Gear

every so often i get asked “what do you use to make your music?”

here’s what i use:

recording
digidesign 003 rack firewire audio/midi interface
digidesign command|8 control surface
apple mac dual 2.0gighz g5 w/4gigs of RAM
prosunus blue tube mic pres (x2)
pro tools 7.4 with a not insignificant amount of plugins (including some nice analog synth plugins)

mics
sennheiser md421
audio technica ldc
shure sm57 (3x)

instrumentation
gibson standard SG (made in the US)
gretsch hollow body
washburn 4-string acoustic-electric bass guitar
alesis midi drum pad
clavia ddrum4 kit (used as a midi controller for drums)
superior drummer 2.0 (ridiculously wonderful sounding)
boss rc-50 loop station pedal
boss compressor pedal
boss graphic eq pedal
roland jx305 (used only as a midi controller)

amplification
marshall jcm2000 (100 watts)
marshall 2×12 cabinet

i record everything in my apartment (in my living room to be exact), usually laying down a guitar part first, or a bass line (with either the bass guitar or keyboards.) i’ll then record the drums, playing to the guitar track and a click track. then i just start building things from there. i’m not much of a mastering engineer so i do the best i can, which is why i’m never satisfied with how my stuff sounds when “finished.” it never has that “finished” sound to me. oh well, i keep trying.