So I finally finished mixing the "When Worlds Collide/Dragula" medley that we are submitting to the nu metal/ska compilation. I posted the video already, but in case you didn't catch it you can find it here:
Now it's time to go on a journey. A photo journey!
This is the guitar rig I used to get close to nu metal territory for the cover. The 5150 has been my live amp since...2004? The Voodoo above it graced the 1s and 0s of most of "Closet Polar Bear's" distorted tones and that little guy on top is what Country Dave calls an amp.
I decided to reamp the guitar DIs through real amps, instead of using PodFarm 2.0 that I use for demos. Since PodFarm doesn't have a dual mic option, I decided to try out the "Studio Fredman" dual 57 mic technique for extra metalic girth.
Some sort of cable tester is essential for any sort of complicated reamp bedroom -> garage -> amp -> bedroom monitors setup. Test tones will keep your friends from shooting you after you ask them to play the same riff 50x straight.
I tried a few pedals as input boosts before the signal hit the front of the amp. This OS-2 has a story...and is broken, but you can hear more about that in the video.
Here is the back view of my epic "Tower of Power" (take that horn section!).
Rear view of the Voodoo Amps custom built JCM800 clone.
This is how it looks with the "garage door" up. I found a pleasant ambience added to the sound after the Isis sticker was added. But seriously, the presence and global mid sweep knobs came in handy in dialing in the HP2 grind.
Curtis called my 5150 "vintage" a while ago, but I'm starting to realize that his assessment was somewhat accurate considering that there is now a 5150 II, a 6505, and a 5150 III. So here it is: the slightly "less-vintage" back of my FJA modded 5150.
Recording and mixing was fun as always. I went through 5 mix iterations before I was happy enough with something that I could present to the band. I hope Curtis isn't going to rage quit the band because he's been replaced by triggers. Actually the room and overhead mics made it to the final version, I just replaced his toms, kick and snare with Steven Slate Samples.
Other highlights included "correcting" (not because they were out of pitch but because they were actually wrong) the first 3 notes every time Anthony played his bassline on the "When Worlds Collide" verse and finally figuring out how to automate my wah-wah in PodFarm. I kept the "in the box" tone for the extra guitars that come in on the instrumental parts between verses on the "Dragula" part of the song. I actually "played" the wah with one of the faders on my Akai MPD24. It's so much easier than multiple takes with your foot, haha.
Now your real reward for making it this far down my blog: the premastered mix that the rest of the band is currently deliberating over. Enjoy!
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