Tapers... you know, those guys you see at concerts who are constantly fussing about with their mic stands, checking their recording levels, making sure their mics are aimed in the right direction, checking their cable connections every five minutes. The kind of guys who know how to capture the energy of a live concert, so you can relive the magic, years after the band members have all gone into careers in real estate or micro-management.
In other words, the kind of folks who can help you record your band in a live setting - inexpensively and efficiently, so you can share the excitement of the moment with your fans.
I'm J. Free, and I've been obsessed with the live recording process for nearly three decades. What began as a hobby interest - to capture those once-in-a-lifetime shows that people would be talking about for years to come - developed into a serious interest in how to improve the quality of the live recording process itself. My ultimate goal has been to bring what I've learned from studio recording into various live environments, and create high-quality live recordings that can be engineered with a minimalist set-up. Numerous bands across the U.S. - including Minneapolis, Tampa, and now Portland - have allowed me to record them over the years, and by doing so, have helped me learn more about the equipment I've worked with, and helped me refine my recording process. Some of these bands who I owe a big thanks to, include Jesus Lizard, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Cows, Built To Spill, Walt Mink, Low, Pegboy, Babes In Toyland, Happy Apple, 12 Rods, Nation Of Ulysses, The Nicotines, Polara, Spritualized, Legendary Pink Dots, Thoughtcloud, STNNNG, Plate-O-Shrimp, Wookiefoot, Matisyahu, We're From Japan!, Colt Vista, Floating Glass Balls, and many, many more!
Examples of my recording work can be found on the Twin Cities' Shuffler CD compilation (a track by Nova Mob), the 2003 release by Murderapolis, Learning To Be Arrogant, a handful of live tracks for the Venison 4-CD box set released in 2000, a couple of 7" single B-sides, recorded during the infamous "speed sessions" of 1995, for the Tampa-based band Dumbwaiters, a live album in 2001 by The Hundred Flowers, recorded live at The Fireside Bowl in Chicago; a Plate-O-Shrimp track on a 2005 split single with The Unstuck, a track on the second Pushrods EP in 2004, and even a couple of Guided By Voices tracks - two on the 2003 box set Hardcore UFOs, and one on The Bootlegs: Commemorating 35 Years at First Avenue. And that's just to name a few!
I've also released a few titles on my own non-profit label, One Ugly Puppy Productions - a six-track live EP in 2002 called Moldy Shrimp, combining the talents of Steve "Moldy" Moldenhauer and Plate-O-Shrimp; and a full-length live benefit compilation in 2004, For The Love Of Moldy - featuring tracks from Arcwelder, The Mighty Mofos, Kontrol Panel, The Clams, Red Vendetta, Baby Grant Johnson, and The Squabs, among others, recorded in the Seventh Street Entry. In the summer of 2005, I recorded a full-length "live in the bedroom" CD, for a project I played guitar in, Demolition Factor.
Other post-millenium projects have included:
• a 4-track album recorded live at Dusty's in Minneapolis, from a benefit/memorial performance for Liz Klaers, featuring her favorite group - The Tinkers
• a full-length live recording of Twin Cities organist John Wall, from a special legacy concert performance
• a live compilation from a benefit fundraiser at The Uptown Bar + Grill in Minneapolis, for the victims of Hurricane Katrina; featuring live performances by the Black Thorns, The Bullets, Countach, Red Desert
Here are a couple of fun one-off projects I worked on:
Colt Vista [live at Holocene; Portland, Oregon, 29 June 2008]
Filmed and edited by Martin Schoeneborn ; audio recorded and mixed by J. Free.
Colt Vista - First Monday from Ryan Bukstein on Vimeo.
Colt Vista - Pigeon Feeder from Ryan Bukstein on Vimeo.
Colt Vista - Dying to Work from Ryan Bukstein on Vimeo.
