WE’RE ON THE TV!!
Check out season 11 episode 11 of Chicago Med to hear “Toms my only friend” streaming on Peacock or an NBC rerun if you still have cable
It’s so silly to hear and see a song we wrote some time ago have a lil bit of a new life. It comes in around 19:40. This was rlly cool I appreciate you 💜 #tv #imdb #nbc #med #alt
Page Break\\
@ofthoughtandfeeling was at the studio last week doing a bit of recording, and @christianlolomoreno returned for some more tasteful percussion work. His Supraphonic paired quite nicely with the vintage Kingston kit.
#sabiancymbals #swiftroadstudios #chicagomusic #recordingstudio #swiftrdstudios #studiodrums #ofthoughtandfeeling
201 South — How to even begin this.. I didn’t really feel like a professional until I moved into this building. The smiling faces that have left this place, the albums and memories that we recorded here in this space have materialized into more of a career than I could imagine in my dreams.
7 years in this space so far, and this town has been so very good to us. The rooms themselves have been such a crucial part of the work that we do here. I am and will be forever grateful for the friends and colleagues that got me into such a beautiful studio. I am also extremely proud to announce that we just signed a lease to continue serving you all for 3 more years at this beautiful location!
So here we celebrate continuing this era, all of the hard work and passion it took to keep it alive through a global pandemic AND a fire, and together we get to see Swift Road through a full 10 years at 201 S. Arlington Heights Road!
Andy from Pleasantries and I worked on a thing! Has to be the greatest song about a cat ever made, if you ask me. But yeah, I’m on drums & production, Andy, Joel Haver & friends on everything else. pleasantriestheband
#pleasantries #musicproduction #swiftroadstudios
Working for the Weekend \\
Instruments and wires strewn about, a mixture of modern & timeless equipment, the remains of a band recording and LED globe lights. THIS is how the studio should look and feel, and I’m incredibly excited to see such amazing projects coming through here again!
Using our friend’s Rhodes Mark II is always an experience, and I used Sennheiser MD421 mics on the toms for the first time in years to get that dry, warm sound from them. Honorable mention to the Cascade Fathead ribbon mics on the overheads supplying all the lush sounds from these dark, washy cymbals 🥁
#swiftroadstudios #chicagomusic #studioporn #recordingstudio #music #drumporn #ludwig #ludwigdrums #yamahadrums #fenderrhodes #ofthoughtandfeeling
Guitar World \\
This past weekend I sold a couple of things to spend a small fortune on a dozen packs of Ernie Ball strings to set up every guitar we have in the studio. Since the fire, basically all of these fine instruments have sat without strings, which made me incredibly sad to see every day. One of my favorite things in the studio is to just grab a guitar and noodle while I’m waiting for projects to bounce out, and I haven’t been able to do any of that.
Since they’re all super pretty and looking fresh I figured it was time for a family photo. I also didn’t realize that we have more Fender guitars in here than anything else. Honorable mention to Ibanez who has made instruments that hold a HUGE place in my heart, then I started getting into ESP/LTD since joining a performing metal band again, and last (but not least) we have the beautiful one-offs including the Epiphone Sheraton, Seagull Concert and, of course, that GORGEOUS Danelectro with the metallic blue finish.
We record drums more than any other instrument here at the studio. While I feature them a lot, I am extremely proud of this eclectic collection of guitars that I’ve hand-selected over the years. Almost every one of these guitars have also been modified by myself, and the range of tones available is about as wide as the Grand Canyon. So, ya know, come record some guitars here! Yes, you have a Scarlett at home, but here— try this one with the switch in position 2 & roll the volume back a touch 🎸
#guitarporn #studioporn #recordingstudio #swiftroadstudios #chicagomusic #ernieballstrings #fender #epiphone #ibanez #esp #ltd #danelectro #seagull #familyphoto
The Working Hour \\
We just finished up a final vocal session here and it just feels good to see the studio in its natural state again after punching out tracks on a schedule. Feeling that gratitude under some dim lights, ya know?
Oh and we started stringing up all the guitars again! I still love how @ernieball came out with all of these in-between sized string sets. Got some light stuff for the bendy lead guitars, some mediums for the Tele, and some med-heavy for the Jazzmaster. It’ll be nice to know that we’ll have a host of guitars to pick up & play all around the place again.
Lastly, there is something special I’m working on dedicated to all of you that helped us through this summer. I already started tracking it, and it’s coming out SUPER cool! See you all around, and if you have the ability please consider giving to the GoFundMe for one last round as I get the studio back up & running (link is in the bio). Or if you have tracks that you need recorded, we are fully functional again with the new rigs! Thanks for everything, y’all are amazing
🎶🖤🎶
#chicagomusic #recordingstudio #swiftroadstudios #studioporn #ernieball #vocalbooth #guitarporn #fenderguitars #stratocaster
Night Lights \\ Yesterday I filled out the drum kit and set up mics around it for the first time since the fire. The sound of our Focusrite 8PreX units with just the usual mic rigs sounded INCREDIBLE. Honestly I was expecting some bugs here & there, but the studio has been operating pretty flawlessly with the new hardware.
It feels good to make loud noises within these walls again, and I’m putting together something really special for all of you that helped out in our time of need 🖤🎶
#swiftroadstudios #chicagomusic #studioporn #drumporn #ludwigdrums #yamahadrums #drumrecording
The days have been going by slowly, but looking back at the past few weeks it feels like yesterday that the studio looked like a scene from the apocalypse. The bits of work & responsibilities I’ve had keep me from losing myself emotionally, but those of you who’ve reached out also played a huge part in that. I appreciate it wholeheartedly!
That combined with seeing the progress in the room (all new paint & flooring are in!) are getting me excited to get back to work already! We’ve also been scrubbing off all of the gear from the dry chemical, and slowly seeing what pieces need to be cleaned & which were simply torched. There was a lot of damage dealt, but most of the studio has survived with most of the contents just a bit dusty, including items close to the flames.
This week I’m hoping to finish up cleaning the components, then getting the live room spic & span again. Those of you asking about the crowdfunding, I appreciate it so much! It should be coming in the next day or so, especially now that the losses have been tallied. Until then, I hope y’all have a fantastic weekend! We’ll see each other soon 🖤
Diety Machines //
“God sound” faders are up, suck knobs are desoldered from the board, these tones sound MASSIVE! Splawn Quickrod on one side & Diezel Einstein on the other with tailored overdrives running through the Atlas Cabinets 2x12 w/ Greenbacks and the Mesa 4x12 slant with V30’s simultaneously.
How close CAN you get a Beta 57 up to a cab? The Greenbacks are nice, but can lack the 6k-9k bite that you might appreciate from the V30. The Beta 57 helps add in the aggression by having a unique attack envelope (usually a favorite on snare, if that tells you anything) and running it super close is possible with the hypercardiod patter & keeps the mids from being too woofy. The Cascade Fathead ribbon on the Mesa cab adds as much fundamental back in as you need for a given part of the song.
Hope y’all have been doing well! We’ve been roasting our ear drums here at the studio the last few weeks on some big projects! Spring is right around the corner, keep your heads above water, friends 🖤🖤
#chicagomusic #chicagometal #swiftroadstudios #atlascabinets #mesaboogie #mesaengineering #blackmesa #vintage30 #greenback #shure #splawn #diezel #quickrod #einstein #overdrive #seymourduncan #maxon #mogami #recordingstudio #studioporn #musicproducer #metalguitar #heavymetal #powermetal #progressivemetal #ibanezguitars #musicmanguitars #bareknucklepickups
