Recording

Been attempting multi track recordings of our songs. So far it's been just okay at best, but getting some good advice from friends. I'm using Cakewalk 7, and bought thge UA-G interface with it since it's make by Cakewalk\Roland. The big problem with this device is that you can only record one instrument at a time. But the price was right, and I figured that I would be able to record the drums through the VS880, and import the wav in Cakewalk, then record the rest of the band. That really didn't work very well. I found myself wanting to turn up parts of the drums, but not possible as the drum were all on one track. So that made me head back up to Guitar Center to shop for my next IO interface. I ended up with the Presonus FireStudio Project. I some research prior, and felt that for the money, this was the best fit for what we needed. I can now record 8 instruments at one time, so that takes care of the issue with the drums. I can also get a headphone amplifier with multiple inputs to let everyone here their own mix. So far so good!! Got an awesome recording last week of Drums, Bass, and Guitar. I also did some recording at home with guitar and vox using my condenser mic that requires Phantom Power. The FireStudio has built in Phantom Power with XLR only, and a separate preamp for each input. Can't wait to record again...

No new name yet, but lots of ideas for songs

We have tons of ideas these days, but not enough time to put then all together since we only practice once a week. It's better than not having any ideas... we've been there before. New singer, new warehouse. Things are looking up. The new singer is really working out for us. He adds a different sound to the band that we never had before. A bit more southern rock style. We'll be finishing up a few songs, then a friend is going to record a few songs for us at no charge.

The end of Black Habit, the beginning of?

June 27th was the last show. We played at Holly and Dolly's in Casselberry, and kicked ass. Definitely our best show to date. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, Matt quite the band the next day. Thankfully, I recorded every single one of our songs two weeks prior using my Tascam DR1 (best band investment yet). Wish I had recordings like this of some of the older bands I've been in. So now at least we have something to show for it... it's been three years in the works, and it's now gone. We were able to find a singer last month and have been working our asses off to try to get back to where we were. Adding new covers, writing some new stuff and rehearsing for our debut on the 18th of December... a private Christmas party... I vote we think of a new name.

What Pandora thinks I like - not off by much

Hard rock roots
Blues influences
Repetitive melodic phrasing
Extensive vamping
Minor key tonality
Dirty electric guitar riffs
A gravelly male vocalist
An aggressive male vocalist
An unintelligible vocal delivery

Once again, we search for a Singer...

Our Singer has decided to move on for various reasons. It is for the best... For now I'll be filling in, but ultimately, I would like to find a replacement. So it's still Bryan, Eric, and I. We will continue regardless if we ever play out again or not... I feel that we will... We've been bit by the bug. Last show at Holly and Dolly's was one of our best, and it was video taped by my lovley Wife ;) I'll be posting the video at www.myspace.com/blackhabitband and at my new site I created for myself: www.myspace.com/banishbands I'll be putting some of everything up there: Black Cats, LLB, Breakneck, Black Habit...

Band update

We played the Copper Rocket in late December, I think it was the 27th, and at the Peacock Room April 3rd. Some video from the Copper Rocket can be seen at: http://www.myspace.com/blackhabitband

One more name change as you can see. We are now blackhabit. We discovered that there was another band in town named Black Rabbit, so we slightly changed ours. Oddly enough, we played with Black Rabbit when we played at the Peacock Room. That show seemed like it was going to be kind of a bummer because of the whole Tuesday night thing, but ended up being one of our best shows so far. Not a whole lot of people, but still really fun and we played really well. The owners were very nice as was the other band. We went on first since we're still kind of a new band to the area in this format anyway. We realized that we really should have headlined this thing when most people left after we got done playing. Also, the other band ended up being a bunch of younger kids, the Bass player a 15 year old girl who's parents were there waiting for them to get on and play... it's a school night! We felt really bad that it was so late, and that most people left, so we gave them all of the money for the night to make it worth their while. So we made nothing, but played well.

We are working on some new stuff, and considering our recording options for a good quality demo. We really want to play out a bit more, and do have some cool stuff in the works. I'll keep everyone posted.

First show

We played our first show on March 31st at a place in Leesburg called Steve's Redhouse. Not a bad place to play. There were a lot of people there to see the other bands, but we got lucky and went on third, so there were still a lot of people around. When we got there there was a band on stage already, and it was pretty metal. Next band same thing, but a little heavier... getting nervous since we're really more of a Rock n Roll band. Opened with Child of the Wires, a somewhat heavy rock tune... excellent response from the crowd. At the last song the sound guy told us that we needed to wrap up. We were actually worried that we did have enough songs to fill the 45 minutes, so that worked out. So the first show was a success. We didn't make any major mistakes, just a few little things here and there. The sound was pretty bad. I was only able to hear the vocals and Drums. No Bass or Guitar... Not easy to play when you cant hear yourself. But that's just how it is when your a local band that doesn't have its own sound man. We finally decided to call the band Black Rabbit. I have mixed feelings on the new name, but can deal with it. Names really hard to come up with. New Myspace: www.myspace.com/blackrabbitband

Lunch time!!

