SPEAKER_00 0:10

Everyone, welcome to the music video podcast. Inspire and power and sport new ideas. Because art isn't just about what we need. It's about the community we built together. So gravity is company. And let's grow with creativity side by side. Music is our hero podcast for creativity, community, and inspiration to come to light.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Alright, so this is the part two of the Eddie Gal's um podcast that we're doing here, and it's the making of his song, Your Last Days Pay, that was written and performed by him and recorded, mixed, and mastered by myself here at Drowning Fish Studio, one of the best studios here in the best studio here in Philadelphia. So we just want to show you around and then honestly let you inside what the song's all about. So where where where did this song come from? Where do your last days pay? What's the basic summary of what it means?

SPEAKER_02 1:15

It's actually a couple things. My brother, my oldest brother, John, is 18 years older than me, right? So he um he said something to me when I got into the work for it, like right after high school, I was in the union in construction, and I found myself on a construction site. And he said something to me that stuck with me throughout my life, and it proved true in every aspect of life, and it was you're only as good as your last day's pay, man. Right? Like, so it's like, what have you done for me lately? Like, that's the world we live in. You're only as good as your last day's pay. Like, it doesn't matter what you did yesterday, you paid for yesterday and it's done. Like, if you're ain't getting it today, then you're no good to anybody. Right. So he he he always that was something my brother always drilled into my head, and and it was just something that stuck with me, and it and it was true in every aspect of my life. So that's where kind of like it, it it's that's where it originated from. Like it I wrote that song probably ten times, you know, with different lyrics and different ideas, you know what I mean? And then and then it just kind of it just kind of like fell into place. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

All right, sweet. And then and then what happened? How long when did you uh in comparison to when he said that to you, to when you wrote it and had a final copy that you were like, hey, do I want to record this? Like how long how much time went?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

I mean, it was it was a while. Like I I had the lyrics like, and I could never seem to finish anything, right? Like, so I would write and I would get close and I would be missing um a bridge or or uh because I didn't know anything about songwriting really. I didn't know the format and what what typically works, and I just was writing and I and and and my buddy's good. Yeah, yeah, like and my and my my my buddy Joey um he helped me with that, you know, and and showed me like this is what you need and and what grabs people's attention. So like I had lots of lyrics, like, and there's a couple parts of that that are that are that are different meanings, like uh when the second verse, when I I um it says you don't know what it's like to chase a ghost. Like I I had my my mother was pregnant with me. We had my I my brother was killed. Um we had a tragedy in our house. He he he was he was actually killed in a brutal, violent way. Um my god and um my family was in shambles when I was born and I was loved and I had a great childhood, and my brothers and sisters always said, like Eddie, you saved us, you are savior. Like we would have never made it if you hadn't come into our lives, you know, and they treated me like that. I mean, like I was treated like like I went outside the house the first time. It was like, why isn't everybody think I'm such a great deal? Like, what happened? I mean, like they love me, you know, like but every time every football practice, every football game I played, like you know, you're chasing this ghost, right? Like I'm born into this situation where everybody's mourning this horrible loss, and and I'm lost. I am like, I don't know, I don't I never met my brother, you know what I mean? My mom was pregnant with me. I know all the stories, I know how hard it was on my family. I watched my father cry. You're looking, you're watching these people that you know they're your brothers, your sisters, and and they they're they've they've had a huge piece in raising me, you know. And um they they they're they're mourning so they're and they're they're struggling so bad, each in their own way, and they can't even help themselves, right? And you're there's you, right? And you're like you don't know this person, and and you feel this tremendous loss too, like you got cheated, right? Like and so that it it kind of shifts into that, like you know, it's like it's a heavy weight to carry, and and it's a ghost that you'll never catch and that you're always gonna be chasing, you know, you're always gonna want to know, and you're just chasing this ghost that's not there, you know. It's it's like uh so that's that's kind of like the way it was inspired was different things my brother had said to me growing up and and taught me and and my experiences with you know growing up in a house that had a horrible tragedy like that in it. You know, it was it was it was really like a remarkable thing, you know.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, yeah, it's intense.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Yeah, it was. It's a heavy it's a it's the the song means a lot to me. It's it's um it's heavy, man. It's it's not just a it sounds like a working man's blues type of like cri like you know, like you know, not unappreciated, we're hard working blue cot like and it is, but there's a lot of heavy other other heavy meanings um you know that are that are in there. Like if you listen to the words, like I'm a huge fan of lyrics and they mean a lot to me and you know, like it's not all about just hooks and catches, you know what I mean? It's it's some like I just feel like the body of the song should mean something, you know, and that song has a lot of meaning to me. It's it's a summary of my life as a young person and as an adult. Like it's just a kind of a brutal summary of it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Yeah, yeah. Is there anything else about it before we hit studio day? Because then one day you were like, I'm gonna record this, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yeah. And that was humbling. That was humbling. And learning about that and all the equipment here and watching you work and mix that thing, and like how much goes like this this stuff is like that that that's an instrument. Like that's a that's a huge part of this that people I don't think appreciate. Like that's that's everything. That's the difference between having something that's good and that's really nice or something that's not. Like, is is is you have the last hands on it, and it's so important. And that's it's just I don't I just don't think people, even musicians, know enough about that sound, and it's it's an art. It's it's it's unbelievable. Like, I so having the pleasure of being in here in a studio with all this equipment, like I mean, this dude's not fing around. Like, he's got there's some unbelievable shit in here. Like, I mean, I was really intimidated, and and watching you work on this board and and find your way after all those years of being away from it was really it was it was really like an honor. It's something I won't soon forget, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Yeah, cool. Well, let's share. I guess it's time to start sharing the experience, right? Yeah, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Let's do it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

