Guitarists and recording musicians need to check out the Fuse Audio Labs VREV-63 reverb plugin. It offers an accurate emulation of a spring reverb, suitable for surf music projects or even tracks where that musician surfer traverses outer space! The skeuomorphic guitar amp interface highlights the plugin’s intuitive UI design approach. If you recall, we recently posted the press release for this effects plugin.
Fuse Audio Labs VREV-63 Reverb Features
Emulates the Classic Tube Spring Reverb Sound of 60s Guitar Amps
Provides Great Sonics and an Intuitive User Interface
Includes C10 Capacitor Mod and Three Different Spring Tanks
Suitable for Guitars, Synths, Vocals, and More
Supports Windows, MacOS, and Most Popular Plugin Formats
Note that the VREV-63 also adds that classic surf guitar amp reverb sound to synths, other instruments, and even vocals. Still, guitarists probably benefit the most from exploring this Fuse Audio Labs reverb plugin to see how it enhances their sound. Let’s examine the VREV-63 in more detail.
A Classic Guitar Amp Interface
VREV-63 features a skeuomorphic interface that looks and functions like those classic guitar amps of yore. A wise UI decision considering the plugin’s surf music roots. The simplicity of the intuitive interface makes guitar amp owners feel right at home. The Mixer, Tone, and Volume knobs are self-explanatory. The Dwell knob effectively manages how hard the input signal hits the amp’s virtual springs. In short, it controls the reverb level.
The VREV-63’s interface provides that vintage guitar amp feel. Image courtesy Fuse Audio Labs.
The “back of the amp” features a few settings, again with a skeuomorphic interface. Switch between different types of the C10 capacitor for a richer reverb sound. You also get to select tube models between the NOS 6K6 and the heavier 6V6. Fuse Audio Labs also modeled the spring tank size, and there’s even a switch to emulate kicking the amp! Boom!
The rear of the VREV-63 interface also provides that vintage guitar amp feel. Image courtesy Fuse Audio Labs.
Patch management features are also simple and intuitive. However, the plugin’s ease of use makes creating a new patch a fast and simple process.
Accurate Spring Reverb Sound in a Plugin
Simply stated, the VREV-63 sounds great. Expect a top-shelf spring reverb sound to highlight your guitar tracks. Of course, the plugin also works well in other use-cases, like synths or even an entire mix. Anytime you want a classic reverb – no matter the situation – try out this plugin.
When mixing the new Church of Hed album, The Fifth Hour, I put VREV-63 through its paces. Jonathan Segel, from indie-rock legends, Camper Van Beethoven plays on the release. The track Hyades Noir features Segel’s violin and guitar. Remember, both Camper and Segel made their bones in California. Naturally, a surf music spring reverb seemed appropriate for the outer space sonics of the track.
The VREV-63 worked perfectly, giving Segel’s axe and violin work the deep space surfing vibe the song needed. The spring reverb on his tracks stood out among the reverbs used for the other instrumentation and overall mix. It provided that unique California feel to a piece squarely set in a star cluster far, far away.
If you want to add a spring reverb to your plugin collection, check out Fuse Audio Labs VREV-63. This plugin provides an appropriate look and feel as well as the right sound. At $59, it’s definitely worthy of further consideration.
Here’s Side 4 of the studio production notes for the 2022 Church of Hed album, The Father Road. On this installment, we dive into the recording of this Lincoln Highway aural travelogue from the mountains of Western Pennsylvania to its ending at Times Square and sea beyond. The prologue of this series analyzes our studio setup, recording approach, and the hardware and software used on the album. It also includes background information on the overall Rivers of Asphalt concept. Read it, if this all seems a bit confusing!
One knob to rule them all! Photo by Angela Williams.
In addition to the prologue, The Father Road’s recording notes span four sides, almost like a vinyl edition of the album that will probably never happen. Nevertheless, the metaphor works well for splitting this collection of notes into five parts.
A Ship In The Mountains serves as a requiem for the S.S. Grand View Ship Hotel located along the Lincoln Highway a few miles west of Bedford, PA. Like many cool spots along this nation’s two-lane rivers of asphalt, the building of the of the Interstate (in this case the execrable Pennsylvania Turnpike) served as the death knell for the hotel. Each time we drove past the site when on tour, we made sure to stop and pay our respects.
The track itself is another golden oldie, originally considered for Rivers of Asphalt. In fact, I used the chord progression from this composition in Trace The Rubicon from Electric Sepulcher. The coda of the piece is essentially an elegy for the Grand View with its delayed piano melody. The Yamaha MM8 combines with the classic Line 6 DL4 and Elektron Analog Drive, providing us with a bespoke grungy piano sound. Also look for a picture of the grand view beyond the hotel during the coda.
17. The Many Souls Of Byberry 04:49
Another track from The Father Road that speaks to a specific location, The Many Souls Of Byberry memorializes the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, in the Northeast section of the city on the Lincoln Highway. One of the country’s first mental asylums, it stayed in operation until 1990. Pennsylvania’s Benjamin Rush State Park currently resides on some of the hospital’s original grounds.
This song mixes subtle influences of psychedelia and Philadelphia soul with a 7/8 rhythm inspired by Chris Squire’s excellent track, Lucky Seven, from Fish Out Of Water, which ranks as the greatest solo album ever released by a member of YES. Dink (Stan Lyon) did a great job coming up with a bass part inspired by his one true musical hero. The hazy ambience in the bridge section provides an elegy for those lost souls.
18. Approaching Gotham 02:24
Approaching Gotham offers another piano interlude as The Father Road approaches the ending of our aural journey. As such, it combines with Sierra Ascent 1 to provide a sense of symmetry to the album’s composition. Also listen to the dark ambient sound of the Interstates paralleling our trip along the old road.
The inclusion of organ on this track probably pays tribute to Van Der Graaf Generator. This makes sense, as Hugh Banton and Peter Hammill are probably my biggest keyboard influences not named (The Prodigal) Jay Swanson. Our bespoke organ sound mixes a patch I created years ago on the Kawai K5000 with an organ patch from the Waldorf Micro Q. Of course, the Moog Sub 37 serves up that hot synth effects action.
19. The Palisades 02:36
The New Jersey bluffs overlooking Manhattan are known as The Palisades. This track slows down the pattern from Avoiding Toll Roads At Night, with a slightly funkier beat as we approach the end of the Lincoln Highway. The 6/8 rhythm supports that classic Bruford trap kit style, with those rim shots still very possible on my TrapKAT.
For the lead synth sound, we combined the Korg Z1 and the Modal Electronic Skulpt SE, a different approach than our usual MoogCoast. These two synths blend well together, with a razor sharp lead sound. A synth effect from the Moog Sub 37 makes an appearance during the track’s ending, in concert with the tympani from Spitfire Audio’s Hans Zimmer Percussion library.
20. Times Square And The Shining Sea 03:37
Times Square And The Shining Sea concludes The Father Road as The Lincoln Highway terminates in Manhattan. This is another song written during the initial Rivers of Asphalt composing sessions, as it restates the theme from the album opener, Skyline. However, the coda of the track returns to the sea, or at least Long Island Sound, as we hear the album’s Midwest motif for the last time. The ambient mood of the ending also hearkens back to the fog-bound beginning of Golden Gate, thousands of miles – and 72 minutes – earlier.
