It's open now.

Yeah, I've been in there and working since the very end of October (my first session there was actually October 30th, and I ended up mixing on Halloween. We had candy there, but no one came to the door. more for us, I guess).

Other than working like a maniac, not much else to report. Got some new photos taken of the place all done-up proper, which should be up shortly. I'll post a new blog with some of those when they're here, and I'm sure they'll be on the main site and the myspace shortly.

You should check out:
www.daptonerecords.com
they do things the way that things should be done.

I don't want to give too much away, but...

OK, so there was a delay.

Sorry to be out of touch so long. It's a long story. I'll update more later, but I wanted to give you all the lowdown:

1. New studio is nearly completed. (I know, I say that all the time.) But I'll actually be dismantling the old Flying Blanket and moving into the new digs in about ten days. the big Neve and the BCM-10 are powered up and running fine, and the Studers have taken their places in the control rooms, fully refurbed and ready to have me punch you in a hundred and fifty times.

2. Doing my first record on the dreaded Pro Tools for the last week or so. (Well, it all got recorded to tape, of course, then dumped into the computer for mixing.) Still mixing on the venerable Amek console, of course - the PT is really just like a very organized tape machine for me right now. So I can pretty confidently say: analog tape copied into Pro Tools sounds like...well, sounds like something that's not nearly as cool as tape. I'm enjoying the automation and the ability to really organize the tracks, and I like being able to mute all of the tape hiss in quiet parts by editing it out, but overall, I of course like my old school way of doing things better. Plus, I don't know that it helps me to make better records to be able to micromanage kick drum hits (you know, first three were a little wimpy, last couple were too loud). It just made me spend four hours moving squiggly lines around. And does the record benefit from it? I don't know, maybe. You know, with tape, because the micromanagement is impossible or at least more difficult, you stop listening with a microscope and listen in a more general way, which I greatly prefer and I think it makes for records with a better feeling. You start obsessing over a bunch of sonic minutia and you start losing the big picture. I had to sort of reset my brain a couple of times because I got in too deep and started losing focus of what the song was about. i think this weekend I've finally sort of found the balance.
All in all...some cool features...but I need the heft of a tape machine, thanks.

What's the news?

Well, I guess I can sort of say the first recording in the studio has taken place. No, don't worry - it's not up and running yet. But I did drag the old analogue 1/4" 8-track down there this weekend and I recorded two new Go Reflex songs. Studio A's main drum room sounds...nice. I tried to keep it O.G. by recording the drums with just two mics (a Coles 4038 and a Soundelux e47, for those of you who like to keep track of thsoe sorts of things...the Altec crapped out on us). I mixed them together to one track, because come on...on 8 track, you really can't do more than one track of drums.
it's hard to make a 1946 Gretsch kit sound bad, but I'm not sure what you could make sound band in this room. Big, open, and mysteriously clear and controllable. I'm kind of creeped out, actually.
Still no clue when the new studio will be open. We are looking at September at least. So for those of you who are putting money on this...I'd recommend putting $200 on, say, next April.

The website is back!!!

Yes, you can head on over to:

www.flyingblanket.com

and see photos and lists of all of our gear and all kinds of good stuff. In a few days, there will be a dedicated link to the newest mp3s - and I'm uploading stuff all this week, so please check back frequently - but for now, you can go to the "clients" section and click on the name of the band you're into, and it will list all of the mp3s we have available for you to download.

A few of the mp3 links don't work - but they will in the next couple of days. The vast majority of them should be fine. And better quality mp3s than we used to have, too!

you can also click on any piece of gear and get a description and photo (all new, better photos!) of everything we've got. (I don't have pics of the mics yet, but they're coming!)

There's already quite a bit up there, but I'll be adding a lot of stuff over the next week or two, including a clickable floor plan of the new studio and NEW mp3s you've never heard from The Breakup Society (just finished that album a week ago) and the as-yet unreleased Adam Panic full-length that you've heard me rave about, plus more.

so go check it out!

oh, and we have a myspace, regrettably:

www.myspace.com/flyingblanket
but the real website is way cooler.

Website on the way.

Remember the good old days, when you could go on the Flying Blanket website and get all kinds of mp3s, look at photos of our gear, that sort of thing? Well the whole thing is about to go back up, although it'll look a bit different. It'll take me a couple of days to get everything uploaded (all of our mp3s and photos are gone, so I have to take new photos of everything and make new mp3s), but it'll be back with a huge slew of new mp3s.

You're wondering about the new studio, and when it will open? Join the club.

Cool stuff going on at the old studio, which is unbelievably and uncomfortably warm this summer. I think the a/c there is staring the reaper in the face. Hopefully we can make it until the new place opens.

oh, right - we have no bloody idea when that will be. I'm starting to think that we're going to find out who D.B. Cooper was before it's open. (Feel free to Google that.)

no news is no news.

