Tag: mxl770

Stones For Bread (pre-release)

Stones For Bread Free Download

Stones for Bread is a new rocking blues song by the Solid Rock Blues Band from the Netherlands. The song has been pre-released on SoundCloud and in HQ Audio (CD quality) at BandCamp (check this link).

While trying to complete a few songs for a new album this song was written together with songwriter James Zheutlin more or less as an “in between” song. Based on an acoustic concept song (first demo version below).

SoundCloud

Acoustic Demo Version

The acoustic demo version was recorded in the kitchen at the LoftStudio and filmed using a smartphone.

Lyrics Stones For Bread

All rights ©2021 . Words: R. Brinkman/J. Zheutlin

You gave me stones for bread
Stop pretending that we’ve never met
You gave me stones for bread
Stop pretending that we’ve never met
You know I know you so well,
now it’s treason that I smell
You know I know you so well,
now it’s treason that I smell

You gave me stones for bread
Said there ain’t no more room in your bed
You gave me stones for bread
Said there ain’t no more room in your bed
pushed me out of the door,
said don’t “come back here no more!”
pushed me out of the door,
said “don’t come back here no more!”

Will I ever heal?
Only time will tell
Only time will tell
A contract under seal?
Only an empty shell,
Only an empty shell!

You gave me stones for bread
You painted pictures that I never forget
You gave me stones for bread
You painted pictures that I never forget
We once touched Heaven
but now we’re living in hell
We once touched Heaven
but now we’re living in hell

You gave me stones for bread,
You gave me stones for bread…

Recorded using..

Drums & Bass – JJazzLab
Guitars – Harley Benton Telecaster + JoYo American
Vocals – MXL770
DAW – Harrison Mixbus

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Don’t Say We’re Over!

Slow rocksong, lovesick, broken heart. Male vocals. Heavy guitars. Don’t Say We’re Over. The new single by the Solid Rock Blues Band has been released today on SoundCloud and BandCamp.

Free streaming at BandCamp as well as on SoundCloud. If you’d like to download it, you can buy the single at BandCamp.
It’s yours  for only USD $0.79

The single was recorded at our home-studio and written and performed by Rudy using a Digitech Trio for Drums & Bass, Gretsch Electromatic, Harley Benton Telecaster and Fender Starcaster Stratocaster, so yeah you guessed it: lot’s of guitar on this track! There’s clearly heavy blues influence but it sure ain’t your standard 12-bar blues song. It’s more a slow rock or perhaps blues rock song.

VIDEO

ABOUT THE RECORDING

Details about the recording, for those interested:

  • Drums, Bass: Digitech Trio
  • Gretsch Electromatic & Stratocaster effects: Mooer effects pedal (review)
  • Telecaster: JoYo “American” sound (Fender Amp simulation)
  • DAW: Ardour
  • Interface: Behringer UMC404HD
  • Vocal mic: MXL770

Want to read more about the studio? Just check out the Studio-page.

 

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New tracks available at SoundCloud!

SoundCloud has decided to stick to it’s old policy so our music still is and will be available trough SoundCloud. Today two new tracks were added – fresh mixes and 100% original songs! Two completely different tracks: one song leaning towards hard rock and the other is ‘christian rock’.

— update: tracks moved to the new released album “Solar Powered Love”

Let’s start with the Christian song, it’s not the average gospel song. Of course it’s a song about a christian theme in fact about Jesus but I think the music won’t fit in the standard ‘gospel songs’ you know. Writing the lyrics took a lot more time than expected despite it’s simplicity.

Both songs have an original approach and chord progression. For the songs two different vocal mics were used and both were recorded using a different DAW. The first one was recorded using a MXL770 vocal mic and Mixbus as a DAW. The second one was recorded using an AKG C900 with Ardour as a DAW.

Guitars: Hondo H-175 (vintage) guitar for rhythm, Harley Benton Telecaster for lead guitar and Harley Benton bass.
Drums:  AVL Drums (plugin)

The Mad Men’s Show

Well the fires in Australia triggered this; that is: environmental damage. Done by lunatics who deny this world is going down hill fast. The power of crazy guys at the top also inspired it. So it all got mixed up in this song. And in the end the “master of slaves” shows his face. Hope you like it as much as I did writing, recording and mixing it.

