Artwork & Design November 2012

Front Cover

Gibson No. 1 - by John Illsley

Flat Top - by John Illsley

 

Peter Bührer and Regi Müller designed the packaging of this Album. They only got two paintings but they knew what to do. The painting "Gibson No. 1" is on the cover and the painting "Flat Top" is hidden in the booklet. By the way these two paintings are painted by John Illsley. He was the bass player with Dire Straits. We are absolutely thrilled that he gave us the permission to use his paintings! And he told us he likes the cover!
 

Mixing November 2012

David Bollinger

Monitors

PSI Audio A17-M

Who's that girl?

We did night shifts! David Bollinger mixed the complete album at his ToneControl Studio. We used and enjoyed these fantastic Swiss monitors made by PSI Audio (A17-M). But we also used cheaper and worse gear. This helps to judge the mix. At the end people listen to the CD (hopefully) everywhere on good and bad systems and there should be a proper sound all the time.
 

Guitar Recording
Basement Studio, Peter Uehlinger, ElectraJet Peter Uehlinger, Gibson L-4 Tennessee Rose, Propeller, Hornet, Gibson L-4 Vox AC-30, Lawson L47MP MKII, Shure SM57
Every now and again, depending on availability of time, we recorded countless guitar tracks at the Basement Studio. Although there is no daylight and a lot of concrete we love it. It's a bit like a toy shop for guitar and amp geeks.

Cream Tweedsound 25, Vox AC-30, Fender Vibroking Marble Spring Reverb, Crate VC5212, Fender Champ, Fender Pro Junior, Toneking Imperial TAD Deluxe Reverb, TAD JTM-45, Vox AC-15 Ampeg B-15R, Motion Sound SRV-212
We spent hours searching and finding the proper amp for a song. But these hours were a lot of fun!

TAD 18w, Cream JTA-15, Cream JTA-45, Reinhardt MI-6, Komet 60, Soldano SLO-100, Reinhardt Sultan, Reinhardt Storm 33 Cabinets!
It gets even more complicated if you have to find the best cabinet for the best amp for a song.

Uilleann Pipes Recording May 2012
Marc Schwind Marc Schwind Marc Schwind Marc Schwind, David Bollinger, iPhone
Marc Schwind plays the Irish pipes on one song like he did on the Corner Shop CD. This strange instrument is called Uilleann Pipes and it's extremely difficult to play. This was a good reason enough to test David Bollingers new iPhone. So he made a short movie because you don't see such an odd thing every day.
 
Violin Recording April 2012
Well, that's the way it is. Andrea Kirchhofer was here and we recorded a few marvelous violin tracks. And we were thrilled so we forgot to take a few photos. But don't panic, the music is saved.
 
Vocals Recording January 2012
Flavia Zucca Flavia Zucca
We recorded a few additional vocal tracks with Flavia Zucca. We had a lot of fun... This time we took the Lawson L47MP Mark II which was perfect for her voice.
 
Accordion Recording December 2011
Goran Kovacevic Goran Kovacevic
Well, we loaded the Tonecontrol-car with microphones, stands, wires, acoustic panels, computer, preamps and so on and drove to the east of Switzerland. There we recorded the accordion played by master Goran Kovacevic. It was great fun and this trip was worth every drop of petrol!
 
Double Bass Recording November 2011
Adrian Uhr Control Room Playground Studios, David Bollinger Mikrotech Gefell, Wagner U47, Shure SM7 Adrian Uhr
We also recorded the double bass at the 571 Recording Studios in Zurich. We were allowed to use Thomas Fessler's Playground Studios. Adrian Uhr dances with the Big Old Lady as well and David Bollinger pushes the buttons. In addition to the built in Wilson pickup we also recorded with three microphones. This place is a paradise for microphone geeks. Especially the Wagner U47 sounds really cool. Is everything alright?
 
Keyboards Recording November 2011
Hammond Organ Leslie Fender Rhodes Aviom A-16 II Personal Mixer
This time we went to Zurich to the 571 Recording Studios. A lot of Swiss and international top acts have already recorded there. Actually three independent studios share the large recording room. And there they were: Hammond Organ, Leslie and a Fender Rhodes, including a proper Fender Twin.
 
Control Room Sonar Sound Studio, David Bollinger Control Room Sonar Sound Studios, David Bollinger David Bollinger, Fender Rhodes
To be precise: We used the control room at Phil Erdin's Sonar Sound Studio. And as always: David Bollinger at the helm, even when tuning a Fender Rhodes!
 
Ephrem Lüchinger Ephrem Lüchinger, Peter Uehlinger Ephrem Lüchinger
The one and only Ephrem Lüchinger himself played all the Hammod, Rhodes and piano parts. Even sitting in the control room and listening to him was pure fun!

