Woodland is the name of Gillian Welch and David Rawling’s studio in Nashville, and it’s also the name of their new album. On Woodland, the duo continue to show their deep connection as collaborators. The album has a wide open sound that features their seemlessly blended and intimately recorded vocals, and the light touch of a backing band that includes drums, bass, pedal steel, banjo, and airy strings on tunes like "What We Had" and "Hashtag". "Lawman" and "The Bells and the Birds" have a lovely somberness, and the album as a whole has a "live off the floor" feeling to it that we hear less and less of these days. Woodland will stay in our "recently played" column for the forseeable future.
We interviewed Gillian and Dave back in 2001 for Tape Op #85.
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
I'll be doing a "Quickies 6: In the Studio" panel-type thing at SXSW on Saturday, March 20th, 11:00 AM, at the Austin Convention Center, Room 16A. I think you have to sign up for this, so check their website for more info. It'd be cool to meet some...
A few months back while on a call with Tape Op publisher John Baccigaluppi, he mentioned that he was working on an album project where the majority of the sounds were generated by his cat Raspy. That is not to say that Raspy actually sat down...
Pitchfork TV (some spinoff of the horrible, snotty music crit site) has launched a series called A>D>D.
"The title for the series is based on the ADD/AAD/DDD codes that appeared on compact discs in the late 80s and early 90s, in which ADD...
Below is a Guest Post from Jim Janik:
Album Credits Are Just As Important As the Money We Make (maybe more so)
by: Jim Janik
Have you ever googled yourself? I have. In fact, I have to. Like many freelancers in the music industry, it's just one of...
We interviewed Herb Alpert in Tape Op #140, and he hasn't slowed down since. He just released his 50th album, aptly titled 50.
It is yet another prime example of the lounge pop genre he all but invented with The Tijuana Brass starting in the...
It wasn’t that long ago that when you went into the studio you basically disappeared from the rest of the world into a place with few (or no) windows, and low light. Where time seemed to have a way of getting distorted, finding yourself rolling...
Check out Ross Healy's VICMODBLOG on analog modular synths. He interviews "people who build and sell modular gear and forgotten electronic musicians." Cool stuff.
I've pulled together a collection of recent thoughts I've had about the recording process. You can agree or not agree. The important thing is to use your ears, mind, and creativity to make great recordings.
Recording equipment...