Guthrie Govan Discussion

[alexkhan]

To the success of Guthrie's debut album... It's also the main reason for the delays of its release as the powers that are involved in the production are finding out that when one aspect is improved other facets don't fit in as nicely and have to be redone again. Couple that with the busy schedules of Guthrie and drummer Pete Riley (who recently toured with Keith Emerson and will be hitting the road again soon) and you can understand the reasons for the delays.

I was listening to the latest Satch album "Is There Love in Space?" at a friend's the other day and there was one aspect that really blew my mind: the production. I'd imagine the case would be the same with the latest Vai album. Listening to the clips of the Petrucci solo album, I got the same impression: these guys aren't skimping on the production aspect of it at all. But Satch's latest one really grabbed my attention. The music, the playing, the arrangements, etc. weren't anything groundbreaking - typical very proficient playing and musicianship that you've come to expect from Satch. But listening to the aural soundscapes that were coming out of the speakers, I was very impressed with the overall production of it: it all sounded so huge and clear with so much space between all the different instruments and timbres.

I talked with Paul Cornford (who'll be distributing the album on the new Cornford Records label) about the delays and he advised me that all the little changes and tweaks they were making to make something particular sound better forced other things to be corrected or re-done as well. And after all this time (the delays) and money spent on making it right, they may as well make it the best that it can be to hang with the big boys. He was saying that people now demand big, hi-fi productions and anything less will be considered amateur. I understood. We've already waited this long, what's another 5 or 6 months?

The truth is that the old GG compilation album recordings and the two tracks on Cornford Presents EP are rather lacking in the production areas. It's not going to make people take notice. I've played those CD tracks for people after me raving about GG and they ask, "Uh... Why am I not blown away by this?" Then they see the DVDs or live in person and are absolutely blown away. For the CD to have similar impact, the production is going to have to be the best that the modern technology has to offer.

Not only the latest Satch recording, but I happen to watch a video by Green Day on MTV while surfing the channels and, once again, it was the production that really grabbed my interest. Now Green Day would be about the last thing I'd be interested in listening to, but as I watched the video and listened to the audio, I said, "Man, the music may not be my cup of tea but that sounds great!" I think I may have to pick up the latest Satch album as well. The tunes were good and not much different from what I've heard from him before, but the production and the huge sound of it was really cool.

I know that Guthrie is really not in charge of the production of this album. It's squarely in the hands of Jan Cyrka who I've heard has great ears. For this album to finally get out and make an impact out there, the production is really going to have to shine and highlight Guthrie's playing without making the guitar sound too upfront or strident but also not sound fluffy and over-produced either. To me, the Cornford Presents EP's production is too generic wimpy and the two tunes, "WST" and "EC", sound too happy-fusion fluffy. But at the same time, you don't want the production too raw either and small sounding. I trust Mr. Cyrka knows what he's doing and that he'll get it right. The production is going to decide how well the album is accepted amongst the mainstream type of a crowd - not just us freaks populating forums like these.
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Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
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[EricT]

Very good point, Alex. Production can make a good album sound excellent, and is an often overlooked aspect by us musicians.

I like the words you used to describe Satch's album, huge, clear and space between the instruments. That's exactly how it's supposed to be!
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"Fishing for the right note"

[frankus]

[Carlo]

yes, production is definitely key. Satch and Vai's albums really do shine because of the fine attention to detail in their production. To the average listener, production is usually something they don't think about but it's certainly something that influences their opinion about an artist's work, whether they are aware of it or not (I don't know if that makes sense or not )

[alexkhan]

[M@]

Yep, production either makes or breaks an album. However many of the albums from the sixties and seventies still have that musical magic, even though they haven't used the latest technology of today.

I love that first song on the latest Satch album - it really kicks in and keeps the pulse going. As I mentioned on another post, The latest Vai album is taking me some time to get into. I really do like the song on that album that was recorded with a live orchestra - just shows Vai's modern compositional abilities. Some of my fave vai tunes would be "Whispering a Prayer" and "Blue Powder" - just bliss!!!

For me, the song is king... if the song sux, forget about the solo - it 'aint gonna save the song. This is where I see Guthrie has it over a lot of the other guitar players out there. He's got great phrasing and melody.


Cheers

[Will]

Vai's last album is supposed to be written like a story. With each guitar part/line representing different characteurs.

Well, thats what my mate tells me although it was in an article he was reading.