All right, so this is where Eddie spent a little bit of time in here. Um, it's very important when you come to the studio. Again, this was a learning experience, me learning around the studio, and also it was Eddie's first time in the studio.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Yeah, I was never in it. I was never in it. He had no idea.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah, and I think I did shoot him attacks and say, hey, just do these few things, but I don't think he realized how serious it was until the day he was here.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

It was very intimidating. It was it was like it was really intimidating, it was humbling for sure. Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yeah, so something that's really important. Let's say you're a singer-songwriter like Eddie, uh, and you're coming in, and what when you work with your engineer, is number one, I would send a rough draft. So you can import that into your session and mark it out. Because what happened with Eddie, we didn't have that, and we're in two different rooms. So communication gets a little weird when all you have is a talk back, Mike, and we didn't have any video at the end.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Yeah, there's no and there's no window or nothing. It's not like it's not set up like that. You would normally typically see something. So there's no visual communication at all, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, it's just him playing like the same chords, and so me trying to figure out where we're punching or not punching, and just being lost in the sauce because we didn't have it marked out. So, yeah, try to or or send your engineer a rough draft, and then um the other thing would be the lyrics. Email them the lyrics, handwrite the lyrics, airdrop the lyrics, whatever you gotta do. So when you're in the vocal booth, communication's a lot easier too, because again, you're in two separate rooms and you just have a talk back mic. So there's only so much you can do. Yeah. Uh, and then the third thing is a metronome, practice to a metronome.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Um, that was my biggest problem. I I I have to try I have trouble with my timing anyway with strumming, but um that was that's tricky for me, you know, and it's not is it's it's a lot harder than you think, but it's something that every rhythm guitarist absolutely should know how to do. And it's not fun to do, it's not fun to practice, it's frustrating, but you have to have your timing, it's gotta be right, it's gotta be right.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yeah, the studio is very tedious compared to when you're playing live. Live's a lot of fun. You can you can play a couple wrong notes and it doesn't matter, but when you're doing something in the studio to release, you're trying to perfect that. And um, and it's very important with the metronome because then it's on the grid. Um, if you later down the road want to produce the song with a full band, it's gonna be a lot easier for the drummer to lock in with you. Uh, if you want to make a remix, if you need to make any edits, like, oh, this one strum, there was a guitar, uh a string that made a noise. So why don't we just take that strum from this piece and put it over there kind of thing?