Yeah, it's been a while since I updated or gave you guys any news...and tht's pretty much because there's none to give. I mean, stuff has been done at the new joint, but there have been a bunch of little setbacks which amazingly turn into major setbacks in no time. You get set back by two or three days, then it's the weekend, then you've basically lost a whole week. I know Pro Tools rigs are here (boy do I not want to be involved with those), but basically, wiring guys have to wait until acoustical treatments are finished in the rooms, and those are taking quite a while. I would tell you what our next estimated move-in time is...but come on! do you really think it'll stick any more than any other time?
I'm not trying to be negative, just realistic...I've realized that no matter how much I freak out or yell or cajole or beg, no one is going to do anything any faster than they're already doing it. I know I sound frustrated...well, I am. But like I said, it's nothing I can do anything about.
Some good records being made in the old studio for the time being...I'm a little exhausted, but I feel like I helped make some pretty great records in the last month or so.
Oh, and the Runaway Diamonds record I made has just come out. Go get it.

oh, and:

no, I am not on tour with the Ataris right now. I doubt I will be.

new website is coming!

Well, we finally finished the battle to regain control of flyingblanket.com, and we emerged victorious - bob@flyingblanket.com works again. I tried to set up the flyingblanketrecording@yahoo.com email to forward to my home email, which I just discovered wasn't happening, so a lot of those emails didn't get seen until today. Sorry about that.
I was traveling back east with the family last week, where I was fortunate enough to receive a wicked illness that saw me passed out in bed for four days with a seemingly unbreakable fever (oh, and I got to throw up about every twenty minutes on the four hour plane ride home, as well as in the airport terminal and several more times in the comfort of my own home). I'm going to be a little behind (more than usual) on my emails and phpone calls - I am now five more days behind on the virtually-completed Awake and Alert album, plus I'm preparing to play drums for the Breakup Society at SXSW in early March, plus my son's first birthday party is a little more than a week away. I'm still not 100% on my feet yet, either, but I'll be doing the best I can.
So if I'm still sick tomorrow, the bonus (I guess) is that I'm hoping to be able to put the Flying Blanket website back together again. We were trying to launch a big fancy new one, but we may just have to put the old one back up again, so you can get all of the mp3s and gear descriptions and all of that again.
Studio progress? Yes, I've heard of it. Wiring is very very tedious. Marcus (our new studio manager) is doing the best he can to keep everyone on track, but I've been out of town for a week and I don't quite know what's going on. I heard that three of the Studers are up and running, and that most of the live room wiring was finished also. I stumbled over there last night but it just looked more wire-y than last time, so I'm of no real use in determining how it's going. I'll have a bigger progress report as I find stuff out.
Oh, a word about booking: you can now reach me at bob@flyingblanket.com. I know booking has been an extremely frustrating experience for folks, and believe me, it's infuriating to me, too. I know a lot of bands are waiting for their exact dates, and marcus and I are working hard to figure some things out. But understand: if we give you dates now, and we're not 100% certain about our move-in date, and there's some sort of snag, we're just going to have to call you and give you new dates right away. Well, you and six other bands. And then there's schedule-shuffling - maybe the moved dates work great for one band, but dude, my drummer's going to Costa Rica the following week, so we'll have to do it one week later, which is fine, but then the next band needed to record when they were planned before their bass player got deported and so on and so forth. Changing the dates - even by a couple of days - can completely wreak havoc on people's lives (including ours). We just want to be confident that once we give you dates, they're not going to change and that's that. So please be patient with us while we try to get all of this nonsense figured out. Yes, there is a pecking order, but it gets complicated because we are trying to make everything worked out for everyone fairly. It's tough when a band says they're in hurry, so don't worry about it, then I don't hear from them for six months, then they call saying they need to come in the next twelve days. (Well, things like that happen.) I know it's hard on folks, and I promise, we will make it up to you. If you're really antsy and want to come see the new studio in person to see what in the hell you're waiting for, you are welcome to and I will be happy to give you a tour. The new place is really going to be something special, and it will be worth the wait (I promise). I can also tell you that once the new studio is open, bookings wil once again be set in stone (remember when you knew the exact date and time you were coming in?). Marcus will be in charge of booking and keeping everything organized, which (believe me) is a Godsend.
OK, that's it for now. Go buy the new Dear and the Headlights record. it's wonderful. And speaking of wonderful, if you're a label, please sign Adam Panic already. The album we made last year is a real thing of beauty.

How Many Dudes Does It Take...

I will let the pictures do the talking.

Don't get all excited just yet. Still plenty of wires to run and solder, lots of stuff to install. But some nice progress was made this week.

Wesbite is still down. It's going to take some time before it's back up, I'm afraid, but it will be better than ever when it does return.

Sorry if i've been harder to get ahold of than usual as of late. there's a whole lotta recording goin' on.

New progress report coming soon.

A lot has been done, but I am waiting on one final development before I take any photos or tell you anything else. Should be a new post for you all by Friday. Exciting things are afoot, I promise.