The Album "SpaceCactus II"
written by Executive Producer Greg Lime
The tracking and mixing was done on a 32 Channel Mackie 8-buss mixer into a Fostex 16-track digital recorder. The stereo mix cruises through a Bellari tube preamp into a digital TC Electronics 3-Band Compressor and then into a Marantz CD recorder.
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All the drums on this album spur from years of playing real drums.
I use the Shure and a CAD Equitech mics for all the vocals.
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The 32 channel board is split in half in the sense that I track with the first 16 channels and then mix with 17-32. That allows me to keep the channel-strip settings for 1-16 permanent for the gear plugged into them. The Mackie 8-buss is a crystal clear sounding board with headroom that rivals boards that exceed $100,000 and I love her. I run an insert in the stereo outs with an old Aphex Arual Exciter and a BBE Sonic Maximiser. I own a rack from hell including mic preamps, four or five Alesis Quadraverbs, a MicroVerb, Yamaha Delay, parametric EQs by Alesis, dbx compressors and a big ole dbx EQ for the big room monitors. I have two power amps. One is used for mixing and critical sound. It is a Samson 60-watt that powers a set of Tanoy Reveal monitors. The other is for rock'n the house. Its a 600 watt Carver I use when David and friends are in the studio. The sound for tracking Hard Rock is phenomenal with this set up. Drum Machines Rock! I will even program in subtle nuances like skipping the hi-hat on cymbal hits and never doing a drum roll a really good drummer could not do. The drum machine is a Roland R-5. This is the same machine used on Michael Jackson's Thriller album. I have used it on every record I have made since 1990. I love playing real drums, howerver the R-5 has a better studio demeanor than most drummers after the 20th take including myself.
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I track with a cheap noisy MXL 990 condenser mic with a Fender Rock
Pro 1000 4x12 Cab through a dbx mic preamp. This mic sounds better
then my $800 Shure for recording a really loud amp because it is a
"hotter" mic. At high cab volume you can't here the noise
anyway. I get a hotter output from it so it really drives the preamp
and sounds like the axe is just pouring into the mix!
The
bass guitar on this album is the best sounding I have ever produced.
When ever I need to create a good bass guitar sound I listen to the
classic "Unchained" by Van Halen. Michael Anthony's playing
style and sound are exactly what I am looking for when I am creating
the bass guitar sound. I use a U.S.A. made Fender Precision Bass and
a SansAmp Bass Driver right into the board. I toss a Alesis Micro
Compressor in the board's channel insert and wall-ahh, nice and simple.
The
guitars on this album are all customized to Rock and Rock Hard. I
used a Floyd Rose equipped Kramer from the early 80's on "Boogie
Train" and two 1990's U.S.A. made Hardtail Strat Plus Stratocasters.
All three are cutumised with hand-picked humbuckers for Metal Sounds.
I also play a big black Gibson Gothic Explorer at jams. David's brand
new Les Paul made it ont the album as well in "Rock and Roll
Man". He also plays a 50th Anniversary Strat and an Ibanez.
I also still use my Marshall Rack-Mount preamp for some of the leads
and initial tracking when Dave comes over. He usually plays through
the MXL miked Fender and I will use the Marshall straight into the
board to play along with him live. If the Fender is sounding better
for the track, I will overdub with it after Dave leaves and play my
part over using the 4x12 sound. I edit and Master the tracks using
SoundForge digital editing software. The Tracks
"Sunshine" was inspired by a couple weeks worth of cloudy days. People don't realize how important the Sun is to one's attitude. The main riff has a neat syncopation to the drum track I really like. It is very subtle but it takes a simple riff and adds some Tabasco to it. I played the Zebra Strat Plus on all the rhythm and lead tracks. The vocal part on the chorus is a rare five-part harmony. Most harmonies are two and three part on this record but occasionally you have the opportunity to get down with a five if the song structure permits it. This is the case here.
"Down at the River" has got my favorite chorus vocals. Its high, high, high and two part harmony! Inspired by life on the Louisiana bayou, this little ditty is one of my favorites because of the chorus vocals and chorus bass riff. The Zebra Strat Plus dominated the entire song. Crab Stew, a little or a lot!!!
"Secret Toy" is my all time favorite. That’s a bold statement but damn! This tune ROCKS! It has the highest note I can hit vocally thanks to a shot of Jack Daniel's for medicinal purposes. You can hear it during the chorus.."I wanna play, my secret toy - I wanna hear, my secret toy". Secret Toy is inspired by some kids playing at our neighborhood pool. I heard one of them saying, "did you bring your secret toy to the pool today?" I wondered if they meant their electric guitars and such.
"See the Light" is the fastest track I have ever put on an album! It has an over-compressed old fashion "Smash Mouth" walking on the sun sound. The Zebra Strat dominated the tracks on this one too. The Pledge of Allegiance by John Wayne can be heard in its entirety toward the end of the track! I do not know why I put it there other than its cool and I love the States. The song is inspired by people who won't do things right to save time and subsequently have to do them over therefore saving no time at all! You can also hear an example of the "primal rock scream" on this track.
"Candy Store" slows things down a bit and adds a good contrast to the album. Every song on this album sounds very different and this one is no exception. Both Strats are on this track. The Candy Store referrers to a music store with lots and lots of axes! The rhythm at the end of the tune is kick-ass and very cool to play.
"Cast the Stone" words were written after Dave left the studio for the evening. I took a riff he developed and added the words. His guitar work was so cool that I kept his origianl track which can be heard solo by panning to the right as is with most of the songs Dave is playing on. I was using the Zebra Strat Plus and Dave had a new 50th Anniversary Strat that evening.. Dave's guitar collection is also something to behold has surpassed even mine in the recent years.
The "Saturday Night" main riff was conjured up a decade ago with David writing the main part. As with many great SpaceCactus tunes, the main riff ideas come from Dave and a couple a beers. I'll take the riffs and arrange them into a tangible product. If I am lucky, I can horse whip David into actually come over and play on the track as he did on this one. He blazed hard on his track, near perfect playing.
"Boggie Train" is another example of Dave's idea and my arrangements and production. Written years ago, it has been a staple when we get together and jam. Although David did not play on the track, the guitar riffs are almost entirely Taco! Many a riff has been written at Dave's studios. He has had three studios over the years and the newest, the "Rock Palace" is just that, a palace for rockin! It is an extreamly nice facilty on several acres of land in the countryside. I love to visit there. I never go without an axe.
"Rock and Roll Man" was the only track Dave's new Les Paul is on. I was really stoked to get that axe on the album before it was released! Dave was really fired up about the new Paul and was in rare form on this track. Just pan hard right and check it out! This was the last song made for SC 2. We were jamming one night at the Funk Dome studio and Dave fires up yet another killer riff, which I had a drum track for. After tracking it, I really had to do some serious arranging to get the flow just right. A few edits later in SoundForge and I had the last song for the album in" the can". You can hear Dave scream at the end of the track. This is due to a tradition we started years ago. During intense moments of hard rockin, there is an energy that can not be explained or bottled. Those times call for the "primal rock scream". John Bonham of led Zeppelin was reputed to partake in the very same ritual during intense moments of his drum solos! This is a true fact.
"Remembrance" is dedicated to my late Father. All those who cherish the finality of life and live it to the fullest ever-single day inspired this riff. I used the Kramer again for the vibrato effects. The keyboards and stuff at the end was done with a Roland D50 as with all the tracks on this Rockin record.
(All tracks recorded on Earth)