I have been spending a lot of time over the last few months trying to get better at recording so when I track the next album I can get better sounds at the source.  I still believe I will have someone talented (like Mr. Jeff Hall) do all the mixing again, but I want to get better raw sounds for the engineers on the other side to work with.  I have been coming to the realization more and more that I need to do something about my awful recording room which happens to be a small square room in my apartment.  My main concerns were:

1) Tracking better vocals

2) Tracking cleaner electric guitar

3) Eliminating the room sound when I track acoustic instruments (mandolin, guitar, etc.)

4) Try to make the room have a flatter response when I attempted to do rough mixes for demo's.

Living in an apartment, I had two major constraints to work within: I needed something only semi-permanant and I did not want to spend too much money.  I have been putzing around the web for months to find some designs that other people had made.  I happened to find quite a bit, but ultimately decided on a custom design.  I wanted to have a frame that was 4' x 6' in case I ever wanted to use it to build a vocal booth (even though thats way down the road) and I figured they would be just big enough for any of the aforementioned applications.  With the help of my father (who am I kidding, he did basically all the work), we put together two frames over the weekend.  The frames consisted of 3/4 inch plywood, and 2x4" boards measuring 4' x 6' all the way around.  We used the excess plywood to make some simple stands for now.  All together now, I am about $90 deep in the project with about two hours of labor. 

I'll post up some pictures next week if we finish the project.  The hard part right now seems to be finding the correct insulation for these beasts...

     I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the mystical world of blogging, and I have decided to reapproach my attempts from a different angle.  I started my blog last year when I recorded my first EP as sort of a window into the process, but sort of quickly lost my focus once that was over.  I want to start over, and hell, its my blog so I can do what ever I want, right?
     Over the next few months, I want to chronicle all the work that goes into being an indie musician.  I have big plans for the next year, and I think this could be very therapeutic for myself and possibly educational to others.  I know I am personally indebted to recording blogs that I frequent. 

More to come,
Chad

I just spent my MLK day messing around with my new Shure SM81 mic and FMR RNC (the Really Nice Compressor).  This mic blows away my Rode Nt1A for recording acoustic.  I spent a few hours just messing around with sounds to get used to the gear before I start demoing out my follow up album (what what?!).  Thats right folks, I'm eager to start recording again and get some new material out there for the masses.  Anyways, if you are at all interested in hearing the Shure, here is a  clip of the acousticin'. 

Our first Cambridge gig!  I had a great time everybody, so thanks for coming out.  I left my camera with my cousin, so pictures won't be up until this weekend.  Noel and Pat sounded great as always and great friends made it a great night!  See you on 1/17 at Coffee Break Cafe.

Thanks to everyone who came out!  I'm going to post the video later on in the blog.  If you want to see the rest of the photos you can check them out on the Chad Gosselin Facebook page or the Chad Gosselin Band Myspace Page.  Next full band show is December 27 at the All Asia in Cambridge from 6 to 9 PM.

12:45 - 1:45 PM: JP Lick's in Mission Hill

1:45 - 4:15: Get stuck in traffic, drive through a Northeaster, and than ultimately break every known traffic law, just to get to the                 second gig fifteen minutes after i was supoosed to be playing.

4:40 - 8 PM: Acoustic Rawkfest for Chris' 30th B-day.

8:30 PM: Drink a delicious Milk Stout at the Portsmouth Brewing Company!

So, I bought these headphones a couple weeks ago off of craigslist for $50, and they have been blowing my mind.  I have never owned decent headphones, but I am simply wowed by these!  I just spent about 90 minutes recording random guitar stuff because I was so inspired.  Amaizng how a little bit of music feels so good for your soul...

This movie was just as terrible as I remembered it.  The first time I watched it, I was horrified for days; same feeling applies to the last few days of my life.  I did it folks, I made it through this thing!  Now its time to do some work, I've been slacking for a month!

Weird, weird movie.  This was my first time seeing it, and I definitely like Dead Alive way more.  One more to go kiddies; whats it going to be???

This is usually a Christmas tradition at the Gosselin household, but why not cross holidays here.  This easily makes it into my top five favorite movies ever!