In the end, The Father Road is effectively a 74-minute composition. When combined with Rivers of Asphalt, the entire piece provides a nearly two-and-a-half hour aural travelogue chronicling a surreal journey down two of America’s classic old roads. Be sure to revisit these roads and albums, time and time again.
Check out the other installments of the series cover the recording of Church of Hed – The Father Road!
Side 3 of the studio production notes for the 2022 Church of Hed album, The Father Road, covers the recording of this aural travelogue from Western Illinois to the Appalachian range. Check out the prologue, where we analyze our studio setup, recording approach, and the hardware and software used on the album. The prologue also includes background on the overall Rivers of Asphalt concept.
More fun with the Alternate Mode TrapKAT. Photo by Angela Williams
In addition to the prologue, the recording notes for The Father Road span four sides, ironic considering no desire on our end to release a vinyl edition of the album. Nevertheless, it serves nicely for splitting these notes into five parts.
Open Road Illinois LH essentially restates the motif of the original Open Road Illinois from Rivers of Asphalt. However, since the LH covers fewer miles in Illinois compared the Route 66, the track sports a shorter length. The absence of the original’s Berlin School synth freakout keeps things more concise.
Here’s the original 2010 video from Rivers of Asphalt.
In addition to the relative brevity, Open Road Illinois LH boasts a more intense performance of the piano-powered 5/8 pattern. A Moog synth melody also adds to the track’s sense of propulsion. I improvised the coda based on the breakdown from the original version before that track descends into the synth freakout.
12. Plainfield Crossroads 03:38
The Lincoln Highway and Route 66 cross paths in Plainfield, Illinois; even sharing the same roadway for a few blocks. Plainfield Crossroads marks the occasion with a short synth-based interlude featuring an LFO-driven Moog Sub 37 patch and the Make Noise 0-Coast, per usual. The combined MoogCoast remains my main synth for leads, sequences, and arpeggiations, with the 0-Coast effectively serving as a third oscillator.
Here’s the studio version.
And a live in-studio version!
After two “verses” of the piece an arpeggiation appears, allowing for a restatement of the Midwest motif that first appeared at the end of Prairie Waves. For this arpeggiated take, the motif chord progression sports the combination of the Korg Z1 and the Streichfett, creating a bespoke string synth sound as opposed to piano and organ. This modern sonic approach better serves to document the old road across the southern suburbs of Chicago.
13. Avoiding Toll Roads At Night 03:01
The interstate from the Chicago Skyway to the Indiana Toll Road remains one of the worst stretches of highway in the country. Is there a better reason to traverse Northern Indiana on a nighttime journey along the Lincoln Highway? Old roads offer the best opportunity to truly understand the land, as opposed to arriving as quickly as possible.
After an opening of spacey road ambience, Avoiding Toll Roads At Night features a fast DrumBrute pattern with kinetic electro trap kit drumming overdubs. Synth melodies from the MoogCoast continue the evolving story of our surreal road trip before ending in a blaze of string synth, as we prepare to enter Ohio. The piano-based chord and rhythm sequence returns later along the journey when The Father Road reaches New Jersey.
14. The Red Brick Road 05:01
The chord progressions and song structure from The Red Brick Road were written for a track from Rivers of Asphalt that didn’t make the album. The melodies are new; featuring a mix of MoogCoast and an electric piano from the Yamaha MM8 run through an Elektron Analog Drive for a measure of grit.
The long coda from this track remains one of my favorite sections from The Father Road. The trumpets last seen in the valleys of California in Sierra Ascent 1 finally return along with a distorted piano pattern. I originally planned on having Stan or someone provide an epic guitar solo over it, but went with the composed melody in the end.
15. Flying Teapots Over The Alleghenies 04:18
Flying Teapots pays tribute to the World’s Largest Teapot which sits along the side of the Lincoln Highway in Chester, West Virginia. Once again, the old road begins climbing the mountains, with the range being the Alleghenies. As such, the track features the same drum machine beat from Sierra Ascent 2 and Wasatch Descent, with a slightly different bass synth line.
Ultimately, this slow jamming groove features a spacey piano with a reverb contributing to a sonic vibe that simply welcomes you to crawl inside. Lately, I’ve been playing a version of Sierra Ascent 2 and Flying Teapots as one long jam. Look for it in a future live video from Church of Hed.
Check out the other installments of the series cover the recording of Church of Hed – The Father Road!
Here’s Side 2 of the studio production notes for the 2022 Church of Hed album, The Father Road, an aural travelogue tracing the Lincoln Highway from San Francisco to New York City. Check out the prologue, where we cover the studio setup, our recording philosophy, as well as the hardware and software gear used for making the album. The prologue also includes background information on the entire Rivers of Asphalt project.
Fun with the Moog Sub 37 synthesizer. Photo by Angela Williams.
We separated these recording notes for The Father Road into four sides, ironic considering the lack of a vinyl release of the album. So dive right in to learn about the production approach of this double album, had we released it on vinyl.
Side 1 offers insights on the album from the Pacific Ocean outside of San Francisco Bay to the desert border between Nevada and Utah. This article covers the production from Utah to the Mississippi River when the LH crossed into Illinois. Side 3 takes us through Illinois all the way to the foothills of the Appalachians. Side 4 covers the LH from Bedford, PA to Times Square and beyond.
6. Salt And Snow (2:37)
The salt and snow of Utah highlight the Lincoln Highway’s pathway through the state. This track began on the iPad using a string patch from Garage Band. I created the initial chord progression years ago and thought it worked well as an interlude when traveling through the Salt Lake City area on the way to the Wasatch Mountains.
Playing around with a few delayed piano ideas inspired some of the few overdubs on this piece. Reversing the audio on the piano track added a welcome psychedelic sense to the proceedings. Other overdubs, especially Stan Lyon’s trippy e-Bow guitar serve as additional scenery as we approach the Wasatch range.
7. Wasatch Descent (2:16)
The track takes the mountain motif (and drumbeat) used on Sierra Ascent 2 and effectively flips it. It serves as an interlude as we prepare to cross the State of Wyoming at nighttime. Stan provides an absolutely bizarre guitar solo to go along with his bass work.
Even though the Arturia DrumBrute pattern is in 4/4, I mostly played a 3/4 drum beat on the track. Polyrhythms when traveling old roads like the Lincoln Highway remain fun. This mountain beat returns in another slightly altered format – and a different bass synth sequence – when traversing the Alleghenies later in The Father Road.
8. Under Wyoming Stars (5:11)
What eventually became Under Wyoming Stars first appeared as a sequence using Arturia’s excellent CS-80 V synth plugin. Soon after deciding to develop the piece for the Wyoming section of The Father Road, Stan and I crafted a few ambient overdubs, him on guitar and bass in addition to me on synth. However, over time, this track seemed less inspiring compared to the rest of the album.
I changed things somewhat by adding a “sequenced” bassline using the Farfisa plugin from Arturia’s V Collection. Finally, the piece found its sonic home and remains one of my favorite tracks on the album. However, this new part altered what served as a chord progression on the track.
Stan’s original bassline didn’t fit and he never made it back to record a new one. However, I kept our original ambient overdubs as they still worked. Copious amounts of dreamy reverb (from Valhalla DSP and Eventide’s Blackhole) give this track a sense of the lonely two-lane under the nighttime stars.
