Here's a link to some stuff. Opinions welcomed...but not necessarily taken into account.

http://www.betarecords.com/drenchten.echo

Awesome man, I like it.

Hey man. Thanks. I appreciate that. It's hard to tell sometimes whether as an artist you are too self-indulgent. Whether anyone will dig it except you. I played guitar and wrote all the acoustic stuff btw. The electric thing is just me on vocals.

I like it. How did you get your acoustic to sound so good?

The acoustic was recorded at Echo Bay Studios in Mpls, MN. The mic used was rather expensive stuff that most people couldn't afford. I don't remember the actual brand or model but it was a tube mic. I don't quite recall whether or not this next technique was used on this recording but a good way to get an affordable acoustic sound is called an xy pattern (or something like that). Essentially it's taking 2 matched condenser mics (you can buy fairly affordable mics like this in pairs that are sonically matched). So anyways, set one mic in front of the guitar pointed towards the neck of the guitar from a position in front of the sound hole. Set the second mic in the same manner except pointing towards the large part of the box of your acoustic. These mics should more or less form an X pattern. The mic directed towards the neck will pick up more of the treble side and a good amount of overtones whereas the other will pick up more of the bass side of the spectrum. From here you just mix these two sounds in a way that pleases your ear. Oh and a tube mic pre (which you can get cheap for under $100) will do a lot for your sound too.

Also important to this sound is the guitar. The one your hearing here is a Seagull S6 with a spruce top. They are about $500 bucks if I remember right and the big deal is that they actually have a solid spruce top (rare at this price range). Not solid as in one piece because there is a seam along the center but solid in thickness (as opposed to plys that bad sounding acoustics use) and the grain of the wood is book matched. Meaning that the grains are mirrors of each other along the center axis.

Lastly the chords I use have something to do with this sound too. Sus 2 and Sus 4 chords are cool sounding. I also really like Maj7 chords. Especially ones without the 5th. The reason these ones are cool is cause you can use some open strings along with them and this just gives a really cool 'open' sound. Some people have asked if I use open tunings but no, I just like open strings ringing with the chords.

Hope that helps (it helped me kill a half hour at work)...

Thanks, I have 3 really good microphones and a tube pre amp, to which I broke the AC Adaptor to (hint: Just because an AC adaptor may fit in another appliance doesn't mean it will work), so when the new one gets here I'll give it a whirl.

that's some really bad ass stuff man. Great, great vocals. Sometimes you have a weird Robert Smith voice, but not as sad and British haha. That's not an insult though....the vocals kick ass.

The electric one really picks up and progresses. I like it quite a bit. Vocal work is good too.

Thanks people. These words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. If anyone has any good ideas regarding promotional opportunities or 'knows anyone, who knows anyone', karma is in effect. I love playing but am a little lost in the promo, booking world.

www.getsigned.com

Lots of good free resources on that site.

hey man great stuff...I am totally impressed...have you record anything,you know an ep or something so I can buy it?

Yeah I've got an acoustic EP and also a full length that has all that material and some more. Email me your contact information via the site and I'll send something out for you for $10. I appreciate your interest.

It's cool that I've gotten so much support from all of you. You know this is what Tool was supposed to be all about. Inspiring people to create their own art so that maybe someday we can replace the clones with sincere art. Not bickering about stupid shit or waiting for the next time Maynard takes a shit and discussing what it smelled like.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the one of the only areas on this site where I've seen open-minded, creative and thoughtful people congregate to advance art. Don't tell anyone in the other forums. I'd hate to see this area overrun by dumbasses too.

Thanks Tyro. I'll check it out.

http://www.getsigned.com/promotion.html

They do have some books, ect for sale, but there are a good amount of free articles.

yeah man that is totally true...I mean in every topic the first answer is going to be a fuck u or go have sex with a cat or something like that....now I understand why keenan thinks a lot of his fans idiots.I mean keenan (and I am pretty sure and all the other tool members think the same) wants their music to be insipiration for other artists.Well take a look at this area of the site...how many people are looking for new tunes.very few.......sorry for the offtopic

yeap I am gonna send an email as soon as possible......I am from greece I hope this isn't a prob ;)

As long as you're picking up the shipping, no problem. I have no idea what that costs, do you?

There isn't a lot of money....I mean only 3 $ or so.

No problem then.

There are some new songs uploaded that weren't there before.

this is really good man
bump for you

Very cool stuff, nice guitar work. Do you have anymore material up on the net?

i'm liking burned by the sun

other three are quite nice, but i think the voice is more suited to the heavier setting

Just the www.betarecords.com/drenchten.echo site and www.myspace.com/drenchtenecho . If any toolnavy people are on myspace, add it up. Right now it's just a stock site, anyone know how to upload different layouts to a myspace music site?

Thanks for compliment. Glad you liked it. As of late, I'm trying to reprioritize my life a little in order to increase the focus on music, so all your kind words have helped inspire me a bit. Sometimes it can be hard to focus on one medium but with a limited number of hours in a day (lifetime)...

By the way, I'm making all of the acoustic stuff on the Betarecords site available for download. So if your needing an acoustic backdrop for your wandering mind, let me help.

Thanks. Burned by the Sun is really my favorite too. Unfortunately the band that I recorded that as a demo for (in other words, I did the vocals and the vocal melody writing only on this track. no guitars) went with some whiney emo-punk guy instead (no bitterness...none). All of the acoustic work is me on guitar and vocals and it's all from about 4-5 years ago, whereas Burned by the Sun is from this year. I like to write the acoustic thing but I'd rather just concentrate on vocals, I just haven't found the right situation. So, until then I'll keep doing the solo stuff. But it's definately fun to just zone out completely on the vocals. I find stylistically it takes me to a whole different place when I don't have to concern myself with the guitar simultaneously.

What mic do you record vocals with? Also, what effect is that one your vocals? It seems, thicker.... chorus perhaps? Just a slight amount.

Not sure, on either question. I did this track in one hour studio time at a local studio here in AZ, called Tallcat Studios. The engineer did all the effects. I just said yea or nay.

New Myspace Blog and Music

www.myspace.com/drenchtenecho

Some New Emotional Public Bloodletting….

To an extent, isn’t this all that art is? Well if it’s shared that is. And especially in it’s more raw forms. Well here it is; the start of a new era.

Always a fan of free thought and creative solutions to age old problems, this is what I’ve come up with. You see much of what I do as an artist is try to pull these things I hear from my head and nail them to the air completed. However…due to my apparent ADHD the usual feedback loop that most artist’s engage in, that of completing a work before sharing it, leaves my mind forgetting the reward it comes to the sounds for in the first place.

As of late I’ve spent much of my time frustrated by a steady stream of Protools errors and computer crashes but slowly I’m learning. This is agony for someone like me. To be brought down from my aural landscapes to the systematic traffic jam of tech bullshit is a buzzkill to say the least. So back to the point (see the problem, tangential blather) the new fourth song in my list will be an experiment. A window into my ant farm. Whatever I’m messing with as of late, you’ll get to taste. From noise to the sublime (we hope) in all it’s nakedness and shitty mixological glory.

The perfectionist within must be put to rest. Not only will this window serve the purpose of freeing myself from this habit I have of obsessing my way out of the creative process. But it also serves the purpose of sharing.

etc...

So yeah the forth song on the list entitled 'Work In Progress' is downloadable and 'in progress'. I will update it as much as I can with random shit from noise to art.

Todays' installment is something that kept me awake last night. It’s noise but I kind of like it.


Also available to download at www.betarecords.com/drenchten.echo . Feel free to share your thoughts here or on myspace.

Peace...