1 post tagged “music recording”

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