Vocals: The main vocals on the verse were recorded with a Audio Technica AT4050/CM5 into an Art Tube MP and then into the ADAT. The pre-amp input on the Art Tube MP was set very low and we used the +20db of gain which enabled us to bring the actual input level down very very low and keep it very clean (this allowed a very loud vocal scream without any mic or tube distortion). We doubled the chorus tracks, which gave us 4 tracks of vocals! For the mix down, we processed the vocals in stereo with multiple processors. Lexicon MPX 1 was the main one, and we used a couple others and layered the vocals.

Clean Guitars: Stereo tracks. On the left side we used a Cort MGM with the Neck pickup. We ran the Cort Straight into a Mesa Boogie Trem-o-verb on the standard orange channel and used the rectifier tubes. We used a Shure sm-57 on the oversized mesa 4x12 cab put the mic on the bottom left speaker about 6 inches away. Jaison Jamison let me borrow his Jackson for the other stereo track. It used the same configuration but gave a slightly more solid acoustic clean sound.

Distorted Guitars: For the left side, we used the Cort MGM with the bridge pickups into a Mesa Trem-o-verb on the red channel, also using the rectifier tubes. We used a standard SM-57 for the left and for the right track we used the Jackson and put JMS's Mic and wrapped the mesa 4x12 over sized version cab with Foam to enclose the mic and avoid any wall reflections. The guitar solo was doubled with the Cort and Jackson. We used the mesa trem on the red channel with 0 effects into the mesa 4x12 cab for both tracks. The only processing on the distorted guitars was during the solo section and we used the little digitech studio quad V2 for a little phase shifting effect.

Note: The mesa boogie trem-o-verb's tubes went bad during the middle of our recording, so i guess its fair to mention the tubes used. Some of the earlier recordings used the standard 12ax7 pre-amp tubes, and one 12ay7 in the clean slot, along with Mesa "green," 6L6 power tubes. We had Jim Sydney of Gourma PA Tweak the amp for us. We ended up using SPAX7 Custom Mesa Preamplifier tubes in all slots. The MESA SPAX7 is a High grade subsiture for the 12AX7 (ECC83). The power tubes were also changed and came back with a Matched Quartet of SOVTEK 5881 WXT Tubes. The Sovtek power tubes we used were rated at 11. Here is a quick break down on there tube ratings. They rate the Color Red from 1-3 and the characteristics are as follows. "Sovtek reds will saturate the fastest. They are great for applications where maximum overdrive is required." They rate the Green tubes from 4-9 and say "Our all systems go tube, Sovtek Greens offer a warm, responsive tone with plenty of definition and clarity. They are great for nearly any application and can go from crisp and clean to traditional tube overdrive." They rate the blue tube from 10-12 and the characteristics say: "Crystal clear best describes the Sovtek Blues; our lowest-distorion tubes. Perfect for any application requiring pristine sound reproduciton, Sovtek Blues offer crisp, clean tone with minimum breakup." I must say i really love my blue 11 tubes, and when we get into a nice size room for our show, and can turn the amp up a little, the power is incredible. At the bottom of the box is a little Warning that says "Warning: Tube amplifiers operate at hight vlotages which can cause lethal injuries. Sovtek recommends that you have your amplifier biased by a qualified service technicain each time you re-tube." So, if you don't have a "self-biasing" tube amp, make sure you rebias your amp for each set. Generally speaking, once it is set for the Color of the tube you like, you can go buy that color and rating again and stick them in your amp again with no problem, but don't take my word for it, consult with a qualified service technician! But, also be aware, they want to make money and will want to re-bias your amp, lol, so make sure you let them know that you are knowlegable!

Bass: We used an Ibanez bass and ran it into the Art Tube MP and then direct to the fostex d-90. The bass tracks landed on the fostex at 16 bit. We added a slight bit of chorus from the lexicon mpx 1 to give it a stereo spread during mixdown.

Drums: For the drum tracks we used a Roland TD-8 digital kit. We were pressed for tracks so we only used the Main outs and used 2 tracks in stereo. We added a bunch of stereo reverb from the Digitech Studio Quad V2 to try and make them sound big. We added a touch of reverb from with the quadraverb during mixdown.

Mixing Console: We used a Behringer 9000 for the final mix.
Recorders: We used a Fostex d-90 16 bit at 48 KHZ which was synchronized with the Alesis ADAT 20 bit at 48 Khz.

*The final mix was sent to the T.C. Electronic Finalizer plus, then to dat, then transferred digitally into the PC via the SPDIF port on the sound card and used the software sony sound forge to turn it into the mp3. I notice the levels are lower than the orignal Sonic Foundry Sound Forge Version when we run Normalization!!!! Not sure if it is a mix issue or a software issue yet, but i will keep you posted on this issue.

For the MP3, we recorded the mix directly into Sound Forge Audio Studio 7.0. We optimized the mp3 by normalized to 0 Db's and then compresed with a ratio 3:1 at 7 Db's to even the mix out a little more.

Engineers/Musicians: Greg Dunsmore, Jeff Dunsmore, Joe Sewanich, and Eric Cralle.
*REMEMBER - This is a Lost Souls Band home recording!