blow really ushered in a new era of improvisational jamming. I’ve recorded the song with Niacin – a B3 version, that we perform live a lot. It’s one of my favorite Jeff Beck songs – and there are many that I love.


What’s your set up, bass and amps that you used on the recording of “Unleash the Beast?” It was done in the back room of a record company office in Tokyo, Japan on bass and guitar PODs. We had no choice at the time; we needed another song for a single release, so we hustled this up. Sometimes being under pressure and having to make do with inadequate gear makes you work harder – I like the way it came out.


Are you currently working on a new project or album? Yes, my third solo CD. I’m recording it in my home studio using my real gear. I’ll also be doing a record with Tony MacAlpine and Virgil Donati, along with several other projects this summer – no rest for the wicked!

After working and talking with Billy, I can see why he’s at the top of his field. He has a great attitude and is an absolute pleasure to work with. I think I speak for the guitar community when I say, “Thank you Billy for being such an inspiration throughout the years.”

B-Bender Mojo

Recently, I had the pleasure of catching up with Will Ray, the renowned guitarist from The Hellecasters

Recently, I had the pleasure of catching up with Will Ray, the renowned guitarist from The Hellecasters. For those who are not familiar with Will’s work, The Hellecasters’ first album, The Return of the Hellecasters, became a hit with guitarists and earned Guitar Player’s Best Album and Best Country Album awards in 1993. In 1995, the Hellecasters recorded and released their second CD, Escape From Hollywood and Hipshot products began marketing an invention of Will’s called the Stealth Slide, in addition to the Will Ray Model B-Bender. Owing to the Hellecasters’ popularity, Fender also released the limited edition Will Ray Signature Jazz-a-Caster and the Custom Shop Will Ray Signature Mojo-Tele. 1998 found the Hellecasters releasing their third album, New Axes to Grind on their own label, Pharaoh Records. Will released his first solo CD in 1999, called Invisible Birds also on Pharaoh Records, followed by his second solo album, Mojo Blues in 2000.

On Mojo Blues, he did a terrific interpretation of the folk song, “Shenandoah.” What is most striking about this instrumental piece is Will’s wonderful tone and vibrato. The following is a Q & A of how he achieved that tone in the studio.


What guitars and amps did you use on the recording of “Shenandoah?”
The 1993 G&L ASAT Special and 1996 Fender Will Ray Mojo-Tele into a Carl Martin compressor, then into a Boss BCB- 3 pedal board which has an Ibanez TS-5 Tube Screamer. From there the signal went into a first year model Line 6 POD, where I had some kind of clean amp setting. I also took the recorded POD signal and played it into a mik’ed Rivera M100 combo amp to beef things up. At mix time I used a little of each.


What format did you record the song on, analog or digital?
I recorded the basics – drums, bass, keyboards, and scratch guitar – on a Fostex G-16 running at 30ips. It’s a ½” 16-track machine. After that I SMPTE synced it up with my Fostex D-160 digital hard drive recorder, and on the D-160 I did all my overdubs, which got transferred at the end of every day to the analog G-16 machine as my backup. When it came to mixing, I usually used the tracks on the analog recorder instead of the digital ones, mainly to add a little warmth and “mojo.”


Give us a little background of the song and how you envisioned the guitar sounding.
This was a favorite song of mine and my dad’s; when he died in 1996, I wanted to play it as a tribute to him. The Hellecasters were recording our third album at the time, and “Shenandoah” was going to be on there, but at the last minute I decided to save it for my Mojo Blues album, which ended up being released a few years later.

The vibe I was looking for was a Roy Buchanan meets Mike Bloomfield kinda thing. I really loved the way Bloomfield and Al Kooper did The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)” and I loosely based my intro on theirs. I would record my parts, later listening to what I did the next day with fresh ears. I just kept building upon what seemed to be working, while eliminating parts that didn’t move me the next day. I’m a Gemini and what sounds good to me one day may sound like rubbish the next. So, if a part for the recording sounded good two or three days in a row, it made it into the song.

Well, there’s a little taste of what goes into Will’s tone. I know what you’re thinking, and frankly, I was surprised as well that he made use of the Line 6 POD. It just goes to show that it is not always what you use, but how you use it. Since he used the POD with a live amp, recording them both to analog tape, he got the best of both worlds, resulting in a clean and warm recording. God bless analog!

Ace of Bass

I recently had the pleasure of doing a recording session with the renowned bass player, Randy Coven, who’s played with some of the best guitarists of our time

I recently had the pleasure of doing a recording session with the renowned bass player, Randy Coven, who’s played with some of the best guitarists of our time, such as Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth and Yngwie Malmsteen, just to name a select few. Randy has an incredible background – he went to Berklee College of Music in Boston and was roommates with none other then the JEM 777 man himself, Steve Vai. They were in several bands together back in the ‘80s and in fact, Randy told me that he actually lent Steve Vai the money to make a phone call to Frank Zappa, which wound up getting Steve the gig of being Zappa’s musical transcriber. How’s that for playing a hand in history?

I was familiar with Randy’s work back in the day when the magazine, Guitar for the Practicing Musician sported a cool record label called Guitar Recordings. They had some great releases such as Randy’s, Blues Saraceno, and the heavy metal violinist, Mark Wood. John Styx was the editor in chief at the time and I got to know a lot of these guys.

