Dining Room Studios
The Beginning
Dining Room Studios came to life in 1999 when Peter
Shout, out of the blue, (or was it the pub?) turned up one day at
practice with a Roland VS-1680 recording unit under his arm.
We gingerly placed it upon the closest table, sprayed it with
insecticide to remove the guff from Pete's armpits, and stood around it
in a circle, lost in rapture at this "Gift from the God's"
that had suddenly entered our empty and unfulfilled lives.
The band had been talking for ages about doing some recording, but
cost's and logistics kept on rearing their ugly heads.
Great excitement was produced with this unexpected event, and an
immediate start was made to record something (anything!) on the unit.
Fingers poked, buttons were pressed and curses were thrown around until
eventually, we got the thing working. We were in business!!!
"Let's make a CD." was the immediate common consensus. So
guitars in hand, drums set up and with vocal chords warmed up, we
proceeded to do just that. We hadn't even read the bloody manual yet!!
The result of this first recording project was BedRocks debut CD
"La Cantina in March 2000."
We still class this project as a minor miracle 'cos none of us knew what
the hell we were doing AND we recorded the thing back to front! Charles
was leaving for Germany and Ken and Jen were in the process of being
transferred to Jo'burg. So, guess what we did? We recorded the lead
vocals first and then the backing tracks!!! (Stop laughing.)
But it worked and BedRock was now a fully fledged member of the
recording fraternity.
Pete's
Baby!!
The Roland VS-1680. |
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After the successful release of "La
Cantina" and realising that they needed a bit of improvement
regarding the technical side of recording, (that's an understatement)
the lad's decided to do something about it. Whilst Eddie, Pete and Mike
disappeared on holiday, Kenny was locked in his bedroom with only four
items : the VS-1680, a set of headphones, the VS-1680 Manual and a weeks
supply of Tafel lager.
A week later, Kenny was let out and immediately booked into the Betty
Ford clinic to be treated for acute alcohol poisoning, muttering strange
and weird things about Japanese instruction manuals.
Armed now with a better understanding of how the Japanese brain works,
(???) BedRock recorded 4 "demo" tracks which they
subsequencially (and sneakily) released in tape format as the
"BedRock Bootleg Tape" during December 2000.
Now to tackle the BIG one.
A full length CD of original songs!!!
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Kenny
Twiddles the knobs.
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Pete
Shop Keeper.
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Planning, we all decided, was the key.
What do we need?
- Something to record on. (The VS-1680.)
- Microphones, etc. (We've got.)
- Songs. (We quickly wrote 14.)
- Recording Studio. (No problem, we'll use Pete's
Dining Room.)
- A name for the CD. ("Recovery", screamed
Eddie Heusdens, jumping up and down and waving his hands about like
a demented orang-utan.)
(Orang-utan n. large long-armed anthropoid of East Indies.)
(Eddie Heusden n. large long-armed anthropoid of Namibia.)
So, on Saturday 17th of February 2001, we started
laying down the backing tracks of "Recovery", all of us
smiling sweetly at Pete's long suffering wife Brenda in case she decided
to evict us from her now, semi-demolished Dining Room.
Here's a list of some useless facts regarding the recording of
"Recovery" :
- Started recording Saturday 17th February 2001.
- Recording completed Sunday 15th of April 2001.
- Total 8 Weeks.
- Total Recording time in Hours = 141.
- Total Hours spent Mixing and Mastering = 35.
- Total Number of songs = 14
- Length of CD = 52 minutes 16 seconds.
- Total Number of tracks recorded = 293.
- Total number of beers consumed = Un-countable.
Beer cans popped and it was smiles all around as the
Master CD was burnt and then gently handed over to a bemused Pete who
was informed, in no uncertain terms, that it was his responsibility to
organise the copies and the packaging. Being a man of strong character
and impeccable credentials, Pete took it all in his stride, and was soon
winging (whining?) his way to Johannesburg and Cape Town to deliver the
bands precious artistic offering to the CD manufacturers and CD
cover/booklet printers.
Monday the 18th June. Urgent e-mail from Pete. "Emergency
Band Meeting - tonight - my house." Like police on a drug bust,
with engines racing and wheels squealing, Eddie, Mike and Kenny
converged on Pete's place of residence expecting something terrible.
What did they find? The CD covers had arrived!!!
On a table in his lounge was heaped a pile of CD's and CD covers. "Right
lad's," said Pete in his best drill masters voice, "These
are advanced mail order copies. Get packing." Trembling with
fear, and with bowed heads, the three (3) of them got stuck in whilst
Pete, laying back comfortably in his "Lazy Boy" chair,
proceeded to sip at his beer, every now and again barking an order at
one of the unfortunate packers.
