A few studio pics

[VroomVroom]

Hey Roscoeheads!

I'm sitting here, watching my first playoff game of the year (Saints/Vikings....rooting for Gard's boys, and just hoping I'm not jinxing them), and figured I'd share a few pics. Aside from a busy gig schedule, the reason I haven't seen the TV on weekends is that I've been working on an awesome album project. I'm really excited to be a part of the whole thing...great musicians, awesome studio environment, and a singer/leader that is incredibly talented, driven, and one heck of a taskmaster. Anyway, the past two Saturdays have been spent in marathon tracking sessions.

My fertile myrtle Roscoe will be featured on a number of cuts, and it just sounds awesome. Great quote from the engineer - a fellow who has more chart-toppers (and industry awards) on his resume than I have in my iTunes library. After getting me connected (GrooveTubes DITTO...an incredible DI) and asking me to play a little bit, he speaks into my headphones..."That thing scares me."

Both the sax player and I brought our cameras yesterday. I'd like to say that he just has a better camera than me (which is true), but the real deal is that he's just as talented with a camera (Canon EOS-40D with a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens) in his hands as he is with a saxophone. The shots of me were taken by him.





One last shot of me, @ ISO 1600, no less. I'm holding my camera (Nikon D80 w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens) with the Professor Kobre Lightscoop on top. I mention it because we both used it on the flash shots...a terrific $20 investment that makes your DSLR pop-up flash useful.


Finally...thanks for bearing with me...the money shot. The Roscoe in a shot I took with the Lightscoop attached.



One final point...which I'll be able to prove once I get my hands on some rough mixes. One of the tunes calls for palm-mute throughout...very moody piece without a lot of variation in the bass. However, there are some accented phrases in there. For this tune, the Roscoe was truly the only possible instrument. The punch, articulation, and sensitivity brought the line to life...it was still muted and subtle, but each note decayed perfectly, yet still offered the attack required to ensure presence. It was awesome to see the smiles on everyone's faces as we listened back to the takes.

[ubone]

Man I love seeing a smiling and content Bassist that I know is nailing it in the studio.
Great pics Jerry. How soon is the CD coming out??

[VroomVroom]

Thanks, Steve! My best guess on a release is mid-to-late spring. This is her third album, and I admire her planning and approach (plus, she has German blood, so talk about efficiency ) She's working with three batches of tunes, with the final set to come. While she's doing pre-pro on that set, she'll be finishing post-pro on the other two. The keyboardist is sharing the producer's hat, and he's doing most of the arranging. As awesome as the base tracks are, the horn lines and vocal harmonies are just ridiculous. This is gonna' be a cool record.

A few more pics in case anyone is interested...

Here's the place...the Annex in Menlo Park. (Russell Bond is the engineer.)




One of the charts...talk about chicken scratch.


Listening back...boy did that bass part suck. Next to me is Rocio Guitard, the artist, boss, and slavemaster.

[RocketMusic]

Very cool, Jerry! I love seeing the behind the scenes, can't wait to hear the finished product! Put me down for a copy!

[lwrthnwhalepoop]

Originally Posted by ubone

Man I love seeing a smiling and content Bassist that I know is nailing it in the studio.

As an old blues cat I once worked with would say, "Grinnin' like a butcher's dog." Nice pics.

Rocio may seem like a taskmaster, but I'll trade you two of my rudderless ships and one of my bong-huggers for your taskmaster. Thank God there's at least one artist out there that knows what they want and doesn't expect you to do the Vulcan Mind Meld to figure it out. Sorry, I'm a little frustrated with the projects I'm on right now. They're stalled out at the moment...not that they were really headed in any particular direction anyway. Lot of horsepower, but no steering or brakes. I'm glad I'm on the receiving end of the checks, that's all I'd better say.

[ubone]

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

can't wait to hear the finished product! Put me down for a copy!

Ditto....

[JOME77]

Cool pic's Jerry!
Sounds like a cool project. I can't wait to hear the end results!

By the way, I finally got the time (and remembered) to watch the DVD of Bruce Hornsby that you sent. Awesome! I totally enjoyed it! I knew very little about him, other than a little on the more commercial side of his stuff.
What a talented guy (and band)! I love the inside info provided on the video. Those cats step out blindly in faith everynight! Not even a set list!
For now it's my offical exersise video (treadmill).

Thanks!

[LilRay]

Good looking shots Jerry!

Can't wait to hear what you leave the studio with

Hope your having a blast.

God Bless, Ray

[Darkstrike]

Awesome stuff Jerry!

[bobunit]

Originally Posted by VroomVroom

Cool studio shots! Are the Fostex cans yours or the studios?

[bobunit]

Originally Posted by lwrthnwhalepoop

Thank God there's at least one artist out there that knows what they want and doesn't expect you to do the Vulcan Mind Meld to figure it out.

I feel you pain. I was brought in for one track after the previous guys failed to nail the tune. The lines they played sounded pretty cool to me, but she did not like them. It took me a bit to read her mind (actually, I believe it was the "No, that's absolutely not right" comments that determined the direction of the bass line). I didn't get paid, didn't get a copy of the album and didn't get credit. I'm sure glad I did her a favor!

[lolaviola]

Wait... her real name is Rocio Guitard??

[VroomVroom]

Thanks, folks! The headphones belong to the studio. They sounded GREAT. I should've captured some pics of the full monitoring rig - by far the best I've used. We each had eight channels of bliss to play with, and I was a kid in a candy store. Lots of kick drum in my mix.

Rocio is her given name, but Guitard is a stage name. I appreciate it being a funny monicker within the TalkBass forum, but there is some historic European family significance behind her choice to use it professionally.

[blen dem]

Awesome pics my man & pls holler when the CD is out

[bobunit]

Originally Posted by VroomVroom

Thanks, folks! The headphones belong to the studio. They sounded GREAT. I should've captured some pics of the full monitoring rig - by far the best I've used. We each had eight channels of bliss to play with, and I was a kid in a candy store. Lots of kick drum in my mix.

8 channels?! Awesome! Btw, I'm sure you've been told this, but what a sweet lookin' Roscoe you have.

[VroomVroom]

Thanks, man! I do loves me my Roscoe.

Turns out we did have a shot of the monitor rig...this is what each of us rhythm section dogs had to play with:



Charlito, thanks for the post...good to see you here!

[VroomVroom]

So...cool add-on. The engineer on this project is producing/engineering another project, and he's asked the drummer and I to act as the rhythm section for it. The tracks for the first tune are going down tonight, and I'll be wearing a Roscoe t-shirt and a Roscoe fretless SKB. (Funny note...got the pre-pro .mp3 and "chart" yesterday. Not only are the chords wrong, but the artist's guitar was out-of-tune just enough to make learning the real chords difficult.)

[RocketMusic]

That's why you get the big money, right, Jerry?

[VroomVroom]

You've got it, Greg. Only 25 more sessions just like this and I'll be calling you about that orange SKB sixer on your wall!

[RocketMusic]

Then those lottery winnings will just be gravy! Nice