Artist Name: ÆUR Title: Deep In The Mine Genre: Rock Rating:
Equipment
Instruments: Yamaha and Takamine acoustic guitars and Boss effects.
Recording Equipment: Tascam gear.
Production Notes
Jerry Trotta produced the track.
Music
“Deep in The Mine” is an acoustic rock instrumental with world music flavors. The song was composed by Joaquin Velez, and Joaquin and Jerry Trotta performed and produced the track.
Reviewed By Marty Peters
Joaquin and Jerry have submitted a fairly minimal track here that relies primarily on layered guitars and a bit of hand percussion. The intro acoustic twelve string guitar is the foundation layer, and it works well in that regard. Since no microphones were mentioned in the duo’s gear list, we assume that all guitars were recorded direct using their onboard pickups. The lack of ‘air’ in the tracks would seem to corroborate as much in our opinion. As the track progresses, the guys do a good job in increasing the sense of urgency and intensity with every additional part that gets added, although at times we found the tones, particularly on the electric guitar, to be wanting. Through our monitors it has a thin, biting sound that detracts from our listening experience. By the end of the track, things get a tad claustrophobic in the center of the stereo field—lots of information competing in a relatively narrow space.
Suggestions
Whenever possible we always encourage placing microphones on acoustic guitars. Even the most modest dynamic mic, the ubiquitous Shure SM57, can yield excellent results in this regard. Combining it with a guitar’s onboard pickup is also a successful method used on many commercial releases throughout the years. The combination of ‘air’ from the mic, along with the directness of the electronic pickup, can be a winner in the right hands. We would urge the guys to latch on to a microphone for some future experimentation. As for the other issues, we suggest that the electric guitar gets some EQ to shave off some of that high midrange bite. Finally, some subtle panning of the layered guitar parts could add a bit of additional excitement to the performances here. Nothing too crazy fellas—a little bit can go a long way.
Summary
Off to a good start!
Contact
ÆUR, [email protected]