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By Charlie Cheney of http://www.indiebandmanager.com
I sat in on a recording session in Frenchtown, NJ,
with my friends Alex Radus and Maria Woodford
the other night. The two join forces on occasion to
perform as the "folk-fusion" duo Duende
(http://www.duendeonline.com).
I'd heard they were recording with engineer Lance Davis.
Lance's studio is state-of-the-art, but I
was surprised to find they weren't recording in his
studio at all but in a converted loft space 1/2
a mile away overlooking the Delaware River.
When I opened the door into the loft the warmth of
the place just rolled over me. Lance had set up
microphones around a few stools in the middle of the
room and put his studio in a whole new
environment. There were candles burning everywhere and
huge oil paintings hanging on the walls. It
created a really warm and inviting atmosphere for playing,
let alone recording.
The vaulted ceilings gave the room a live and full
sound. Singing up close to the microphones gave
it that "whisper in my ear" intimacy, backing
five feet off from the mics gave it an old-timey
radio feel. Afterwards we sat around on the red leather
couches sipping wine and listening to the
rough mixes. The recording had a great full sound, not
boomy, with a woody clarity. Sounded great.
I think it's pretty cool to try and use what you have
in innovative ways and not let the technology
limit you. The shrinking effect of technology has given
us a new option... next time you're
recording, consider picking it all up to record wherever
you want.
Charlie is a solo performer with three CD releases.
He'll be recording a new full band album in
Austin, Texas, during March 2005. For more, visit http://www.charliecheney.com.
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