9. Prairie Waves (3:37)
As the Lincoln Highway crosses the Great Plains, the music needed to take into account those wide open spaces. Additionally, an obvious influence of American progressive rock also came to the fore, namely Kansas and their main composer, Kerry Livgren. The track Prairie Waves embraces those influences in spades, with its mix of piano, Moog synthesizer, and the Waldorf Streichfett string synth. All three made up crucial components within Kansas’s sound, with the ARP String Ensemble replacing our modern Waldorf.
The rhythm section parts allowed Stan and myself to also return to our prog rock roots. Yes’s classic pairing of Chris Squire and Bill Bruford remain our two biggest influences on bass and drums, respectively. In the end, Prairie Waves provides a concise three-minute slab of prog, appropriate for a concept album tracing an old transcontinental road through the plains.
Note the track’s coda which serves as an introduction to The Derecho and marking the first appearance of the midwestern motif on the album. That motif gets repeated a few times throughout the rest of the composition, finally ending over Long Island Sound in Times Square And The Shining Sea.
10. The Derecho (3:38)
At one time, I considered combining Prairie Waves and The Derecho into one track. However, the entire album is made up of two to three-minute vignettes and interludes with the exception of The Loneliest Road. As such, keeping the two separate made more sense. With repeated listens, the sharing of common motifs, chord progressions, and melodies throughout The Father Road become more apparent.
The sonic palette for The Derecho also draws from 70s prog rock, combining piano, electric piano, strings, and analog synth effects. The ending section expresses the time when a derecho scraped across Iowa in August of 2020. Like Prairie Waves, this track also provides a hint of country music underneath that prog veneer. Middle-American comfort music for progressive rock fans.
Check out the other installments of the recording notes for the Church of Hed album, The Father Road.
Welcome to Side 1 of the studio production notes for the 2022 Church of Hed album, The Father Road. Check out the prologue, where we cover the studio setup, our recording philosophy, as well as the hardware and software gear used on the album. The prologue also includes background information on the entire Rivers of Asphalt project.
Paul on the kit. Image by Angela Williams.
We separated these recording notes for The Father Road into four sides, ironic considering the lack of a vinyl release of the album. So feel free to dive right in to learn about the production approach of this double album.
The Sea And Golden Gate begins in the fog-laden seascape outside of San Francisco and its famous bay. The swirly strings and synths transverse the Golden Gate, leading to the syncopated intro: one of the first pieces written for the Rivers of Asphalt project nearly twenty years ago. Notably, Spitfire Audio’s top-shelf sample libraries make their first of many appearances during the brooding ambience of the intro.
The meat of this track underwent different changes over the last few years during its arrangement and recording. Transposing the root bass note throughout the track added some necessary tension and depth to the proceedings, while the generally busy nature of the piece reflects the Lincoln Highway traveling through San Francisco itself. I held back on adding a separate drum track to foster a minimalist approach to the mixing, but I sometimes want to go back and add some overdubs. Music is mutable after all. By the way, note the fortuitous accident of the track length!
2. Sierra Ascent 1 (2:48)
We considered combining the three Sierra tracks into one, but ultimately decided to keep them separate. All three leverage a similar chord structure – all four California tracks do in a sense – with this first version focused on solo piano, road atmospherics, and eventually a melody using a trumpet from Spitfire Audio’s LABS.
In fact, the recording of Sierra Ascent 1 happened last since I wanted a mellow interlude between San Francisco and climbing the Sierras. I played the chord progression from the in-progress Sierra Ascent 2 and wrote and overdubbed the trumpet melody. This melody reappeared on Sierra Ascent 2, played by the Moog Sub 37 MIDI’d with a Make Noise 0-Coast – the “MoogCoast” –. A bit of road atmospherics from the Modal Electronics Skulpt SE finished out the overdubs on this track.
3. Sierra Ascent 2 (2:18)
On the album, I wanted to use a similar motif for the mountain sections of The Father Road: effectively the Sierras, the Wasatch, and the Alleghenies. After all, it’s the same Lincoln Highway. It needed to be something with a swampy drum machine pattern allowing a Levon Helm-inspired groove over the top. A sense of climbing was also important. The Arturia DrumBrute analog drum machine provided the right feel and sound, with Acustica’s Cream plugin offering the old-school tube EQ.
The MoogCoast handled both the synth bass and lead roles. Stan Lyon’s bass work served as the special sauce for this groovy ascent on the LH to Truckee. The crest of the Sierras awaits us.
4. Sierra Crest (3:49)
The bulk of Sierra Crest appeared suddenly out of an improvisation during one session. A fortuitous Moog arpeggiation serves as the pulse of the track. The Waldorf Streichfett MIDI’d with the Korg Z1 restates that same California chord progression heard in the previous three tracks.. XILS-Lab’s XILS 4 shined in the role of analog-sounding synth effects overdubs.
The relative simplicity of this track made mixing an ease and it remains my favorite track on The Father Road. Real-time synth improv as found on Sierra Crest always serves as a respite compared to our pieces featuring more left-brained composition. It just might be my new focus moving forward. Still, I’ve had a difficult time trying to perfectly recreate the Moog arpeggiation when playing this track live in the studio.
5. The Loneliest Highway (8:39)
The album now travels the Lincoln Highway on Nevada’s famous Loneliest Highway at nighttime under Nevada stars. This track shares a sonic palette with Rivers of Asphalt’s Enchanted Mesa, which transverses Route 66 in the New Mexican desert. On both, a minimal bass synth sequence serves as a bed for a landscape filled with droning sounds and effects. The Moog Sub 37 provided that sequence on The Father Road track.
As work on the track continued, a critical change in the sequence and the delay time on the Moog MF Delay pedal happened, enhancing the sense of loneliness throughout the entire track. Stan rerecorded his trippy bass chord part using a similar technique as the first version of the track. A distorted piano – thanks to the Elektron Analog Drive pedal – and the standard array of string synth and effects round out The Loneliest Highway’s sonics.
Stay tuned for the final three installments to the recording notes chronicling the production of Church of Hed’s The Father Road.
This series of articles covers the recording of Church of Hed’s 2022 release, The Father Road. Consider it to a type of diary, but one with a backwards point of view. Most of the studio activity remains fresh in my mind, hopefully making it easier to glean meaningful insights on the techniques and tools we used.
Paul and Moog. Photo by Angela Williams.
Instead of writing a massive article covering the entire album, I’ve broken things up into four sides. This is a bit ironic, since this double album fits on one CD, and vinyl releases are not in the budget at Eternity’s Jest Records. Nevertheless, it provides a nice metaphor for breaking these notes into shareable parts.
As a prologue, let’s provide a few insights on The Father Road album itself and our recording setup, including the DAW, studio gear, and other items relating to the album’s production. In the other four articles, we’ll dive into each track and the bespoke recording approach making each a sonic reality. Enjoy the journey. Check out Side 1, Side 2, Side 3, and Side 4!
A Closer Look at The Father Road
Church of Hed’s new double album, The Father Road, takes us on a surreal aural journey across the United States along the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental road built for automobiles. It’s effectively the sequel to the band’s 2011 album, Rivers of Asphalt, which traveled the legendary Route 66. The music shifts and evolves in tandem with the scenic backdrop of America, from San Francisco to New York City. As with the original release, the sense of a lost era lurks throughout the album.
The music features Church of Hed’s unique mix of spacerock, psychedelia, prog rock, krautrock, and electronic music. It channels diverse influences, ranging from CAN, Cluster, Brian Eno, and Hawkwind, to YES and The Flaming Lips, in addition to Glass, Reich, and Riley. In the end, it always manages to sound like Church of Hed. Of course, Kraftwerk provided the original concept of combining electronic music with a transportation corridor!
