“And now we’re on state number three for the day,” says Mike the TM as we cross from Ohio to Kentucky. The Tally Hall machine is grinding its way from Michigan to Tennessee in this, the beginning, of our new tour. Today’s drive will be between 10 and 14 hours, depending on traffic and bathroom breaks. I’m betting closer to the 14-hour mark. I feel a little bad, having detained the machine in Ann Arbor while I went to a walk-in clinic. The “throat thing” I’ve had for about two months turned out to be a bacterial infection, so I needed to get a prescription for antibiotics. Given the necessities of touring, I’ll probably not get it filled for a state or two, but what’s another couple days?
In Tennessee we’re going to pick up our tour-mates, De Novo Dahl and Low vs. Diamond. I know absolutely nothing about them, except that we’re going to become well acquainted with each other over the next few weeks. I’m going to try to be more welcoming than I was with the Republic Tigers, who turned out to be totally awesome.
Many apologies for my lack of posting between the beginning of April and now; the East Coast tour turned out to be really intense, not to mention seriously lacking in long drives, which are so perfect for blogmaking. Nevertheless, I do have memories and, since beginnings are a good time to think about the past, I’ll share what I’ve got. The last tour was really schizophrenic; we played everywhere from tiny student coffeehouses to 800 person rock clubs.
Particular treats during the last tour included seeing my parents in Northampton and then having them come to the show in New Haven. My folks hadn’t heard me mix since my very first club gig in Portland on the day before I graduated from college in 2005. I’d like to think that a lot has changed since then, but I know I’ve got a long way to go before I’m as good as I want to be. My dad said “that was cool, did I hear some feedback?” My mom said, “couldn’t you have turned it down for your mother.” I had, of course, mixed quieter than I normally do, but of course it’s never quiet enough for Mom.
Another exciting part of New Haven was getting to see Brett and Julia. Brett is a good friend from high school, and the drummer from my first rock band ever. He and his girlfriend Julia stayed with us in Portland while they were on a road trip of epic proportions. Brett is also a fantastic photographer, and was able to get some pretty great shots of the band. Check out their blog at blog.brettmickelson.com. Brett and Julia took me out to the best pizza I would end up having this tour (sorry, NYC). The spot, Modern Apizza, was on par with Ken’s Artisan or Apizza Scholls in Portland.
I had a homecoming of sorts in Northampton. The Iron Horse Music Hall is the first place I remember going to a popular music concert. When I was 9 or 10, my parents took me to see Mose Allison, a piano playing jazz singer songwriter. The highlight of that Mose show for me was not the actual performance but rather running into Mr. Allison outside of the bathroom just before the performance. Now, I’m not sure what he had ingested, but he left the most odorous stench my young nostrils had experienced. Not only was I a starstruck little piano player, I was an awestruck little farter. Mixing at the Iron Horse was a bit of a challenge, but the room sounded great and the PA, while looking a little funny, filled the space quite well. Adding to my enjoyment of the Iron Horse was the fact that the bartender knew how to pour a G clef into the head on a Guinness. Matt (I hope I’m remembering his name correctly) was a really helpful house guy and just a generally nice dude.
Note: We just passed a sign in Kentucky for “Big Bone Lick State Park.” I love touring.
In New Haven, we played at Toad’s Place, a fairly oversized room for us at 800 capacity. Toad’s crew were really nice—one of two groups of loaders we had this tour—and quite helpful. Their LD, whose name I’m embarrassed to have forgotten, built us a projector platform from scratch. Eric, the production manager/sound guy, was both nice and helpful, in spite of a late arrival.
In Boston (Allston, actually, but who’s counting?), we played at the Great Scott, where the house guy, Ben, was a friend of both Mike, our TM, and Will, my housemate. Ben was the best part of the Great Scott. Ross, Tally Hall’s drummer, sprained his ankle on a hole in the floor at the Great Scott, so that venue gets a big ole frowny-face in my book.
In Brooklyn, we played at the Southpaw, a dingy, typical rock club with a nice staff,. Stage mgr. Ken and sound guy Kevin were both quite helpful and accommodating. The PA sounded pretty good and they had enough toys to keep me busy and out of their hair. Unfortunately, the mix position was about as far away from the stage as it could be while remaining in the same building.