So you could imagine, I was excited to work with Randy and had him come over to my new digs, Jungle Room Studios in NY. Fortunately, Randy doesn’t live too far from the studio, and brought with him two incredible basses that were handcrafted for him by Yngwie’s guitar tech, as well as an Ashdown mini amplifier stack.

We started the session by placing the bass amp in the isolation booth. We miked the bottom cabinet that housed a 10” speaker with an AKG D112, going to a channel on the Trident console. I know you’re likely thinking, “why is he recording a bass amp with a mic that is typically associated with recording a kick drum?” Simple answer: when the AKG is aimed towards the center of the speaker diaphragm, it captures the high frequencies that are radiated over a very narrow angle. It gives a fuller bass tone as well.

We also used a Radial J-48 active direct box and took the signal of the bass itself to another channel on the console. Both signals were recorded down to analog tape, the trusty Ampex MM1200 24-track tape machine. By doing this, it enabled us to blend the two tones together when mixing; one track with the direct signal that compliments the nuances of his graceful finger styles and the other track with the fat amp tone from the live miking. I always found that recording bass onto 2” tape really fattens the bass sound and gives that old expression “tape saturation” meaning. Bass is a very subtle instrument when recording solo parts and takes a different approach compared to their 6-string cousin.

One of the songs that we were recording was a funky rock piece. When it came to Randy’s solo, it took a bit of time to find the right tone. We tried many different pedals, such as the Octave Mistress, a Tube Screamer, flanger but finally settled on the Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron. The Q-Tron is a very versatile pedal with a cool envelope filter containing a high-pass and a low-pass mode that works well on bass. The high-pass filter helps the bass cut through a mix, especially when it comes to soloing. By setting the actual filter type, drive and Q controls you can actually get a vowel-sounding tone, which is of course great for funk guitar and bass. The colorful Bootsy Collins uses this quite a bit in his recordings. By using the Q-Tron in this manner, Randy’s solo turned out to be very expressive.

I know guitarists are always on a quest to achieve tone. This is the same exact quest bass players are trying to conqueror as well. Remember Stanley Clarke with Return to Forever, Billy Sheehan with Talas and Stu Hamm with Joe Satriani? These bass players have awesome tone, so let’s not forget our 4-string friends. If you want to hear a sample of Randy’s tone and performance, check out the song, “I Wish” recorded with Zakk Wylde which is on the compilation, Guitar Masters, Vol 1.

Shure-Fire Miking

Shure-Fire Miking

When I was a kid growing up in New York, I remember that my dad had an old 1/4” four-track Grundig reel to reel tape recorder that was great for recording multiple guitar parts. I always thought it was so cool to sit in that sunroom and be able to hear the tracks played back and physically cut and edit the parts with a razor blade and edit block. Today we have it so much easier. Whether you use a PC or Mac or any of the many programs out there such as Cakewalk, Logic, Performer or ProTools, editing has become a breeze. But the one true thing that has stayed constant throughout the years, is recording great guitar tone.

Van Halen’s first engineer, Donn Landee, used to get approached by fans asking him how he recorded Eddie’s trademark guitar tone. He had to admit that he used a cheap SM57 mic on a Marshall cabinet. As some of you readers may know, the Shure 57 is a basic $89 mic that you can purchase at any local music store. This proves that you can great tone, without breaking the bank.

What you need to understand are the various dynamics that come from both the guitar and the amp. For instance, when playing a Les Paul through a Marshall JCM800, you get a very compressed, overdriven rock tone as opposed to playing a Strat through a Fender Super Reverb, which produces a more dynamic blues tone. Both can be recorded successfully with a SM57, but if you want to spend a little bit more cash you can buy, what I refer to as a “57 on steroids,” the Sennheiser 421 mic.

If you have more of a budget and you want to capture the sound of your amp in the room, you may want to try the Neumann TLM103 or the more expensive TLM49, which are both large diaphragm cardioid microphones. The large diaphragm of the mic will capture the ambience of the room. In particular, the TLM49 has a wonderful airiness to its recordings. By comparison, the 57 has a very small mic diaphragm, which is more beneficial for unidirectional close miking.

I’m sure some of you have heard the buzz about ribbon microphones – and yes, it is true in some recording applications of guitars the ribbon mic is perfect for acoustic instrument replication. The Rolls Royce of ribbon mics is the Royer 121 or the famous Beatles, BBC 4038. However, you can always go with the less expensive Beyerdynamic M160 mic and still get a great sounding acoustic tone. With any microphone you decide to go with, you’ll have to experiment with placement techniques. Personally, I’ve had very good results recording acoustic guitars using the AKG C1000S, which I like to angle downwards towards the fretboard side of the hole. Keep in mind, you may have to make some minor adjustments, depending on the size of the guitar body and your finger style.

I’ve been recording professionally for 17 years and I am always trying to find new ways of achieving a great sounding guitar tone. Just recently, I discovered a cool way to achieve stereo imaging by miking a single cabinet with two mics. First, close mic one speaker between the cone and the edge with a Beyer M160 and far mic the amp using a Neumann TLM49 about five feet back, pointing the 49 directly at the Marshall insignia on the cabinet. My baby is a Trident 32-channel mixing console, in which I use one of the micpres for the Neumann and use the Universal Audio 610 for the M160. I buss them both to tape or ProTools and hard pan one left and one right. I’ve always found that experimenting with different mics and amps in combination with your guitar style can really produce that hot butta tone! Until next time.