| Alehouse Notes Some thoughts about the recording and production of Alehouse Insurrections Produced by Tommy Byrnes Recorded at Saoirse Recording, Bernardston, MA Mastered by David Torrey at DRT Mastering, Peterborough, NH Album artwork by Tommy Byrnes All music written by Tommy Byrnes- except Lass of Roch Royal and Crowley’s Reel, which are traditional All instruments and vocals by Tommy Byrnes except: Carrie Ferguson-Backing Vocals on Open Your Eyes and Lullaby John Reynolds-Fiddle on Open Your Eyes Sean Cowing-bass on Lullaby On the album Tommy plays: Acoustic and electric guitars, D, C, Eb, Bb tin whistles, Low D, F, G whistles, Highland bagpipes, Chanters, Bass, Bodhran, Keyboards, Mandolin, Harmonica, Tambourine, Various hand percussion, Programming The Album Alehouse Insurrections was a long and arduous journey. It took over 2 1/2 years to write, record and produce the album, which, at times, seemed like it would never get finished. In September of 2001 I left the band Ockham’s Razor, spurred on by an idea that had been dancing around the edge of my musical career for a decade: build a studio, start a record label and release my own records. With the gentle and persistent encouragement from my wife Jessica I began recording in November of 2001. I didn't have a clear idea about the content of the album. I thought I should record a few songs that had been around for a while, but I really wanted to start from scratch and write new stuff for the project. I ended up with about 21 tracks recorded and pared them down to the nine that made it. As the recording continued the overall sound of Alehouse began to take shape. The amazing flexibility and creative control the new digital studio equipment afforded me opened up the creative floodgates. I played with lots of ideas. Some worked, a good deal didn’t. In the end the record was a good deal bigger sounding then I first imagined. As a product of the wild and experimental 1970s I have always been partial to the progressive rock movement. Bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin were always on the turntable in my erstwhile youth (their records, not the actual bands. All that weight would have broken my record player). Joining them in my internal musical stewpot was all the great traditional Celtic musicians I had listened to and had the pleasure of playing with over the years, as well as the new progressive music of the 80s, like Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. I have always been a little schizophrenic music-wise and I figured I’ d just roll the dice and see what came out. The album became an amalgam of all these influences. It ended up being a bit more keyboard-heavy than I would have thought, although every track save one has tin whistle and all tunes are driven by acoustic guitar. So, at long last, the album recording wrapped in late April of 2004. The final mixes were put in the capable hands of David Torrey of DRT Mastering in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He is an amazing mastering engineer! The final master went to manufacturing in June and the album released on 31 August of 2004. It has been a crazy ride! The Tunes Here are some notes about the cuts on Alehouse Insurrections. First Born Son Time- 2:06 I wrote this tune for my son Iain. I wanted an orchestral feel to this slow air so I used keyboard strings and a lot of reverb! As always, the tin whistle was a Cillian O'Brian Modified Generation miked close with a GT AM51 condenser microphone. This mic is no longer in production, which is a shame. It is one of the best mics I have found for recording wind instruments, especially bagpipes. First Light (1916) and Open Your Eyes Times- 6:52 & 5:16 These two tunes were conceived out of desperation very late in the recording process. In April of 2004 I had started to mix the album. A song called Insurrection was to be the centerpiece of the record but I just couldn’t get it. Whether I did a lousy job recording or my ears were just burned out, I don’t know. At any rate, I realized that I needed to replace it. Armed with an ocean of coffee and an acoustic guitar I started to write. The tunes and recording went fast; much faster than many of the other tracks. I wanted a big song with bagpipes and whistles and electric guitars so that’s the way it went for First Light. Lyrically, I wanted to write a story about the Easter Rebellion of 1916 in Ireland. That event has entranced me for years. I wanted to write from the point of view of a soldier the night before the revolt began. When First Light was finished it seemed to want a conclusion to the story. Open Your Eyes comes sometime after and is from the point of view of a soldier returning to his love after the conflict. I felt Eyes should be quieter and more acoustic. I also felt it should have a big chorus so I enlisted the help of Carrie Ferguson to lay down backing vocal tracks. Her incredible voice really made the song, along with an understated and poignant fiddle part by John Reynolds. Within two weeks both songs were in the can. Seat of the Pants (The Grackle/Seat of the Pants) Time- 4:01 These two were both tin whistle reels that I had written during the early stages of recording the album. When I started the final mixes I went for a big, open sound, with the drums and melody instruments very present in the mix. I wanted the bodhran in the beginning of the second tune to sound like thunder or horse’s hooves. I used an old Audio-Technica ATM63 dynamic mic placed about a foot from the back of the bodhran. The mic really captures the transient of the tipper hitting the skin. I had re-headed the bodhran years ago with cowhide instead of the traditional goatskin. It gives a sharper and more defined sound, especially