Credits:
Keith Caffrey: vocals, guitars, lyrics, music and co-production.
Steff Caffrey: vocals, guitars, keyboards, violin, recording, mixing and production.
Siegfried Meier: mastering.
Martin Wrigsjö Staflin: video
Kelvin Doran: Shock Sorrow logo.
Tag Archives: mastering
New Shock Sorrow release: “Forever” 14/02/22
On Valentine’s Day, Shock Sorrow released our 3rd single “Forever” on digital platforms.
We are delighted to have worked with fellow DkIT graduate Andrew McGuinness once again for the music video which we shot on location in the Louth region.
“Forever” was written by Keith Caffrey and myself and we recorded it in my home studio over the lockdown. It is a love song to the loving memory of Keith’s soul mate Aoife, to who the entire The Heart Bleeds EP is attributed. I produced and mixed the track and it was mastered by Siegfried Meier in Beach Road Studios, Canada.
Listen on Spotify:
Shock Sorrow “The Heart Bleeds” EP Physical Release is Available!
I am thrilled to announce that Shock Sorrow’s debut “The Heart Bleeds” EP is available to purchase in CD format on https://shocksorrow.bigcartel.com
The official release is October 31st and it will be available on all platforms then.
I am excited about this for a number of reasons. This is a special collection of songs written by Keith Caffrey and myself which deal with grief, love, loss, shock and sorrow. Keith’s fianceé Aoife passed away in 2020 and the EP is a tribute to her. The songs are deeply personal and are a time capsule of that particularly tragic part of Keith’s life. It was my greatest honour to produce, record and mix the songs and every step of the way, Aoife was in my thoughts.
Keith and I poured so much emotion, energy and time into this EP and we are thrilled with the final result. Our creative team helped us realise our project: thanks to Siegfried Meier for his mastering work, Kelvin Doran for his artwork and Marcin Wilczynski for his photography. It is important to us to work with these people as we admire their creative work and consider them to be good friends of ours.
It is exciting for me to finally release music again (yes, the last time was when I was with Black Daisy) and very exciting to pour 9 years of training as a music producer into a body of work. It feels like everything I’ve done in my music life so far has led up to this point.
I’ll drop the link when the EP goes live on Spotify on Halloween.
Amphibious Assault: Simulacrima // 90’s techno darkscape in the new roarin’ 20’s
Have you heard the news?! Fallon Bowman has dropped her latest record Simulacrima TODAY under her recently resurrected Amphibious Assault project. Are you EXCITE?! Hell yeah, you are!
Some background: Fallon Bowman is a singer, songwriter, music producer, guitarist, synth-gal, actor, self-confessed nerd, RPG/FPS gamer, 80’s synth pop lover, metalhead, cat lady and academic. And more. She is a highly recognisable figure of 00’s nu-metal when she toured the planet with Kittie https://www.instagram.com/officialkittie/ sharing the stage with metals finest icons. A woman with many musical interests, Fallon created her Amphibious Assault project shortly after Kittie yet the sound would be a world away. Her debut District Six (2003) is a kick drum driven, synthscape with raw vocals. My synopsis here completely underplays that record however the effect it had on me when it reached my then 19-year old hands was of profound admiration. Here was a woman my age with a concept, talent and ability, and she just put out a record. And as important to me then as it is now : she produced it herself. Amphibious Assault’s next release On Better Days And Sin-Eating (2006) followed a similar sound, in that being, a signature sound was established from word go, but with a slightly different production sound: a composite sound of snarling, gritty guitar and dirty bass synth underpinned soaring pads and Fallon’s double-tracked power-driven lead vocal. OBDASE is massively singalongable yet deftly reared savagely aggressive guitar tones (you can hear her plectrum dig into those bottom strings) and powerful lyrics destroy and we hate… often throughout. It certainly sounds like the more mature sister of District Six and just when we thought Fallon was in her full majesty as Amphibious Assault, there was a pause. Fallon carved a new musical identity in 2011 with her Human, Conditional album, released under her own name. The production now substantially different from her previous records: more of a band feel, less emphasis on synths and kicks, beautiful and often intimate vocals combined made for an overall sweeter sound and glossy production. The leading track Tales From The Fourth Floor showcased hints of AA, the club element was still there, albeit subtle and of course, Fallon’s gritty rhythm guitars were ever present.