Guitars: Harley Benton Telecaster for rhythm, Gretsch g5420t for lead guitar, Washburn WD-42S (acoustic) and Harley Benton bass.
Drums:  AVL Drums (plugin).

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Acoustic Studio Sessions – In God’s Country

In God’s Country from the album The Joshua Tree is one of the best U2 songs, from one of their best albums ever. Since I’ve been a staunch U2 fan, ever since I heard them on the radio when I was around 12 years old, I love to play their songs. I hardly ever record them. This is an exception on this ‘rule’. It’s a perfect song for an acoustic version.

I shot the video during the recording. After I shot the video I noticed it could have been a little better but it’s the recording that matters the most of course.

RECORDING ACOUSTIC SONGS

Now many ‘singer songwriters’ whome record at home, record in one take. This is of course possible. The video suggests I did the same. And yes — I recorded vocals and guitar at the same time; the guitar trough a DI (Direct Input) and guitar and vocals on separate tracks. After that, I re-recorded the vocals on an additional track (as you can see in the video). The reason for this is simple: if you record vocals and guitars at the same time, the guitar sound will ‘bleed’ into the vocal track. It makes mixing it very difficult. So if you ever record acoustic guitar and vocals for a simple demo or album: make sure you can split them.

If you record an acoustic guitar that isn’t an electro-acoustic, don’t sing along! Your vocal will ‘bleed’ into the guitar track and if that happens, you can’t do overdubs on your vocal unless you re-record the guitar as well.

ABOUT THE RECORDING

About this recording:

– DAW Software: Mixbus5
– Guitar: Samick Greg Bennett GD-101
– Vocal Mic: MXL770
– DI (Guitar): Behringer
– Audio Interface: Behringer UMC404

Video:

– recorded with Sony Cybershot DSC-HX350
– Edited with OpenShot

The audio might (ormight not) become available in the future, for now I’m only publishing the acoustic series on Youtube.

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On The Run – Jona’s Story

There are many great stories in the Bible. Stories about people, stories about how they struggle with life, with their families, with their beliefs. Here’s one I always liked a lot: the story of Jona. You know, the guy swallowed by a big fish. Now, there are many people who say this could never have happened but even in our modern times this happens. There’s even proof of it. So, believe it or not.. in the end, it is a great story.

FREE DOWNLOAD

While driving back from work the first lines of this song ‘came to me’ so I pulled over the car, grabbed the smartphone and recorded the lines. Back home I wrote the other verses. Over the past few days I’ve been working on recording it. I wanted it to be a simple, straight forward, ‘rock song’. I also wanted to use a piece of software I’ve been testing for some time now, AVL Drums. It’s a great drum program, works perfect in Ardour and also works fine in Mixbus5.

The song is available as a free download at Soundcloud.

RECORDING

Some about this recording: it was recorded and mixed using Mixbus5 and AVLDrums. AVLDrums is a great, free, drumkit available for Ardour and Mixbus. I use my Digitech TRIO most of the time for drums, but AVLDrums is more flexible since I can program (and edit it later afterwards) it using a midi-track. It’s got great drumkits availble in different settings.

Bass, Guitars and Vocals are all by me (Rudy). For the vocals I used my MXL770 Studio Condenser; Bass is my Harley Benton Bass guitar and I’ve used my Harley Benton Telecaster for the guitars. For the guitar I used the JoYo American as an amp simulator. My all time favorite for Fender-like guitars.

Although I sometimes still use Ardour, Mixbus5 is now my default ‘workhorse’ when recording and mixing. Mixbus5 offers me a great recording environment, and many, MANY, on-board tools like compression, EQ, Limiter and more including a huge load of plugins. Apart from that, it can of course also use all the plugins I used in Ardour. Apart from the new software, the new studio also helps a lot for creating better recordings. My workflow is now so much better!