In New York City, we played at the fabled Bowery Ballroom. House guy Kenny, whom I’d been warned about by Si, was definitely the awesomest house guy I’ve ever met; he’s been around forever and knows that room like the back of his grizzled hand. “Yeah, those EQs are on the house, this one’s on the center, that one’s on the bottom clusters, but I usually just keep ‘em flat.” Wow. Not only is Kenny a great dude, the Bowery sounds great. Once a couple people get inside of it, the room cleans up a whole lot and the PA covers so well it’s not even funny. Joe’s guitar buzzed a whole lot, but the guys soldiered on.
In Philly, we played at the North Star Bar, and a special treat was awaiting me at the end of the night. Don, “director of operations” at the sound company, was on his way from Portland to NYC and stopped off for a few beers in Philly with me after our show. It was great to see someone from home. You should check out the band he’s working for right now, they’re called Smoosh. I’ve done monitors for them and they’re not only the politest little girls I’ve ever met, they’re also really good songwriters and very professional performers. Reed, the house guy for the Philly show, was really nice, in a stand-offish kind of way. He seemed to know more about his PA than anyone else we ran across.
Our time in DC included some pretty cool press stops. The first stop was at XM radio, where we were given a really complete tour of the facility. We learned from our tour guide that “you can put a sattelite in space for under $500 million!” We also got to see where the buck stops at XM. In a room reminiscent of Dr. Evil’s control room, sits one person in a futuristic chair, surrounded by video screens displaying all data about every XM station and rebroadcaster. On this person’s right is a trackball, and on his left is a phone. Anytime that phone rings the buck stopper has to be able to fix the problem. Amazing. What’s more amazing is the fact that everyone who goes into the XM offices walks by this person in his glass bubble. Must be a weird job to have, everyone always looking in on you. On the one hand, you have all the power, and on the other you’re like a caged monkey. Dance, monkey, dance.
Our other press stop was at NBC in DC. Our progress between XM and NBC was blocked by the confluence of two of the most powerful people in the world: the president and the pope. What should have been a 20 minute drive took over 2 hours. At NBC, the dudes jumped out, got their “acoustic set” gear and headed for the studio. We were so late at NBC that we ended up also being late for the show at DC9. Our show in DC was forgettable, the house guy was cranky and not the most flexible; the PA sounded fine, if a little beamy. The rest of the night, on the other hand, was amazing. We hung around the venue, DC9, until last call and then went off in search of food. Many places were closed, but when we finally found an open one, it was perfect; they served the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the slices were 10” wide at the crust by 18” from crust to tip. Huge pizza. The pizza joint was run by a bunch of African dudes who were listening to Fela Kuti on a ghetto blaster.
The final show of the tour was in Canton, MI at a high school. The sound company, Signature Audio, did an admirable job of covering the room given the budgetary constraints, but the PA just didn’t quite have the oomph we needed. Of course, I’m not sure they could have put more power in that room, every time Ross hit the kick drum, the console lights dimmed. Eep. I did notice one thing, however: high school students LOVE Tally Hall. They cheered and cheered and cheered and stood and stomped and screamed. It was great to see an audience really get into the show like that. It was also a really fun end of tour show; the Republic Tigers, our support this tour, had gone to a dollar store and bought a whole bunch of hilarious blow up toys and hats and balls and stuff. They filled the stage with funny stuff and threw some at the audience. Dave, the Tigers’ sound guy, and I wore a pink flamingo hat while mixing. I still miss those guys; they were great.
And so, having looked back at the past tour, I think I’m ready for new things. The venues on this tour are larger and better equipped, in general, than the ones we saw last tour. It feels like we’re already in the swing of things. Here’s to traffic jams, fast food, truck stops, fun shows and happy humans.
Showing posts with label Ann Arbor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ann Arbor. Show all posts
5.10.2008
4.02.2008
Back to the Highway
Michigan TV show in our home away from hotel this tour, a dark blue Dodge Sprinter. The guys are on a conference call about something or other. I’ve become used to these moments of absurdity, sitting in the van, listening to half of a discussion. It’s fun to make up the dialogue in between what the people I’m sitting next to are saying.
(in the van) “Isn’t that how all bands do it?”
(in my head) “No, Bill, not all bands make a record out of cole slaw. You just can’t do that. I’d suggest making one out of cranberry orange relish. I think the sonic properties of hardened relish will really bring out the background harmonies, and the orange flavor will add a delightful ‘tang’ to the mix.”
(in the van) “Well, I guess if you can make a case for it, but I’m still not convinced.”
And it goes like that. Sometimes for 25 minutes at a time. Still other times, I just stare out the window and watch the USA pass by. It’s funny how similar this Michigan highway looks to the Mass Pike. It’s just long stretches of not very much but scrubby, scruffy, trees.
