Finally!!!! Its done

OUR NEW WEBSITE IS FINALLY HERE! GOODBYE BLOGSPOT! www.theheadroomphiladelphia.com

We're still kickin'

Hello Internet, Joe and I have been super busy! Sorry for the lack of updates. We are currently working (still) on a new website for the headroom as well as working on such bands as Hop Along, Elegant Animals, Power Animal, Black Churches (from Amherst), Tamarin, The Chairman Dances as well as some project we are still in the process of confirming for the new year! We will post stuff as it gets released as always! -Kyle

Tracking for the new Darlings LP

 

Sorry for this belated post! In early august, Darlings from NY came down to track their newest LP. It was hard work and lots of fun. We had a whole week to work, which was great, because it gave us just enough time to take time to get the right sounds for everything, as well as be meticulous about what takes we wanted to keep. Peter and I had a few different phone conversations in the months leading up to the session to figure out how much time was needed and how exactly how we were going to record. Here's what we came up with. We spent the first 2 days tracking drums. Below is a picture of us testing out which kick drum we wanted to build the drum kit around (slingerland, and 2 ludwigs from left to right). Matt, the drummer, wanted a roomy sound, so we put the royer on the other side of the room, and tracked bass along with the drums with the amp out in the garage for separation. We then experimented with a few different guitar sounds, but ended up splitting the guitar between two amps and blending that sound together as the main guitar sound; one being an overdriven doctor z combo, and a 60s bassman cranked all the way with a pharaoh fuzz pedal. After 2 days of just guitar, we started alternating between guitar keys and vox, so while something was being tracked, Alex (my assistant) could go in the other room and compile vocal takes with the other band members. It was a super efficient way to work and both the band and I were very pleased with how it turned out. I'll post a song as soon as the record comes out (which should be in the next couple months).

Sound Treatment!

Here are some pictures of me building some sound treatment for the studio in our garage (joe was building too, but he had the iphone).  We have high frequency diffusers, as well as low end bass absorbtion which will make things we record sound more balanced as well what we hear out of the monitors. Thanks to Ryan Schwabe for showing us what to do!

New Kite Party Record out!

Its been a year and half since Kite Party and I had started pre production on this record and its finally out! Thanks to everyone who's shared kind words about this record, I'm really proud of the way this came out.


This is probably the first record I've ever been involved with completely from front to back. We started with the band coming in and playing all their songs live and recording them as a way to make demos. We talked about the songs for a couple weeks ultimately decided that doing 5 of their strongest songs would be best. We tracked almost everything for the first five by the end of last summer, and then the band decided that they would rather put out a full length record. We took a break from recording and I kept in touch with the band while they were rehearsing and writing more music. I encouraged the band to experiment with their writing process a little bit, making more demos for songs as individuals for instance, and provided some feed back intermittedly.

When the band was finished writing the second set of 5, we booked another 10 days in the studio and finished the record! The demos that the band recorded themselves turned out to be great guides for the feel of the mixes

Some of the overall techniques that were used for this record; we made sure to get really precise drum performances to anchor all the the ambience and delay on the rest of the instruments, guitar tracks that were mic'd in stereo in conjunction with a room mic for wide sound, and a lot of attention was paid to finding the right vocal effect for each song during the mixing process.

Check out my favorite song off the record, "Spirit Gum"

-Kyle

  Kite Party - Spirit Gum by The Headroom

New (The) Tony Castles 7' Available Now!

Its here! It looks great! Sounds great (kudos to Yale Yng-Wong for the great mix). Check out the earlier post to check some of the stuff we did to get these sounds!

-Kyle


 Tony Castles - Juice by The Headroom

Back from tour!

Joe and I are finally back from tour! Its so great to be back in philly! Dangerous Ponies was gone for 2 and a half months and Algernon Cadwallader for 1 and half. Now that we're back, we have lots planned this summer for the studio! We're going to build isolation and room treatment, build a new website, and of course record some awesome music. This past weekend I did a quick demo session with Baltimore's  Secret Mountains to help them find some sounds for their upcoming full length sessions, NY's Darlings on Famous Class Records as well as Philadelphia's own Conversations with Enemies will be coming this August to record with me and joe, respectively.