I composed, performed, and produced The Father Road with help from Quarkspace guitarist, Stan Lyon, on bass and guitar. Not surprisingly, my music performance tools include an array of synthesizers, keyboards, and electric drums. Surreal ambience highlights the western portion of the highway, while more lyrical instrumental pieces sonically describe the more populated eastern sections of this old road. Check out the expanded liner notes at: churchofhed.com/releases/church-of-hed-the-father-road/
The Genesis of The Father Road
The original intention involved The Father Road’s music as the second half of Rivers of Asphalt, Church of Hed’s 2010 release which traces modern Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. Work on the entire project began in the mid-2000s. Thankfully, a quick realization revealed itself: composing and recording 150 minutes of music for a single release seemed like overkill. Thus, The Father Road would be a separate album.
While the muse provided some of the music for The Father Road back in those halcyon days, most of the composing happened over the last few years. Acquiring the Yamaha MM8 and its 88 weighted keys improved my playing (drums remain my first instrument), while providing a center for most of the album’s composition. Despite delays for work on Quarkspace’s reunion album, All These Suns, and Church of Hed’s The Fourth Hour, The Father Road finally became our main focus.
Our Hardware Synths and Keyboards
As just mentioned, The Father Road’s primary composition took place on the Yamaha MM8, effectively serving as a piano. I mostly use the grand piano patch, but occasionally a Rhodes or Wurlitzer inspired electronic piano makes an appearance. The legendary Line 6 DL4 provides the delay that’s an essential part of my piano performance and writing. An Elektron Analog Drive pedal adds some oomph and occasionally a bit of distortion when necessary.
Synths provide most of the sonic weight on The Father Road and most other Church of Hed releases. The Moog Sub37 highlights our collection. I typically pair it with a Make Noise 0-Coast semi-modular synth over MIDI: the MoogCoast. That desktop semi-modular synth effectively serves as a meaty extra oscillator for the Moog. A Moog MF Delay and TC Electronic T2 reverb serve as the primary effects pedals for the Moog.
The venerable Korg Z1 teams up with the Waldorf Streichfett to provide the massive string synth sound used throughout The Father Road and most recent Church of Hed albums. Other hardware synths making an appearance on the album include the also venerable Kawai K5000W, paired with a Waldorf Micro Q rack over MIDI.
A similar MIDI connection happens between the Korg Prophecy and Roland MVS-1. I love to mix my altered Prophecy waterphone patch with the VS-1’s choir mellotron. That sound is heard as the album fades out over the ocean at the end of Times Square as well as throughout many Quarkspace and Church of Hed tracks. For me, it’s a signature sound. A recent purchase, Modal Electronics’ Skulpt SE, also makes an appearance on a couple of tracks.
Electronic Drumming and Percussion Setup
The Alternate Mode TrapKAT remains my drum kit, now for well over two decades. It powers a Roland TD-8 drum module, with one stereo output routed through a virtual guitar amp stack on the Boss VF-1 multi-effects unit and another clean stereo output run directly to our mixer. I also record the MIDI notes in the DAW, triggering the Melda Production MDrummer plugin. More on this setup later.
I also use an Arturia DrumBrute drum machine to provide those gloriously warped mechanical beats. It appears all over The Father Road, especially in mountainous regions in the West, as well as throughout the Eastern half of the United States. We use an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy and Hotone chorus pedal to enhance its sonic footprint.
Recording The Father Road at Eternity’s Jest Studios
We recorded most of the original backing tracks for The Father Road using my ancient copy of Pro Tools 7 and the Digidesign Digi 002R. This also provided the setup for Quarkspace’s All These Suns, which ended up being the last album we ever used Pro Tools (the first being Quarkspace’s Drop in 2001.) The increasing requirements for the DAW meant it failed to support our brand new Lenovo laptop with only 8GB of RAM. Of course, Avid recently implemented a subscription payment model, likely ensuring we never return.
Enter Reaper. I originally played around with Ableton Live, and while it offered some intriguing functionality, Reaper provided an intuitive interface and tape recording metaphor with which I felt comfortable. A Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 serves as the new digital audio interface. A happily still-working Behringer MX3282 still holds the fort as our main mixing board, with a Yamaha MG102C and a Mackie 1402-VLZ serving as submixers. Ironically, any slight awkwardness with the Reaper UI disappeared after updating the DAW app – AFTER I finished the album. Old habits die hard.
I didn’t want to commit to using Reaper for The Father Road until I fully vetted the app. So Church of Hed’s The Fourth Hour served as a useful litmus test. As this album featured fewer overdubs, it helped with my comfort level when using a new DAW after two decades. However, on the track Q Ching, I added a healthy measure of overdubs and orchestrations to see how Reaper performed with around 24 tracks. It passed with flying colors.
Migrating From Pro Tools to Reaper
So we now had to port the audio files for the initial backing tracks for The Father Road from Pro Tools to Reaper. For connecting the Digi 002R and Scarlett, I used an ADAT lightpipe cable for 8 tracks and an analog snake for the few songs with more than 8 tracks. Everything worked perfectly. This process needs to be repeated in the future for other older Pro Tools recordings slated for a future Church of Hed or Quarkspace release.
The mastering of The Fourth Hour also happened completely within the box. I wasn’t fully happy with the results. Since the studio sports a still-functioning TC Electronic Finalizer as well as a BBE Sonic Maximizer, Lexicon MPX 100, and other tube compressors and EQs, The Father Road used this traditional mastering setup. I may return to “in the box” mastering for future releases knowing our outboard gear still works great for providing a top-shelf stereo mix for live in-studio recordings.
Effects Plugins Used on The Father Road
Of course, completing The Father Road within Ye Olde Pro Tools version 7.x remained a possibility. However, I wanted to fully leverage the latest in effects plugins for aesthetic and production reasons. In addition to a whole host of software synths, we also used a variety of effects plugins on the album, even while mastering outside the box.
Speaking of mastering, we wanted an EQ plugin for Reaper’s internal master buss. Each song used Maag’s top-shelf EQ4, with its “Air Band” providing a sense of sheen and detail. We also used EQ4 on most individual tracks throughout the album. Occasionally, another EQ plugin saw use depending on the bespoke needs of that individual track. Acustica’s Cream warrants mention as a perfect partner whenever the Arturia DrumBrute appears on the album.
Softube’s excellent Tape rounded out the master buss on each song. This plugin provides that measure of “warm glue” serving to tie a mix together. It made sense for The Father Road to feature a 70s mixing style, which dovetails with my typical psychedelic spacerock approach.
Other reverbs and delays saw use throughout the album, with a special mention for Valhalla’s excellent free reverb, Super Massive. It provides that sense of space suitable for nighttime drives across the desert along the Lincoln Highway. The plugin pairs nicely with pads and atmospheric synths. If you already have it in your plugin arsenal, you’ll likely recognize it throughout the album.
Creating a Universal Drum Buss
I also need to give attention to the plugin chain used on the drum buss, on those tracks with drums. I’ve been an electronic drummer for over two decades, primarily for aesthetic reasons considering Quarkspace and Church of Hed’s mix of electronic and kinetic music. As noted earlier, my drum sound mixes two stereo channels of a Roland TD-8; one stereo pair dry and one run through a virtual guitar stack on the Boss VF-1 multi-effects unit. I also record MIDI, mostly using it to trigger either Melda Production’s MDrummer or Spitfire Audio’s Hans Zimmer Percussion.