I've been so busy with house work, and work work that I haven’t posted anything in a while.

So we're getting the master bathroom fix\ remodeled. Looking good so far... I'm using a guy that a friend of mine recommended. And oddly enough, I think I may have met this guy before many years ago in Sanford. He grew up not very far away from Pinecrest, which is where I spent much of my teenage years... I need to post before and after pics once it's finished.

First show: The band is playing at Steve's Redhouse in Leesburg Fl... We're going on at 9 and should play for about 40 minutes. Apparently there's some sort of music fest or something going on that night. So there's like 5 bands or something. We're not really ready, but then again you never are. So I'll update this with pics and stuff on Monday.

DOT

I got this at Guitar Center in Winter Park for $425 new. I've been looking for a few months for a semi-hollow body, and was going to get an Epiphone Sheraton II, but went for this one because of the price. The Dot is $200 less than the Sheraton, and not much different. All cosmetic... I played them side by side, and actually liked this one better because of the way it was setup. Really low action, and perfect intonation. I'm really impressed.

We recorded again last week. Drums, Bass, and vocals. Going to try to do the Guitar tracks tonight, and practice on Wednesday. I think everything sounds better on this one. Found a really nice compression setting for the drums, and another vocal preset that Matt is happy with. We also played with the settings on the condenser mic that I think played a major role in the sound. Another thing that we did this time that helped is that Bryan and I did the Bass and Drums together without anything else. Doing the Guitar and vocals later is the best bet. On the last recording, there's a strange over tone that I cant get rid of. I think it's becuase the Drum mics were picking up the Guitar in the backround. Anyway, I'll post it to our myspace as soon as I'm done mixing it...

We recorded again last week. Drums, Bass, and vocals. Going to try to do the Guitar tracks tonight, and practice on Wednesday. I think everything sounds better on this one. Found a really nice compression setting for the drums, and another vocal preset that Matt is happy with. We also played with the settings on the condenser mic that I think played a major role in the sound. Another thing that we did this time that helped is that Bryan and I did the Bass and Drums together without anything else. Doing the Guitar and vocals later is the best bet. On the last recording, there's a strange overtone that I cant get rid of. I think it's because the Drum mics were picking up the Guitar in the background. Anyway, I'll post it to our myspace as soon as I'm done mixing it...

Got the new Mastodon, and the new Mars Volta. Both are excellent!!

It's been a long time

Man, lots of things have happened since my last post. The band has a new name, new songs, and a new myspace site

Finally got the VS880 working, and got a couple of good recordings. The first song on our myspace site is the latest song that we finished. I have another one that I'll put up there once I'm done mixing down. The big problem with recording is the room... oh and the noise from the other bands playing while we're trying to record. It's loud at times.. Not the worst situation I guess. At least we are able to get a half way decent recordings now.

New truck

Actually used, but new to me... My truck was pretty much falling apart, so it was time to get something else. I've been looking for 3 or 4 months without any luck until now. I was taking a drive through Sanford on Saturday morning checking out all the car lots from the road. I spotted a silver Jeep Cherokee at Gibson’s that looked real clean. Took it for a test drive, and decided that I better jump on it... They wanted $8000 for it, and wanted to give me $3000 for my Tahoe as a trade in. I ended up talking them down to $7600 for the Jeep and giving me $3200 for the Tahoe. I though that was a good deal. The Jeep is a 2001 with 80k, 2 wheel drive, okay stereo it, cd player no mp3's though, but I can always change it out later... Much better on gas!

Merle Haggard – Bob Dylan

Bill and I went to see Bob Dylan at the TD Waterhouse Center last night. Before the show we eat at the Roadhouse in Altamonte, had a few beers… Bill got the Rodie, and was very impressed as I though he would be. I got a burger with the works. Very good as well… We were a little late for the show. Merle was already on stage when we got there. His band was very good... awesome Guitar player… Lots of red necks on the audience!! We must have missed Okie From Muskogee. More Beer, walked around the arena during intermission.

Old Bob Dylan takes the stage. He opens with Maggie’s Farm. Could not even recognize it. He’s change the old stuff so much that they just sound like different songs. If he’s tried of playing the old stuff, just write new songs, and let us know that you wont be playing the old stuff anymore… Mr. Tambourine Man was equally bad. William Shatners version sounds more like the original than this one... This was one of the worst shows I have ever seen… His voice was way to loud in the mix, he didn’t play guitar at all. He sat in the middle of the band and pretended to play the keyboard.