when the tone is deep. Marina Inn Time- 3:02 The Marina Inn is a great little place in Dingle, Ireland. The downstairs is a cozy and inviting pub while upstairs are rooms for rent. My wife Jessica and I had a wonderful time there on our last visit, so I thought I would write a tune for the great staff, fine music and fond memories. This is one of those tunes that came out of nowhere; just a little piano ditty that evolved into a set piece. I’m not sure where the horn section came from. Originally, it was much more elaborate than what made it to the final mix. There was another tin whistle part and two mandolin parts. During mixdown I felt it was a little (alright, a lot!) overdone so I scrapped the extraneous tracks and simplified the mix. Contrary by Nature Time- 5:36 This song was written in 1993 around the 10 year anniversary of living in Dublin. I had met a great woman in a youth hostel and we hit it off. We traveled together and lived a sort of fantasy life in Ireland. We were both Americans living in a foreign country. We got pretty serious. When we finally got back to the U.S. the relationship fell apart for various reasons. I will always look fondly on that time of youthful exuberance and adventure. The song was recorded back in the early 90s and had a very different arrangement than the one on Alehouse. As I started laying down the basic tracks I found that the song wanted to go in a more complex direction than the older recorded version and the arrangement I used to play with Ockham’s Razor. The instrumental in the middle was added and I used some other instruments to take up the original guitar part. The lead guitar in the instrumental was recorded direct to tape by patching through a Mesa Boogie Mark IV and then adding a flanger and delay after. I used the Mesa in this way for a lot of the electric guitar recording on the record. Kathleen Brady’s (Hearthstone Terrace/Kathleen Brady’s/Crowley’s) Time- 5:45 This set of reels is for my sister and one of my best friends, Kathleen Brady. In 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the next year she fought the disease with a class and strength that was impressive and inspiring. Today, against great odds, she is surviving and living her life. I am proud to know her and be her brother. Hearthstone Terrace is where she and her husband John reside. There is a pub in Dublin called O’Donoghue’s. It was the traditional music touchstone for me when I lived in that great city. Many of the best players in Irish music played in session there on a nightly basis and I was fortunate enough to be the regular guitar and whistle player during some truly amazing evenings. I learned Crowley’s along with about a million other tunes in those sessions. Lass of Roch Royal Time- 10:14 Thanks to the likes of Martin Carthy, Peter Bellamy and the Young Tradition, Steeleye Span, Nick Jones and others the ballad scholarship bug bit me very early in my musical career. I have been fascinated by long, involved traditional songs for as long as I’ ve been playing (I won’t divulge how many years that’s been-it makes me feel like an old ballad myself just thinking about it). Over the years I’ve taken a crack at working up some lengthy tunes. When I do a song that has 25 or 30 verses, the trick has always been to keep an audience (as well as myself) engaged and awake. Sometimes, offering an intermission for sandwiches and caffeinated beverages halfway through the song works. Usually, people just throw the sandwiches at me and tell me to play shorter songs. With Roch Royal, I wanted a rocking tune with a fairly interesting arrangement. The song is collated from different sources, most importantly, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, compiled by Francis James Child. The Child Ballads, as the collection is known, is the bible for any traditional singer. Each tune has a corresponding number; Roch Royal is #76. I had been playing the tune for a number of years as a solo piece so I thought a more involved arrangement was in order. The flaw recording the tune was I had demoed the guitar track early on without a click or reference beat. When I listened to the take I liked the energy of it so I chose to use the demo as the main track. That’s why there are some slight tempo issues. It may be imperfect but overall, I was pleased, for the most part, with how it came out. Lullaby Time- 6:48 There are a fairly good number of songs in the tradition that are morality lessons and cautionary tales thinly disguised as lullabies. I know this seems to be really unfair for kids but I didn’t write the other ones so I have nothing to do with them so don't blame me for the delinquency of children who listen to traditional music. This one I did write, many years before I had a son of my own, So you can blame me for the delinquency of my kid. Sean Cowhig and I have played music together for well over a decade and we used to play this when we were in Ockham’s Razor. I couldn’t imagine the cut without his ART Thunder God-processed bass part. I also wanted Carrie Ferguson’s ethereal voice again in the chorus. Her ability to find just the right harmony is remarkable. The recording of the tune was straight up and easy; no gimmicks or tricks (OK, maybe one or two-Carrie’s voice is put through a dual delay and panned right and left of her main voice). The intro was a new addition to the tune and came out of nowhere. Just a little pipe tune fragment I wrote. I found it to work well as a beginning for the song. And no, I never really sang this for my own son. I didn’t want him to be a delinquent like his old man! If you have any questions or comments please email me at tommybyrnes@sovereigntymusic.com |
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