All that drumming audio is sent through an effects chain containing the following. Eventide’s Instant Flanger (I LOVE flange!), the ubiquitous Maag EQ4, Eventide’s TVerb for that “Berlin” room sound, Softube’s Drawmer S73 for a bit of compression, and finally Softube’s Tube providing that warm glue. I’m happier with the drum sound on The Father Road compared to the 20 previous years of recording my electronic kit sonics.
The Father Road’s Synth Plugins
A variety of synth plugins typically get used on projects here at Eternity’s Jest. The venerable Rebirth began this trend on Quarkspace’s Recaesarian way back in 1999. Church of Hed’s Brandenburg Heights served as the only exception to this rule, as the entire album features hardware synths.
When covering the use of soft synths on The Father Road, it starts with Spitfire Audio’s LABS, a top-shelf collection of sample libraries. Amazingly, this robust collection remains available for free. This likely serves to attract more customers to Spitfire’s excellent line of sample-based products. The Father Road features a variety of LABS’ string, trumpet, and other libraries on various tracks. We also use their BBC Symphony Orchestra and Hans Zimmer Percussion on the album.
XILS-Lab’s XILS 4 also warrants mention. The legendary synth maestro Tim Blake served as a consultant on XILS 4, which simulates his famous Crystal Machine synth setup featuring two VCS 3s. On the album, this plugin provides those classic analog sound effects on Sierra Ascent. Its classic synth burbles, bleeps, and bloops rival my hardware Moog Sub 37 which also fills a similar role throughout the release.
Finally, Arturia’s classic V Collection deserves discussion. We’ve been using these synth plugins on Quarkspace and Church of Hed productions for around 15 years. I’ve long needed to write a TabMuse review covering our favorites. Their CS80 V and Farfisa V especially highlight a nighttime trip down the Lincoln Highway in Wyoming.
Thanks for reading this prologue! We explore The Father Road’s production more deeply in separate articles, one for each side as noted earlier. Expect a deeper dive into each track’s genesis and recording approach.
The Czech company, MeldaProduction, continues to garner praise among musicians and producers for their excellent plugin line. It’s a collection of instruments and effects including both paid plugins as well as many free options. We recently enjoyed the opportunity to review their MDrummer, a drumming environment with excellent sound quality and cool functionality. It was love at first sight (or sound!)
MDrummer Features
Excellent Sound Quality
Functional UI Makes Creating New Drum Sets Easy
Robust Drum Machine Sequencing Functionality
Built-in Effects Engine
64-Bit Processing With Unlimited Sample Rate
New Sample Libraries – Known as Drummer Packs – are Free
Hundreds upon Hundreds of Snares, Kicks, Toms, Cymbals, and More
Support for Modulators and Multi-parameters
Flexible Mixing With Support for Mono, Stereo, M/S, and Surround
Supports Most Popular Plugin Formats
Separate Plugins Include Either 1 or 16 Outputs for Mixing
From a sonic standpoint, this review focuses on the recent Drum Empire 2020 Drummer Pack. It features a host of cool sampled kits, including the legendary Ludwig Vistalite made famous by John Henry Bonham. So let’s dive into MDrummer to see if it might become your favorite e-Drum plugin.
A Functional Plugin Interface
MDrummer’s main interface features multiple tabs, providing access to the Quick Setup page, the mixer, a song construction page, the Drumset Editor, and pages to construct and generate drum machine rhythms. However, this review focuses on playing MDrummer with my Alternate Mode TrapKAT, so I won’t go into too much detail on the song and rhythm pages. Needless to say they are quite powerful, with the latter featuring a cool Euclidean sequencer. I hope to cover that functionality in an upcoming review.
The MDrummer Quick Setup page lets you load drum sets and add effects. Image by author.
Unlike other drum plugins I’ve used, MDrummer dispenses with a skeuomorphic interface. So instead of a visual representation of a studio drum set, the Drumset Editor lists each drum in a grid. Thankfully, this interface features a colorful image of the drum along with buttons to choose the specific kit piece, add effects, layer drum sounds, and more. In short, the interface is attractive, while also being highly functional. Notably, when installing all the Drummer Packs (they’re free so why not?) you have literally hundreds (thousands?) of options for snares, kicks, toms, cymbals, percussion, and more.
In a similar manner, the Quick Setup page lets you choose a drum set and its master effect. In MDrummer, a Drummer Pack functions as a sample library. A convenient tree interface lets you drill down into each installed Drummer Pack to find a specific drum set. A similar interface exists to choose the master effect for the drum set. It’s also possible to layer (essentially combining) drum sets and effects for additional sonic flexibility and mayhem.
Crafting a Drum Set with Percussion
As noted earlier, the goal of this review focuses on the newer Drum Empire 2020 Drummer Pack. Each drum set was sampled in a high-end Czech studio with great drummers using a variety of drum sticks, brushes, mallets, and more. I tend to prefer digital drum sets using brushes and Drum Empire 2020 features quite a few.
The MDrummer Drumset Editor lets you craft your own kit. Image by author.
I fell in love with MDrummer’s Gretsch-based Brush Loosen drum set, but some of the TrapKAT pads – the ones used for percussion – weren’t mapped. The easy to use Drumset Editor interface made mapping those extra pads a breeze. I simply edited the drum set and found the killer-sounding congas and bongos I needed. I saved it as “Brush Loosen With Percs.” Check it out in action in the following video.
MDrummer also provides control over the velocity layers and samples used in each sound. This illustrates a common theme throughout the plugin. Getting at the basic functionality is simple, but it’s also possible to dive into more advanced functionality as needed. Remember, each drum also includes its own effect, which is also modified using this page. Note that both the Quick Setup and Mixer pages allow the editing of the master effect for the entire drum set.
The Best Drum Plugin I’ve Ever Heard
I’ve been playing electronic drums for over two decades. In addition to a highly-effected Roland drum module, my studio work features an array of drum plugins. Simply put, MDrummer blew me away. I’ve only scratched the surface of its capabilities, let alone the kits in the other Drummer Packs. As a reminder, MeldaProduction provides all new Drummer Packs for free to registered users of MDrummer.
Obviously, excellent sampling techniques, great drummers, and quality studio gear make for superior drum samples. The cymbals are especially worthy of note. The rides and crashes boasted high fidelity with especially long decay times. The splash cymbals also blew me away. Stunning sound quality like this abounds throughout MDrummer.
Check out another video using the famous John Bonham Ludwig Vistalite drum set. MDrummer’s action is superb with nary latency issues encountered on a laptop with 8GB of RAM. Headphone listening also reveals the large stereo image.
I typically use the one stereo output version of the plugin within Reaper. Therefore, sub-mixing the drum set gets handled using the flexible internal MDrummer mixer. A 16 output plugin exists for those who prefer to mix within their DAW. Controlling the Global panorama setting on the Quick Setup page nicely enhances the stereo image. The nearby pitch control is also effective for quickly tweaking the overall drum tone within the mix.
Ultimately, if you are an electric drummer, MDrummer belongs on your short list of plugins. Excellent sound quality, an easy-to-use interface, and a detailed sonic architecture make MeldaProduction’s drumming plugin a true winner. Let the Drum Empire 2020 Drummer Pack be your gateway to a killer drum sound. It rapidly became my favorite drum plugin!
