Anatomy of I

[MichaelDorrian]

Here's some blatant self-promotion :

ANATOMY OF I is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Michael Dorrian, with longtime friends Dirk Verbeuren (SCARVE, SOILWORK) on drums
and Steve Di Giorgio (SADUS, DEATH, TESTAMENT) on bass to complete the line-up.

Mixing a wide range of influences into a mold of traditional metal, thrash and death metal, ANATOMY of I brings a breath of fresh air into the metal genre.

Dirk Verbeuren recently wrapped up the drum parts for the debut album.

Two pre-production songs (featuring Michael Dorrian on vocals/guitars/bass and Dirk Verbeuren on drums) are currently available for streaming at www.myspace.com/anatomyofi

 

[HippieOfDoom]

I'll be in Holland next week, inbetween the Graspop and the Deventer shows, locked away in the studio with Mike recording bass for his Anatomy Of I first album. The guitars are high-paced, high-level thrash craziness and the drums laid down by Dirk (from Soilwork and Scarve) are pretty amazing hyper-craziness as well. I'll be looking to lock in between those two and put some bass lines that connect everything together as well as hope to find some new and innovative sounds.
So it'll be up in The Hague for a few days where we'll be putting some of the final elements on this project with the Thor Bass. I'm looking forward to recording again with the Thor as it's a very studio friendly bass I've learned. It's not too boomy; but has all the low end you need... it's not too trebly; but has tons of high end distinction in the attack... it's not too honky in the mids; but can growl like a dragon (although I don't think anyone in the western hemisphere has ever heard a dragon growl)...!
I'm hoping to post some studio pictures, I don't think I've ever done that before. Stay tuned here to find out if that happens.
SDG

 

[HippieOfDoom]

Holland, 27-29 June 2010

Working hard in Den Haag!!! Recording the bass for the AOI Substratum album. I think I brought the California weather with me. It was a glorious 3 days near the sea, although the only beach time I logged was at 2:30 in the morning! (Hey, we were busy...!) And it rained (no surprise for Holland, I know)...but the whole time I was there it only rained for about 15 minutes (there ya go, that's rare for Holland!). Mikey told me that out of the possible 3 weeks of warm sunny weather they are allowed to experience per year, I was there for 1 of them.

So we plugged in the Thor Bass into the Line 6 Bass POD (the same exact one I use at home) and got one of the best tones I have pulled out of this bass in the studio thus far! I was pausing from the recordings every so often and just playing random tones all over the neck amazed and pleased at the nice cutting and full tone it was producing. And honestly, I forgot to confirm it with Mike, but I think we spent like just a handful of minutes on getting the tone. Sometimes guys want to spend an hour, two hours...more...just dialing in a sound to work with. Not this time! I came right out of the case ready to rape and pillage. Well, actually it didn't. I had to change over out of the Trident mode back into regular 5 string mode, but then it sparkled faithfully.

We put in some long hours each day, I hate/love these sessions where I have never heard the songs before starting. What I mean by that is, obviously without being familiar with the songs, most of the time is actually learning the riffs, parts and arrangements then trying to conjure an instant chemistry with the drummer and lock in. It progresses slowly moving forward in small increments. But also one really special thing about this style of not knowing what to play beforehand is rewarding when bass lines and counter melodies are improvised on the spot and when that magic one hits just right, man, it’s so much better than something prewritten. So with this kind of find the way in the dark until the end, we made some killer bass moments that support the guitar melodies and compliment the awesome drum insanity. We really didn't spare the creative "what-if's?".

Still the guitars to record, solos, and vocals. So it will be some months until it’s ready for release. But I’m sure as soon as something is close to being done there will be samples posted on the band’s MySpace page. Check back in often.
SDG
Finished!

 

[Allfader]

Looking forward this release!

To improvise has its charm, definitely. For certain styles is better to record in that way than thinking on the lines over and over.

 

[Three of Six]

Hi everybody! I'm a newbie (this is my first post). I'm honored to join this community. I have a question for SDG (or for anybody who knows the answer):
what's this "trident" setup?
Thanx a lot.

 

[MichaelDorrian]

// tone
We did spend about 5 minutes on finding the right bass tone, but we started out with a patch I put together based on Steve's settings/setup, so we didn't start from scratch. I'll post the exact settings on here; keep in mind that you guys will have to tweak it a little according to the bass you're using.

I'll post more info about the session in a short while.

// Trident
The Trident (© Trevor Peres) is Steve's 3-string setup for Obituary. The tuning is D-G-C. You'll find some pics of it at :
http://www.obituary.cc/photos/eurojune/eurojune2010.html

 

[Three of Six]

Thanx Mike! I listened to your songs...great stuff!!!

 

[Corpsebass]

thanks for explanation man, but I'm curious, besides it looks cool, what's the practical meaning of trident setup?

 

[MichaelDorrian]

Thanks 3of6!

Corpsebass, you're right, it just looks cool, that's all.

 

[HippieOfDoom]

Yous guys just think it "looks cool" b'cuz you've never played it. YeeHaww...!!!
SDG, live, from the forests of Sweden.

(these are actually in a club in Holland - thanks Hendrik!)

 

[soulflypl]

// Trident
The Trident (© Trevor Peres) is Steve's 3-string setup for Obituary. The tuning is D-G-C.

I thought it was S-D-G :Smokedev:


it's so hot here in Poland that my brain is just melting .... need

 

[MichaelDorrian]

Here are the settings for the Bass Pod that we used to record the album:

Amp model 12 (Rock Classic -> the Ampeg SVT clone)
Output 5.5
Drive 2
Bass 10
Lo Mid 10
Hi Mid 10
Treble 10
Channel Volume 6.5
Compressor 3.8
I guess there's gonna be some comments about the subtle EQing...

There you go, all there's left to get a killer tone is a Thor bass and Steve's skills!

 

[israel]

Gonna try to record with my Carvin with that setup to see how it goes!

 

[MichaelDorrian]

I think Steve's got the same pick-ups in the Thor bass as what he has in his Carvins.
Make sure you record a DI track aswell; the Thor bass' natural sound is a little cleaner and has more high-end than the Pod sound, so you get this nicely balannced full sound when playing both tracks at the same time.

Hope this helps...

 

[israel]

I think Steve's got the same pick-ups in the Thor bass as what he has in his Carvins.
Make sure you record a DI track aswell; the Thor bass' natural sound is a little cleaner and has more high-end than the Pod sound, so you get this nicely balannced full sound when playing both tracks at the same time.

Hope this helps...

Cool! Thanks for the tips! Definitely gonna try that.

Also I've not been using the Ampeg SVT clone when playing live of for rehearsals because its tone is just way too heavy on the low end. I've been using the Flip Top (modeled after Ampeg B-15), which seems to be stronger on mids I guess...

Anyway I think I should try messing with the SVT clone controls to see if I can get a better tone. Gonna try with that setup you said.

 

[Mrs.Mustaine]

cool stuff

 

[MichaelDorrian]

Not really bass-related, but here it is : http://blogs.myspace.com/anatomyofi

 

[Son of Magni]

The pups on Steve's Thor are Nordstrand Dual Coil Humbuckers...

 

[Dexterecus]

Definatly going to check this out when I get home. Thanks for the settings as well!

 

[MichaelDorrian]

You might wanna scratch those settings I posted earlier as we've re-amped the bass tracks with a good old Ampeg, which sounds way better. I'll post some pics of the settings in a couple of days.

The mix is done, but more on this later, as we're a little behind with the studio blogs. Just posted a new one today @ www.myspace.com/anatomyofi/blog