Winter Update

It seems that winter is my busy season; it’s so crappy outside so let’s just stay indoors and make records.

Since my last post I ________________.
Worked a two week western USA Tour with Typhoon, Wild Ones, and Youth
Mixed an EP for Ben Darwish and Drew Shoal’s indie/jazz project, Duo Denim
Tracked Commotion, Nick Werth, and the Dancing Hats at The Map Room
Mixed The 1939 Ensemble debut LP
Finished tracking & mixing on Sam Cooper’s upcoming LP

In 2011 I made some solid upgrades to my home studio including an amazing drum set from Revival Drums, NI Maschine, Avantone speakers, and Beyer Dynamic Headphones.

Also I have been working more shows than ever at Mississippi Studios, including 3 sold out Typhoon concerts in early December & New Years Eve with Nurses.
I want to thank all the musicians, venues, and fellow engineers for helping make 2011 the best year of my life. Let’s do it again in 2012.
Sorry for the brief post, but it’s LOADED with links . back to work….

“New” Typhoon Recordings, Daytrotter Session, & more news

Today is the fall press day for Typhoon, meaning that there is much to talk about. Although its been known for a week or two, Typhoon is touring the Western USA this fall. Its the BFF tour, so we are bringing along Youth and Wild Ones. We kick the tour off in Salem, OR at the Ike-box and make our way to Denver. Dates are listed below, but do your self a favor and watch the promo video from neighborhood films.

Typhoon.Wild Ones.Youth – BFF Tour 2011 from Matthew Ross on Vimeo.

10.31 SALEM, OR @ THE IKE BOX
11.2 SACRAMENTO, CA @ LUIGI’S FUN GARDEN
11.3 SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL
11.4 SANTA BARBARA, CA @ THE SAVOY
11.5 LOS ANGELES, CA @ THE SATELLITE
11.8 DENVER, CO @ HI-DIVE
11.9 LARAMIE, WY @ UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
11.11 MISSOULA, MT @ THE PALACE LOUNGE
11.12 SEATTLE, WA @ THE TRACTOR TAVERN



The most exciting thing about today is probably the fact that Typhoon re-released all their old, abandoned, and obscure recordings. Absolute gems. I happened to record a few of these songs, including an entrancing film score, a (not?) commercially-viable jingle, and multiple acoustic demos. I highly suggest that you purchase these recordings if you are a fan of their current work. This band has been making phenomenal music long before I stepped foot in their door. Along with the above mentioned recording, this download package includes the 2006 self-titled full length, multiple EPs, and live recordings. Also, the “White Lighter” demos will melt your heart.

On our summer tour we stopped in at Daytrotter, a legendary recording studio/music blog in Rock Island IL, and captured four songs. The studio wasn’t huge, basically a square 20′/20′/9′ room, but we managed to arrange the the band so that their instruments wouldn’t bleed too much into each-other. Also we decided that an acoustic instrumentation would translate better in the office-esque tracking space. Opposite tracking room, the control room is suprisingly well stocked with authentic kits of outboard gear. Mike patched all the sounds through a medium sized mixer and goes straight to 2-track via a PC running a Sony DAW. Its basically a live recording & mix, but I believe that he masters the recording at a later time. The final product turned out excellent, have a listen here. Thanks again to Mike Gentry, who engineered, mixed, and mastered this session beautifully.

Typhoon – Claws Pt. 1 Recording Sessions from Matthew Ross on Vimeo.

Last on our list is this bad-ass music video from neighborhood films for Claws Pt. 1. Matt Ross came by while we were tracking drums, vocals, guitars, percussion, vocals, and other lovelies. It’s hard to believe that this came out so good because I barley remember Matt’s presence in that room. Also if you are a recording geek (hopefully you are) you can see first hand how I mic’ed up their drums and the environment I recorded them in. It’s nice to have a visual reference in-case you want to try similar techniques in your own studio. Watching this video does kinda make it look easy [the extremely complicated process of recording a 7 minute, 150+ track song at a house with a 13 person band]. Most of the gear used is listed on the info page. I brought these tracks back to my studio and mixed there.

Tags: Portland Producer, recording engineer, recording studio Portland, Rode K2 Microphone, Typhoon band

Summer Round Up

Yes, it is summer time in Portland. No, I’m not ready for it to end. What’s new… Since my last post I finished Yeah Great Fine’s Circadian EP, toured the USA with Typhoon, mixed Hello Electric‘s new EP, and went to the river.

I have a special spot in my heart for Yeah Great Fine. Ultimately they are are comprised of my great friends and I can’t help but love their music. We worked together last year (listen to that project here) so they hired me to produce their next project, a four song 7″ EP titled Circadian. Circadian was recorded in four days at the Maproom Studio in SE Portland. The Maproom isn’t huge but we managed to isolate the guitars, keys, and bass away from the drums. The band was able to track most of the album live, playing together in the same room. We went back and added a few guitar lines, fixed some things, and added the vocals. I mixed “in the box” at my home studio and had Adam Gonsalves master it at his studio, Telegraph Mastering. Over all this record was a breeze to make. Considering the last album was recorded drums first, it’s obvious we took this album on a more “human” path. They are currently fund raising via kick starter and have a six week western USA tour booked for this Fall. The Circadian EP 7″ Vinyl will be released October 1st on 20 Sided Records.