Last night, we did a show at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, MI. The Union Ballroom is a pretty large space about twice the size of the Reed College Student Union. It’s got a very classy feel, with white walls and light wood accents, a big fireplace, and nice-looking bay windows. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag some pictures from the band and audience to either post here or link to, but I was preoccupied with making things sound good.
A big change for us was having an outside production company come in with a sound and lighting package. As a production person, I’ve got to say that this was the best rig we’ve seen by far, purely from a gear standpoint. Furthermore, the whole crew from Allen Audio was super fun to work with. Bill helped Toby take care of the stage duties and mixed monitors for the openers, Toby mixed Tally Hall’s monitors, having a pretty good first gig doing monitors on a digital mixing board. Jeff made the lights look really pretty. I’m seriously bummed I didn’t get any pictures of the looks he had for the songs, because by-and-large they were totally spot on. Last, but certainly not least, Mark Allen (he puts the “Allen” in “Allen Audio”) made it his business to keep me happy at Front of House. He walked me through making the unfamiliar digital sound board my friend, and catered to my every whim, including messing with his system presets to give the subwoofers a little more gut thump, a key quality when trying to get people to shake their booties.
I woke up super early yesterday, especially considering how exhausted I’d been and the fact that I’m still on West coast time. Rob dropped me off at the Union Ballroom around 11 and I went in to help Mark &co. finish setting up. I built some truss, something I haven’t done since my days with the Oregon Convention Center, did some little rigging, hung some motors, and then tried to stay out of the way as the well oiled machine that is Allen Audio got its rock on. Around 12:30, the band showed up with the backline and we loaded it in up the stairs into the ballroom.
We futzed around with stuff for a while, got set on stage, and I dialed up some monitors with Toby. Then we got the band up and we had a soundcheck. For those of you wondering how that goes, let me give you an idea:
Each instrument has a microphone on it, or else it plugs directly into the PA system. We get the band onstage and, speaking to them through their monitors, I ask them to play each instrument, starting with the kick drum and going on up in order through the vocals. The order is decided both by convention. Basically, you build up from the rhythm section to the lead parts, so the drums and bass go first, followed by all of the other instruments. After the instruments come the vocals. Soundcheck is pretty much my only opportunity to hear each instrument individually, so I take a little time with each channel to ensure that each one is receiving a clean signal (i.e. without hums, buzzes, hisses or pops) and each one will tonally fit in the mix.
As I go through the instruments, the band members ask for more or less of each instrument to be added to their individual mix. In order to test the sound, the band plays a few bars of a few different songs to be sure there is enough of each instrument. I also play around a little with the tones, trying to give each instrument its own spot in the mix. This is especially hard with the guitars and keyboards in this band because they change tone so much throughout the show. For example, on one song Joe’s guitar may be quiet, reserved and swooshy, Rob’s guitar chunky and Andrew’s keyboards sparkly. Then one song later, Joe’s guitar is distorted and dark, Rob’s guitar is zippy and honky and Andrew’s keyboards are thumpy and bassy. This is one of many aspects of Tally Hall that makes it a fun challenge for me at the mixing console. This tonal variability means that I can’t be too extreme with my tonal adjustment, or people will miss the subtleties of the show.
After soundcheck, the band and I, along with a bunch of their friends, spent about an hour blowing up a bazillion balloons to decorate the room. The overall effect of our decoration and the extensive production was one of smile-inducing juxtaposition: bundles of balloons standing next to high-tech looking truss, futuristic lights, and scary black speaker boxes. After decoration hour, we hung out in our green room for a little while. I took the opportunity to call my special lady and my parents and to pace out my nerves. I really like talking to home people just before a show; it re-adjusts my focus by getting my brain to work on something that’s not noisemaking.
I met lots of awesome people last night. Among them were Moe and Keith from the band “Bellicose.” Bellicose is a funky rockin’ hip hop band. I haven’t heard them yet, but I’ll be sure to make sure to post links when I find ‘em. Keith is the bass player and reminded me, on first meeting, of Scott Pemberton, my guitar teacher. Scott is a singular talent; a guitar player with a voice all his own, and a teacher with a great feel for making his students comfortable. His best known project was Triclops, an organ trio with an undeniably funky vibe. My favorite Pemberton band, however, will always be Conanza. Conaza is an art rock band for funkheaded geeks. It started as an art project, essentially, with Scott, drummer Micah Kassel and bass player Norm “Large Curd” Buccola. The three dudes would get together in Scott’s studio on Wednesday nights to write, arrange and record at least 2 songs. I engineered a few weeks worth of sessions and they were some of the most rewarding learning experiences I’ve had. To be in a room with creative dudes like that while they made music was truly electric.
