These are the sessions I love to get. David Gray came into the studio with a load of songs, rehearsed on the road and ready to go. Right away, the studio space was charged with energy. The tech guys came in early and got him set up, David arrived at 10am and was on the air at 11:20 sounding great.
These kind of sessions go quickly once the artist sits in front of the microphone. Once all the mics and lines are checked, an artist the caliber of David Gray comes in expecting everything to be good to go. So sure enough, David walked right into the room and immediately started to "jam" with the other musicians. For the sound engineer, quick fingers and ears are essential to get the mix ready for air, because if things move too fast for you during the sound check, you'll have to make major adjustments during the show. (Never an ideal situation)
During the set, David played "Long Black Veil" (a Johnny Cash Cover), Babylon, and played at our piano for a couple of tunes. Check it out on KCRW.com...
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or listen to the Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings session
Sharon Jones brought her revivalist funk and soul sound to our basement today. The 8 piece band, The Dap-Kings, skillfully backed up the most soulful singing you'll hear this side of Aretha.
As soon as sound check started, I knew we were going to be in for something special. A band this size taxes the limits of what our little studio can handle and still provide the quality of sound our listeners expect. But The Dap-Kings are disciplined musicians who adapted to the cramped quarters and delivered. Here in the basement, we've been pleasured with many fine performances over the years, but rarely do you find 9 musicians absolutely owning the songs they play, like today's session. That makes the recording engineer's job infinitely easier, because you aren't going to get any surprises.
One different approach I used in this session was the way the drums were mic'ed; Very old-school and simple. Kick drum mic. snare mic, and overheads. That's it. It gives the drum's a little space and room sound, which fits the retro-funk style.
I hope you get a chance to check out this rare session, If you can listen to this music and not compulsively move around, check your pulse.
Here's a sample of the session. The title track to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings latest album, 100 Days,100 Nights.
Ray Guarna
Watch or Listen to the Salt & Samovar Session
Finally, after a while of no guitar leads I get my fix!!! Glad to hear a
band that is different, rocking and again eager to be on KCRW. The morning
started a little rough for the Bronxonians, but the session ended on a
good beat. A drum pedal went missing and a rented Farfisa played F sharp
instead of C.
But the pedal was on the way. Meanwhile, Kate made use of our Yamaha C5, and the rental was replaced before sound-check was done. "No worries guys, that's why we load in at 8am..." proof to other bands that we don't push
you out of bed just to be mean.
And as it turns out, the band being friends with Oliver Future and Goldspot here in LA,, borrowed a few guitars
and drum kit. I thought I had seen those drums before.
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or Listen to the Thurston Moore Live session
Working as a KCRW recording engineer for Morning Becomes Eclectic gives Mario and I the opportunity to mix some of the best musicians in today's indie music scene. But every now and then, we work with an icon. Halloween 2007 was one of those times. Thurston Moore, of Sonic Youth returned to the basement with a solo project. He did bring along Sonic Youth colleague, Steve Shelley to play drums.
They were last here in 2004 with their day job.
Thurston performed songs from his new solo album, Trees Outside The Academy. This was an acoustic set with violin, 2 guitars, electric bass, and drums.
And considering it was halloween, Thurston and the band were in the spirit of the day. I chickened out.
One trend going on at present, is the desire to run acoustic guitar through a traditional guitar amp. We usually prefer using microphones for acoustic sessions to capture the full body of the guitar. The other option is the use of piezo or magnetic pickups inside the guitar, which plug directly into the recording chain. There is one problem with that approach; NO AIR! No matter how good the pickup, a piezo or magnetic device inside the guitar never captures the full body resonance, usually resulting in a thin sound that is dominated by the strings. Running the guitar through an amplifier, and then mic'ing the amp puts a little air back into the sound. I'm kind of digging it, because in our tiny room, it also helps us keep the guitar isolated from the drums. That's what Thurston and fellow guitarist, Chris Brokaw did today. It creates a sort of hybrid acoustic/electric sound. Check out the audio or video stream.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a last thing about this session. As an east coaster, I've been a fan of Sonic Youth since I was a young man in my 20's. (Yes, even I was once a young man) Smarter people than me say that it's never a good idea to meet your idols because you will often be disappointed. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Thurston Moore. At the end of the day, while we were wrapping cables and closing up shop, I look over and see Thurston with rag in hand, cleaning the coffee and food area, and picking up stray papers off the floor. Tidying up after his band. Everyone else was gone. What a Mensch! Some of the young, budding superstars who visit our little studio could learn a thing or two from this guy.
Ray Guarna
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or Listen to the Federico Aubele Session
Well the morning started off weird- I had walked into the studio to make sure all was like the day before...all was well… But when the band walked in they pointed out that a little friend AKA Periplaneta Americana, had perished on our studio floor. I got rid of it and the rest of the session was great. During sound check and setting up we sang "La coocaracha, La Coocaracha...." in different South American versions. Federico is a great guitar player and they pulled off the performance with just guitar, keys, percussion and their vocals. Check it out in our archives.