Petrof Grand Piano Petrof Grand Piano
And since the Petrof grand piano was in acceptable condition and more or less tuned, we took the opportunity and decided to record some additional piano tracks. So why not?
 
Leslie, Sennheiser MD 421, AKG C414, Electro Voice RL20 Fender Twin, Shure SM57, Neumann U47 Fet Petrof Grand Piano, Neumann KMS 84i, Violet VIN67
For the gear geeks: Microphones!
 
Guitar Recording October 2011
Markus Bollinger Markus Bolinger's setup Cream Tweedsound 25, Lawson L47MP Mark II, Shure SM57, Sontronics Delta Cream JTA-15
About one year ago we started to record the new album. It was time now for a few electric guitars. Markus Bollinger turned up and played some marvellous licks. We took the opportunity to test the new Cream Amps at the Basement Studio. And they passed the tests with best marks! Really cool amps!
 
David Bollinger, Markus Bollinger sock
Tuning a guitar is not that easy. But the Bollingers managed it together. Sometimes it is a good idea to tune some strings slightly to low to achieve a good sound afterwards. Socks are great dampers!
 
Vocals Recording October 2011
Marianne Lehmann, Lawson L251 Marianne Lehmann, Lawson L251
Yes, she's on board! Marianne Lehmann sings an awful lot of backing vocals and she wrote some beautiful arrangements. We recorded her wonderful voice during a very relaxed session. What a thrill!
 
Vocals Recording July 2011
Peter Uehlinger, Lawson L251 Peter Uehlinger and Richard Dobson David Bollinger Lawson L251
This summer was quite rainy so far. So we spent a few days in the studio and recorded some Vocals. One day the legendary Richard Dobson turned up and sang a few lines! What a great honour for us! As always we relied on the trusty Lawson L251 tube microphone.
 
Acoustics Recording May 2011
David Bollinger Guitar park
David Bollinger packed parts of his studio and we moved into another large, high and appropriate room, where we recorded an awful lot of acoustic instruments: Guitars, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo and tiplé. And why did we do that? Because it sounds good!
 
David Bollinger's portable studio Gear ProTools Schoeps, Lawson L251 Fet, Oktava MK-012
David Bollinger's portable studio. This time we record in ProTool. We used the following microphones: Schoeps, Lawson L251 Fet, Oktava MK-012.
 
Guitars Tiplé Hanika 54PC Uehlinger OOO
Which guitar is the best? It depends on the song and the sound, but we used them all! Tiplé, Hanika 54PC, Uehlinger OOO - and always in tune!
 
Guitar cases
The end of this recording session...
 
Bass Recording February 2011
Tone Control Studio, David Bollinger, Adrian Uhr Tone Control Studio
Leaving winter behind us, we enjoyed a little sunshine and the blue sky outside David Bollinger's Tone Control Studio. We recorded the electric bass tracks played by the mighty Adrian Uhr!
 
Adrian Uhr, Bossa Adrian Uhr, Laurus Adrian Uhr, David Bollinger
Adrian Uhr is busy with his fretted Bossa and an Italian fretless-beauty as well (Laurus).
 
Avalon U5, Hughes&Kettner Tube Factor, RME Octamic, RME Fireface 800, Bollinger Mic Preamp, FMR Audio RNC1773, FMR Audio RNLA7239, Black Currant Box
An Avalon U5 splits the signal. So we recorded the pure direct signal and we also added a couple of FMR Audio compressors. At the mixing stage we will probably reamp the tracks.
 
Drum Recording October 2010
Zündstoff-Studio
Recently we started to record a new CD. We recorded the drums at the Zündstoff-Studio in Goldau, which is in the heart of Switzerland. But don't ask for a release date, it will take some time...
 
Urs Bringolf
Urs Bringolf is doing some warm-up exercises.
 
David Bollinger, Focusrite, Studer
There are two Studer tape machines but we didn't use them. That's David Bollinger in the foreground at the massive Focusrite desk.
 
Urs Bringolf Drummer's shoes
Time for fun and drummer's shoes...
 
High Tech! Bass Drum
This is real hightech... 3 microphones for the bassdrum.
 
Room Microphones
Ambient mikes... Behind Urs there's a low budget ribbon microhone.
 
David Bollinger, Ralph Zünd Ralph Zünd David Bollinger, Ralph Zünd
David is talking to Ralph Zünd, the owner of Zündstoff-Studio. Ralph in the machine room fixing something and behind the desk.
 
Room Microphones Urs Bringolf
Sometimes we opened the door to the large recording room and added a pair of ambient microphones there. Sometimes we dampened the drums to get a dry sound.
 
Urs Bringolf
The end of the drum recording session.