I just looked out the window at a water tower that reads “Portland.” Who knew I was so close to home.
Scott is the reason I’m a professional sound guy today, having given me my first “professional” sound gig at the Goodfoot. Together with Ji Tanzer, we ran an open mic at the Goodfoot for about 2 years (Summer ’05 thru Spring ’07). As a formative experience in a sound guy’s career, the Goodfoot was great. They had just enough gear that I couldn’t get in trouble, but not enough that I could be complacent. Also, they had really interesting acts, so I was able to learn to mic a whole lot of cool instruments, from the in-house Hammond B3 to Nigerian talking drums, accordions and violins to sitars and pan pipes. A very cool place for a budding sound guy to get some basics. Our post-Goodfoot sessions on my front porch definitely formed the basis of a mixing and being philosophy that I think I practice to this day.
Thinking about Scott Pemberton brought the Meters back to my playlist, so as we cruise down the Motor City highways, I’m bopping my head to some heavy Louisiana swamp funk. These guys must be as close to the Platonic form of “funky” as anyone can be.
Production Geek Time!
Production for the show was provided by Allen Audio, a local sound and lighting company. The main speakers were EV XLCs, a really nice sounding, affordable line array cabinet. For those who don’t speak sound guy, line arrays are a type of loudspeaker cabinet characterized by even coverage across all frequencies at all areas of coverage. Basically, where it makes stuff loud, it makes bass, mid and treble loud evenly and predictably. These qualities are desirable because they make it much easier to shoot sound directly at the audience, instead of at walls, floors, ceiling or sky. Line array speakers also tend to have a very narrow band of vertical coverage so that when you stack a bunch of them together, if you hook them up correctly, you can ensure even coverage from the front of the room to the back. Sound guys call this “shading.”
The FOH console (main sound board) for this show was a 48 channel Yamaha M7CL. The M7CL provides a whole lot of processing power in a very small package. In footprint that would normally only accommodate a 24 channel mixer with effects or signal processing, the M7CL accommodates 48 channels and a seemingly unlimited number of effects, signal processing, and output routing options. Of course, being a Yamaha, the M7CL is a very utilitarian product. If it were a car, it would be a Honda Accord; it’s got lots of nice features, but none of them are spectacular, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of and it can go somewhat fast, but won’t break any land speed records. Don’t get the wrong impression, I liked the M7CL, but I still prefer the Digidesign Venue we have at the sound company.
For microphones, we used Allen Audio’s Shure beta98s on Ross’ toms and bongos. Beta98s are miniature condensor microphones, which clamp onto the rims of drums. Unlike the Audix clamps we’d been using the last tour (and will use again this tour), the mostly 98s stay where you put them once you place them. I say “mostly,” because the bongo microphone fell off halfway through Praise You. We also tried something new on Ross’ kick drum: instead of just putting the D6 inside of the kick, I laid a Shure Beta91 inside of Ross’ kick and stuck the D6 in the hole. This allowed me to better capture both the oomph of the shell of the drum and the crack of the beater hitting the head. I really liked this combination. We also tried using a microphone on Zubin’s bass in addition to the normal DI, and to great effect. I found that I got a little more roundness out of the bass.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job with these people. Returning to Ann Arbor, while I’d only been there the one time, felt very comfortable. The week I’d been away suddenly felt like a very long time, and the band members each greeted me as though we’d been away from each other for longer than we had. I think my return signaled the beginning of a new tour for them, and so things were happy. Touring seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it’s great to trade the concerns of home for a singular purpose and a regimented schedule, on the other, it is difficult to be away from the ones you care about and the places that feel comfortable.
The TV show is all done now. Remember the TV show we were going to do? Yeah, all done. We drove 2 hours there and are in the process of driving the 2 back, all so people could point cameras at the band and have them play an acoustic version of the single for five minutes. The things we do for rock and roll.
(in the van) “Isn’t that how all bands do it?”
(in my head) “No, Bill, not all bands make a record out of cole slaw. You just can’t do that. I’d suggest making one out of cranberry orange relish. I think the sonic properties of hardened relish will really bring out the background harmonies, and the orange flavor will add a delightful ‘tang’ to the mix.”
