everything everywhere all at once
over the course of the last six months or so, we here at fse (five spot east studio) have concentrated on building out the wiring, sound generating, and sound processing structure.
specifically, my aim is to have sixty-four inputs available for recording at all times, with minimal prep. nothing kills inspiration like looking for a cable, figuring out a signal path, or trying to get the right mic set up to get a good sound. need i mention getting a decent headphone mix running? so the aim is to have multiple drum kits and extensive percussion (vibes, gran cassa, gong, tabla) ready to be captured at any time, as well as keyboards (e-piano, hammond, grand piano), guitars (tele, strat, les paul into vox, marshall stack, or fender twin amps), bass (ampeg svt), and a substantial array of synths (prophet 10, ob-6, nord lead 2, pulsar-23, arp 2600 re-issue, and a sizable modular rack).
truly, this is the studio as musical instrument, a practice described by brian eno in his seminal 1979 paper, and practiced by the rock and pop greats, as well as certain experimentalists of the era. the power of this approach is timbral immediacy and the capacity for endless layering. the challenge is mastering all these instruments, and mustering the technical skill to commit it to "tape" (tbh: ssd).
now that we have a world-class recording hall, it makes sense to deploy a targeted array of high-quality mics. the chain that makes a great recording starts with the writer and the performer, but the sound of the production is also shaped by the choice of room, mic, preamp, and if desired, signal processing going in.
we've also worked out certain ergonomics for one-man operation of the recording process. using remote midi control via footpedals connected to wireless units, it is possible for the talent to select and arm recording tracks on a tablet connected to the control room computer, as well as to initiate recording, fast-forward/rewind, and playback, as well as punching themselves in and out from the recording position. in addition, ten headphone mixing and monitoring units strategically placed around the room make it easy to walk up, get a workable monitor mix, and record with minimal technical overhead.
in the next post, i'll describe the dedicated composition station.
eighteen mics on the kit, ready to go on a moment’s notice
