Processing the Five Things I Can’t Live Without
Having never been diagnosed with ADD, but knowing that I most assuredly am afflicted, any thought exercise is a test of my patience and concentration. I have decided, however, to take the task head on and do a solid job of being coherent and insightful. Cross your fingers…
My first thoughts regarding musical gear that is essential for my own creative process involved several instruments. Obviously, the wrong approach. Even though it is extremely difficult to choose one favorite guitar over another and leave something great behind, it is the kind of conundrum that this exercise elicits. Guitars are one thing, but you need some support gear. I have a home studio which contains a computer, external hard drive and I/O device. Not to mention mics, amplifiers…you know the drill. I’m not including the computer and hard drive in this exercise because I would have those for other things anyway. But, I still can't choose a bunch of guitars and call it a day. So, where to begin?
The Guitars…I’m trying to be practical here but this is a difficult choice. I have eight guitars: A Collings OM2H, Santa Cruz OM Grand (or 0000), 1970 Martin D-18, Eastman E10D, Alhambra Natura, Eastman Romeo LA, Fender Pro II Strat and a Telecaster Baritone. Each of these guitars have a unique property that I call upon from time to time. I began thinking in terms of which instruments I record and play live with regularly to see if I could narrow it down to two. My main stage guitar is the Collings. I love how much music comes out of it. It’s the perfect guitar for a solo performance because it is so full of overtones and resonance that it sounds like you have another guitarist with you. I’m also in love with the Santa Cruz for many of the same reasons. However, even though I have these fancy and beautiful guitars, my now 53 year old, beat up Martin D-18 has to be there. If not, my kids would disown me. Plus, it is the easiest acoustic I have to record. It’s direct and a bit dry with great balance. I never have to fight to make it sound good and it was my trusty stage guitar for more than 30 years. Hence, I reluctantly say goodbye to my beautiful fancy acoustic guitars. (I’m silently weeping).
My electric choice was a bit easier, so my nerves calmed a bit. My biggest regret is excluding the Tele Baritone. I love having that texture come in and out of a mix, but it is kind of a one trick pony. The Eastman Romeo LA has some great P-90 pickups, of which I’m a big fan and a German engineered tremolo bar that never goes out of tune. I prefer the Bigsbyesque nature of the tremolo as opposed to the Fender trem and the pickups are Seymour Duncan Fat Cats, that sound fantastic. I think it fits my playing style more than the Strat. So, the Strat is out. These two guitars (D-18 and Romeo) will also work extremely well in live situations. Ok, that seemed like it was easy, but I can’t believe I’m leaving my two favorite acoustic guitars out. It’s painful!
Peripherals…Since I’m keeping an electric guitar, I thought I needed to keep an amp as well. I started thinking that I could use plugins in my DAW instead, which would free up a slot. Normally, I like the sound of a mic’d amp over the digital plugins, but most of my stuff is acoustic and I only use the electric for atmospheric sounds or subtle beds. The more I thought about it, I decided that since my days of trying to be Jeff Beck are essentially over, the best course of action was to use the plugins and keep a slot open for something that would give me more versatility.
As far as versatility is concerned, I use my digital keyboard quite a bit for simple drum parts or string beds and, occasionally, for piano and organ parts (if I write something I can actually play). So, my M-Audio keyboard has to come with me. No-brainer.
Two more to go. I thought about live performing situations and decided that most of the places I play have PAs, so I can disregard my LR Baggs Paracoustic DI and my vocal mic. I hate that because I like to have control over my guitar sound and I use a Sennheiser e835 mic that is better for my voice than a Shure SM58. But, in the scheme of things, I have relied on sound men and used SM58s (which are on every damn stage in the world) many times over the years and I can live with that if necessary. Which brings me to my last two things that I can’t live without. Since I only have two slots left and my precious guitars are off the list, I can be a bit more practical.
I have a wonderful Neumann TLM 102 mic that records voices and guitars equally well. I use it for just about everything. The TLM series Neumanns are relatively affordable and offer a good bit of that famous Neumann character. Considering the cost of quality studio mics these days, it’s a real bargain. The tried and true studio microphones are so difficult to acquire without unlimited resources that the TLM is definitely something I can’t live without.
So, we come to the last item. Because I record most of my tracks at home, I must have an I/O device. Even though I generally will send my raw .wav files to my engineer friends, it is much more affordable to record them at home and avoid steep studio rates. I think we’ve all come to that conclusion. I have tried several I/O devices from Avid, PreSonus, etc., and I have found that the Focusrite Scarlett works quite well and is very affordable. Due to choosing music as a career (and several other poor life choices) I built my studio on a shoestring, but I believe that, if you know how to get the most out of a piece of gear, you don’t need a bunch of fancy stuff to get good clean tracks.
To recap:
1. 1970 Martin D-18
2, Eastman Romeo LA
3. M-Audio Keyboard
4. Neumann TLM 102
5. Focusrite Scarlett
Well, that was exhausting! Even though it was a pretend exercise, you can still get a little anxious thinking about what you would have to sacrifice. It was definitely fun to find out where my thoughts took me and the choices that surprised me. I guess when you’re confronted with the question, it makes you think hard about the reality of your priorities regarding your own creative process. All in all, I think this is a fun way to learn a little something about yourself. I highly recommend it!
John Cable, 11/22