So roll forward 10 years later and Fallon delights her fans with a brand new record, her third Amphibious Assault instalment: Simulacrima. Fallon revealed on her YouTube channel that even though she said in 2009 AA was over, 2020 changed that. Fallon felt 2020 was the perfect opportunity to revive her very relevant project. The creativity funding platform Patreon was instrumental because it enabled Fallon’s fans to directly fund the new record. Fallon also received a prestigious bursary which gave her direct access to new professional networks where she was able to work with artists across many disciplines. The bursary covered Fallon’s studio time and all the songs were recorded between October and December 2020.
The release of Simulacrima coincides with many music industries and wider society flagging gender inequalities. Since about 2012, the questions why are female music producers so rare? and why are there not more women working in technical roles in music production? has been gaining more and more traction in public discourse and academia. The figures are daunting (see https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2019/jun/24/you-lift-with-your-mind-not-with-your-muscles-female-sound-engineers-on-working-in-audio). Actively seeking to surround herself with and work with like-minded professional women, Fallon created a team entirely composed of women for AA’s new record. When speaking with Fallon earlier, she told me that “it was very important to me to have female involvement across the board. Every aspect from mixing to graphic design is all female. Even the photographer that took the photos – female” (Caffrey 2021). Mariana Hutten (https://www.mchcmusic.com/) a music producer, sound designer and audio engineer recorded, mixed and mastered Fallon’s production in Artscape Daniels Launchpad studio (https://www.artscapedanielslaunchpad.com/). Ema Suvajac internationally published photographer, created the beautiful and striking fushia and indigo image of Fallon on the album cover. Fallon herself produced this work. She is an artist producer, an ever-growing class of music producer thanks to post millennial technological advancements in audio recording (digital and online), reasonably-priced equipment (thanks to healthy competition) and its ease of availability (thanks Internet). Fallon has a bilateral approach to her music: create the content/write the songs/perform the songs and critically evaluate afore-said content and performances. That is a skillset which can be extremely difficult to navigate (the dreaded self critic versus the ego) but Fallon does this with ease and creative flair.
[SPOILER ALERT!] If you haven’t heard Simulacrima yet, look away now:
Track one: Gridlocked Heart. Right from the start we get what is number one on this record: Fallon’s unique and easily recognisable vocal. Joined by a catchy synth-line that is definitely reminiscent of District Six, Fallon cleverly gives her fans something familiar sounding instantly. We are surrounded immediately in 2003 nostalgia when we remember the days we spent on Fallon’s old vivid neon green and black AA board. The rounded bass underpins the synth and we are already wishing we were in a cool, goth-rock-techno dark nightclub enjoying a tasty tipple, moody lighting and this tune nice and LOUD. Then BOOM! That anthemic four on the floor kick drum literally kicks you in the chest and you’re taken away altogether to the best post-2020 nightclub you can imagine. That shuddering sub bass. You can’t help yourself. Anthemic is the key word here, Fallon’s call and response vocals has that massive crowd/gig appeal. But wait, it doesn’t stop there. Fallon’s songwriting skills are about to take a new level. Enter her gritty guitar in a whole new and unexpected key change, trust me the hairs on your arm will stand on end. Her guitar sound has matured: less fizz and more chonk. Day-um gurl, we can just see you onstage, guitar in hand belting this number out. That heavy in-your-face kick is a clever use of production mirroring the lyric: “That was exactly what I was looking for!! Something that beats your heart for you haha… maybe even…causes it to gridlock” (Caffrey 2021) Fallon told me excitedly earlier. This is heart-stopping 90’s techno darkscape for the new roaring 20’s. This is also 100% authentically Fallon Bowman. We are treated to new sounds: Fallon’s vocal affected with tonnes of compression and a nice amount of overdrive. A nice nod to current pop vocal production, think of icons Lady Gaga, Madonna etc. All amid a wash of sweeping 90’s synths. Don’t forget those glorious stereo panned vocal harmonies at the track’s end. They’re superb.