I had recorded this group previously, and was asked to record a show at Holocene, so the audio mix could be digitally synched with a video being made of the same show. This was a good oportunity to try out my Church Audio custom-built 4-channel pre-amp in a different type of setting, and allowed me the ability to mix two omni binaural mics with two cardiods (also all by Church Audio, of course!), in order to blend the stage mix with the ambiance of the room. If you like this music, I would definitely recommend buying their CD, and maybe stop by and visit them at their MySpace page.
Mecca Normal : Malachi [live at Eagles Hall Ballroom; Olympia, Washington, 3 May 2008.]
Film by Jean Smith ; live sound and audio recorded and mixed by J. Free.
I finally got a couple of chances to see one of my long-time favorites, Mecca Normal, in the same town I had first seen and met them (back in 1991, at the International Pop Underground Convention). And this time, I didn't have to drive halfway across the country to see them! They played second on a bill which also featured L’Orchidée d’Hawaï, Angelo Spencer, and Kimya Dawson. About ten minutes before their set, I found myself recruited to assist with the live mix for the room, which was a big, echo-ey, traditional ballroom, with the acoustics of a gymnasium. I think I got the stage and monitor mixes worked out alright, although the live recording still reflects more of the room's acoustics than I might have liked. Still, Jean liked it enough to put it to her film, and that in itself means a lot to me.
The song Malachi is about Chicago sound archivist, musician, and antiwar activist Malachi Ritscher, who had met Mecca Normal some years earlier, when he recorded one of their live shows in Chicago and presented them with a disc of the recording.
Malachi recorded the jazz scene in Chicago for years and he recorded us and gave us a CD of our performance—so, here's this guy who documented musicians and I wanted to create a document of his final statement—his death—because the document he made, the video, was not shown publicly, that I heard about. - Jean Smith
Mecca Normal also have a MySpace page, and I'd reccomend that folks check it out. This video and others appear there, along with a handful of their officially released material, and links to plenty of useful information.
Mazel Tov Cocktail is a (mostly) Klezmer band in Minneapolis, and this slideshow was a collaboration between my wife Faye and I, on a rare break from our web design business, F.A. Design. Faye took most of the photos in May 2006 at the Van Dusen mansion in South Minneapolis, at a benefit event for Nicollet Island. I distilled a live recording I made of the band's set, to fit the length of the slideshow she had put together.
When The Levee Breaks
Papa Mali
28 May 2006; at the 9th Big Wu Family Reunion (13:33)
Harmony Park; Clark's Grove, Minnesota
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Levee is the classic Memphis Minnie tune. This particular track comes from a live recording I made of Papa Mali on a windy Sunday afternoon, at an outdoor music festival. I had heard Ben Ellman from Galactic play some blues harp on this song with him earlier in the year, and I wanted to try something like that, so I overdubbed a harmonica track onto the live recording. Maybe some day, I'll get to do it for real!
. . . and now, for something completely different . . .
custom ringtones!
In the summer of 2007, the missus and I were asked to create some unique ringtones for one of our web clients, The Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis. To create these, I extracted a few samples from live recordings I made of Marvin McCoy and Steve Ecklund, playing popular songs on traditional alphorns, in the Beer Garden outside the restaurant. A couple of other ringtones came from songs featured on a CD entitled Solitaire, by accordion player Hank Thunander, another regularly featured performer at The Black Forest.
We learned that getting ringtones on your cell phone can be tricky, (depending on things like which service provider or model of cell phone you have), but with the help of a service callled MyxerTones, we can share these with you for free!
Alphorn theme no. 1 |
Alphorn theme no. 2 |
Alphorn theme no. 3 |
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Italian Nights |
To hear the ringtones, just click on any of the buttons next to the song titles! |
Monte Carlo Schottische |
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Sonic Archives can provide you with an affordable, high-quality live recording that captures the energy of your performance. Services range from a basic analog or digital transfer, a fully-produced, tracked and edited master, to a case of finished CDs - packaged and complete with artwork, labels and inserts, and ready for distribution. Why not think about a simple and fun way to get your music heard, that won't cost you ton of money, and doesn't involve selling your soul?
All of the music on this page was recorded on some of the very equipment found here:
Download a printer-friendly pdf for a general list of rates and services.