Producer, musician and analog fundamentalist Steve Albini (Big Black, Rapeman, Shellac) and Kim Deal (The Pixies, The Breeders) have been busy constructing an all-analog concept of recording music: The All-Wave Recording Movement.

Their creed is loosely stated as “everything should be an analog sound recording of someone playing or singing, rather than using a computer to generate or digitally manipulate sounds separated from the dimension of time in which they were performed.” Basically, to record All Wave one must use no computers, no MIDI, no samplers, no digital recording, no auto-tuning, or any other mainstays of contemporary production.

The 2008 Breeders album Mountain Battles was recorded using the All-Wave philosophy, and Deal designed a logo (above) to be voluntarily used (like the Parental Advisory stickers of the ’80s) if one chooses to record their record in this way. (I assume she used an X-Acto knife and tape to create the logo.) The goal, Steve Albini writes, is to create a movement that is “at least as significant as the Ska revival, or perhaps the WNBA.”

Wow.

I believe analog recording is a great tool. It’s tried and true. There are many tools I utilize in the analog world. When it suits the project. The hole in the nostalgic all-analog concept is that it only applies to the rock genre, which is what Albini typically records. Steve is not only talking about eliminating digital recording techniques but composition and instrumentation tools as well, which have long been a part of other genres outside of rock. It’s elitist and narrow-minded to imply that music can’t be created with a computer.

The second issue here is that there are those who follow Albini like he is an engineer-god and will take this to mean that all other methods of recording are inferior and the only correct way to record is with an all-analog method. Yet this is far from the truth. There are many possibilities and permutations when it comes to choosing equipment and techniques.

When analog tape first appeared on the commercial market after WWII, people scoffed at it, saying that direct-to-vinyl was the only real way to record. And the same thing happened in the ’80s when digital recording first came to the forefront. History repeats itself. Luckily most formats and technologies only improve with time. Vinyl is still a wonderful and viable format. It is not the only format.

So my question to Albini and Deal would be this: Is technology that is 70 years old really a factor in making a record sound good? It’s one thing to be a purist (ahem: obsessive-compulsive) in your methodology, but to believe that the methodology above all else is a factor in creating a superior sound is another. I just haven’t found this to be the case.

Otherwise, why stop at tape? Let’s make all future music using dijeridoos and wax cylinders. I mean, really, tape is far too clean sounding. I need the grainy artifacts of carved wax to forge true music.

Seriously though, like analog tape recording, other methods of recording seem to sneak their way back in to the main stream. For a while 12bit samplers were all producers had. 16bit came and now we’re well past 24bit. But there are many producers who now strive to have that crunchy 12bit drum sound. Which leads me to believe that at some point in time, Alesis ADAT’s will be sought after for their distinct 16bit sound. It’s all about finding the sound that works for a particular project at a particular time. Analog fundamentalism is just an exercise in intellectual masturbation.

That said, Albini and Deal have constructed an interesting concept for capturing music. All analog. Go for it! Maybe for your next record you should try it. Break out that old 4-track or the Tascam 388 8-track. But let’s not stop there. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Recording in analog isn’t the only way to record and I hope home recordists get this and pass it on. After all, the digital revolution has only made music production and recording more accessible for more people, just like the 4-track did in the ’70s and ’80s.

Just keep hitting record, with what ever you have, no matter what good ol’ grumpy Albini has to say.

From Noble Lake to Private Eleanor and Small Sur, it feels like Baltimore is in the middle of some kind of soft rock renaissance, with a number of the local indie scene’s best bands playing and singing in hushed tones, as if gathered around a campfire. And at the forefront of that quiet army is Beach House, whose 2006 self-titled debut garnered so much national acclaim that the band actually scraped the Billboard album charts at #195 with their latest, Devotion, earlier this year.

The duo, comprised of singer/keyboardist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally, layer a film of reverb over lackadaisical tempos, and the overall effect is not so much retro as it is timeless, and placeless. The vaguely exotic sound of French expatriate Legrand’s lingering accent brings to mind Nico’s work on the Velvet Underground’s first album. And aside from the tinny drum machine patterns that occasionally keep the time, there’s little to distinguish Devotion as a contemporary work; it could’ve been made at almost any point in the past twenty years, or even in VU’s era.

All The Years
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Occasionally a strong melody does cut through the haze, particularly on “All The Years,” where a wandering slide guitar melody gives the chorus an edge of yearning. But for the most part, Devotion seems to force itself into background music status, even if it’s really pretty, well made background music, which may be exactly what Beach House are going for.

Baltimore’s MC Top dropped by the studio last weekend to cut a few songs for his latest mix tape. He came in for the night and cut 4 songs. We were impressed with his output and thought we’d share a few samples here with you.

They Might
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So Much More
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I have a client coming in that requires recording to a grand piano. Since I don’t have the space for a grand piano, we run a MIDI keyboard into Logic Pro 8 and use one of theirs. Usually we do overdubs for piano right in the control room.

This client needs to record the piano at the same time as the vocals. This created a problem as we never wired the studio for MIDI to the control room. Luckily there was a post on the Tape Op Message Boards explaining how to run MIDI through XLR. You might be thinking, “The MIDI cable has 5 connections and the XLR has 3, so how is this done?” The fact is that MIDI only actually uses 3 of the 5 connections. The rest are null and unused.

So if you are decent with a soldering gun, this is a fairly painless task and can be done in less than an hour.