Track two: Electropunk. This will take all AA fans by surprise. An anarchic and nicely smashed kick and snare underpin Fallon’s raging spitting overdriven vocal. We haven’t heard this vocal style from her since Kittie! She screams energy. She screams punk unruliness. She screams neon colours. I can only imagine the absolute fun she had with Mariana recording that, oh to be a fly on the studio wall that day! Well done Fallon, this rawks.
Track three: Truthbomb. Bookended with a marvellous District Six style atmospheric synth swells and vocal chopping (we’re back in the goth nightclub) Fallon’s vocal is the centre-piece here. Her signature alto vocal is demonstrated by her perfect execution of the bottom of her range with breathy and perfectly pitched notes. Think back to when she showed us her version of Depeche Mode’s In Your Room. But also add tasty vibrato and sweet, delicate nuances. The crisp gated snare and sparkly high hat are bright elements in this luscious darkscape. The track comes to a chilling end with Fallon’s whispered stop. Where did she pull this bomb track from? It’s SO truthfully Fallon.
Track four: Simulacrima. A gorgeous tinkling computerised step synth gives a backdrop for a classic Fallon alto-line. Soon to be replaced by a synthy/guitar composite that chugs with a warble that harkens to On Better Days And Sin-Eating we are led to a very dark and very sexy chorus, think of 00’s Timabaland realised through an entirely feminine flair. Images of Fallon’s heavily-lined dark eyes and trademark black lipstick imploring her heart to us while wearing that epic hooded black coat spring to mind. Gurl, release a video for this, please! Fallon has created a beautiful sound here, this darkscape world suits her entirely. This is a track to feel empowered, beautiful and strong to. Hold up, I haven’t mentioned that bridge which features that angelic choir. A wonderful Benedictine reference with a difference.
Track five: By Any Other Name. Ah, the synth riff Fallon has been teasing us with for weeks in her promo campaign. The verse that follows is deeply dark. Dark synths that twirl and whirl in the soundscape while connected to that stompin’ kick. Another anthemic chorus follows that could easily fit in pop contexts in terms of catchiness, just say it again, just say it again, just say it again-nn is a hook that’s guaranteed stay in our heads for days. I know I just dropped the “p” word there but the bridge (an art form noticeably slipping from pop music these days) is anything but. Wow. Do I have words? You just gotta hear it for yourself. That clever change of texture is well, clever. To break free from your own metronome and rip a new tempo and atmosphere so suddenly is nothing short of brave and excellent. There’s a synth monster warbling behind Fallon who dares to experiment with more intricate vocal layering. Now that’s production.
Track six: Eternal Sadness. GRRRRrrrr! There’s an angry guitar if ever I heard one, growling from atop a pillar. The stompin’ kick drum is back albeit more subtle in the mix while jagged synths dance and flutter around the stereo field, like futuristic butterflies. Fallon’s vocal here brings back those goosebumps. Maybe next year, maybe decades after that, she hopes she’ll see you, until then she says… That vocal take would break your heart, rich in sorrow yet strong in its resolve. A soaring chorus with fabulous backing vocals leads towards another warbling futuristic bridge. This could have been on OBDASE but I’m glad it waited to be born now.
Track seven: City Lights Are Here. This is an upbeat number with another hooky chorus with interesting vocal layering, especially that affected low octave. Fallon’s vocal is shining again in the bridge. Simulacrima is showing us her most intricate, intimate, daring and finest vocal performance yet. What a treat!
Track eight: Lifeline. A dreamwash of synths opens a stompin’ feel good four on the floor beat as per Fallon’s style. The bouncing bassline in the chorus in absolute 90’s retro nostalgia. Where’s my skinny neon plastic bracelets and tattoo choker? A lush FM bell-like vibraphone in the mix serves as a crystalline counterpoint.
Track nine: Three Storms. The album’s closing track. Whoah that intro! Immediately chock-full of tension with earth shuddering sub bass offset with a crisp syncopated high hat. Release is granted after a full minute fifteen by a deeply dark bass pad which makes my head swim (a pleasant feeling). Fallon expertly and systematically crafts the instrumental back up with various synthesised textures. This is another area Fallon reigns supreme in: electro instrumentals. District Six was chock full of them and this sounds like Fallon was let loose in the studio to devise her own world. This could have gone on for another five minutes easily and I wouldn’t have felt the time pass. Cue rowdy chants of we want more! we want more! to encourage Fallon back onto her goth club rock stage to indulge us for at least three more songs.