Anyway — hope you like the song! It’s a freebie, so feel free to download.

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New Studio! Videotour of the new Home Recording Studio

The ZolderStudio (LoftStudio) has moved! As you might have noticed we were moving to a new location because we’ve bought a new house. Well, that is.. to us it’s new. But it was build around 1880. So it’s got a long history already. Anyway — we’ve started moving into the new house and rebuilding the studio.

After putting in the stuff we already had we’ve added a carpet, some new cables, additional acoustic treatment like DIY Acoustic Panels (see this video about the making and installation of the panels) and finally, yesterday, put in the foam acoustic panels on the walls.

The acoustic panels, btw, were very cheap to create. We paid less than 20 euro’s for them (hint: pre-made painters canvas). The acoustic foam was ordered online from Geek.

 DIY Budget Home Recording Studio

In essence, my home recording setup is a computer with a (Linux) DAW (Ardour, Mixbus5).

Recording at home shouldn’t have to be very expensive. Hook up a mic, trough an audio interface or use an USB condenser mic, and you’re ready to go. But once you get started with recording, there’s no turning back. So I bought a lot of addtional stuff over the years. Lot’s was also given to me as a gift, like the SoundTech ST162 16-channel mixer.

This really still is a budget home studio. Even though some people who visit me think it has cost a fortune to collect all this gear and to create it. There’s a lot of “DIY” stuff in the studio and, as written above, lot’s of stuff comes from very cheap, online, shops and stores in the Netherlands like the Action (there are many of them now all over Europe).

PICTURES & VIDEO

 

YouTube video (open in new window)

So, we’re “ready to rock” again!

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Acoustic Studio Sessions – Knocking on Heaven’s Door

What better way to celebrate using a new studio than recording a classic, acoustic, folk song? The ZolderStudio (LoftStudio) has moved! So I did some test recordings and one of them is Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”. And I did not only record the song, I made a video of the recording session.

It’s just a simple “one-take recording” using my MXL770 for vocals, a t.Bone EM700 for the guitar and I’ve used the Behringer UMC404HD as an interface. The DAW I’ve used was Ardour (Linux).

MOVING TO A NEW STUDIO
I’ve also made a short video about the move to the new studio. A full studio tour will be made as soon as the studio is setup completely. I’m still waiting for acoustic foam, ordered a floor carpet and there are now new monitor speakers too. So subscribe to the channel to receive updates!

Please visit the Youtube Channel and subscribe here.

 

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Morning Ritual (free download)

Free Single Morning Ritual

So what’s next when you have a new guitar (Harley Benton TE-52), a new vocal condenser mic (MXL770) and installed a new DAW (Mixbus5)? Record a brand new song! So here’s “Morning Ritual” – a song about how we try to survive in this world of ours these days.

The song is available as a free download at SoundCloud and there’s a video!

I must say we’re very happy with the new gear as well as the new DAW! Even though there are some hardware issues to overcome it is clearly the best DAW I’ve ever layed hands on.

Recorded at the ZolderStudio
Drums & Bass – Digitech Trio
Guitars, Vocals, recording & mixing – Rudy

Equipment used:
DAW – Mixbus5
Mic – MXL770
Guitars: Harley Benton Telecaster, Washburn Acoustic

 

 

MORNING RITUAL (Lyrics)

Words & Music (c)2019, Solid Rock Blues Band

Well here’s your coffee dear,
it’s in a paper cup,
I know you do adhere
to the morning ritual..
without you can’t get up,
so here’s your coffee dear
here’s your coffee dear

Well here’s your paper dear,
it says the end is near,
you might not want to read,
or hear the news today
don’t worry anyhow
here’s your coffee dear,
here’s your coffee dear

Chorus:
You can Leave Your Make-up on the shelf,
‘cus time, time suits you well,
and here’s your coffee dear

Here’s Your Coffee Dear,
though the End is Near,
You know we can’t give up
on our morning ritual,
yeah though our life is short,
at least there’s coffee dear,
so here’s your coffee dear.

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