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Recording The Above
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The Above's tracks were composed and recorded over a period of 7 years. They
were mixed at least twice, mastered twice, and in some cases, sections in
several tracks were added or deleted prior to their final mix and second
mastering. All instruments and vocals were performed by Lenny Stearns.
All tracks were composed, recorded and mixed on Macintosh computers using Opcode
Studio Vision Pro (now long out of production). Various sections were composed
in and imported from Propellerhead Rebirth into Vision. Plug-ins used were from
Waves, Pluggo, and PSP Audioware, among others. Mastering was done in Bias Peak
using Waves and PSP Audioware plug-ins.
Guitar sounds were recorded using a Line6 POD 2.0, POD Pro, and Korg Pandora
units. Electric bass was recorded direct using a Countryman DI through Mackie
CR1604 mixer preamps. A Line6 Bass POD was used on The Gift to re-amp the synth
bass. Acoustic guitars were recorded with an Audio Technica AT4033 mic through
Mackie preamps. Vocals were recorded through the AT4033 or a Neumann TLM103 mic
through Mackie preamps or a TL Audio tube preamp.
The following is a list of gear that was used on the tracks -
Guitars and basses:
- '69 Fender Precision bass (No Solid Ground, Two Feathers)
- '99 Fender Relic '60 Stratocaster (backwards solo on Beautiful, ending solo in
Beautiful)
- '92 Fender Custom Shop 3-pickup Telecaster (bridge in Beautiful)
- '93 Fender Custom Shop Custom Telecaster (bridge in Beautiful)
- '96 Fender American Standard Telecaster w/Joe Barden pickups (all guitar
parts in The Gift)
- '86 PRS Custom (Two Feathers, I Don't Know Yet, ending solo in
Beautiful)
- '96 PRS McCarty (solo on I Don't Know Yet)
- '93 Gibson Lonnie Mack Flying V (end of The Incredible Lightness of Beans)
- '78 Takamine F866 Jumbo steel string (Two Feathers)
- '73 Giannini nylon string (Two Feathers)
- '01 Yamaha nylon string (No Solid Ground)
Effects, stompboxes, etc.:
- Prescription Electronics Experience pedal
- 70's Thomas Organ Crybaby wah-wah pedal
- Lexicon MPX1 effects unit
- Lexicon PCM60 reverb
- Lexicon G2 guitar processor
- Urei LA4 compressor
- dbx 166 compressor
- BBE Sonic Maximizer
- Yamaha G-50 Guitar-to-MIDI converter w/Roland GK-2A pickup
- Line6 POD 2.0
- Line6 POD Pro
- Line6 Bass POD
- Korg Pandora
- HeatSound Ebow
Keyboards and synths:
- Korg Wavestation/AD
- Korg M1
- Roland Juno 106
- Roland R-8M
- Roland U220
- Emu Emax II sampler
- Emu Orbit V2
- Emu Proteus 3
- Emu Proformance 1
- Propellerhead Rebirth (softsynth)
- Korg OASYS/PCI
- Linn Electronics LinnDrum drum machine (sampled and resequenced)
Mics, preamps, interfaces:
- Neumann TLM103
- Audio Technica AT4033
- TL Audio tube preamp
- Mackie CR1604 mixer
- Korg OASYS/PCI
- Frontier Tango lightpipe converter
- M-Audio Flying Cow A/D-D/A converter
- Opcode Studio 4 MIDI interface
Computers:
- Macintosh 8600/300 w/G3 upgrade
- Macintosh G4/400 w/1.25Ghz upgrade
Other instruments:
- Block flute/Recorder
- Tambourine
- Tibetan Buddhist ritual bell |
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