Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Buffalo Builders

The Buffalo Builders


The Buffalo Builders finished the CD they recorded at COTM a few months back. The results are excellent (samples here). Jeremy (a friend of mine, the drummer of the band, and also a PK) says recording in the church gave them a sound that would have been difficult or impossible to replicate in a studio:
In early April 2008 we carted all our gear and the contents of Eric's basement studio into the spacious confines of The Church Of The Messiah at the corner of Avenue Road and Dupont Street in Toronto, Ontario. The very kind Reverend Tay Moss was very gracious and helpful, but was probably as confused as we were about exactly what was happening. After all, what will a rock record recorded in a church sound like? Many recordings of choirs, orchestras, even quieter roots albums like The Cowboy Junkies 'Trinity Sessions' have been made in churches. But what will ours sound like? We had wanted to do something different.... whether or not this was a good idea remained to be seen as we started setting up and getting sounds.

The next two days were typical of most recording sessions: moments of elation, frustration, exhaustion, boredom, hilarity, sadness, resignation and determination were experienced by all of us, but not necessarily at the same time. There were some very key differences though between the experience of recording in the 'Messiah' and a standard studio. There was space. Lots and lots of space. This was interesting mostly for the way it influenced some musical decisions and the way things sounded, but really, it was nice to just be in such a large space. Many studios are cramped affairs, where quality and downtown location are preferred over large rooms. While these small studios are designed for the purpose of high-fidelity recording, they are not necessarily great places to hang out. If there is one thing that is common to all rock and roll recordings, it is that there is as much hanging out as recording that takes place. I think that we all felt that we could breathe a bit... it was possible to take a walk without leaving the common space. (source)


The Buffalo Builders are having a release party/concert at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on December 27th at 9 P.M. Be there or be square!

-t

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