Drummer Tom Theurer shares his notes on our first weekend at the recording studio.
Thurs 1/16:
Set up The Deedubs (DWs) and miced and let checked. Set up srum templates and EQs
Friday 1/17:
Ran thru songs with with Mark, Joe and Lynnette. Tried different snare, and decided to go with my usual recording snare, the Chad Smith Signature Pearl.
Saturday 1/18:
Tracked drums for Revolve (1 take), Boiling Black Water (1 take), Broken Language (1 take), and In Time (several takes!)
This past weekend we started working on our new album at Philly Jam Recording with engineer Mark J. Montoro. Mark engineered our first album, “Winter’s Veil”, back in 2017, and we liked working with him, so we decided to return to the scene of the crime. Plus, Tom and Joe have worked with him as a session drummer and keyboardist, respectively, for various projects, as well as their own projects, for many years prior to that. Tom even keeps a drum kit at the studio for his use when he’s there. So we have a good working relationship with Mark.
On Thursday, Tom set up his kit in the isolation booth and Mark miced everything and got the sound levels for everything to Tom’s liking. Then most of the band (minus Dean, as he had family committments), drove up Friday evening to begin tracking four of our songs. Our initial goal was to get drums recorded plus “scratch” tracks to create a template for everyone to use moving forward. The initial four songs we picked to record included “Revolve”, “Boiling Black Water”, “In Time”, and “Broken Language”.
Early on Friday, we decided one of Tom’s drums didn’t quite have the right feel so he switched out to a different one that came across much crisper during recording. Tom also wanted a different kick pedal than the one he had at the studio so when we came back on Saturday afternoon, he switched that out. From there we got most of the songs down in one or two takes, with the exception of “In Time”, which we had a little timing trouble with. (ironically!). But after a few more takes, it was done. Part of the trouble was we were trying to do stuff to a click track, but some parts of the songs have a natural (slight) speed up or down and when we tried to do everything to a click, it made the song too stiff / stilted.
Next up will be tracking bass lines. Stay tuned!
Below are a few photos and video from this weekend.
Green Cathedral are excited to announce that we are headed to the studio this month to begin work on our new album. We will be working once again with Philly Jam Recording / engineer Mark Montoro, who recorded our debut album in 2017. We plan on kicking off the recording process with these initial four songs: “In Time”, “Boiling Black Water”, “Broken Language,” and “Revolve”. We will be sure to post updates as we can, so please be sure to follow along on our Facebook page as well as our blog here.
Last Friday’s show at the Nail in Ardmore, PA, went very well. It’s an old-school, self-professed “dive” bar that’s been around for years, but they are committed to featuring original music, and that’s become increasingly hard to find at venues now. The owner also treats everyone well and actually pays the bands the door money — another rarity. We played a shorter set – 40 minutes – but it was most of our new material plus one older song. They all seemed to go over pretty well with the audience and the venue owner was pleased with us and invited us back for some more shows. So perhaps you will see us there again.
Set-List
In the meantime, here are some photos from the show. We are also being sent some possible video and if the audio is decent, we’ll be sure to post that as well.
Please click on thumbnails to view larger photos.
Come see Green Cathedral at the Nail (2580 Haverford Road) in Ardmore, PA.
Details are still in flux but Green Cathedral will be performing this May 3 at the Nail (also known as the Rusty Nail Nightclub) in Ardmore, PA. We are slotted to go on at 7:30 PM. We hope to see you there!
Happy Valentine’s Day. Here’s a little treat for you. We will be premiering a new video today of us playing our song “Crimson”. Stream at 11 AM on Youtube. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg3ISd0s-fU
A new video of our song “Boiling Black Water” will premiere at Noon today on Youtube. This is from a series of videos we recorded at our rehearsal space as we prepare our songs for a studio recording.
This Tuesday is TUNESDAY TUESDAY 😉 Green Cathedral has another new video for you, premiering at Noon. Click on over to youtube to subscribe or click on the notifications bar for when the video goes live. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXNO_TULhI
We hope you enjoy these videos of us in the rehearsal studio. We are working on the songs to get them ready for recording in the studio.
It’s a Snow Day! To celebrate, Green Cathedral is releasing a new video for you! Today we have a special treat – a cover of Siouxsie and the Banshee’s classic “Cities in Dust” . The video will premier at 12.30 pm on youtube. ENJOY!
