Bell Tone Recording

28/07/2024

This guitar was a significant purchase I made after signing my first publishing deal. At the time it felt surreal to buy a guitar that cost as much as this particular , but after purchasing it at the OG location of Rock Block Guitars (R.I.P.), I was inspired to write a hand full of songs that changed everything for me as a writer/producer and for the artists I was working with at the time. Sitting at home tonight, I am grateful for the songs this instrument continues to birth! For the record, there are 3 new ones in the barrel and the night is young!!

               

27/07/2024

Ray Kennedy and I have been friends for a while. He may be the quintessential combination of Producer/Songwriter/Engineer (look up his credits if you’re curious). He popped in today for one of our standard gear/song/production convos that I so love to have. A perfect way to cap a long ass week

               

03/06/2023

If you know you know.                

27/05/2023

On occasion, I’ll get to do something fun like spend a Saturday afternoon adding auto harp to a new song. I suggest the 121 for this task

               

28/04/2023

I’ve spent the last day and a half in Weatherford TX with instructors from the Creative Arts department of Weatherford College. I’ve been helping develop a curriculum for a radio program currently airing on the legendary where the students will take archival recordings of performances from the and edit them down to a one hour format. This project is supported by Nan Kingsley and the estate. The school will eventually take over editing and curating some unbelievable shows recorded over that last 30 plus years. Tomorrow back in Nashville there will be loud guitars. This is a picture of me pretending to be a kitten stuck in a drainage grid.

               

18/04/2023

This is a Smokey Amps cigarette amp. This one was gifted to me by the legendary Richard Dodd. It was used on a few records you may be familiar with and it was built in 1987. This thing is RIDICULOUS! On it’s own, putting a mic in front of it’s 1 & 1/2 driver, it sounds like a really cool “filtered” amp. What’s truly badass is that it powers a 4x12 cab at a comfortable 95 dB with tone for days! I’m cutting guitars today on a new project and went down the rabbit hole looking for the best complimentary tone for a double. This thing knocked it out of the park!                

15/04/2023

I’ve been tracking a ton of vocals lately leaning on the old trusty SM7B. When there are “sexier” options, it’s easy to waste time experimenting but this beast thru a 1073 and an 1176F Rev can be quite impressive. Also using a 57 with the 1176 as a line amp is tons of (noisy) fun. After moving from scratch vocals to the master, I had no desire to change the chain.                

06/04/2023

knows a few things about making a track sound awesome! Glad to have you on board David. Hopefully we’re going to be seeing more of you around these parts!                

25/03/2023

Nice quiet Saturday vibes here at Bell Tone. Preparing for a new project that starts tomorrow. This one will be a lot of fun. Every project has its unique challenges and I welcome all of them! From how to properly frame the song to how to lay the room out to get the best performance. Even the small details like exploring the key of the song can open up surprising opportunities. For as long as I’ve been making records, there are very few surprises these days but I never dismiss the responsibility. As Roosevelt once said “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”.                

25/03/2023

Nice quiet Saturday vibes here at Bell Tone. Preparing for a new project that starts tomorrow. This one will be a lot of fun. Every project has its unique challenges and I welcome all of them! From how to properly frame the song, how to lay the room out to get the best performance to the smaller questions As Roosevelt once said “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”.                

24/03/2023

This is a fun little pedal. And this one is the OG.                

27/02/2023

It goes to 10.                

22/02/2023

The old saying that the “Devil is in the details” I believe co-exists with the saying “The Wolf is knocking at your door”. The use of that last cliche is most impactful in the song “In A New York Minute” by . Expertly written…..                

22/12/2022

Thank you for the gift left on my front porch this morning! “Either You Rock Or You Sock”!                

18/11/2022

31/10/2022

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

By FAR my favorite time of year! Many of you know I love this Skeleton. He oversees the tracking room here at Bell Tone Recording in World Famous Berry Hill. As you can see, he’s adorned with a multitude of heirlooms.

Starting from the top, he is wearing a set of Ultrasone headphones. These were touted as “the most amazing, cutting edge, best sounding headphones blah blah blah” during the early 2000’s. I purchased several pairs but unfortunately I could never keep any of these cheap POS working.

