After about three years of recording, editing, mixing, mastering, my band's seventh studio LP is FINALLY here (for streaming and download). I bring you Grit by KC Roberts & the Live Revolution
GRIT - The New LP from KC Roberts & The Live Revolution
For any of you reading this right away, the Spotify release hasn't happened yet. Give it a couple hours.
If any of you are bass, gear, and recording nerds like me, then you might be interested in a bit of the nuts and bolts behind each track. Heads up, there's a lot of potentially boring and meaningless info below!
Here are a few notes on each tune. I'm happy to provide more info on settings if I have the notes/memory to back it up. Oh and for the record, we laid down drums first for every tune way back before the pandemic, so except for Get Out of My Life, all the bass was recorded after the drums rather than live.
Melody Feels Right
I *love* this bass line. It's so slick and funky. I can't take credit - KC wrote it. I recorded this one at home with a bunch of different basses and a bunch of different feels/styles until finally settling on my 2014ish Fender Deluxe Jazz V (white w black guard). It's a blend of two channels - both DI. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 (low pass only) --> Empirical Labs Fatso. You'll notice a theme in general that I just try to run the signal through as many transformers and tubes as possible lol.
Rosa
I swear I tried this tune on every bass I could get my hands on and never felt 100% happy with the tone, but in the end it worked really well despite my frustration. This one was just my EBMM Stingray 5 HH through the Chandler Microphone Cassette. Simple and sexy.
Grit
I had laid down a scratch track a few years ago that was *reaaalllly* funky but ended up just not quite feeling right after all the rest of the track was built. So if I recall correctly the final bass was actually the *last* thing to be added to this tune. I sadly took no notes on my signal chain but I know I used the same Deluxe Jazz that I used in Melody Feels Right. Just found a sound that worked and went with it. I mean, the drums and guitars are really doing the heavy lifting in this tune anyway.
Get Out of My Life
This is the only bass performance that lasted from the original sessions for the album back in 2019. Which means it's the only bass performance that happened in a "real" studio instead of in my basement. It's my 1975 Fender Musicmaster through a super clean signal path: API preamp into Distressor into SSL board. Clean and easy.
People Who Came to Party
Talk about a workout! Man, this tune slaps (literally/figuratively). Maybe someday I'll be able to share the isolated bass tracks for the record so you can hear all the weird and wacky stuff that may not have come through too clearly in the final mixes. Either way, this one is obviously another Stingray track (EBMM Stingray 5, single p/u). Two channels again, both DI. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API 565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Of the Stars
This was the first tune that I worked on during the lockdown. I had just set my gear up in preparation for the long haul of recording bass at home, which had not been the original plan. All we had recorded at that point was drums and some scratch vox/guitar. My single bass take lasted all the way through to the record with everything built on top. I *love* the tone of the P bass on this one. Two channels again, both DI. American 2019 Standard P Bass. Channel 1: REDDI --> Black Lion B12 --> Radial Space Heater --> API 525 --> API 550a --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Great River ME-1NV --> Radial Space Heater --> Universal Audio 6176 (just the compressor) --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Carl Got Lit
Honestly, I just wanted to sound like Dusty Hill on the Deguello album. It's not quite the same, but I think you'll hear the similarities. Two DI channels again, this time with my 1965 Silvertone 1444 (the Sears bass). Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 (squashed) --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Shot Song
On our other albums it's not all that rare for me to use different basses for different sections of the same song. This is the only one on Grit where I did that. The "shot" parts are all on the Silvertone. The proggy rock parts are on the P bass. All using the same settings on the 2 DI channels. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Almighty Saint Funkenstein
Many of you who learned about my band on TB will have seen me playing my trusty green Squier Precision Special with all the stickers. This is the only appearance of that bass on this album. And it sound funky af. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> API525 --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
GRIT - The New LP from KC Roberts & The Live Revolution
For any of you reading this right away, the Spotify release hasn't happened yet. Give it a couple hours.
If any of you are bass, gear, and recording nerds like me, then you might be interested in a bit of the nuts and bolts behind each track. Heads up, there's a lot of potentially boring and meaningless info below!
Here are a few notes on each tune. I'm happy to provide more info on settings if I have the notes/memory to back it up. Oh and for the record, we laid down drums first for every tune way back before the pandemic, so except for Get Out of My Life, all the bass was recorded after the drums rather than live.
Melody Feels Right
I *love* this bass line. It's so slick and funky. I can't take credit - KC wrote it. I recorded this one at home with a bunch of different basses and a bunch of different feels/styles until finally settling on my 2014ish Fender Deluxe Jazz V (white w black guard). It's a blend of two channels - both DI. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 (low pass only) --> Empirical Labs Fatso. You'll notice a theme in general that I just try to run the signal through as many transformers and tubes as possible lol.
Rosa
I swear I tried this tune on every bass I could get my hands on and never felt 100% happy with the tone, but in the end it worked really well despite my frustration. This one was just my EBMM Stingray 5 HH through the Chandler Microphone Cassette. Simple and sexy.
Grit
I had laid down a scratch track a few years ago that was *reaaalllly* funky but ended up just not quite feeling right after all the rest of the track was built. So if I recall correctly the final bass was actually the *last* thing to be added to this tune. I sadly took no notes on my signal chain but I know I used the same Deluxe Jazz that I used in Melody Feels Right. Just found a sound that worked and went with it. I mean, the drums and guitars are really doing the heavy lifting in this tune anyway.
Get Out of My Life
This is the only bass performance that lasted from the original sessions for the album back in 2019. Which means it's the only bass performance that happened in a "real" studio instead of in my basement. It's my 1975 Fender Musicmaster through a super clean signal path: API preamp into Distressor into SSL board. Clean and easy.
People Who Came to Party
Talk about a workout! Man, this tune slaps (literally/figuratively). Maybe someday I'll be able to share the isolated bass tracks for the record so you can hear all the weird and wacky stuff that may not have come through too clearly in the final mixes. Either way, this one is obviously another Stingray track (EBMM Stingray 5, single p/u). Two channels again, both DI. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API 565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Of the Stars
This was the first tune that I worked on during the lockdown. I had just set my gear up in preparation for the long haul of recording bass at home, which had not been the original plan. All we had recorded at that point was drums and some scratch vox/guitar. My single bass take lasted all the way through to the record with everything built on top. I *love* the tone of the P bass on this one. Two channels again, both DI. American 2019 Standard P Bass. Channel 1: REDDI --> Black Lion B12 --> Radial Space Heater --> API 525 --> API 550a --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Great River ME-1NV --> Radial Space Heater --> Universal Audio 6176 (just the compressor) --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Carl Got Lit
Honestly, I just wanted to sound like Dusty Hill on the Deguello album. It's not quite the same, but I think you'll hear the similarities. Two DI channels again, this time with my 1965 Silvertone 1444 (the Sears bass). Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 (squashed) --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Shot Song
On our other albums it's not all that rare for me to use different basses for different sections of the same song. This is the only one on Grit where I did that. The "shot" parts are all on the Silvertone. The proggy rock parts are on the P bass. All using the same settings on the 2 DI channels. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> Crane Song Falcon --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
Almighty Saint Funkenstein
Many of you who learned about my band on TB will have seen me playing my trusty green Squier Precision Special with all the stickers. This is the only appearance of that bass on this album. And it sound funky af. Channel 1: REDDI --> Retro 500pre --> Great River PWM501 --> Radial Space Heater --> API525 --> Empirical Labs Fatso. Channel 2: Universal Audio 6176 --> API565 --> Empirical Labs Fatso