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Yeah, and you did a lot of that.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

It'll be it'll be way easier. Um, it literally just slides right over and it matches right in where it's supposed to be. So very important. Now, you don't have to record with a metronome. Uh, I did talk with Sam Pinola a few podcasts ago, and uh he gave his opinion, and you know, and that's okay too. Uh however, however you want to do it, however you want to do it as the person in charge of engineering and producing. Um, I guess you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

But as a guitar player, you should be prepared. You should you should absolutely be prepared and know how to strum in time, like yeah, like so.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

We mic'd, we put um a stereo pair of the Neumann Um KM 184s on his guitar, which is a small diaphragm condenser mic. They run the pair 1600. They have a studio staples sound, they're known for the precision and clarity. Um, they were introduced in the 90s. They have a very natural flat response that delivers a pristine professional sound like every time. Um, and that's why they are so popular. Uh just incredible condenser mic. So you do got to turn on your 48 um volts of phantom power to make them work. Uh, when I recorded his guitar, I did the cross, the cross. I'm not sure technically what it's called, but they were kind of like an X. And one of them were going to the 12th fret, um, probably, you know, about six inches away, I think, or maybe around there, towards the 12th fret, capturing all this sound here. You don't want to ever put your microphone in the sound hole. You might think you want to, because that's where the sound's coming from. But there's actually a lot of um just like stuff going on in that sound hole that is way too much, like low end and reverbs and stuff going in there that doesn't give you the sound of the guitar when you shove a microphone in it. It's when it comes out of it. And then I had the other one facing down towards the end here underneath the bridge to capture the low end of the.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

And that's the way to record an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars, I don't think were meant to be plugged in with leader chords or whatever. I think that um that the way that for the with those microphones, that's the way you really should. A real acoustic guitar should be mic'd.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

One thing I wish I did do was record it a direct in, like he's talking about. Um, you can do that with a DI box where you can record the microphones, and then you could also record the uh guitar direct in with the cable, and then you mix those two sounds together, and sometimes it turns out pretty cool when you're lacking something.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

You you that give it make it a little bit forward, right? When you do that, like I think it would have.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Yeah, that's why I was talking about doing coming back, but then I think we were just over it, and then you released it, and it was all good. Because it still sounds good. I think it sounds good. It sounds great, yeah. So the other mic that we had going on in the room, uh, I used it kind of like a room mic. It was the R88 MK2 stereo ribbon mic, which is a crazy looking mic. It runs for $2,400. Um, it's a classic ribbon mic, wide, natural stereo field, very rich. It has this wild cable. Um, what is it, like five pins? It's not your typical XLR, it's a stereo cable for this mic. Ribbon mics you want to be very careful with, never send phantom power to them. And I was just experimenting. I had never used this mic, heard this mic before. And for whatever reason, I put it up in the corner back here because I know like bass kind of goes back there, and I was just looking to try to capture some low end, but you know, I guess it was the low end of the room. It it sounded all right. It wasn't exactly, you know, I learned, I don't know. I think if I we recorded this again, I'd probably put it in a different place. Um, but it did work. Uh, it's this massive stand that you have to put it in. Put it's it's a very massive, massive microphone, but amazing. Um, yeah, so that's the R88 MK2. He had his tailor. Right now he doesn't have his tailor. He had just got a new tailor. Um and the other thing was the uh that Eddie really liked was the rain that was in the song.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Oh yeah, after when we went, we're in the other, we were in the other room and we did the vocals, and after we were just about done, the microphones were left on in here in case we need to come back in, and it started like pouring, like teeming raining. And um the microphone, that big microphone picked up the rain falling on the roof. And after I just put it in the song and just like added it in the song, and it was like fit perfect. It was like it was amazing. I think that that's like my favorite part of the whole experience. That that little bit of imp improvising, you know what I mean? Like it's that's what music's all about, right? So it was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, yeah, so that's basically anything else with recording?

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Other than it being a nightmare, though.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Yeah. Well, we got through it and we learned a lot. Next time we work together, we're gonna plow. We're gonna plow.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Absolutely, but it was such a great experience learning experience, and it was an honor to work with you. And um I just really appreciate your time and drowning fish for letting letting me come in here and use this stuff. Like it was a real honor. It really was, and not it's not something I'll forget anytime soon for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

