12 July, 2009
We just released the APT (American Players Theatre) 30-Year Anniversary CD, entitled "Play On." A good deal of spring was filled with a bunch of sessions, featuring tunes and spoken word, performed by the core cast. It was a big project, but it was kept on schedule and the results... well, you be the judge. CDs are available exclusively at the Spring Green General Store and, of course, the American Players Theatre gift shops.
17 November, 2008
After a few setbacks, we managed to get the control room carpet in, allowing the setup to begin. Apparently, according to our "sales professional," 245 inches equals 16 feet (it's a tad over 20, for the record). That said, we didn't have enough to cover the studio, but we made progress in spite of it. Sound is coming out of the monitors! Click HERE for some pix.
13 November, 2008
We painted last night. It's not perfect... matching new paint with the old stuff that's 4 years old, but to be honest, I don't care. As this is being written, Lori's on her way to pick up carpeting so it should be in sometime this weekend. We're in the final stretch.
25 October, 2008
Work has begun on studio repairs!! I've been staring down the damage all summer, but to be honest, the little free time I have, I hate to spend inside when it's gorgeous outside... and we had a gorgeous summer. It's getting cold now, so work can begin. Also, to be honest, I hate drywalling. I did it once, and I don't want to do it again. So, yesterday, we had a guy come over look at it. I hope to have an estimate by Monday. If it's an agreeable price, I hope to have it (the drywall) finished by next weekend. If that happens, we could possibly have the carpet in next weekend. Then, it's a matter of hooking everything back up and maybe we'll be up and running by the second weekend of November.
Just today, we installed the second of the two windows between the main studio and the isolation room. I figured I should get that in before the drywallers come. Click HERE for pictures.
15 June, 2008
Floods! We're located 40 or so miles downstream of Lake Delton, the one the emptied itself on 9 June. The Wisconsin River runs right past us... 6/10 of a mile from the studio, and the ground water rose quite a bit. We had an inch in the studio on Monday, then it receded, but we had warnings that it was coming back... with a vengeance. So, we spent the week moving everything out, and it's a good thing we did. We got a maximum of about 3½ inches, so I guess equipment would have survived, but the humidity level in there was (still is) around 90%. So, carpeting and drywall are ruined, but the rest of the stuff is saved.
I'm guessing it will be a couple of months before we're back up and running. Some acquaintances of ours - the Indie Music people - suffered a near total loss. Just considering what we went through with 3 inches... my heart goes out to them. Even other parts of our town and area got hit a lot harder, so in perspective, I guess we were sort of lucky. Pictures.
14 March, 2008
Progress has been made. The first of two windows was finished recently and on March 14, step 1 of installation was completed. We got the first of two windows in place. I built the window/frame, but I had to have some help installing it. Cutting a hole in a finished wall scared me. As of this writing (early on March 15), it's no further than "in place." Hopefully, the second window will go in soon, and then we'll work on more insulation and trim and things. The wall was never finished on this side, so that's the final step.
January 11, 2008
The Spring Green project ("Voices for Sustenance") is nearing completion. Click HERE for a very early website. I swear it'll get better with time.
January 6, 2008
We're adding on! Sometime in October, it dawned on me that the wasteland outside the studio was just that, a wasteland. Measuring about 9x14 feet, I thought it might be useful. Having just recorded a band with the drums in the same room (and at the same time) as the vocalist, I thought we might use that area as something of an isolation room. So, I framed it in, and have begun drywalling. Also, windows will be going in on either side of the existing door, allowing musicians in the two rooms to see one another, and communication between the two studios and the control room will happen via headphones. Click HERE for some pictures.
September 23, 2007
Round the Bend's self-titled album is out. I got a copy last week and it looks and sounds great. For details, see www.roundbend.com.
It's been a busy summer. My wife, Lori, has begun a project that we've been working on for several months now. Considering the small population of Spring Green, there's a surprisingly large number of very good musicians in the area; so Lori thought it would be interesting to put together a compilation of as many of the local musicians as we can, using original and public domain music, put it for sale around the area, and give the proceeds to the local food pantry.
So far, we've recorded about 6 or 7 acts - ranging from solo voice/guitar to rock bands - and we've got at least as many more scheduled. When it's finished, we should have folk music, jazz, rock, bluegrass, polka, possibly a vocal quartet and classical guitar, and I don't even know what else. Check back. We'll get some samples up on the audio page soon.
May 23, 2007
Due to a wake-up call with the ADAT machine (below), we made a quick decision and purchased a 24-track hard drive recorder. That's right, obSession is now in the tapeless age. Don't worry, if you have a project on ADAT, that machine has been repaired and is doing better than ever. But, it was high time we moved forward. Plus, buying your own hard drive is going to cost less than buying tape - and those were cheap.
May, 2007
The Lonesome Aces, John Fabke's band, began work on an album on May 19th. Unfortunately, we had a crash of the ADAT machine and had to cut it short. Hopefully we'll be back at in sometime in June.