Eight (8) hours later, the lad's were finished. Dripping with sweat and
with hands covered in blisters the three (3) workers lifted their weary
bodies and said goodnight to Pete. He, though, didn't hear a word they
said as he was fast asleep in his easy chair. Slowly they made their way
home, thankful that they had managed to prevent Pete from having to
indulge in any form of physical activity.
The Recovery CD Launch -
29th June 2001
The long-awaited day finally
arrived and Shout & Ramage (sounds like a type of bottled sauce,
doesn't it?) took a day's leave - with alacrity - and took up position
at the Bowling Club awaiting the arrival of the stage. (Stage? What's
that I hear you say. Ah-hah...this time Bedrock would literally be
"head and shoulders" above the rest!).
Almost to the minute the truck arrived and Ramage leapt into foreman
mode, gesticulating here, there and everywhere, all the while barking
(he is a bit of a dog!) directions. The lack of authority in his manner
and voice immediately manifested themselves, the truck's crew
contemptuously tossing the stage overboard and driving off! The duo
looked at the expansive pieces of wood rather forlornly wondering how
they would get from where they lay, to where they would be of some use.
Once again Ramage took charge, bristling with authority as he
press-ganged a group of bemused onlookers into helping. With a few
heaves and ho's (plus many "Ouch my back" please) the stages
were carefully eased into the clubhouse, positioned, carpeted and
declared open for business.
All morning the duo toiled away until joined by Mike & Eddie after
lunch. Soundcheck time! All went well. Then it was time for a short
break before the festivities began. Pete & Eddie headed for the
Hockey Club to be present at their Big Raffle Draw, hoping to come away
with a trolley-full of cash. No chance. Still, they rationalised, you
can't have everything...I mean, being in Bedrock surely has no value
anyway? Or should that be "No price"? Ag, who cares.
Back at the Bowling Club an expectant crowd was rapidly building and the
CD sales were surging. After playing the cool rock star geriatrics for a
while it was time to play. Up Eddie went and opened the set on the drums
with the start to Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of
Wonderful". Soon the whole band was up there, rocking into the
evening. Also new were the band's newly acquired lighting
"trees", including a mirror ball, strobe and a few other
"tricks". The audience were clearly on their way to being
inebriated as they immediately filled the dance floor, determined to
make the most of the night. Tirelessly the band ran through the play
list, past the first set and into the second.
Then the really big moment arrived - the German television crew made
their entrance. Yes, folks, Bedrock will be appearing in a German-French
television documentary which is presently being shot - on location, you
understand - and which features our little community and its mining
activities. Seemingly mesmerised by Bedrock's uniqueness, the television
crew were leaden-footed when it came to moving away from the stage.
Shout & Ramage reveled in the opportunity to perform in front of the
cameras, duly attracting the producer's rebuke for going "over the
top". (Sorry boss - shall we...err...shoot that scene again?).
As a result, the whole of Europe will be left with the totally false
impression that Bedrock act their age. What an appalling notion!
At 01:00 the band ended their final set, beating the local Constabulary
at their own game. You see when the "Quick Response" unit of
the Cops arrived at the Club two hours later the noise levels were
perfect. But we have a fairly intrepid bunch of local Coppers and,
having spoilt their night's sleep getting up so early anyway, they
positioned themselves in the shadows outside the club to see if they
could get themselves a drunken driver or two. Sorry Officers, Bedrock
don't have those kinds of supporters - they're actually wiser than that.
Our mob just stay safely tucked away inside the clubhouse and carry on
drinking until they fall over where they stand, or the Cops go to bed
again! Needless to say, Pete, Mike & Eddie, being the ages they are,
retired to bed before the night got any later, leaving Kenny to
"carry the flag" for the band. That was extremely noble of him
but he stuck to the task manfully until well after dawn. Kenny, you see,
has very poor night vision so he couldn't strike for home because he
couldn't see his way without daylight. Good on yer, Kennuf. Anyway,
another glorious night in the band's history passed by.
To purchase a copy of
"La Cantina" or "Recovery", why not pay a visit to The
Shop.
Or, if you would like to sample some of the songs from
"Recovery",
then visit BedRock's MP3 Site.
Some very helpful recording sites :
VS
Planet - Virtual Studios - Roland VS-1680
VS
Planet Bulletin Board- Bulletin Board - Roland VS-1680
V-Studio
- V-Studio Users Group - Roland VS-1680
Roland
- Roland U.S.A.
Horizontal
Paul - VS-1680 Manuals.
Harmony-Central.com
- Compression/Limiting.
Recordingeq.com
- A Guide to Equilisation.
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