Camera Shy

Post date: Mar 20, 2013 5:47:4 AM

Although the Lucksmiths officially called it quits a few years ago, they still remain one of my favourite bands (see the previously recorded "Great Dividing Range").  They were laying down jangly Rickenbacker arpeggios way before it was made trendy by the recent wave of indie pop.  Although this particular song doesn't contain the same degree of clever alliteration and paronomasia that some of their later work employs, it still relies on a strong sense of lyricism to succeed.  How many other songwriters would use words as obscure as heliolithic? Somehow, the sense of nostalgia and the emotion conveyed in this song is aptly served by the simplified chorus that repeats throughout the song.  For that reason, despite its inherent simplicity, it remains one of my favourite songs by the band.  This was the first Lucksmiths song that I ever heard and I still remember the moment fondly.

I'm proud of this track as I took a much more methodical approach to recording it.  Instead of building around a demo track I planned out the entire recording methodically.  However, this isn't as much fun because it makes the recording process so much work!  The hard work seems to have paid off though, because it strikes a nice balance between sounding too raw and sounding overproduced.  When I'm mixing and tempted to fix every flaw I take a deep breath and recall the wise words of Leonard Cohen: "Forget your perfect offering/ There is a crack in everything/ That's how the light gets in."

Production notes: the main drum loop was recorded first using Abbey Road Vintage Drums via midi controller.  A click track was used and tempo changes were programmed in to compensate for the changes in tempo.  The bass line was recorded next using a 1980s Japanese Fender P-bass DI via mixer into Guitar Rig.  The main bass riffs were recorded once and looped.  Next the acoustic was recorded by stereo small diaphragm condenser microphones (MXL993) via M-AUDIO DMP3 preamp.  The electric guitar is a Rickenbacker recorded DI into Guitar Rig (AC30 amp) and looped as necessary.  The vocals were recorded with an AT4040 (also through the DMP3 pre) in several takes and stitched together.  Finally, the drum track was edited for cymbal hits and fills (thanks T!).  Every track is carefully EQ'd and light reverb was applied to the Rickenbacker and the vocals.  There is aggressive compression on the entire vocal track.  Mild pitch correction was used on the last chorus.

Camera Shy (MP3)