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or Listen to the West Indian Girl Live Session
This session was fun! Bands that are truly eager and feel that performing here in our studio is another great stepping stone to the big time, makes us feel great. Here is a quote from the band's blog:
"we FINALLY get to play morning becomes eclectic on kcrw. Nic Harcourt was the first person to ever play our music on the radio (our demos no less) . That's pretty epic if you ask me. I think it will take the prize as the earliest show we have ever done as well. We've done radio shows but most of them have been after noon. load in at 8 am ? … damn… might as well just stay up all night."
Sorry "Q", I know it was early but it I think it was worth it. Sounded like you got your sleep.
West Indian Girl also brought in John Karr as their engineer and I let him have a go at the console.
He assured me that he was cool with the DM2000 having an O2R and showing that he was a pro at the helm. He brought in an Alesis Wedge Multi-Effects Processor to tap his desired delay on the fly. It was great to kind of step back a little and enjoy the music in a different way. John got a taste of what it is like being on the air live and having to flip from page to page quickly to get to reverbs and delays. Ray and I have become used to it but it's a little tricky when you walk into someone else's house and the light switch isn't where you reach for it. But John pulled it off and the band was well rehearsed, I called it a big success for the band.
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
Watch or Listen to the Shelby Lynne session here
Shelby Lynne returned to the basement performing an intimate session of songs from her new album, Just a Little Lovin', a tribute to one of her musical heroes, Dusty Springfield.
Ray Guarna
KCRW Recording Engineer
Listen or watch the Sia live session here
The always effervescent Sia returned to the basement studios for the 5th time in her young career – twice as singer and contributor with Zero 7 and three times performing her own material. This week, Sia performed songs from the still unreleased new album, “some people have REAL problems”. One can usually expect Sia to add an eclectic twist to her arrangements and instrumentation and this session was no exception, adding cello to the traditional pop quartet lineup.
Our live session was scheduled for Wednesday, the 24th, but late in the morning we learned that Governor Schwarzenegger would be giving a news conference discussing the progress of the Southern California wildfires. As KCRW has a commitment to bringing our listeners important breaking news, the live session was postponed. No worries. We simply recorded the session live to Pro-Tools to be broadcast the next day.
The approach to a pre-record session is the same as live. Capture a performance, as is. Or more accurately, as was. No overdubs, no pick-ups, no punch-ins. We can give a second thought to a song if the band feels they need to, and that was the case today. The second song of the set, “Academia” was performed twice, and we chose the second take as part of the archived session.
Ray Guarna
KCRW Recording Engineer
Near the end of the set up for a typical Morning Becomes Eclectic live performance, if the musicians are good and everything goes smoothly during the sound check, there comes a certain point where everyone is...waiting. Everything is in place, everyone has had coffee, the mix sounds great, and the musicians are happy with what they're hearing in their headphones. Now the engineers, musicians and studio personnel are just waiting for the cue from host Nic Harcourt telling them that they're on the air. "You'll be on right after this song is over," is typically the word that comes from master control (KCRW's on-air studio.)
It's exactly at this point that some bands will use the opportunity to play a bit of some cover song they like or even play along with the song that Nic is playing on the air at that very moment. Once in a while the band will spontaneously launch into a jam and make up words on the spot. These are moments that almost never make it on the air.
That's exactly what happened last week when Sia and her band came in to perform. A few minutes before the band was to go on, Daphne Bach, part of the team that takes pictures and shoots video for KCRW's website, had to run back to the web room for a piece of equipment. (It's a long run too; the web room and the performance studio are at opposite ends of the very very very long hallway.) As the band waited for Daphne, they broke out into a little improvised ditty that can only be called "Waiting for Daphne."
Bob Carlson
KCRW Production
Watch and listen to the Fiery Furnaces live session here
When I was listening to the Fiery Furnaces CD the day before the performance, I wondered how they could pull off what I heard with just three keyboards, bass, Drums and a lead vocalist. Well, as soon as sound check started I learned how talented Matt Friedberger was at using all the elements from his gear and switching with agility from one instrument to another.
A sampler played synth sounds which he manipulated (in real time!) adjusting the attack and decay and adding wha-wha effects all by hand. He also played an organ and keyboard through an amp. Synth sounds were doubled by a grungy bass played by Jason Lowenstein with diverse drums from Bob D'Anico. The vocals were sung by Eleanor Friedberger (sister of Matt). They really pulled off all the breaks and hard changes that you hear on the CD. Plus, some of the songs in the performance were interpreted differently from the CD making it even more interesting.
I asked Matt how the CD was recorded. I wondered if it was done all in Pro Tools, with all the drum and keyboard sounds manipulated in software. He told me no, they actually recorded in sections with different set-ups in the studio for the drums and keys. For example: a live drum kit was set up for a dead room sound in the studio, then when they needed to change the sound from verse to verse they would stop, change the drum set-up, punch-in and play until the next change, etc. etc. That way all the parts were tracked as-is and they didn't spend their time trying to create all the sounds in post-production. I think this kept the feel of the track more genuine with no need to time compress to keep everything in-time.
Well, take a listen to the CD and you will understand what I mean. Time signatures, instrument sounds and vocal effects all change track by track throughout the CD.
Mario Diaz
KCRW Recording Engineer
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