THE MAKING OF DIG UP THE DEAD

July 23, 2011

Some people have been asking for more technical info about the recording of DIG UP THE DEAD, so here it is. The process itself spanned close to a year, but I’d break it up into four different sessions:

• Winter ‘09/early spring ‘10: Heavy demoing in our apt in Winston-Salem, NC

• April 2010: Ten days recording the ‘real’ record at my parents’ house in Louisville, KY:

  • blackest sky

  • not my blood

  • wormhole v1

  • you got cool

  • all those dreams

  • somewhere you can’t go

  • don’t worry

  • baltimore

  • when you said goodbye

  • yer voice

  • temporary

  • call me when it’s over

• June-August 2010: Additional recording in our apt in Winston-Salem, NC:

  • city don’t care

  • close that door

  • dig up the dead

  • wormhole v2

  • seven years

• September 2010: Mixing in our apt in Winston-Salem, NC

THE GEAR

Presonus Firebox
Macbook Pro w/ Logic Studio, stock plugins + a few random free ones like Massey Tapehead
Klipsch S4 Headphones- everything was mixed on these
Groove Tubes Brick preamp
FMR Audio ‘Really Nice Compressor’
Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 preamp
Shure SM7b microphone
Sennheiser K6 microphone
Cascade Fathead microphone
Shure SM57 microphone
‘70s Fender Champ amplifier
Music Man 65 amplifier
2x12 speaker cabinet with Weber speakers
Fender Mustang reissue guitar
Fender Acoustic guitar
Eastwood Classic 4 bass guitar
Gibson Nighthawk guitar
Casio SK-1 keyboard

Everything went through the Firebox to get into the computer. The usual chain (if only one mic was being used) was the Brick into the RNC. For vocals it was usually the SM7, sometimes the K6. For electric guitars it was the Fathead, sometimes the SM7. For bass it was either direct, or the SM7 on a borrowed Ampeg cab (April only). Acoustic guitars were usually the K6. For drums it depended on the song. The distortion on the vocals was usually added in the computer with a plugin like Massey Tapehead, or on some songs (like Blackest Sky) the vocals were run through a Rat distortion pedal and an E-H Analog Toy delay pedal. These pedals were used a lot on guitars too, as well as a Holy Grail reverb, Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer clone, Big Muff.

DIG UP THE DEAD

Drums: SM57 on snare, some cheap Nady mic on kick, Fathead as close room mic, SM7 in the bathroom, K6 in an upstairs bedroom, cheap Nady on tom. This was the standard setup for drums, and it was dumb. The fathead kinda sucked as a room mic, and the K6 didn’t really add much, so both rarely got used in the mix. The SM7 should of been the mono overheard, but oh well. The Firebox didn’t have enough inputs for this many mics, so two of them had to go into a PODxt and then into the Firebox through SPDIF. It was super annoying. I played drums on this, but I actually recorded them for a completely different song that didn’t make the cut. Snuck into the practice rooms at Wake Forest University to record the piano. The room reverb on the main guitar and vocals is just the way that room sounded. Synth is the SK-1 through a bunch of pedals. A ton of Holy Grail on the electrics.

BLACKEST SKY

Drums: same as DUTD, except ran through the Champ and played by Sal. Pianos recorded at my parents house and ran through the Analog Toy into the music man while I twirled knobs. I think every distortion pedal I own was used at some part of this song. Bryan Whiteman played his Fender Jazz bass through the Rat and Music Man. Lots of Analog Toy and guitars and vocals at end. Final riff thing is a bass through Holy Grail and Analog Toy.

NOT MY BLOOD

Drums: same as DUTD but played by Sal. Bass was same as Blackest Sky. A lot of direct electric guitars, just running through distortion pedals straight into the Brick without an amp. Big Muff and this weird modified Danelectro overdrive pedal were definitely used a bunch. A lot of guitars from the demos made it into the final version. Way too many guitar tracks, was really tricky to mix this one.

CITY DON’T CARE

Drums: machine using samples from Not My Blood. Distorted guitars were the Mustang through the Rat and Holy Grail direct. They were meant to just be scratch guitars but I got attached. Completely recorded in the summer in NC.

CALL ME WHEN IT’S OVER

This is basically the demo, just tweaked. Guitars was big muff-champ-fathead, with the K6 in the room to pick up the strumming. Vocal distortion is the Ratshack Reverb plugin.

WORMHOLE

Drums: recorded in the summer in NC, played by me. One mic, just the SM7 close to the floor. Reinforced with some samples in the heavy part. Main synth was a Logic plugin through a guitar amp, same sound as our older song ‘Never Enuff.’ Totally different arrangement of this song was recorded in April and then scrapped. End guitar was the big muff-champ recorded with K6 away in the room.

CLOSE THAT DOOR

Drums: same as City Don’t Care, recorded the same week. I tried to get the nastiest garage guitar tones as possible for the chorus, using the Mustang and Champ with the Rat on one side and a Jordan Bosstone clone on the other side. Separate they each sounded disgusting, but together combined with the lead they sounded kinda nice and shiny, which was weird but cool. Weird section at 2m mark was a radio (on NPR) through a tremolo pedal and delay, originally recorded for Yer Voice but I liked it better on this one. Piano at WFU.

SEVEN YEARS

Drums: same as wormhole. Synth was the SK-1 again, it plays the vocal melody from You Got Cool at the end. Piano at WFU.

YOU GOT COOL

Drums: three different drum tracks going on. One was same as Not My Blood. One was earlier in the week, in my parents’ basement with just an SM57 in the room. One is a machine through the champ. Acoustic and piano with the K6. Amp tube used as a slide for the bridge. SM57 and Analog Toy on bridge vocals.

YER VOICE

Drums: Machine in first verse, then same as Not My Blood. This went through a few versions, and then came back very close to the demo. Jordan Bosstone clone on first verse fuzz. SK-1 playing synth bass and organ.