Don’t take that tone with me

We’ve been busy in the FarisWheel camp, lately! Here’s a quick run down of what we’ve been working on:

FarisWheel Productions - Graphic Design
I just finished a website for national singing sensation “The Cactus Cuties.” If you haven’t heard these girls’ rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, you are seriously missing out! The’ve gotten over 5 million hits on YouTube in 3 months!

I also just completed an album cover for Texas Country veterans, Honeybrowne. Fred Andrews, the band leader, songwriter, and singer, is a great cat to work with.

At the Amusement Park Studio
I’ve created a new track for Bobby Bookout that is a rendition of an old Frank Sinatra tune. I can’t wait to debut it… we’ve twisted and mutated it like only the Amusement Park can do!

I’m finishing up mixing The Archers. They are a screamo band based in Lubbock. I really dig these cats. Check ‘em out!

We’re also finishing vocals for the up-coming This Soul Divided EP. The tracks sound great and I can’t wait to start mixing them!

And, last but not least, we found a few spare moments to mix a tune by Amy and Scott called “I Forgot.” Those of you who know our past, the song is a continuation of the 100 Love Sonnets spirit. Look for a new musical project soon!

Visual Art

I had the pleasure of being included in a gallery exhibit of musicians who are also visual artists at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, TX. I have two sculptures (Bite and Brian No. 3) and four photographs in the exhibit. Ben Mercado, the Chief Engineer at the Amusement Park Studio, also displayed his photography and painting. The show will be up for a month.

There’s an old quote that says, “A plumber always has leaky pipes.” That’s because they work so hard fixing other people’s problems that they never have time to work around their own home. Well somehow in between producing websites, album covers, music and graphics for countless others, we’ve finally upgraded our own pipes. FarisWheel.com is reborn! Please check it out and let us know what you think.

I’m at the SXSW Interactive Festival right now soaking up the good vibes. Just heard a talk by Josh Grober (Daring Fireball) and Michael Lopp (Apple). Inspiring!

David was back in recording the CD examples for the Christopher Parkening Method books, so I snapped a couple pictures.  You can see the micing technique we used for the Legacy CD here.

(Also note the fancy cardboard box we used as a music stand!)

I got back from a great trip to Austin.  Everytime I work with Bobby Bookout I am impressed with his songwriting.  This is going to be a phenomenal album.

I start recording the metal band This Soul Divided Friday.  We had a preproduction rehearsal tonight and I dig where they’re going.  I’ve wanted to record a metal project for a long time and these guys are great.

Ben (my chief engineer) has been working with some amazing hip hop clients. I really dig ABC…  Check ‘em out.

I’m down in Austin this week producing for Bobby Bookout.  I’m having a great time making music (even finger picked on a track called One Drunk Kiss), and Bobby’s record is going to be amazing.  But yesterday I realized on an even deeper level how valuable it is to have a great staff around you.

I had a jingle due this week.  We got the music bed put together before I left and my chief engineer, Ben Mercado, was set up to run the voice-over session.  I had a couple of my best vocal talent set up to handle it for me.  They record it.  I approve it.  And I send it to the client.

I’m sure any of you business owners can relate to the next part of this:  the client hated it.  They liked the track, but we did a 30s gangster treatment on the vocals.  I thought it was great.  But the client didn’t.  Not a problem.  Except that I’m 500 miles away. So I call Ben and the talent.  And it gets remade in 3 hours and is back to the client.  And approved.  Hurray!  I am fortunate to have an exceptional group of people around me who truly care.  And it’s my mission to take care of those people.  After all, they take care of me.

PS-  On the design front, FarisWheel is currently building Noblefence.com,  and I’m doing an album cover for Richard Smith.  Oh, and we’re redesigning our woefully outdated fariswheel site.  More later.

I’ve had a ton of people ask me about interning at my recording studio, The Amusement Park.  Here’s what we’ve worked out: All internships are determined by the recording faculty at South Plains College (in Levelland, TX) with final approval by me.  If interested, a student needs to talk to Dolf Guardiola, Chris Neal, or Stuart Moody.  If approved by them, the student signs up for the internship class.  College credit is provided for the work, which is a comittment of about 12 hours per week for the semester. This semester’s intern has already been chosen.  Kyle Jacobs  is a super cool cat who has already helped on 2 sessions at the studio.  We’re excited to have Kyle on board and super proud of our relationship with South Plains College.  It’s one of the best music/sound/digital media schools in the country.  For more info about the internship program, contact Dolf Guardiola at (806) 894-9611.  For  more info about the school, contact Cary Banks at the same number, ext. 2280.

I just found out that the Dallas Morning News reviewed the recently released Les Eason & the Steen Regimé CD, New World.  The review is rather positive and speaks well for what a great songwriter Les is.  Read it now.  Producing that CD and developing their artwork was a fantastic experience and Les and Curtis have become a great friends of mine.  Go buy it on CDBaby or iTunes. PS- FarisWheel did the album art, as well, and the photography was by my Chief Studio Engineer, Ben Mercado. 

David Brandon was back in the studio the other day to begin recording guitar tracks for the Christopher Parkening Method Books (book 1 & 2 published by Hal Leonard), so I figured it was finally time to get back and finish my thoughts on recording classical guitar.  

 After discovering a mic position we both loved, we still were getting too much nail sound.  David is an impeccable player, but even a player with stellar technique squeaks and clicks a little.  Classical guitar, traditionally, is meant to be warm and round with no nail clicks or extraneous noise.

To solve the problem, we moved some of my bass traps around.  The traps have a 15-inch external diameter and a 12-in internal.  They are hollow and sealed on both ends.  I placed one in front of each microphone so the pickup pattern went just through the curve of the trap (see the diagram).

As the sound of the guitar hit the edge of the material, some of the high frequency energy was absorbed.  The lows and mids came through beautifully. Viola, instant warmth without the clicks or squeaks!

The album is available on iTunes and Cdbaby.