(in the van) “Well, I guess if you can make a case for it, but I’m still not convinced.”
And it goes like that. Sometimes for 25 minutes at a time. Still other times, I just stare out the window and watch the USA pass by. It’s funny how similar this Michigan highway looks to the Mass Pike. It’s just long stretches of not very much but scrubby, scruffy, trees.
Last night, we did a show at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, MI. The Union Ballroom is a pretty large space about twice the size of the Reed College Student Union. It’s got a very classy feel, with white walls and light wood accents, a big fireplace, and nice-looking bay windows. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag some pictures from the band and audience to either post here or link to, but I was preoccupied with making things sound good.
A big change for us was having an outside production company come in with a sound and lighting package. As a production person, I’ve got to say that this was the best rig we’ve seen by far, purely from a gear standpoint. Furthermore, the whole crew from Allen Audio was super fun to work with. Bill helped Toby take care of the stage duties and mixed monitors for the openers, Toby mixed Tally Hall’s monitors, having a pretty good first gig doing monitors on a digital mixing board. Jeff made the lights look really pretty. I’m seriously bummed I didn’t get any pictures of the looks he had for the songs, because by-and-large they were totally spot on. Last, but certainly not least, Mark Allen (he puts the “Allen” in “Allen Audio”) made it his business to keep me happy at Front of House. He walked me through making the unfamiliar digital sound board my friend, and catered to my every whim, including messing with his system presets to give the subwoofers a little more gut thump, a key quality when trying to get people to shake their booties.
I woke up super early yesterday, especially considering how exhausted I’d been and the fact that I’m still on West coast time. Rob dropped me off at the Union Ballroom around 11 and I went in to help Mark &co. finish setting up. I built some truss, something I haven’t done since my days with the Oregon Convention Center, did some little rigging, hung some motors, and then tried to stay out of the way as the well oiled machine that is Allen Audio got its rock on. Around 12:30, the band showed up with the backline and we loaded it in up the stairs into the ballroom.
We futzed around with stuff for a while, got set on stage, and I dialed up some monitors with Toby. Then we got the band up and we had a soundcheck. For those of you wondering how that goes, let me give you an idea:
Each instrument has a microphone on it, or else it plugs directly into the PA system. We get the band onstage and, speaking to them through their monitors, I ask them to play each instrument, starting with the kick drum and going on up in order through the vocals. The order is decided both by convention. Basically, you build up from the rhythm section to the lead parts, so the drums and bass go first, followed by all of the other instruments. After the instruments come the vocals. Soundcheck is pretty much my only opportunity to hear each instrument individually, so I take a little time with each channel to ensure that each one is receiving a clean signal (i.e. without hums, buzzes, hisses or pops) and each one will tonally fit in the mix.
As I go through the instruments, the band members ask for more or less of each instrument to be added to their individual mix. In order to test the sound, the band plays a few bars of a few different songs to be sure there is enough of each instrument. I also play around a little with the tones, trying to give each instrument its own spot in the mix. This is especially hard with the guitars and keyboards in this band because they change tone so much throughout the show. For example, on one song Joe’s guitar may be quiet, reserved and swooshy, Rob’s guitar chunky and Andrew’s keyboards sparkly. Then one song later, Joe’s guitar is distorted and dark, Rob’s guitar is zippy and honky and Andrew’s keyboards are thumpy and bassy. This is one of many aspects of Tally Hall that makes it a fun challenge for me at the mixing console. This tonal variability means that I can’t be too extreme with my tonal adjustment, or people will miss the subtleties of the show.
After soundcheck, the band and I, along with a bunch of their friends, spent about an hour blowing up a bazillion balloons to decorate the room. The overall effect of our decoration and the extensive production was one of smile-inducing juxtaposition: bundles of balloons standing next to high-tech looking truss, futuristic lights, and scary black speaker boxes. After decoration hour, we hung out in our green room for a little while. I took the opportunity to call my special lady and my parents and to pace out my nerves. I really like talking to home people just before a show; it re-adjusts my focus by getting my brain to work on something that’s not noisemaking.
