Process: Recording A Track with Woodsman

ftk (47)in #music • 7 years ago

There's something super satisfying about the journey to completion. The recording process for Woodsman has always been that, a journey through a collective subconscience that for a few brief moments sync up. When we went into the studio to record our 3rd album there were no pre conceived notions, nothing written, just an openness to connect. Out of that one of my favorite tracks we ever recorded was born.

Listen to "Healthy Life" and I'll take you through the process.

The first phase is laying down the base rhythm to then build off. The tracks are almost always percussion heavy & include two drummers. For this one there's two full kits at play, one holds down the kraut and the other doubles up and adds fill.

Add guitar and the searching begins. We'll run through a rhythm / riff combination improving and trying to find some balance. For this particular track these two parts chug along opening up pockets for added flourishes.

Some keys & other elements filter in to then be buried in the mix. This adds weight to the track filling it out and hitting some alternate frequencies.

The final phase is tweaking the mix so all elements dance around each other. Spoken word samples are added, these from field recordings of an NYC MTA Subway employee rambling about the meaning of life.