The Bear's Den Recording Studio

New Music

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:29:51 +0000

Last week I finalized the mixes for Here We Just Dream (formerly “Pride of The Atlantic”) and sent them off to Interlace Studios to be mastered by Stephan Hawkes. Very happy with how the project came out, they are really cool songs.

Sic Vita, who were one of the finalists in the 95.5 WBRU Rock Hunt this year, have released a new song they recorded here with me, it can be heard here:
Atlas by Sic Vita

A Mirror’s Embrace from CT have just put up a mix of their single coming off of a project I am finishing up with them. It can be Heard on their facebook page.

Strike Hard (also from CT) have put out another studio update video from their weekend here tracking guitars/bass. It can be seen below:

Live at The Bear’s Den: Episode 2 – Featuring Mojo Kick

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:05:48 +0000

Here is Mojo Kick performing “Wild Girl” live at The Bear’s Den. This was a really cool project that involved collaboration between a lot of very talented people. The video was shot by Nick Stevens (of Incognito Mosquito), Joe Amaral, and Brian Bettencourt. The video was edited by Nick Brecken (of Drift Design Studios). The graphics for the video intro were created by Eric Silva (of Earthshine Business Development). Lastly, this version of the song was recorded and mixed by Mike Conway (of Drift Design Studios) and myself.

If you haven’t purchased a copy of the Mojo Kick self titled album, it is available on iTunes for only $5.94. Grab it here.

Without further ado… Here it is:

My thoughts on Guitar Amp Simulators and Programmed Drums

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:42:22 +0000

Being a producer, there is one topic of conversation that comes up quite frequently: Using real guitar amps verses Amp simulators, and/or recording real drums verses programming all the drum tracks. I was even told by a friend that they knew of someone who chose not to record with me because I record the real thing, and they viewed it as a waste of time and money. There is no right or wrong answer, because they can both sound really good or really bad depending on the person doing the recording. Having said that, this is how I picture it in my head:

It’s like having the choice between driving a race car, or playing a really advanced, realistic video game. Anyone can sit down at dave and busters and drive a race car. Modern technology has advanced to a point where you really feel as if you are actually shifting through the gears racing 100+ miles per hour. Your adrenaline will run as if you were really driving, and you can sit in a little fake car that vibrates and moves to make it feel very real.
On the other hand, in order to drive an actual race car, it requires actual knowledge of the car itself, training on how to maneuver, and usually a bunch of money to even be able to attempt it. This also produces adrenaline, but on a whole other level.

The end result is very similar… You feel as if you competed in a high speed sport. The difference between these two actions however, is that one of them requires a lot of preparation and training, and involves risk. The other is safe, cheap, and literally anyone can do.

Some people like to race in virtual reality, risk free. I happen to enjoy the real thing.. even though it is a lot more work, and there is the constant risk of crashing.

That’s my 2 cents.

Something About Horses Release Song

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:25:51 +0000

At midnight last night, the band Something About Horses released a song entitled “Jumoanji”. I can honestly say that this was the most unique, abstract, project I have ever worked on…. or even listened to for that matter. The rest of the album isn’t quite as intense, but it’s still a trip. It will be available for digital download within the next few weeks, but in the meantime, here is the track:

A lot of new things

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:42:10 +0000

It has been a while since the last post. This is due to both being extremely busy, and the fact that I had surgery, and was out of commission for a week. On April 2nd I had an operation where one of the discs in my spine was replaced. Leading up to that, I was working non-stop in order to not fall too far behind.

The weekend before the surgery, Sayings came in and had a ‘lock in’ and tracked 95% of the remainder of their EP. It was a fun weekend, filled with puppies, buffalo wings, and music. They put together a few video updates, here is one of them:

After returning from surgery, I got started with another and from CT called “Strike Hard”. We began pre-production for a 6 song project we will be starting to track later this month. They also put together a video update which can be seen here:

Collision also came in, and we tracked vocals for 2 out of their 3 new songs. They are coming out awesome. Also, Ghost of Rory has been in a few times over the past couple weeks. This past Monday evening we finished tracking all the instruments for their 3 songs. We will be finishing up the vocals in a couple weeks.