The first step was to cut an XLR cable in half. Same with the MIDI cable. Then strip the wires. You then have to figure which of the MIDI wires hook up to pins 4, 2, and 5, which are the 3 middle pins. The outside two are not used. I figured out which of the leads they were by connecting a 9 volt battery in a loop and waiting for the tiny spark. Be careful not to shock yourself. I don’t recommend this since you can buy a continuity tester for 8 bucks and avoid the risk of getting shocked. it’s well worth the $8 investment. At least this is what I told myself afterwards.

After I figured out the leads, it was just a matter of soldering the cables. Then in the studio I plugged the MIDI cable to the keyboard and the XLR end to the mic box. Then in the control room I took the other end of the XLR cable and ran the MIDI part to the MIDI IN running in to Logic.

There you have it! MIDI to XLR in less than an hour.

To reiterate:

MIDI CABLE: 1-4-2-5-3 (2 being the ground)

XLR: 1-3-2 (3 being the ground)

Then connect: 2 (MIDI) & 3 (XLR) and 4 (MIDI) & 1 (XLR) and 5 (MIDI) & 2 (XLR).

So you have the following chain:

MIDI keyboard -> MIDI OUT -> XLR Male Studio Patch -> XLR Female Control Room Patch -> MIDI IN to Logic.

We’re into this whole idea of marrying visual art with a musical workspace so along with our open house, we’re kicking off a series of works of art by Baltimore artist Donald Edwards. He calls his process of recycling old art into new art: planned accidental evolution. Every new piece of work incorporates a part of his previous work. In a different medium, it reminds us of the music of our dear friend Mark Degliantoni in that he often samples his own earlier songs when creating new works.

So to celebrate our grand opening, we’re offering 1/3 off the normal rates on studio time if you call to book a session by July 31st. That’s right, ONE-THIRD! Cuz we’re cra-aazy Mobtown. CRAZY!

And finally, keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming story on us in the Baltimore Examiner. Not sure when it’s running, but should be in the next week.

Untitled
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Blue Walls (Sad Version)
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The Red Vines is the latest project by the musical mastermind of Ryan Finnerin. Peppered with cameos by totally excellent local musicians, the record gains extra spice. It has lush acoustic guitar hooks and insanely catchy pop vocals complete with sugary reverbed tambourines.

We start Everyday Needles For Electromagnetic Lovers off with a pop ditty called Electromagnetic Lover. I must first applaud the acoustic guitar work here. The guitars are double-tracked and panned hard, as well as played expertly. Completely in sync with one another. The drums come in with confidence and motion, propelling the song along. The lead in the right-ish channel makes the song a touch alt-country which works for me. And any song that makes an allusion to vinyl is good by me (on a random note: there’s a song by Nashville’s The Features which totally reminds me of this song - their old song was called 33 1/3 and it was about a guy whose girlfriend likes his record collection more than him). And props to the art designer, Zach Hobbs, who did a splendid job topping the CD off with an image of a vinyl record. Pretty clever.
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The second song is The Last Sing-A-Long-Song. The vocal harmonies smell like our good friends, Jellyfish. I am loving it. The cut-time section is perfect and is complemented by a wonderfully placed (in the mix) cello.
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The Nameless begins with a nasty awesome Oberheim/Moog-sounding synth that reminds me of The Beatles’ Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. It’s sort of out of place, but I am totally digging the randomness of it.
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I don’t really know what it is about this record. It definitely reminds me of the summer of 2002. Not in a retro, derivative way, but relative to the stylings of what I was listening to at the time. It was when I was listening non-stop to Grandaddy, Guided By Voices and Build To Spill.

An interesting note is that this record was wonderfully mastered at Kitchen Mastering by Brent Lambert who is pretty active on the TapeOp message boards. If you are into home audio and haven’t been on their boards, you must do yourself a favor and get educated.

You can buy The Red Vines’ latest record at their label’s site for $8 plus shipping. They will also be playing in Washington DC on July 26th at the Honfleur Art Gallery.

In my younger days I wasn’t much of a Cure fan. They were mopey. Wore dark clothes. And were considered “gothic”. Something I couldn’t wrap my finger around. Until I heard their album Mixed Up, which was simply remixes and rearrangements of their studio songs. At that time, anything with a drum machine was offensive to me. It felt inhuman, like a sub-par replacement. I didn’t see the big picture of what could be created and innovated with a drum machine. Anyhow, regardless of my problems with a certain instrument, the record spoke to me. Namely the remix of Caterpillar and Inbetween Days. They were so completely different from the originals; they were almost new songs.

This brings me to the Thrushes’ new remix single that includes many creative and innovative mixes a la Mixed Up.

The first mix is by DtheNextLevel, aptly titled DtheNextLevel Mix, from Arlington, VA. It’s a great opener. Very spacey and bouncy. It reminds me of The Orb.
[See post to listen to audio]

The next mix, Manchester Reunited Mix, is by Jonesamatic from Baltimore. It totally reminds me of a James mix. I love the bass and the way they worked in the slightly off-kilter vocals. This mix totally propels. A good summer mix for the car with the windows down.
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Rob Sharp’s contribution gives us the Evil Gospel Playroom Mix. And that it is. It’s roomy and dark and filled with a choir that lends a touch of the evil.
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Insect Guide’s No Bones Mix is pretty interesting. It doesn’t stray too much from the original, but it’s a great remix in the purest aspect of a remix. It’s a wonderfully executed interpretation of the original.
[See post to listen to audio]

The single (which also includes the video directed by Kevin Doyle) is being released in a limited run of 500. Be sure to pick up a copy today. You can order it from their site for $8.