Most of these tracks are for the Defrost Nixon album. Depending upon the song and the actual tracks, some of these I did quite awhile ago and have some less than desirable issues with. I feel like I've learned a lot about mic'ing guitar cabinets over the past 2 weeks, and it seems strange to say that considering I've been doing this for so long. I guess we learn a little bit here and there.
Today's recording ended with a re-record of the first track off of the "Wrecking Ball" album, though. I've had this one on my agenda for quite some time, and I even tried to redo it about 3 years ago and abandoned ship because I couldn't get the sound right at the time. I think I got it today although the intro is a bit questionable, but there's more than one way to handle that.
To add to the excitement, when I'm recording electric guitars, I'm usually standing facing the amps and I have a clear view out the front window from upstairs to the street below. As I was going through the second take of the track, I saw an elderly couple walking the cul de sac and they stopped just to the right of my house. I could clearly see them looking both annoyed and a bit bewildered, turning their heads back and forth, and I quickly realized that they were probably trying to track down where the guitar noise was coming from. For whatever reason, sound in our neighborhood travels very strangely, and even though they were basically standing almost directly below my window, they kept looking at the house to my right. Now, this is all going on literally as I'm playing and tracking the part, so I'm doing my best to not get too terribly distracted but it was making me nervous. I finished the take and was half expecting my doorbell to ring but I never heard it. I also couldn't figure out where the couple went for it was like they had just vanished. Oh well, right?
Well, about 20 minutes later a highway patrolman shows up and parks in front of my neighbors house. Fun! Apparently, the older couple decided that my neighbor was the origin of the noise but the joke was on them because I think my neighbor was out all day, which is partly why I was blasting my amp a bit more than normal. The cop went to the door but gave up quickly when no one answered. I watched out my window to see if he was going to try my house next but he never did, and instead he drove off. I guess it remains to be seen if I get a letter from the HOA or not. I'll also have to try and ask my neighbor about it since I don't want them to erroneously get in trouble for my noise. I'll admit the amp was a bit loud but it was 3-4pm in the afternoon, however, and it wasn't like I had been recording for hours.
This of course makes me a bit nervous for recording tomorrow, the day I took off, but nevertheless I'll do what I can. I'll obviously drop the volume a bit on my amp but there's only so much you can do. If I get carted off in the paddy wagon, well, you'll know why.
In the meantime, I'm trying to get a few things done and need to check my work. I never consider anything complete until I actually listen to it back again with fresh ears. Maybe I should call the elderly couple since their ears seemed pretty a-tune? Okay, maybe not.
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