I just got back from London where I spent a very enjoyable week of holidays (very inspiring walk in High Gate cemetery), it’s quite depressing to be back in Paris but it is time to get back to work on my second album which is really exciting! I can say without taking too much risk that 2012 will see the release of The Field Where She Died follow up… More to come soon…

I can’t believe I didn’t write here since August! Anyway, I’m still working on SAII, finding new ideas, inspired by new influences. I’m working more on sound in itself than anything else actually and it’s very exciting!

Time for December playlist! Strong Pink Floyd mood these days… My three favourite albums remain Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and Animals – Such a perfect trilogy! Beside Pink Floyd, I received two great obscure gems some days ago : Armageddon’s eponym album, wild vintage heavy prog, and Hoodoo Man by Birth Control, excellent Hammond driven progressive rock.

What’s on your playlist? Any proggy Christmas albums? ;) (I like the Jethro Tull Christmas album by the way)

Tama Starclassic from above. We are particularly glad of how the snare, the kick and the second tom sound. This time, I recorded the snare with two microphones and it sounds so much better! We used three Shure SM57′s and one SM58, one Sennheiser e609, two Oktava MK012′s and one Shure Beta 91. A better set of microphones than what I used before.

Toshiba Satellite in action with a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8r which worked smoothly with a very crystal clear sound. It was great to record drums with Reaper for the first time, it worked flawlessly!

Beautiful Meinl Byzance ride.

Drum recordings will start on Saturday. I’m leaving Paris à 6am for Lyon where I’ll record David at his rehearsal room. Unlike Spleen Arcana’s first album, this time David will play on his own drumkit, a Tama Starclassic, which is a far better model than mine. So I guess we’ll find a better sound!

For gearheads, my recording setup will consist of my Toshiba Satellite laptop with a brand new M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8r. I’ll also bring my Joemeek VC1Q mainly for its compressor that I’m used to put on the kick or snare. My daw of choice remains my faithful Reaper.

Stay tuned for upcoming updates from the drum recording sessions…

I received yesterday a distortion unit I wanted to try for a long time, a MXR Distortion +. It’s a vintage model, according to its serial number, from 1979. So it’s the second “block” logo version. You can find a good article about differences between models here. I guess I’d like to try the orginal “script” version but I read that the block logo sounds smoother actually. Anyway, I did some recordings using it on my current sessions and I am quite amazed by its sound!! I dare to say it’s probably the best distortion unit I have had. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a distortion, it’s more of an overdrive with a bit more gain than a TS9 for example, more open sounding. I may record some parts I already recorded with my Supa Fuzz because it sounds better sometimes, depending of the song. The fact is both are truly complementary. I recorded a quick video playing stuffs randomly to show you how it sounds (the funny thing is that you hear more of the acoustic sound of the guitar than the distortion itself but you’ll get the idea) :

The last weeks, I spent a lot of time searching for a new guitar lead sound. Now I only use my Supa Fuzz replica made by Lumpy’s Tone Shop which is a great warm and full vintage fuzz. I don’t use my Tech 21 British anymore. I tried a HBE Germania treble booster to go with it and add some bite but it didn’t really fit my “no amp” set up. However, I found by coincidence a great sound by stacking my Big Muff after the Supa Fuzz : Huge fuzz with endless sustain! A bit noisy though… But it’s the best combo I’ve ever tried actually (better than using a TS9 as a booster). I recorded many lead parts for the longest track of album too and it sounds quite different from my first album. I think I won’t add too many guitar tracks but time will tell…

I tested an Electro Harmonix Bassballs today as I was searching for a kind of wah bass sound for a particular part of “the longest song”. I didn’t play too much with it yet but I’m not sure that it’s what I’m looking for. Maybe I should try a Q-Tron someday. Anyway, I’ll spend more time tweaking it tomorrow and see if it will do the job.

I’m a bit late but I just discovered Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds some weeks ago and I’m just blown away by this epic theatrical progressive masterpiece! Sure it sounds a bit too dramatic at times but it’s so good! I didn’t realize until now how much I love Justin Hayward’s voice!

Did you listen to Testimony II by Neal Morse? Another epic album for the prog master… I wouldn’t say that it’s my favourite album but I really enjoy “Time Changer”, “Jesus’ Blood” and “It’s For You”. Top notched playing as always!

Thinking about a possible pre-order of Spleen Arcana’s second album, I need to know your opinion about it. It’d be a great opportunity to release something special but I need to know how much support I can expect. Feel free to explain your answer or/and make suggestions in the comment form below, I would really appreciate it ;)

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It’s been a while since I posted my playlist!! Time goes by so fast!! I’m quite busy and the week I spent walking in Scotland’s Highlands mountains was truly inspirational. As you can see on the pic above, I’m in a Yes mood… Or I rather say I’m always in a Yes mood! I’m so fascinated by their music and their sound : Chris Squire’s huge bass sound, Bill Bruford’s snare sound or Rick Wakeman Minimoog lead sound, it’s sonic heaven… And it’s also very inspirational.

Let me know what is your current playlist…

Not many updates here at the moment but the recording of Spleen Arcana’s second album (which still remains untitled) is going well. I’m working on bass and guitar parts while David is working on his drum parts. He sent me demos of the second song of the album which he recorded on his edrum kit (picture below) and it sounds really great! He brings many ideas to the song and I hope that we’ll be able to record his acoustic drum kit as soon as we can and the best way possible!

I don’t want to say to much about the album but I can’t wait to share it with you already! I plan to record other vocal parts in my “countryside studio” in the summer or ealier if possible and when the drums will be recorded, it will be time to mix and think about the artwork cover… Stay tuned!

A glimpse of the third closing song :