Overall, not a bad night. We had a good dinner, and drink lots of Beer. Oh, and lots of hot chicks at the show…

New recordings

I was able to do a couple of test recordings with the new mic. It did make a huge difference. I would love to post them to our myspace site, we just made too many mistakes while playing. We will do some real recording next week... multi track and all. I think I'm going to use the new mixer for the drums - two SM57's, one 58, and the condenser should work. And thankfully the board is equipped with phantom power for the new mic. I'll use a 57 for the Bass, and the condenser for the Guitars and vocals. I really hope it works out. It should be a good demo at the least...

NEW!!! AudioTechnica AT3035 Condenser Mic

It's on its way according to UPS: OUT FOR DELIVERY... I should be able to check it out tonight. I really hope this improves the quality of our recordings on the 8track. Also, my friend Bill is coming out tonight to take some pictures of us, so that should be fun. I grabbed a myspace site for Heavy High. I figured that I would call the band that until we find something else which probably won’t happen. I hate not having a name... Anyway, I'll make it a band account once we get a good recording and some pictures.

New Yamaha mixer

Matt bought the mixer that we were looking at last week. So we are finally replacing the Entertainer. The Entertainer has actually been pretty good to us. We've had it for over 10 years, and have not really had many problems with it except that it's just not powerful enough at 100 watts. The Yamaha is 600 watts which is plenty for vocals and acoustic guitars.

Matt and I worked on some really cool acoustic stuff on Sunday. We'll try to finish em up on Wednesday…

I'm looking at getting a condenser mic. This one seems to be versatile. It can be used for room recording, cabinets, and vocals: Condenser Mic

I'm hoping to start recording this week. A band name is needed... I still like Heavy High.

Ice Age II

The meltdown wasn’t really that great. I had its funny moments though. The Squirrel was hysterical. Not one that you have to catch on the big screen unless you have kids. We took our kids and one of our neighbors kids to see it Sunday. It cost me around $70 for a trip to the movies. That's ridiculous! What a rip off...

New Mixer?
I think we may own a new mixer for the warehouse. Matt was looking at a Yamaha powered mixer on Saturday. We really need a new one. The Entertainer is not cutting it. for real that is the name of our current mixer. EV's The Entertainer. I'm guessing 1980's with that name. So I'm hoping that it's on its way out the door. We really need something more dependable now since Eric bought a new Breedlove acoustic last week. We want to do some acoustic stuff, but need the PA to handle it well. And the Entertainer doesn't cut it.

WBreakneck

In front of the old warehouse on Parramore and Amelia downtown. Those were the days.... I really miss our old room in that place. The owner (Dave) was a pretty strange, and sometimes funny dude. He would yell WHERES MY MONEY whenever he saw Doug. He would have Doug do work for him to pay off backrent. We would show up for practice and Doug would be mopping the floors or cleaning the bathrooms... The owner purchased this place for a really decent price, then rented it out to bands, and made porno's there with pregnant chicks.... There were some very interesting characters there. Fat Jay was this huge black dude that liked to rap. He sold smokes and candy out of the room that he rented from Dave. He was like 400 lbs or something… He talked Bryan, Bob, Dale and I into jamming with him a couple of times. He would get so out of breath while rapping that we thought he was going to have a heart attack. And there was the guy with the short arms that could play the guitar like Yngwie... Very fond memories indeed :)

Doug, Jeff, Eric, Bryan


And inside:

Sea Monkey's and stuff

Sea Monkey update:
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that we only had 1 Sea monkey left. Now out of nowhere, there are 5 or so small ones in the tank along with the one gigantic mother of the sea monkey or the queen. These things are real survivors…

Band:
We finally finished up Untitled song, started another one and almost finished it. I wrote an Ian Hill style Bass line to it that everyone really likes… The songs are definitely getting better. I’m going to try to get a really good recording on the 8 track soon. We’ll have to do it when we’re going through a slump or something… give us something to do when we don’t have anything good to work on. Hope that never happens... I’d like to use it as a demo for getting shows for this summer… hopefully.

I’ll have to get a real Myspace site going once we find a name and start posting this stuff. Wow, coming up with a name is really hard, we haven’t found many that we like yet.

Heavy High (cycle on Matt’s clothes dryer)
Villain (too 80’s metal sounding) I still like it.
The Drag Delirium or just Drag Delirium (the word Drag can be misleading)

And many others that I can’t remember right now.

New cabinet

I picked up this Trace Elliot cabinet this weekend. I originally bought a Hartke 2x15 cab, but had to return it due to some weird cackling sound it was making. I wanted to exchange it, but they didn't have anymore in stock, so they had me try this one. I blows the Hartke away... Great low end, and clear... Sounds great with the GK. Can't wait to try it along with the 4x10 Hartke.

My Space

Just testing it out. I posted a couple of tunes... bad recordings, but you can get an idea of what we sound like.

http://www.myspace.com/junkmusic