Drewcifer's Tone Zone

"Moogle!"

Wed, 23 May 2012 06:06:54 -0400

"Moogle!"

Doh!

Sat, 12 May 2012 11:26:31 -0400

Doh!

Anybody surprised?

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:22:00 -0400

Anybody surprised?:

ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons says the delay in releasing the band’s new album is not the fault of him and his cohorts:

producer Rick Rubin is behind the long gap between releases.

Speaking to Noise11’s Paul Cashmere, Gibbons said everything is still “buzzing” in ZZ Top land. “I guess the irony of the whole picture is that the band is wondering. Where is this thing?” Gibbons said. “When do we hear it? Rick’s funny.

Bearded Bruthaz! The disembodied Guru, wearing an extra-large veterinary E-Collar, gazes upon his latest (behind schedule) project.

Copyright 2012 The Brooklyns, Recorded by The Brooklyns. Mixed...

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:19:01 -0400

Drew Townson - Crystal Blue Copyright 2102 by Drew and Dana...

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:20:00 -0400

Drew Townson - Crystal Blue

Copyright 2102 by Drew and Dana Townson. Drew Townson- guitars and vocals; Eliot Bayless - drums; Sean McLaughlin - bass. Produced and engineered at 37ft Productions by Drew Townson with Eliot Bayless.

When my sister (and lifelong best friend) died back in December, I knew I would write a song for her. But I didn’t. She did. Dana was an angel on my shoulder, because I picked up my guitar one morning and this song came pouring out. Even more surprising is that the song is not a sad dark ballad. I figured any song I wrote after she passed-on would be heartbroken and melancholy. But, no, that is not the case at all. What came out was a six-minute 1970s/80s style radio-rock anthem of the kind that Dana and I would have loved growing up. It’s a top-down teenage summer song. It’s a hanging out at the lake song. It’s Tom Petty Brian Adams John Cougar The Outlaws The Allman Brothers Boston The Eagles Fleetwood Mac and Thin Lizzy all rolled in to one. I hear Ringo’s “It Don’t Come Easy” at one point, and a guitar solo by Badfinger. There’s a ‘Na na na” singalong at the end, like “Hey Jude.” Again, I only channeled this thing, which is why it doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve ever done. The oddest thing of all, is that, despite the fact it is a huge production with like, 16 tracks of guitar and all kinds of big arena-rock treatments, I barely remember recording it. Really. Thank you Dana, my muse, for giving me the gift of this song. Now I send it back up to you - an anthem to you - in the Crytsal Blue.
Drew Townson, May 1, 2012

Bow Thayer Roots-Rocks to 2012 Rumble Victory!

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:56:10 -0400

Bow Thayer Roots-Rocks to 2012 Rumble Victory!:

Not to pass this way again: Levon Helm, 1940 - 2012. Rock the...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:53:00 -0400

Not to pass this way again: Levon Helm, 1940 - 2012.

Rock the heck out of Heaven, Mr. Helm!

Another one of greats has left this mortal coil. Levon was more than just a great drummer, singer and songwriter, he was one of the founding fathers of this American Music we play. He pioneered. He cut the template. He blazed a musical trail that thousands of us have followed as it has become a well-trodden path. This man was as original as they come; an icon, and an idol. It’s a sad loss for the world of music, but as an Americana roots musician myself, I feel the loss especially keenly. I admired him.

And as much as I like Bonham and Kieth Moon, I gotta say, The Afterlife Band just got an upgrade at drums!

I’m sure Woodstock will be draped in black for many days to come. Because there never has been anyone, nor will there ever be another like Levon Helm.

The Dirt Farmer. We’ll never see another like Levon Helm…

ROCK CANDY! Who are the most beautiful babes in the history of...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:34:00 -0400

Enchantress Stevie and Her Magic Tambo!

Linda Lookin' Luminous...

The Wilson Sisters. Yes, BOTH of them!

That face! Debbie the Blonde Bombshell.

Emmylou Sportin' Stetson!