The Madison Bluegrass band, Round the Bend, recorded initial tracks for their first album this past weekend (March 17 and 18). Several more dates are scheduled in the near future and we'll keep you posted on the progress.
February, 2007
With the proceeds from the January project, we've purchased a Snowball microphone (Bluemic.com) and some very cool software allowing us to do more in the tutorial and voice-over arena.
January, 2007
We've recently completed a course of 40 voice-over tutorials with the Berlitz Language School. When finished, the audio produced here will be used in PowerPoint presentations for intensive English classes.
October 2
Wayne Carr - of American Players Theatre fame - recorded about 12 songs in an all-day marathon session. He had some help from Eliot Garfield on percussion, Scott Haden on percussion and vocals, and myself on bass. All-in-all, a successful session, especially considering it was his first time in a studio. I believe all tunes but one were original, too. There's a 30 second sample of one of his tunes on the Audio page.
June 3
The second song for Murder at the Greasy Goon was recorded on Saturday, entitled "Prohibition Is Here to Stay." We started with a wind quartet (trombone, trumpet, clarinet, and tuba) and later added some percussion, winding up with a Salvation Army style arrangement. On June 15, we're planning on adding a choir of voices to the existing tracks.
June 1
Just a rumor, but it's looking like we may have a huge project in the works. We've been contacted by an individual who's been producing radio jingles for quite a few years and would now like upwards of 13,000 of them converted to .mp3 and put on an iPod. Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Hey!!! Maybe I can finally quit my day job...
May 6
Work has indeed begun on 'Murder' and went well. The first song was completed in about two hours' work. The next session for the second of the two required pieces is scheduled for June 3.
25 April, 2006
Work is about to begin on Bruce Bradley's latest effort, Murder at the Greasy Goon. I don't know much at this point, but I do know that we'll be doing a brass ensemble and a jazz quintet, among other things. I also know I'd better get down there and clean up the clutter a bit.
More news as it develops.
21 December, 2005
Cinderella is officially completed. The play's run was well-received and is now over, so the cast came over Wednesday evening and added their vocals to the existing tracks.
27 November, 2005
The final mix was completed today for Bruce Bradley's production of "Cinderella - or... If the Shoe Fits," set to debut on December 3.
7 November, 2005
On 4 November, we did a series of training tutorials for Weather Central, Inc. Among other things, Weather Central makes software for television weather graphics; you know, all the animated maps and things going on behind your TV weatherman. Having a background in public radio, I was the narrator while Kirk Spencer, head of the training department at Weather Central, did the pointing and clicking. Together, we created short training "movies" that customers can watch right on their computer screens.
16 October, 2005
A six-hour session took place Sunday, laying down the main tracks for the soundtrack of the play, "Cinderella," a modern adaptation of the classic, written and directed by Spring Green's Bruce Bradley. Contributing musicians were Bruce Bradley, Bob Willoughby, Tony Cavanetto, Matt Snow, and Nick Ellinger.
Overdub sessions, not yet scheduled, will follow to complete the work.
This is the instrumental part of the musical. The actors will be singing over the recorded "orchestra" during performances.
6 October, 2005
After 20 years of faithful service, the Fostex 450 mixer is going into semi-retirement. While mixing down the Tim Bedore jingle, problems started happening with channel 6 and the overall sound. First off, recording onto a track through channel 6 on the mixer started making strange feedback sounds... and no signal. Then, when trying to mix (send a line signal) through that same channel, it seemed the fader had no effect. Regardless of the settings anywhere on the console, the channel 6 signal was up and strong. Overall, it seemed to be distorting.
So after exhaustive testing (OK, I tried to mix down the Bedore jingle again) the decision was made: Get a new mixer. I decided on the Mackie Onyx 1640. It was recommended by a friend, and it's proving to be a very good recommendation.
Hopefully, the Fostex will still be able to be used for portable applications such as the nature recordings we've made in the woods outside the studio and even light P.A. applications. More testing will determine these possibilities.
After a series of less-than-serious suggestions and offers, it seems obSession had its first national exposure (a.k.a. 15 minutes of fame). On September 28, 2005 and again on October 5th, a recording made a few days earlier was played on the nationally syndicated Bob and Tom radio show.
Mike Schmidt (owner), John Fabke, and Bob Carpenter got together on September 23 and 25, and recorded outro music that was used by comedian Tim Bedore during his weekly appearance on Bob and Tom. It seems to have gone over well, and Tim has mentioned that he plans on using it again, possibly in rotation with a few other versions that he uses.
To make a long story short, after Tim Bedore and the Bob and Tom crew started picking on banjos one day (oops, I made a pun), Mike emailed Tim and half-kiddingly suggested he have a Bluegrass version of his theme music. Well, Tim took him up on it and the rest, as they say, is history.
Listen to Bob and Tom on Wednesdays and perhaps you'll hear our music again soon.
Otherwise, click HERE for a sample