Today we are recording two tracks with local, up-and-coming Indy rock group, “The Blank Slates.” (Troy Lawton is lead engineering, with Jonathon Wong as assistant engineer.  All of the interns have been helping out this week and rotating responsibilities.) Featuring Andrea Iacopini on guitar and vocals, they produce a high-intensity, earthy nuance with a forward drive. According to Andrea, “The Blank Slates” is a “concept of ever-changing sound, where each song has space to develop into its own without allowing the band itself to be easily categorized.”

Andrea was joined by drummer Cochrane McMillan in January of this year, with bassist Martin Fowler adding to the mix later that month. Not only are they solid musicians, but their tracks are chock full of well-blended harmonies and tight fills.

In “My Only Regret,” Cochrane takes the lead on drums and has been playing solid all day, with Turkish hand-hammered cymbals adding nice texture and shimmer.  Martin has a solid ear in this tune with dead-on rhythm and innovative fills. Andrea is a natural songwriter, and struck gold with his addictive opening guitar and bass lines.

www.myspace.com/theblankslates

The goal of today’s session is to create the majority of a demo for distribution to local radio stations.

Good energy, good times, good clean fun.

-Emily Hendricks

Here are some images from their last session…

This morning, Kevin, our newest engineer and equipment partner, showed Ryan and I some cool ideas on miking drums, probably the most coveted and experimental rock instrument to record. He was suggested to set up a pair of matched large condenser mics (we used Shure KSM44′s) spaced 8 feet apart, behind Paul’s kit, 1 inch from the floor. These faced the the floor, and grabbed unique reflections that are difficult to capture in the air. I’m looking forward to hearing them. The band also mentioned they’d be doing vocals this time on one track. we’ll keep you posted.

Here is our mess of cables, mics, drums and intense potential.

http://www.myspace.com/nottoreasonwhyband

http://cdbaby.com/cd/nottoreasonwhy

Here are some really cool, rhythmically pulsating frogs. This was recorded in my home town of Kansas City a couple of years ago. Using a French recording technique, O.R.T.F, these frogs were captured about 5 feet away from the pond where they were mating…
great to meditate to…
Enjoy!
Ryan

Stereo Miking Techniques
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
10 am – 6 pm @ Sound Arts
Sound Arts welcomed a very unique Stereo Miking Techniques Class that covered capturing audio content in a Stereo Field for Music Production, Film Recording, and Sound Art Creation. Four Stereo Miking Techniques were thoroughly explored, and instructor, Ryan Kleeman is eager to run this class again really soon. Ryan’s audio knowledge and passion is seriously abundant and brings this class a great deal of insight and inspiration. Great responses from all the participants…looking forward to the next one!