Second is the AC/DC battery operated head piece. My wife Erika went to the Grammy’s the year AC/DC opened the show in Los Angeles (2009). Everyone in the audience was wearing these. Gratefully Erika brought me home a pair. They were the first and most obvious addition.

Third, the mask. You all know when and why that came into play. I guess it’s time to remove it and use it as a coffee filter.

Fourth is the Mardi Gras beads. These I believe came from a Vintage King “Pensado” event during one of the fall parties they use to throw at my old Dogwood Place location here in Berry Hill. The room I rented for years shared the parking lot with them.

Forth is the paper heart. This came about during a Larkin Poe session (maybe Venom and Faith ???). I’m not sure why but I’m determined to protect the “tradition of the addition”.

And finally, the Ukulele. This came from my brother Ken. His 3 beautiful daughters flirted with the idea of singing “Tip Toe Through The Tulips” professionally for a living but thankfully chose different career paths.

This guy is dutifully lit with a multi colored bulb given to me by Tyler Bryant many years ago and displayed on an Atlas mic stand that came from the famed RCA Studio B in the late 80’s. (Maybe Elvis used it ????).

All in all, he raises his hand for two reasons. 1) Welcome to my studio and 2) Long live rock-n-roll!

               

30/10/2022

Richard Dodd owns and up until 2021, occupied the studio I now rent. (If you are an engineer and not familiar with who he is, I might suggest you look him up). As I was moving my gear in, I noticed a picture of the fab four that he chose to leave in the control room. When I asked him about this picture, he said he liked to occasionally “glance” at it when an artist would say something like..”OK, this is a really unusual thing to try and I’m not sure if anyone has tried this….” One of the many things I admire about him is his dry, yet very English sense of humor.   

                Richard Dodd owns and up until 2021, occupied the studio I now rent. (If you are an engineer and not familiar with who he is, I might suggest you look him up). As I was moving my gear in, I noticed a picture of the fab four that he chose to leave in the control room. When I asked him about this picture, he said he liked to occasionally “glance” at it when an artist would say something like..”OK, this is a really unusual thing to try and I’m not sure if anyone has tried this….” One of the many things I admire about him is his dry, yet very English sense of humor.   

               

25/10/2022

Sometimes you gust got to move air! This is an early 2000’s 4X12 loaded with Vintage 30’s. It’s the closest thing you can find to an early 70’s vintage Marshall 4X12. It’s always fun to crank it up and remind the neighbors that Berry Hill has some teeth.                

21/10/2022

I absolutely LOVE . This year I’m dressing up as “Sassy Engineer”.                

14/10/2022

Riff’n in the daylight!                

08/10/2022

Afternoon sun.                

30/09/2022

Love watching the sun go down at the studio especially when the days perfections are a wrapped side by side with professional ambitions and the weather. Someone pour me a Pumpkin Spice Latte!                

14/09/2022

Backstage at Sundance recording The Warren Bros. live album. 2 nights, 2 great shows and only one Pro Tools crash. 🤷🏻‍♂️                

14/09/2022

Burn baby burn!                

09/09/2022

There are a select group of friends that call me “Spider”. Not that I actually like spiders, I’m quite the arachnophobe. They call me “Spider” because I will sit and patiently wait to purchase a piece of gear like a spider waiting in a web. I seldom buy anything via impulse and I try to never buy anything that I won’t be able to resell and recoup. This guitar is one of those purchases. This guitar is a 1979 Les Paul Kalamazoo Model. It was Gibson’s first attempt at reissuing the fabled 1959 Les Paul Standard and they only made a total of 1500 of these instruments that year. There are a ton of issues with the design of this guitar that do not align it with the original. Does that matter to me? HELL NO! This guitar has so much mojo and this guitar has inspired so many songs. I don’t often fawn over an instrument but this one…. yea. In my “tool chest” of instruments, it’s the only Hammer I own….. and you wouldn’t believe what I paid for it.

               

31/08/2022

Thank you Mike and crew for putting together a killer Pro-Tools rig for me to use this weekend. Heading to tomorrow morning to record the ever amazing for a live record and DVD. IT’s going to be an EPIC trip. If you are ever in need of pro audio gear, is the only solution you’ll need.                

26/08/2022

I love all 414’s……but there’s this one…….                

13/08/2022

Late afternoon mixing and the perfect day!

               

10/08/2022

Back from a short break and now I’m blazing with all tubes on 10!