I jotted away with Typhoon for a few weeks and toured the USA. Honestly it’s hard to write about my tour experiences because so much fun was had, it’s hard to remember it all. What I do remember is this – The Decemberists (as musicians and people) are legit. We spent a week on the road with them before departing on our own to the East Coast. We were invited to play the Newport Folk Festival in Newport Rhode island. I really liked that place, such a beautiful place to have a festival. NPR was kind enough to broadcast our concert, you can still stream it here. We played a blur of club dates on the east coast, including a stop at the David Letterman show. I got to help with the stage setup and broadcast mix which ended up being a valuable learning experience. It was interesting to see how a show like that is made audio-wise. We traveled to my home town of Washington D.C. and performed to a sold out audience, very surreal. After D.C. we left for Chicago and played Lollapalooza. There they actually treat you pretty well – we all took home some silly free stuff which made us feel weird. Chicago routed us to the Midwest where we played St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver. One thing I learned on this tour is that Portland is now home. I have lived here for about two years and I couldn’t be happier to end my journey here. Typhoon will be performing at Music Fest North West‘s Pioneer Courthouse Square Stage on Saturday September 10th, opening up for Explosions In The Sky and The Antlers.

The week after I returned home from Typhoon tour I hooked up with Kirk Ohnstad of Hello Electric. I was asked to mix their new EP that they have been working on. It’s not my business to announce records on here, but I can tell you that it is a 10″ vinyl and it sounds amazing. Hello Electric is a three piece band with Portland roots. I have been listening to their previous releases for some time, so I was extremely pleased when I got that email. The record was produced by the band in unique recording zones, including a warehouse. I mixed the project in about 4 or 5 days which was promptly handed off to Adam Gonsalves for mastering. I believe the album is already on its way to the record plant, so I expect a Fall release. Please look out for it, I will post tracks and more release info when I can. The track above is from their latest LP, produced by Portugaul The Man‘s John Gourley.

bePortland.com interview

An interview I did for the new Portland lifestyle blog bePortland.com is up.  Read it here.

Tags: recording engineer portland producer typhoon

Typhoon to Play on the Late Show with David Letterman

For real. And yes I will be there. “Portland, Oregon’s Typhoon is thrilled to make their television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman on August 4th. Catching the attention of many, Typhoon are currently on the road in support of their EP, A New Kind Of House which NPR simply called “absolutely stunning,” and Absolute Punk raved “is the sort of album that makes me feel excited about music all over again.”

New Mixes from Fanno Creek!

Fanno Creek just released an excellent album titled Green Houses. We recorded this at a house in NE Portland in one weekend with my portable recording rig. Check out a previous post with photos from the session and stream the first song below. I Can’t Get There features Ashley King on violin, thanks Ashley!

Typhoon East Coast Summer Tour

Typhoon is touring the east coast this July & August. To sweeten the pot, they are touring eastward with the Decemberists for a few shows. I just arranged a flight to New York so I can help out with sound for a slew of festival and club shows. Their MFNW show in September will be at Pioneer Courthouse Square w/ The Antlers and Explosions In The Sky. Jeeze Louise things are getting interesting.

Tour Dates

* indicates shows with The Decemberists

May 29th Sasquatch Festival George, WA

June 3rd Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR

July 7th Sundown @ Ecotrust Portland, PR

July 19th Britt Pavilion Jacksonville, OR *

July 20th Idaho Botanical Gardens, Boise, ID *

July 21st Twilight Concert Series Salt Lake City, UT *

July 22, Big Sky Brewery Missoula, MT *

July 23rd The Filling Station VFW Bozeman, MT

July 25th Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN

July 28th The Iron Horse Music Hall Northampton, MA

July 30th Newport Folk Festival Newport, RI

July 31st Osheaga Festival Montreal, QB

August 2nd The Mercury Lounge New York, NY

August 3rd Littlefield Brooklyn, NY

August 4th Sixth & Synagogue Washington, DC

August 6th Lollapalooza Chicago, IL

August 8th The Old Rock House St. Louis, MO

August 9th The Riot Room Kansas City, MO

August 10th Hi-Dive Denver, CO

September 10th Musicfest NW @ Pioneer Courthouse Square Portland, OR

Stream the AAN 7″ B-Side

I just realized that AAN uploaded both sides of their recently released 7″ to stream. This song is call Haunted, Million Ways.

Tape Op Reviews Typhoon!

I am officially happy, for the latest issue of Tape Op came in the mail today which contains a brief, flattering review of Typhoon’s 2011 EP [A New Kind of House]. I feel unbelievably lucky to be mentioned and quoted in my favorite publication. If you are not familiar with Tape Op, you should be. It’s the most widley distributed recording magazine in the world! If you walk into any recording studio they will have a copy on the coffee table. They offer free subscriptions on their website. Tape Op delivery day is always a treat – it’s such a great magazine! Check it out for your self!

- P.S. Thanks Larry Crane for being such a cool dude!

Listen: Kyle Morton of Typhoon cover’s Bob Dylan

Last week while working out some live sound details with Kyle Morton of Typhoon, I was asked if I was free for the rest of the afternoon to track a couple acoustic songs. One of the tunes we recorded was released today via Willamette Week’s B-Day tribute album to Bob Dylan who turned 70 this week. Kyle chose to cover “Buckets of Rain” from Dylan’s 1975 critically acclaimed album Blood on the Tracks. We recorded this song in Kyle’s bedroom, if you listen close you can hear tucks drive by and a bit of percussion from the clothes dryer.