What can I say? I love Fallon’s self-professed “homage to a 90s disco” (Caffrey 2021). But don’t be fooled into thinking this is just nostalgia. This is AA in the new decade. This is modern AA with lots of shine, pristine, dark monsters and a voice with many facets and emotions. This is the professional work of women, masterminded by Fallon Bowman. And this was well worth the almost 15-year AA recording hiatus. Go forth and purchase Simulacrima on her Bandcamp and support this wonderful Canadian independent artist and legend of a lady.
https://amphibiousassault.bandcamp.com/album/simulacrima
AA back catalogue:
https://amphibiousassault.bandcamp.com/album/district-six
https://amphibiousassault.bandcamp.com/album/on-better-days-and-sin-eating
Fallon Bowman album:
https://fallonbowman.bandcamp.com/releases
https://linktr.ee/fallonbowman
Oriel Traditional Orchestra: Three Ships for Oriel
I am delighted to present one of my most recent music production projects: Three Ships For Oriel by the wonderful Oriel Traditional Orchestra.
The Oriel Traditional Orchestra is a new community initiative that brings together musicians from Armagh, Louth, Meath and Monaghan to create a new orchestra. I enjoyed their set last year in The Lisdoo (Dundalk) at the LSPCA event, which was the last concert I attended before Covid-19 (not counting the three I worked as sound engineer at the beginning of 2020). So as you can imagine, I am very honoured to work with this group of talented and committed musicians from my locality.
The OTO has created a number of video projects this year for themselves and to share with the wider community. For Christmas, they want to share their new arrangement of the old carol I Saw Three Ships as Three Ships For Oriel, which also features The Oriel Jig composed by Daithí Kearney. My role was to edit the audio tracks recorded by the orchestra members and to mix and master them. It was an absolute pleasure and put me right into the Christmas spirit! Much needed as I have only just completed my MA a few weeks ago! (yay!)
Enjoy the music on Facebook or YouTube!
Further information about the OTO:
Wishing all my readers a safe and happy Christmas, and a blessed New Year 2021 ❤
Exquisite Performance Of Original Music by El Grey at the Spirit Store, 09-08-14
Last night I finally got to see El Grey live! I have been waiting for an ideal opportunity to hear the voice of El Grey herself live for a long time and last nights performance at the Lockup Big Day Out gig in the Spirit Store, Dundalk, did not disappoint.
It was one of those gigs where you felt like the singer was singing only to you. One of those gigs where the hairs on your arms stand on end. One of those gigs that literally takes your breath away. And such gigs are rare.
I was in awe of El Greys voice- her vocal is powerful, expressive, delicate, haunting and strong- all at the same time. Her range is astounding and her style is unique. A voice you will never forget once you’ve heard it.
I watched her performance in absolute delight, superbly skilled in acoustic guitar- flawlessly, effortlessly fingerpicking- a natural player. During her performance she seems to enter another state of consciousness- a higher state of mind- her voice expressing her deepest emotions through soaring notes, beautiful on-sets and releases- a very dreamy sound world. A talented musician, she also plays the ukulele with a grace I’ve never seen before- no tacky jokey jingle-jangle here- her unique guitar fingerpicking style translates beautifully onto her charming little instrument.
Accompanied by Chris Topher on percussion and live electronic MIDI sequencing, her music takes on another dimension. Chris programs percussive loops using a MIDI interface and laptop. He also plays a large djembe while playing basslines with his toes! He trades El Greys acoustic guitar and ukulele throughout the set.
A duet clearly in control of their sound and production, El Grey uses the Boss vocal processor for hands-on control of her reverb and delay effects. Her long reverb tails and massive echoes are her trademark and her vocal processor is used to great effect. She clearly understands what she’s doing and doesn’t cloud her sound in a foggy, confusing mist of unnecessary decay. The overall sound is minimal and focussed- and believe me, anything but boring. The 45-minute set included all original songs except one Nirvana cover which was played in absolute El Grey style- she really made it her own.