All right, so while Eddie was in the live room losing his mind, it was okay because I had things to learn because this was a practice session, so I could get my way around here at Drowning Fish Studio. So I was in here turning knobs, playing with sounds, and just hearing what these different things do. So, real quick, what's in this room is we'll start with the monitors. So we have the barefoot micro main 27s. The pair is eleven thousand dollars. There is a subwoofer belt in them. The sound is unbelievable. It's full, it's crisp, it's translates very well. Um, next to them is the Neumann's, what are they called? The Neumann Cage 310A's. And they for the pair is 5,000. Again, really good um monitors, had a different um sound, like tone. I don't know if tone's the right word. Uh, but when you would A B between the two, if it sounded good in both of them, when I took it to the car, my earbuds were ever the phone, it sounded great. They translate 100%. So the monitors here, monitors here at Drowny Fish are disgustingly good. And then there's also a subwoofer that these um Neumans are hooked up to, um, which I don't know the model of that. I'm not gonna go searching, but just so you know, and then everything's going through the patch bay. We had track one and two um here on the Trident 78 console that we recorded through for this whole track. On track one and two, we had the KM184s, and then we had the Blueys inserted on those, and then on uh track three and four, we had the R88 MK2 going through this UA610 preamp, and there was an insert with this dangerous compressor. Everything was then going through the Apollo 16 interface and right into Pro Tools where we did the tracking. And here is the cute little vocal booth with the telefunken Elam 251E, which is a legendary tube microphone condenser mic from the dates back to the 1950s. It's a go-to vocal mic because of its um rich velvety sound. It I mean, it literally sounds so good that instruments and vocals sound like they've already been EQ'd and taken care of before they hit the monitors. This mic runs for $13,000. So this is the one we use here at Drowning Fish, or I did for this song anyways. Sounded incredible. And then, yeah, there's the boxes down here. This is the ones for the other mic. This one is for the um telefunkin'. You know, it's a tube mic, so you come in at the beginning of your session, you gotta turn it on so it can warm up. But the warmth that it has, the clarity that it holds, it's been a go-to microphone for decades for vocals and many instruments. All right, so here's the session view of the Pro Tools session. As you can see, um, here's my mouse. Up here, you really don't see a lot of plug-ins. Uh, for the most part, the recording with the very nice microphones and the outboard gear and the Trident 78 console took care of that work. It simplifies at the end of the day the mixing process when you record it properly. So just remember that. Make that a note for yourself. It will save you a lot of time to record it properly. All right, and as far as the mastering for this song, um I didn't send it out, I just did it myself real quick. I used Isotopes Ozone, which I've been using for years for mastering. I love it, it has a great lot of great features. It does the trick. For anybody that does not know, mastering is the final touch that you do to your song. So basically, you know, you just saw the session, you saw all the tracks split out. Well, what you end up doing is getting a mix that you like and leaving a nice amount of headroom uh for the mastering engineer, and you bounce that out into a stereophile, and then you master that or you give it to the mastering engineer, and they put like the final touches. It's just a stereophile they're dealing with at that point. It's just like the file that you're listening to when you listen to it on your earbuds or in your car, whatever, that's a stereophile. And it's slight enhancements, it's like very small enhancements that make a big difference in the sound. Like you'll think you have the best mix, and then you get it mastered, and all those little small tweaks that the mastering engineer does bring that song to the next level to give it that radio quality ready to go. So that's what mastering is. It's the final process of everything from the writing, recording, mixing, producing, then you master. All right. So, yeah, that was like a quick run through of the process that we took for um Eddie's track, Your Last Day's Pay, uh, that was released in April. You can find it on all platforms. Yes, it is. Um, yeah, shout out to Drowning Fish, uh, which you can go to the Drowning Fish website to book time. If you want to book tie with me, which would be great, just hit me up and we'll get that worked out.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Um it's all and the guy, the guy who owns this place is such a great guy and he's so helpful. And the other engineers that are in and out of here, they're all good kids, man. It's it's a really good spot to be. It's got a good vibe, it's right in the heart of Philly.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yeah, it's all good vibes. Spitfilly's in here, they're about to open up Spitfilly too. So much is happening in this building. So it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Yeah, it really is. Exciting point, it's an exciting time for live music in Philadelphia, man. There's a lot of lot of stuff happening.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

There is. There is. It's cool too. And uh it's exciting that you got to release a track and and we got to learn some things along the way. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

It was an honor, honor to work with you, and be a part of be a part of your thing. It really was, and I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

All right, cool. Sure. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Until next time, keep creating, keep connecting, and keep building together. Remember, we're in this together. So let's keep each other shine alive.