Wednesday, July 29, 2009

T minus 6 weeks until Travel II

Here's a little video about what the coming weeks will hold:

We'll post one song per week starting a week from today (tuesday) until the release date of September 8th. We really can't wait for you to hear these songs.

If I'm a mother bird and these songs are my chicks, then it is almost time for me to sit back and watch as they leave the nest and fly away into the glorious, vast expanse that is your musical enjoyment.

Stay tuned for weekly videos as well... chronicling one of the most draining, enjoyable and prolific months of the band's existence.

T.J.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Recording at College Ave!






Last weekend, Eric and I went to College Ave. Baptist in San Diego to record the pipe organ, timpani, bass drum, and bar chimes. We brought my protools LE rig and ran it along with some of Eric's mic pres (Neve sidecar console and Avalons).

This might sound lame to some, but I have dreamed of playing a real pipe organ for quite a while. Playing that thing was SO incredible. It had just been tuned a few days before, and the sheer power of that thing was awe inspiring. Even though we had a fine take of my part, I kept saying "I think I can do it better" just so I could keep playing! I thing the same thing happened to Eric when he was on the pipes. The thought of a building sized, room filling, beautiful behemoth instrument making it on the next EP makes me happy.

Eric and I both played the orchestral percussion, and the Timpani especially brought back memories of High School band. College Ave's sanctuary is epic, and acoustically beautiful and spacious. The bass drum might as well have been called 'the smile machine,' because a smile or laugh followed almost every room shaking syllable uttered from it's mylar and fiber mouth.

All in all, it was a very fun, long, exhausting, but unforgettable and incredible day.

-T.J.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

We just finished recording pipe

We just finished recording pipe organ and timpani in a huge sanctuary for the album.