Editor’s Note: Jerry Kranitz is an aficionado of spacerock and psychedelic music, as evidenced by his work with Aural Innovations for nearly two decades. He is now focused on a new book: Cassette Culture: Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet Age chronicling the underground cassette music scene. It’s scheduled for publication in 2019 by Vinyl-on-Demand. Yeah!
Church of Hed – Sandstoned. Cover photo by Dan Engelhardt.
Church of Hed is Quarkspace founding member Paul Williams’ solo project that he has immersed himself in since the mothership band ceased activities. Sandstoned is the new album and is what Williams describes as “a surrealistic window on an early 80s evening on the North Coast of Ohio. Psychedelic postcards sent forward in time.”
I’ve been following Williams’ music since first discovering Quarkspace in the mid-90s, and I’ll say right out of the chute that I think this is one of his best solo efforts. We’ve got bits of Quarkspace, the trademark Church of Hed beats and loops, a deep space inspired brand of prog rock, and an impressive sense of thematic development as well as a soundtrack vibe permeates throughout the set. The music is all Williams on an arsenal of synths, keys, drumming and loops, with guitar and bass assistance from Quarkspace alum Stan Lyon on five of the ten tracks.
The set opens with the title track, which combines floating space ambience, Berlin school electronica, cinematic classical prog and, of course, the electro beats that characterize all things Church of Hed. This is followed by Synth Cadence, a short drum and robotic grooves ditty. We then launch into intensely majestic space-symphonic prog territory with 1AM at the Dean Road Bridge, which blends a fully orchestrated sound with shades of Quarkspace. Dig that looming Mellotron sound, piano, pounding timpani, and eerie effects.
We veer back into the cool grooving beats, piano and flowing streams of space synth action on Quarrydosing, before soaring back to Berlin (ed: Amherst?) with 2AM at Crownhill Cemetery, with its syncopations and cosmically haunting magic carpet ride drift. Williams injects lots of fun effects but also drones that create a tension between meditative space and anguished intensity. Field recordings conjure up imagery of someone perhaps prowling the cemetery in the wee hours of the morning.
I like the way the music zips between and combines heavy prog, space electronica and beats/loops. Dark Matter Sandstone has a flowing space melody that sails along with off-kilter dance grooves. Wallace Lane is another track with an aura of the old Quarkspace sound. But it’s a bit different due to the clattering percussive ensemble that crashes steadily along with a playful electronic melody. Cool and strange contrasts!
Most of the tracks are in the 2-5 minute range, but at nearly 11 minutes, 3AM at Hole in the Wall is by far the longest and is very much like an old Quarkspace epic. I love how the music dovetails between heavily majestic and theme developing prog rock and spacey meditative drift. The Prodigal Swanson (Jay Swanson was Quarkspace’s keyboardist) is a brief yet intensely frantic piece. And Sandstoned No. 2 closes the album with the most pounding dance floor grooves of the set, and an old sci-fi television soundtrack theme vibe.
I keep saying this but I’ll summarize by emphasizing that there’s a lot going on throughout this album, bringing together oddly contrasting elements that mesh, morph and blend beautifully. Williams is deep into heavy classic prog territory, yet there are plenty of seriously spacey elements, and it’s all very soundtrack/cinematic feeling throughout. Bravo Paul!
Interview with Church of Hed’s Paul Williams
JK: Describe the inspiration around the album and its title, Sandstoned. You mentioned something about a night out along the North Coast in the 1980s.
Yes. Sandstoned is essentially a collection of surrealistic postcards chronicling a weekend up in my home environs back in the day. Some of the places in the song titles should be familiar to many folks along that stretch of Northern Ohio’s Lake Erie coast. It’s a sufficiently vague concept that helped me tie together the album.
Musically, things are catchier for the most part. For some tracks, I focused more on beat creation, using the Arturia DrumBrute, Teenage Engineering PO-12, and other devices/software. In fact, the album started off even more beat-oriented. The three “AM” pieces were composed to provide more balance.
JK: On Brandenburg Heights, you only used hardware instruments during the recording. The Sandstoned gear list includes software synths and such. Why the change in approach?
Brandenburg Heights is the outlier in this case. For most albums I typically use a mixture of hardware and software gear. Brandenburg Heights Part 1 took form as a 20 minute Berlin School improvisation using a variety of hardware synced together. I took that as a sign to make the album software free other than using Pro Tools for recording.
There are just too many great synths available for the desktop and iOS platforms to restrict yourself to a hardware-only approach. Although, nothing beats the tactile feel of a Moog synth.
JK: You mentioned the iOS platform. Did you use the iPhone or iPad?
The iPad makes an appearance on a few tracks. The excellent SynthScaper provides the ambient vibe of the Lake Erie shore you hear during the title track. I also used Moog’s otherworldly Animoog, Model 15, and Model D apps, in addition to the Arturia iMini. Simply top notch sound from all.
The field music sounds you described from the Crownhill Cemetery piece involved a granular synth app called Borderlands. I wanted to use my own recordings of voices talking about the cemetery, but the mic on my iPad isn’t working. I don’t have an audio interface for it, so I ended up using some of the included sample libraries from the app. They worked great. Granular synthesis is quite cool.
Some iOS musicians use their iPad as a full DAW, creating excellent sounding productions while mobile. Since, I’ve got Pro Tools (soon to be Ableton Live) and a decently-appointed studio, I prefer to keep my recording on the PC and use the iPad as a sound source and a beatmaker. When a synth app takes advantage of a touchscreen interface, magic happens.
Additionally, a few top notch desktop synths and effects made an impact. PolyM is a great model of the Polymoog, providing creepy sonics throughout the album. Objeq Delay is used to great effect on the beat of Sandstoned No. 2. Crownhill Cemetery features Rob Papen’s Predator 2 on the arpeggiation.
Of course, I run anything from the iPad or PC through analog delays and other effects when recording. This helps them fit better in the mix. Always remember delay is the antidote for anger.
JK: As I’ve noticed in the past with Church of Hed, you seem to easily merge different styles of music into something unique. Does it come naturally?
Yes. I listen to and am influenced by so many different musical forms, and that definitely gets reflected in Church of Hed. Too many bands doing work in niche genres seem to focus on regurgitating stylistic markers, which is fine. Fans of these niches tend to appreciate it.
I am on a quest for innovative sounds and song structures, but am always trying to find a good melody or riff. The latter is ultimately the most important. Genre labels are unfortunately more of a marketing term than anything, which adds to the hassle of self promotion.
JK: It’s nice to see Stan Lyon as a guest on Sandstoned. The most recent Church of Hed albums before the new album were truly “solo” projects.
Indeed. Dink reached out last year and came down for a weekend to work on Sandstoned tracks. He provided some energetic bass lines, in addition to freakier bits using his eBow on bass and guitar. It definitely added to the sonic scope of the album.
He also recorded with me a few weeks ago. We worked on some future Church of Hed albums, as well as another venerable project we’ll keep nameless for now (well, at least until the end of the interview). He hopes to come down at least twice a year.
Darren Gough from Quarkspace is expected later this summer. Hopefully he is able to make it – the family man abides. Chet is still in California, and we still haven’t been able to get hold of Jay.
JK: Speaking of Jay, I assume he’s the Prodigal Swanson? Why that track, since the playing doesn’t really sound like him?
Yes, Jay is that Prodigal Swanson. We all miss him and hope he is doing well. Darren and I regularly reach out to him to no avail. We aren’t giving up! (Sorry Jay!)