I met lots of awesome people last night. Among them were Moe and Keith from the band “Bellicose.” Bellicose is a funky rockin’ hip hop band. I haven’t heard them yet, but I’ll be sure to make sure to post links when I find ‘em. Keith is the bass player and reminded me, on first meeting, of Scott Pemberton, my guitar teacher. Scott is a singular talent; a guitar player with a voice all his own, and a teacher with a great feel for making his students comfortable. His best known project was Triclops, an organ trio with an undeniably funky vibe. My favorite Pemberton band, however, will always be Conanza. Conaza is an art rock band for funkheaded geeks. It started as an art project, essentially, with Scott, drummer Micah Kassel and bass player Norm “Large Curd” Buccola. The three dudes would get together in Scott’s studio on Wednesday nights to write, arrange and record at least 2 songs. I engineered a few weeks worth of sessions and they were some of the most rewarding learning experiences I’ve had. To be in a room with creative dudes like that while they made music was truly electric.
I just looked out the window at a water tower that reads “Portland.” Who knew I was so close to home.
Scott is the reason I’m a professional sound guy today, having given me my first “professional” sound gig at the Goodfoot. Together with Ji Tanzer, we ran an open mic at the Goodfoot for about 2 years (Summer ’05 thru Spring ’07). As a formative experience in a sound guy’s career, the Goodfoot was great. They had just enough gear that I couldn’t get in trouble, but not enough that I could be complacent. Also, they had really interesting acts, so I was able to learn to mic a whole lot of cool instruments, from the in-house Hammond B3 to Nigerian talking drums, accordions and violins to sitars and pan pipes. A very cool place for a budding sound guy to get some basics. Our post-Goodfoot sessions on my front porch definitely formed the basis of a mixing and being philosophy that I think I practice to this day.
Thinking about Scott Pemberton brought the Meters back to my playlist, so as we cruise down the Motor City highways, I’m bopping my head to some heavy Louisiana swamp funk. These guys must be as close to the Platonic form of “funky” as anyone can be.
Production Geek Time!
Production for the show was provided by Allen Audio, a local sound and lighting company. The main speakers were EV XLCs, a really nice sounding, affordable line array cabinet. For those who don’t speak sound guy, line arrays are a type of loudspeaker cabinet characterized by even coverage across all frequencies at all areas of coverage. Basically, where it makes stuff loud, it makes bass, mid and treble loud evenly and predictably. These qualities are desirable because they make it much easier to shoot sound directly at the audience, instead of at walls, floors, ceiling or sky. Line array speakers also tend to have a very narrow band of vertical coverage so that when you stack a bunch of them together, if you hook them up correctly, you can ensure even coverage from the front of the room to the back. Sound guys call this “shading.”
The FOH console (main sound board) for this show was a 48 channel Yamaha M7CL. The M7CL provides a whole lot of processing power in a very small package. In footprint that would normally only accommodate a 24 channel mixer with effects or signal processing, the M7CL accommodates 48 channels and a seemingly unlimited number of effects, signal processing, and output routing options. Of course, being a Yamaha, the M7CL is a very utilitarian product. If it were a car, it would be a Honda Accord; it’s got lots of nice features, but none of them are spectacular, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of and it can go somewhat fast, but won’t break any land speed records. Don’t get the wrong impression, I liked the M7CL, but I still prefer the Digidesign Venue we have at the sound company.
For microphones, we used Allen Audio’s Shure beta98s on Ross’ toms and bongos. Beta98s are miniature condensor microphones, which clamp onto the rims of drums. Unlike the Audix clamps we’d been using the last tour (and will use again this tour), the mostly 98s stay where you put them once you place them. I say “mostly,” because the bongo microphone fell off halfway through Praise You. We also tried something new on Ross’ kick drum: instead of just putting the D6 inside of the kick, I laid a Shure Beta91 inside of Ross’ kick and stuck the D6 in the hole. This allowed me to better capture both the oomph of the shell of the drum and the crack of the beater hitting the head. I really liked this combination. We also tried using a microphone on Zubin’s bass in addition to the normal DI, and to great effect. I found that I got a little more roundness out of the bass.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this job with these people. Returning to Ann Arbor, while I’d only been there the one time, felt very comfortable. The week I’d been away suddenly felt like a very long time, and the band members each greeted me as though we’d been away from each other for longer than we had. I think my return signaled the beginning of a new tour for them, and so things were happy. Touring seems to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it’s great to trade the concerns of home for a singular purpose and a regimented schedule, on the other, it is difficult to be away from the ones you care about and the places that feel comfortable.
The TV show is all done now. Remember the TV show we were going to do? Yeah, all done. We drove 2 hours there and are in the process of driving the 2 back, all so people could point cameras at the band and have them play an acoustic version of the single for five minutes. The things we do for rock and roll.
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