It’s very clear there’s a super talent here. No wonder she has being going from strength to strength in the last year- winning an EP recorded with United Records and mastered in the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London in 2013. Her 3-track self-titled debut EP was released 2014. The EP has been given airplay on a number of radio shows in Ireland and beyond, including Dan Hegarty’s The Alternative (2FM), Near FM Sessions (Near FM), and CSM – leading alternative show by Aleksandra Kaczkowska on Polish National Radio ‘3’ (Trojka Polskie Radio). Also El Grey’s recently become the Finalist of the Big Break All Ireland Music Competition organised by Hot Press Magazine (Top Five 2014).
It was very exciting for me personally to get to meet the duet after the gig, I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit starstruck- when you follow an artists music online for some time that you really admire, you just can’t help but feel in awe, especially after such an amazing gig! I have to say, both Chris and El Grey are absolutely stunning people- they have such a genuinely beautiful energy and spirit, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had met them before! El Grey is very giggly and light-hearted, taking my camera and posing for hilarious selfies, I genuinely laughed this morning looking back on my photos!
Before I share some of my photos of the gig, get yourself a copy of the beautifully recorded EP on their Bandcamp here: El Grey.
Watch her official music videos and special behind the scenes footage of her EP here: el grey – YouTube.
Like the official band page on Facebook for regular updates and further information: el grey.
I hope you enjoy her music as much as I do.
Love and light.
Fighting the Loudness War: Dynamic Range Day 2013
Dynamic Range Day 2013 is nearly upon us! On Friday March 22nd audiophiles around the world will turn their sound systems up to 11 to raise awareness that overly-compressed music does not sound better than dynamic music just because it’s louder.
Louder? Isn’t louder music better? Ah well now, we all enjoy loud music… but the point is: make the music louder by turning up the volume on the car stereo (or whatever music reproduction medium you enjoy listening to- mind your ears though peeps, for God’s sake!) and not through heavy mastering compression, etc!
According to dynamicrangeday.co.uk, music has been getting more and more crushed through the use of heavy compression in recent years, for fear of not being “competitive” – and in the process removing all the contrast, all the light, shade and depth – ruining the sound.
Dynamic Range Day supporters want to trade the “louder is better” concept for an alternative message: “Dynamic music sounds better”.
There are some very interesting articles on the official Dynamic Range Day website including, What is the Loudness War ? and links to other interesting stuff: Winning the Loudness Wars | Stereophile.com.
A cool competition one may like to enter (if you’re not in you can’t win, right?!) can be found at Dynamic Range Day Competition 2013. Cool gear such as an SSL Bus Compressor (in a SuperAnalogue Mynx mini X-rack) and Bowers & Wilkins CM-1 speakers are such prizes. It’s well worth entering!
What can we do in the meantime? Read and share this: The Loudness War – An open letter to the music industry… Use the free dynamic range meter plug-in on your master track when mixing (download it here: tt_dynamic_range_meter_mac_1_0.dmg.)… get involved, support Dynamic Range Day on Facebook, Twitter etc. Wear a t-shirt!
“Every playback device in the world has an output gain control on it. Record and master the music at musical levels and allow the listener to play it as they wish. Do not fall slave to making all music sound equally loud on iPod Shuffles or the iTunes program itself !” – Bob Ludwig. (http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/supporters/)
New Song – “The Key” by Stephanie Caffrey :)
I have been feeling creative lately! I’m announcing the follow up track to “Ashes Forever” which I posted online a couple of weeks ago… “The Key”. 🙂
Composition for this piece started about two weeks ago in my bedroom studio. I wished to complete it before my trip to Oxford so I could mix it over there, but feeling this song was coming from somewhere very deep inside me, I didn’t want to rush the creative process.
I had composed all the music by the time I got to Oxford and there I mixed what I had and structured half the song.
I returned home to Ireland in a whirlwind of emotions and penned the lyrics and vocal melodies shortly afterwards. This song is a deep one to me and I hope the listener enjoys my creation.
It’s the first time I’m publicly showcasing my violin skills on a recording and also my lovely B flat tin whistle, I was really surprised how nice it recorded, adding just a touch of reverb! It’s probably also the first song I’m actually not playing guitar! Written, composed, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered entirely by myself with the exception of giving my friend Lee Fitzpatrick some deserved credit for advising me on my equalisation curves at the early stage of mixing!
So put on your headphones, sit back, relax and breathe and enjoy “The Key” 🙂
Steffy xx
Stephanie Caffrey 