People forget Jay is an incandescent synth lead player. He tends to be remembered for his piano playing, but he slays on lead, especially on Drop and Spacefolds 7 after Dave Wexler left. There was more space to solo, since Stan takes an ambient approach on guitar, and many of the leads from those albums that get attributed to Stan are really Jay.
The Prodigal Swanson track is my attempted “tribute” to his synth lead skills. I heard a rumor he’s more fluid than Jeff Beck.
JK: What’s coming up for Church of Hed? Are there any projects to report?
I am working on The Father Road, the sequel to Rivers of Asphalt, slated for release sometime next year – hopefully. Stan is planning on playing bass for most of it, so I need to put together demos of the pieces he isn’t on currently. We’ve recorded a few of the motifs used throughout this transcontinental journey along the Lincoln Highway.
After that is Cycle, which is the “seasonal” larger work I’ve been threatening for a while. The Autumn Shrine and Cold White Universe title tracks are being enhanced and two new pieces for spring and summer are in the works. I know a musical project based on the seasons is a pretty big cliché, but so what. I can’t help what comes out. It’s gonna be cool!
The Fourth Hour is another project in the pipeline. It features a more psychedelic Berlin School style, with a lot of improv in that loop-based structure. Stan is helping with that one as well.
I may revisit the unreleased Quarkspace album as well; putting it out in its current unfinished form. The instrumentals and improvs have always been complete; the hangup always involved the vocal songs. This would be a digital only release. I make no promises that it gets released, as Church of Hed remains the priority, short of Chet, Jay, and Darren showing up on my doorstep together!
Nevertheless, we stay busy! Thanks for your questions and your kind words on Sandstoned. Off to the next project!
Editor’s note: Jerry Kranitz published Aural Innovations magazine for nearly twenty years until retiring earlier in 2016 to work on a book project. No other entity did a better job covering the worldwide psychedelic music and spacerock scenes. He typically interviewed me every few years about Church of Hed and Quarkspace, my two primary musical outlets.
Church of Hed — Brandenburg Heights
Recently, Jerry gladly agreed to conduct an interview about the making of Church of Hed’s new album, Brandenburg Heights. For some background on the album, here is an excerpt from a review by Pete Pardo, published at Sea of Tranquility.
“Fluttering synth patterns, piano, and drum loops litter the first part, the melodies soaring but eventually giving way to brooding menace as the ominous synths take the listener into space rock heaven. Part two kicks off with some prog/jazz styled piano and synth noodling before the creepy Pink Floyd/Tangerine Dream explorations take over, Williams use of Moog and various Korg keyboards creating dramatic swells of unsettling terror. Eventually the brooding pace picks up as stabbing synth lines dart in and out of the mix, culminating in a full blown space rock finale that brings to mind Hawkwind, Eloy, Pink Floyd, Schulze, and Tangerine Dream.
Brandenburg Heights is a fascinating listen from start to finish, Paul Williams’ ability to create seamlessly shifting moods quite effective over the course of 40+ minutes of instrumental music. Fans of synth dominated music would be well advised to seek this out!”
JK: Let’s start right in on the new album, Brandenburg Heights. I’m sure we can make assumptions about the Berlin inspiration but tell me about the title. Is this a Church of Hed “travelogue” album?
No, this isn’t a travelogue album per se, in that there’s no journey along a long, lost highway. Still, the music allows anyone to travel in the mind, which is one of the benefits of spacerock and psychedelic music.
This is a Berlin School album and there is a town in Ohio named, Berlin Heights. I didn’t want to call the album “Berlin Heights,” so we used the Brandenburg Gate to finish off the etymology, so to speak. The front cover was derived from an excellent photo of the gate I found on Wikimedia Commons.
JK: The album is comprised of two 20 minute range tracks that for me play as one continually evolving piece. How did that come about, as opposed to the multiple tracks you’ve done on past albums?
After acquiring a Korg SQ-1 hardware sequencer, I conducted a few experiments syncing together two Korg Volcas, a Korg Monotribe, the Moog Sub 37, and a Teenage Electronics PO-12 drum machine. Soon a long-form piece began to develop, and I managed to capture a version with a variety of sequencer patterns, beats, and live playing. That’s the basis of Brandenburg Heights, Part 1.
With one twenty-minute piece in the can (minus additional development and overdubbing), I decided to do a second piece of a similar length, inspired by the mid 70s album structure of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Mike Oldfield, etc. Perusing through some recent improvs, I found a 5-6 minute jam with a Moog arpreggiation and a drum beat. This served as the introduction to Brandenburg Heights, Part 2.
I composed two additional sections, followed by another 7-8 minute sync experiment with the same instrumentation as Part 1. I wrote a melodic motif to tie the different sections together and proceeded to overdub both parts until the album was finished towards the end of the summer.
JK: You describe the music as “a modern Berlin School exploration featuring hints of prog, psychedelia, and space rock”. I would say far more than hints. I think you beautifully bring together all those worlds throughout the album.
Thanks! Quarkspace always took a “stew” approach to music – combining different inspirations into something (hopefully) unique. I follow that same path. It is honestly the only way I know how to do things from a stylistic manner.
My influences range from Philip Glass to Peter Hammill to Neil Young (among hundreds of others). They all get distilled into the final brew – or stew.
JK: I have to say that in the twilight years of Aural Innovations, the music that most excited me was bands who brought these various worlds together. It’s very hard to be really new and, dare I say, innovative anymore. But it does seem that musicians can set themselves apart and even create an identity by mixing things up.
Indeed. Simply regurgitating the stylistic markers of a genre or subgenre doesn’t do it for me. Bringing something new to the table, combined with strong and innovative composition, trumps all.
JK: Any new instruments/software/toys that you feel influenced the direction or sound of the music on Brandenburg Heights?
Syncing multiple pieces of synth hardware, as mentioned earlier, is the “new” thing on Brandenburg Heights – but old hat for the majority of electronic music artists. Part 1 up until the coda, and the last few minutes of Part 2 feature this technique. Typically in Quarkspace or Church of Hed, we’d play live instruments over a loop or beat created using something like Rebirth back in the day or FL Studio or an iPad app (iMS-20, Gadget, iPolysix) more recently. I’ll switch between both approaches moving forward.
The Waldorf Streichfett deserves special mention. A modern string synth, this thing is all over the album crushing all other sound sources in its wake. I love it!
My relatively ancient Pro Tools setup – DIGI 002R – still handles the recording duties. This limits the amount of plug-ins I can use while mixing or as sound sources. Thus, Brandenburg Heights features all hardware instrumentation. It just happened that way.
JK: You dedicated the album to the memories of Paul Kantner and Gilli Smyth. How did those two particular artists inspire you?
Paul Kantner is a huge influence on my songwriting, most obviously in Quarkspace’s Where Galaxies Collide off of the Hidden Moon. Brandenburg Heights is the first time since then I’ve written a side long album track. Almost makes me want to put it out on vinyl! The Jefferson Airplane remains my favorite American band.
What can you say about the Mother Gong? Gilli is another great loss among many in 2016. Gong always greatly influenced Quarkspace more than any other spacerock band, and she was a big reason why. Her space whisper lies within us all.
JK: Produced by Lance Starbridge? I take it that’s a nyuk nyuk joke? Feel free to spin a yarn of a response if you want to keep it “insider.”
Lance remains the long time producer of Quarkspace and Church of Hed. His credit is on most of the albums. We are lucky to retain his services.