Michael Steele, Bangin' Bangle!

Cherrybomb! Curry, Underage in Underwear

Runaway Dakota: Fanning Clones Curry

'70's Ann, HEARTbreaker!

ROCK CANDY! Who are the most beautiful babes in the history of rack? I mean ROCK! The sexiest sirens? The most delicious divas? Here’s a gallery of favorite dames that rock Drewcifer’s Domain! Beauty AND talent? Oh yeah!

The Man Who Went To Eleven...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:08:15 -0400

The Man Who Went To Eleven...:

Lynx Goes Hilo!

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:31:00 -0400

Lynx Studio Technology hasn’t released a new bit of kit in several years. Turns out they were planning and scheming and hatching something BIG. Well small. But really good. Good things come in little two-channel packages with high sampling rates.

Introducing the Hilo (“Hee-lo” named after the Hawaiian Island) reference ADC/DAC! This is THE perfect stereo/multichannel solution for getting in or out of the DAW, mixing down, monitoring, format conversion; you name it. It’s all here in one mastering-quality box.

In total, Hilo has 12 total inputs, 16 total outputs plus 32 channels possible via its LSlot port. The unit’s FPGA powers its internal 32 channel mixer.

WOW!

We love this baby!

Pedal Blast! Full Color Tone Machines by Chandler…

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:46:05 -0400

Red Hot Tones from Little Devil

Cool Blue in the Germanium Hue

Hot Rod Tele!

Germaniac!

Pedal Blast! Full Color Tone Machines by Chandler…

Drew Townson with The Derangers, “Tears of The...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:17:00 -0500

Drew Townson with The Derangers, “Tears of The Seneca” 1992.

Hundreds of years ago the Seneca Indian Nation, part of the great Iroquois “Long House” League, lived along the verdant shores of The Finger Lakes of Western New York State. The lakes were sacred to the Seneca. They believed that The Great Spirit had put his hand down upon the Earth and the lakes were the impressions left by his fingers. They fought for years to protect the land from invading Europeans. After years of bloody conflict vs. whites and other native tribes, the Seneca finally conceded their lands to white settlers and signed a peace treaty.

One day, in about 1990, I was sitting on the edge of Canandaigua Lake - the tribe’s home and most sacred lake - and my thoughts turned to the Seneca, and I felt a sadness creep in to my heart. I started resonating the echoes of the past. My mind went back in time and I pictured them paddling their canoes on the early morning mist there on Canandaigua, and burning their home-fires on the shore. I had learned in school that The Seneca were once among the mightiest Indian tribes of all. It is sad how far they fell.

It occurred to me that, when you look at a map of the Finger Lakes, those thin blue strips of water look a lot like tears. And I wondered if the tears of the Seneca might still be in the lake.

Days later, this instrumental was born. It’s one of the saddest and most spiritual pieces I’ve written. The guitar weeps, and the woman’s voice calls, echoing through the surrounding hills. Please listen to it with these thoughts in mind, and dream of the noble Seneca.

Hi-hat, Bloody Hi-hat!

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:07:00 -0500

Here’s a question that just popped up on Facebook, and here is my answer:

Q: How do you deal with hi-hat bleed on a snare track?

A: Ah, grasshopper, this is an old and classic problem. Here are some solutions -

1) During tracking, use lighter, smaller, quieter hats. We have a set of sweet hi-hats in the studio that record really nicely. You change out snares and guitar amps and other sources to get better tones, why not hats and cymbals? We do. Those big klunky hats are loud and harsh, avoid them!

2) Discourage the drummer from bashing the hat and leaving it half-open all the time. Try to find an alternative part to that slushy awful open-hat thing (which I hate anyway, both musically and recording-wise), using a closed hat or maybe the ride instead. Drummers need to know that playing for the studio is different than live, and that less is more.

3) If you’re mixing something already tracked, gate the snare as well as you can, which will usually result in spill of the hat on the snare when the gate is open.To mask this, position the the close-mic’d hi-hat track in the center, OVER the snare. That way the hat mic will cover the bleed coming through the snare.