Most of the rest of the month is dedicated to (hopefully) finishing up mixing 4 projects. My Dyna-mite compressor is set to arrive back today from being re-capped and upgraded. The Drawmer had a few more issues than I was even aware of, and is still being worked on, but I am hoping to have that back by the end of next week. I also purchased a summing mixer, which will be in early next week, which will be awesome to get to use on all the mixing I will be doing this month. May is already starting to fill up.

Upgrades and such

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:11:27 +0000

Drum Tracking with A Mirror's Embrace

Over the past few weeks I have been spending a lot of time trying to finalize several projects. Last night I sent the final masters to Shred of Salvation for their EP. I am 3/5 of the way done with the Something About Horses EP, and moving along with the Pride of The Atlantic EP. Over the past weekend, A Mirror’s Embrace from CT came down and we tracked their new EP.

On top of these projects (and several others) I am constantly trying to improve things at the studio. Lately I have taken several steps in order to up my game. Last week I ended up trimming the rug in the live room down to about 1/4 of its original size. This leaves more of the wood floor exposed, and makes the room sound a little more “Live”. I have been experimenting with it, and I am really liking it so far. This whole thing was prompted by the purchase of a new microphone, the cascade Fathead. It is nothing crazy expensive or rare, but it is a terrific sounding ribbon mic, which happens to rock as a room mic for drums.
While on the mic purchasing kick, I also am in the process of purchasing a pair of AKG 414C B-ULS’s. Should have them in a week or so. I also sent out my Valley People Dyna-Mite compressor/limiter out to California to be re-capped and upgraded. It’s a killer sounding unit, but it’s old and could definitely use a tune-up. Lastly, I am in the middle of trying to get my Drawmer 1968ME tube compressor back to fully functional status. Ive had some issues with this piece over the past couple months, and I’m hoping to get it sorted out so that I can return to using it. It’s an awesome piece. With any luck it will just be a matter of changing out the tubes, but we shall see.

In other news, I recently finished up a song called “Atlas” with Sic Vita, and it was played on the radio earlier this week. The band is one of the finalists in the 95.5 WBRU Rock Hunt, and they are performing tonight at The Met in Providence, RI. It’s awesome to have a member of The Bear’s Den family in the finals. Sic Vita and Sun of Sound have both been receiving regular airplay over the past month or so due to there involvement in the rock hunt. Makes me proud!

Help Auburn Replace Stolen Gear

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:23:56 +0000

Update! The thief put the items on ebay and was caught by the Johnston Police! All equipment has been recovered! I love happy endings.

—————————————————————————
Some of my best friends are in a band called “Auburn” who recently had their van broken into and a large amount of their equipment stolen. This happened while the van was parked in Johnston RI.

These dudes work extremely hard to be able to keep doing what they are doing. To help them out, you can purchase a tee-shirt for $10 (plus $2 shipping).

Here is a list of what was stolen, if you have any information, please contact the band or myself:

Quick update

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:05:43 +0000

Not much to report. I have been working on mixing several projects, with a few sessions scattered here and there. In about a week things are going to get real busy here for a while. Tons of projects booked for the next month or two.

President’s Day

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:33:01 +0000

Happy President’s Day!
The Mojo Kick EP is officially available on iTunes/amazon/cdBaby etc. I can’t recommend this album enough. If you are a fan of Rock and Roll, then this is the best $6 you can spend. Take a minute or two and go support these guys by purchasing the album. Click here to grab it on iTunes. Their performance of the song “Wild Girl” from their episode of Live at The Bear’s Den should be released very soon.

I have been working with Sic Vita over the past couple weeks on a new song, and tonight they are coming in to finish up. They have posted a studio update/teaser video:

Farewell To Freeway Music Video

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:33:24 +0000

The guys in Farewell to Freeway have released another music video off of the album that I was the assistant engineer. The album was produced by Eric Arena, and was released via Victory Records.