JK: I believe Church of Hed has been 100% solo since Electric Sepulcher, is that right? You had historically been a “band” guy. Do you enjoy working solo now that you’ve been doing it for a while? Any wistful desires for collaboration and live performance?
I am really enjoying this newfound focus on solo work. In fact, considering what happened with Quarkspace slowly entering dry dock, I really should have made the solo move when Chet relocated to California in 2009. My productivity level is higher than ever.
Collaborations are always on my mind. The Rivers of Asphalt sequel – The Father Road – is a likely spot to involve others. I am considering doing some live performances in the studio and potentially releasing them. Beyond that, logistics make it difficult to do an actual show when living in a rural country with no electronic music scene. Who knows?
JK: And, following from the last question, Spacefolds 12 was the last Quarkspace album in 2013. I realize those were unreleased tracks and the band hasn’t been a functioning entity in some years. Was Spacefolds 12 the last of the available Quarkspace music you plan to release?
Spacefolds 12 is like any other Spacefolds release – the best improvs from a certain time period, which was 2008-2009 for that album; it wasn’t like they were unreleased tracks from the late 90s or early 2000s. Quarkspace were always 4-5 years behind in getting Spacefolds releases out to the public, not to mention the continued failed attempts to release a studio follow-up to Drop.
So, that 85% finished studio album is still out there as well as hours upon hours of yet to be chronicled improvised material from 2009-2014. If I get bored, I may release tracks from the studio album, or if a friendly record label wants to fund a Quarkspace retrospective box set, we’d include some of those tracks. Beyond that, I am more focused on new music, as always.
If some of the prodigal Quarkspace members are interested in putting more Spacefolds releases out, I’d listen, but I am not doing all the work – or a disproportionate share of it. Ultimately, it seems Chet and I are the only ones who truly care about our “legacy.”
JK: What new bands have most impressed/inspired you in the past year AND which of the old timers do you find yourself revisiting?
I’ve been getting into the LA school of newer hip-hop and electronic artists, centered on Flying Lotus. Thundercat is his collaborator at times, and is a stunning bass player and songwriter. They occasionally work with Kamasi Washington, a tenor sax player drawing a lot of buzz. Kamasi plays with a spirituality and musical vision reminiscent of John Coltrane. Speaking of which, Alice Coltrane, John’s wife, is Flying Lotus’s aunt.
You will find all three of those artists on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly album, which is one of the most popular albums in recent years. It’s a stunningly musical work from a genre – hip-hop – many people consider not to be music. It truly kicked my ass.
Cavern of Anti-Matter, the new band from Tim Gane of Stereolab, is doing great work in the Berlin School vein. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is a synthesist known for her excellent compositions, largely performed on a Buchla Music Easel. She is garnering a lot of acclaim in the indie music scene – well deserved.
As far as older artists, I’ve been getting more into Dylan; filling gaps in my collection. Klaus Schulze, Manuel Gottsching, and Jean-Michel Jarre have been representing the electronic side of the shop. The Charles Ives compositions outside of his four symphonies and diving deeper into Eric Dolphy’s canon also warrant a mention. As always, there are way too many to mention. I remain open to pretty much all music but pop country.
JK: Tell me about TabMuse and the articles you’ve been writing for them.
I started TabMuse two years ago as a resource for music technology discussion. At first, it focused on iOS music apps, but as I’ve moved more into hardware synths, the magazine’s output followed. I never find enough time to write for it, but I hope that changes in 2017.
JK: What’s upcoming? Your web site mentions a sequel to Rivers of Asphalt?
A new “Seasons” EP is my current music project, ala the Autumn Shrine EP. This one has the moniker of “A Cold White Universe EP” with darker Holiday and wintertime proggy psychedelia. Expect a release in February – before the Spring Equinox at the latest.
Progress composing and rehearsing sections of The Father Road continues. This is the sequel to Rivers of Asphalt, but an aural travelogue of a journey from west to east on the Lincoln Highway this time out. I expect to begin recording it next year with a 2018 release the most likely outcome at this point. I am always rehearsing the piano-based parts for this; it’s on the weighted keys, so practice is a must – I’m not Jay Swanson.
Concurrent with these other releases are two new “normal” albums. One is more concise and beat-laden, while the other is aimed at a Berlin School atmosphere. Expect these albums to see the light in 2017 and 2018. I’m keeping busy!
Effects pedals haven’t been the sole domain of guitar players for decades. Increasingly, keyboardists and synthesists use pedals to transform their sound for a variety of purposes. Reverbs and delays are especially useful when paired with a synth, as they facilitate travel to the outer regions of space and time.
My Moog Sub 37 pairs nicely with the Moog MF Delay, as noted in a previous article. I wanted to get a reverb pedal for the Sub 37, with the Strymon Blue Sky being at the top of my list. Budgetary considerations prevailed – don’t they always – so I decided on a TC Electronic T2 reverb unit instead. I wasn’t sorry.
TC Electronic T2 – Features and Functionality
The T2 sports a similar footprint as many other TC Electronic effects pedals; in fact it looks very similar to my Dark Matter distortion pedal. The Celtic rune on the front brings a nice stylistic touch. A solid footswitch with true bypass, four knobs, stereo quarter-inch I/O connections, and a toggle switch used for pre-delay round out the pedal’s controls.
The TC Electronic T2 reverb pedal carries the weight. Image copyright TC Electronic.
Three of the knobs control decay, tone, and mix, while the fourth switches between the T2’s 11 different reverbs. The unit is powered by either the traditional 9-volt battery or an AC adapter; I opted for the latter after forgetting to unplug the input and draining the battery more than once. A USB port is used for the pedal’s TonePrint capability (more on that later).
The 11 reverb types range from the subtle to the spacey to the ethereal. Of course, the decay, tone, and mix controls influence the ultimate sound of each type. Two ethereal reverb types (E1 and E2) are suitable for ambiance, with the latter adding a cool pulsing drone to the sound.
All told, there is enough variety in the reverb types to meet the needs of both synthesists and guitar players looking for something otherworldly from an effect pedal. Use the controls to dial in the exact sound you need.
TonePrint your Mind, Man
The T2 is compatible with TC Electronic’s TonePrint feature. This lets you download a customized effect using either an application for Windows or Mac over a USB cable, or by “beaming” it into your guitar’s pickup with a smartphone. Synth players are out of luck on the latter method.
Many popular music artists designed their own signature TonePrint effect; you can also build your own with the desktop app. As an added bonus, any TonePrint patches from other TC Electronic reverb pedals are compatible with the T2. Given a list of guitarists from the worlds of metal, rock, and prog, I chose an effect from the esteemed Gary Lucas, whose talent and pedigree (Peter Hammill, Captain Beefheart, and Jeff Buckley for starters) shine above most. I may try the Steven Wilson effect in the future (my old band, Quarkspace played with Steven and Porcupine Tree earlier in the 2000s).
The free TonePrint application is easy enough to use, but it needs some additional user interface shine. On Windows, there was no installation program (just an unzipped .EXE) and no confirmation dialog box when a patch was successfully downloaded to the pedal. If I ever get into building a custom reverb patch, I’ll write a more detailed review.
At a street price of $149, the TC Electronic T2 offers good value for anyone looking for a great reverb pedal at a reasonable price. I used it extensively with the Moog Sub 37 on the Church of Hed album Brandenburg Heights. The T2 is especially useful for space rock, psychedelia, electronica, ambient, as well as the cooler forms of prog.