4) Replace the snare with a sample.

5) Ungate everything, throw your hands up and say, “Jesus, take the wheel!”

She’s the center of attention!

Country had a bigger Grammy night than you might think.

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:49:00 -0500

Country had a bigger Grammy night than you might think.:

Country music may not have owned the night, but it confidently carved out it’s share.

With much of the the 54th Grammy Awards attention being refocused on the death of Whitney Houston, along with multiple ringing endorsements of Adele, and over-the-top performances by Chris Brown, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and others, it was almost subversive how Country music quietly gathered hardware by-the-pound. You had a classic rock tribute to the The Beach Boys and two performances by Sir Paul; not exactly twangy stuff. But inside all that, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift (who really won me over with her performance) and The Civil Wars moved through smoothly the night, picking up golden statues. Of course the night’s most gripping and memorable moment was when Jennifer Hudson performed “I Will Always Love You” in tribute to Whitney. It’s easy to forget that the song was written by Dolly Parton.

Click here for CMT’s roundup of Country’s Grammy-winners…

Rhinestone Cowboy shines as he rides into the sunset...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:50:00 -0500

Rhinestone Cowboy shines as he rides into the sunset...:

Campbell takes a final bow on last night’s Grammys.

Random words and thoughts that come to mind when I watch this...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:48:00 -0500

Random words and thoughts that come to mind when I watch this 80’s video on the Art of Mixing: “Is the mustache real?” “coke” “Why doesn’t he actually demonstrate using the equipment?” “blow” “Not quite a mullet, but a first cousin to the mullet” “gak” “Dude, grab a fader! Twist a knob!” “Bolivian marching powder” “Gawd the tie!” “drugs” “Crap they spent a fortune on the graphics and effects” “Bump?” “Bit of a Pittsburg accent” “lines” “Who the hell is this dude?” “8-ball” “Hmmm, what is that console back there?” “snow” “NOT NEARLY ENOUGH COWBELL!”

Andy Munro’s Ovarian Experiment. I’m a huge fan of...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:56:39 -0500

Andy Munro’s Ovarian Experiment.

I’m a huge fan of Andy Munro’s work as both an acoustic engineer and designer of speaker systems. I’ve known him personally and followed his creations since the late 1990s. So when I heard he had teamed up with SE Electronics to develop a new - and we do mean NEW - studio monitor, my reaction was, “How soon can I get a pair?” Few in this business have the vision and integrity of Andy Munro, so when he puts his name on something, you know it meets the very highest standards of excellence and artfulness. So here they are folks, Andy Monro’s Egg 150 studio monitors, over easy! Enjoy!

Egg Review in Sound on Sound

Huevos Sonidos Muy Finos

APOLLO ‘12!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:31:14 -0500

APOLLO ‘12!

“Shut My Mouth,” by Digger Year: 1994 Writer: Daryl...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:36:00 -0500

“Shut My Mouth,” by Digger

Year: 1994

Writer: Daryl Frazier

Engineer/co-producer: Drew Townson

Studio: Blue Jay, Carlisle, MA

Notes: Recorded and mixed 100% analog using 2” Studer A800 24track at 15ips w/ Dolby SR, and mixed to Studer A820 1/2” 2-track at 15ips w/ Dolby SR. Console, SSL 6000E.

I’ll shut my mouth now.

Lila Downs’ music is like a Mexican tapestery - or better...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:28:20 -0500

Lila Downs’ music is like a Mexican tapestery - or better yet - the perfect mole; made up of dozens of ingredients blended together to create one mind-blowing taste. She infuses the beauty of folklorica Mexicana in to her music, dance and dress. And what a voice! I discovered her in about 2005 from her appearance in the Frida film and soundtrack. Even if you are not a fan of Mexican music, or have perhaps never explored it, you owe it to yourself to check out Lila Downs. ¡Savor!

Lila’s web-site