By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
In my last column I was discussing the complexities of the recording process and how I find it most intriguing.
I recently caught up with local musician Jeff Black who has just recently completed a major recording project as I wanted to gain some insight into how he goes about the process.
Before I begin, if you aren’t familiar with Jeff, let me simply describe him as a gifted, exceptionally talented musician.
He played saxophone for me years ago at WDSS but his heart always lay with the guitar and has since, taken his craft to a very high professional level.
While a great guitar player, Jeff is as far from a one-trick pony as one can get.
He also has a solid understanding of music theory, is a great vocalist, Recording Engineer, and Producer as well.
I caught up with Jeff on the phone last week as he was headed to his weekly Thursday solo gig at the Nightlife Bistro and Jazz Lounge in Sarnia.
While Jeff usually has many music projects going on simultaneously, this project was with a band he plays with out of Hamilton called “Rob Kirkham and Neon Rain.”
The band is a four-piece Country band fronted by Rob Kirkham and includes Kevin Sommerville on drums, Kenny Ef on guitar and Jeff on bass.
Rob and Kenny have been together for 20 years now with Jeff joining them four years ago, and Kevin just shy of two years ago.
In celebration of the bands founding 20 years ago, they wanted to record a new album consisting of 20 songs and from here on in, Jeff took the reins of the project.
They started choosing material to record in late 2020.
Of the 20 tracks on the album, 15 of them are either new recordings of previously released songs, freshly-penned originals, or songs from their live shows never before recorded, along with five covers.
With many differing opinions, just getting by that process is often very difficult for bands, but for Rob and the other members of the band this didn’t prove to be a major stumbling block.
Hopefully you will recall from my previous column that I said modern recordings are typically computer-based using a Digital Audio Workstation or DAW as it’s known instead of the tradition multi-track magnetic tape recording.
For this project, Jeff used a DAW called Reaper.
The album was largely recorded in Adam Emerson’s basement studio here in Wallaceburg over a three to four month period earlier this year.
Jeff produced, wrote or co-wrote four of the songs, provided backing vocals, mixed the final product, and of course played guitar, so it’s easy to say that his hands are all-over this project.
As Jeff described his process to me, I found it most interesting.
Before anything is recorded, there are a few important decisions to be made such as the recording environment.
Most of the time, a very acoustically “dead” environment is preferred to a very “lively” one, and Jeff was explaining how they used some office divider panels to get the acoustic properties he was looking for on some tracks.
Hard, reflective surfaces can cause major headaches when recording and it’s much easier to add reverberation or “liven up” the recording after the fact.
Surfaces like wood, carpeted floors/walls and sound-absorbing acoustic panels all have an effect not only on the sound in the studio but equally in keeping sounds out of the studio.
Secondly, the type, brand and pick-up pattern of each microphone used is extremely important.
There are dynamic, condenser, ribbon, PZM and a host of other types of mics that make a huge difference in capturing a sound.
Once these important decisions are made, each song started with Jeff himself.
He would first lay down a “click-track” which for those who don’t know the terminology, is essentially an electronic metronome that establishes the tempo allowing all musicians to be spot-on in their entries and keeps the tempo steady throughout.
The click track is removed later.
After this, Jeff would play an acoustic guitar part followed by what’s known as a “scratch vocal”.
As Jeff is not the lead vocalist, this track would eventually be eliminated but gives the musician recording the next track their bearings.
With a click-track, acoustic guitar part and scratch vocal in place, the next track recorded was the drums which were recorded in Caledonia, the only part not recorded here in Wallaceburg as they didn’t have the appropriate set-up to record the kit in Adam’s studio.
Absolutely everything must pass the scrutiny of the Producer’s ear and vision.
It’s the Producer’s task to agonize over the tiniest of details and historically, this isn’t always a pleasant process as the artists and Producers have frequently clashed.
Just try to imagine turning over control of a song that you wrote yourself and the Producer takes it in a completely different direction than you envisioned.
Once the drum track was laid down to Jeff’s satisfaction, it was on to Rob’s lead vocal and guitar part, followed by Kenny’s guitar part and backing vocal, then finally Jeff added the bass guitar and his backing vocals.
Once all of these tracks were in place, Jeff went back to add additional guitar parts and a few other little things.
The recording of any of these tracks is a complicated process involving far more than simply a mic or guitar cable.
There is an incredible array of signal-processing gear available within the DAW that can change any parameter greatly, and it takes great knowledge to massage each track to where it needs to be.
To go into that would involve technical talk which isn’t necessary for my description of the process.
After all of the tracks were recorded, it was Jeff’s task to mix the final product and apply any more effects that he wanted.
The final product… “The Measure of a Band”.
Rob Kirkham and Neon Rain have some great video’s on YouTube and I highly recommend that you look them up. They are a high-energy, fun band to both watch and listen to.
Their new album “The Measure of a Band” can be purchased from Jeff, through contact on their Facebook page “Rob Kirkham and Neon Rain”, their website www.neonrainuniverse.com and soon, on Spotify and iTunes.
Most of very impressive artwork on the CD was done by Adam Emerson.
While the band isn’t based here, be sure to check-out Jeff Black’s genius on this high-quality “Made in Wallaceburg” recording.
