The MAKING OF…

Prelude: yamaha grand piano, tuned drinking glasses, roland system 100 with 101, 103, battery powered fan, glass slide, electric guitar, string quartet, french horn.
Notes: The piano was recorded at Ghostgum studios and the rest at Aisle 6. We tuned the drinking glass and played them by rubbing fingers around the rim like you do in a fancy restaurant when you’re bored. We also used the system 100 synth through the 103 mixer. It has this great built in reverb (I think it is a spring reverb) to make a sound like a theremin. It is also doubled with the hand held fan on the strings of an electric guitar using a slide with the left hand just before the chorus comes in. We also doubled the vocal line in the second verse with the system 100 through the 103 mixer.

Coolite: hammond B3000 with leslie cabinet, maton acoustic guitar, hand claps, pearl masters custom drum kit, burns electric 12 string, various electric guitars, electric bass and various guitar amps.
Notes: Our good friend Caleb James offered to produce and record this track for us after hearing us play it live. We did some of it at Aisle 6 and the rest at his studio “The Palace.”

Smoke and Mirrors: korg 700S mini, pair of vintage maracas, maton acoustic guitar, burns electric 12 string, various other electric guitars, bass and amps, pearl masters custom drum kit.
Notes: The drums in the bridge/breakdown section were recorded out in the hallway on a concrete floor to give it that “Armageddon” sound. The “lead guitar” part in the chorus is doubled with the Korg 700S.

Wonderful Tragedy: timpani, concert snare drum, crash/hand cymbals, suspended cymbal, harmony vintage acoustic guitar, sleigh bells, tambourine, string quartet, trumpet, trombone, vintage drouyn drum kit, roland system 100 with 103 mixer and 104 sequencer, vibraphone, burns electric 12 string guitar, various electric guitars, bass and amps
Notes: We recorded all the orchestral percussion at Ghostgum Studios and the rest including the strings at Aisle 6, except for the vibraphone which we recorded at Anglican Church Grammar School. We only had a quartet in for the sessions, so we doubled the parts to make it sound a bit more orchestral. The “static” sound in verse 1 was made using the roland system 100 with the 103 and 104. We had a dodgy lead going from the sequencer to the synth and jiggled it to make the sound. Ahhh technology! We also used a 60’s era aiwa plastic portable turntable with a spoken word record to make some voice samples used in verse 1 and the break-down outro part. On the drums, we used gaffa tape across the toms to give them that early 70’s drum sound.

Until It’s Gone: roland system 100, rhodes mark V stage 73, tambourine, pearl masters custom, burns marquee electric 12 string, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: Throughout the song, we doubled the 12 string line with the rhodes to add a new texture.

Slappin’ On The Cuffs: trumpet, drouyn vintage drum kit, tambourine, hand claps, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: We doubled the trumpet in the choruses to get that Burt Bacharach/Herb Alpert sound. Initially we intended to record this song as a B-side so it was done quite quickly. It turned out so well that we decided to put it on the album instead.

Nice Guys?: roland system 100 synth, tambourine, pearl masters custom drum kit, walkie talkie’s, “smokey” marlboro mini amp, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: We used to “smokey” amp to make the guitar sound at the beginning of verse 2 as well as to make the space noises/feedback in the bridge section. We also used the walkie talkie’s to do the feedback and count in at the beginning of the song.

Burning Brighter: trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, yamaha yc10, guiro, vintage maracas, sleigh bells, bongos, aiwa plastic portable record player, drouyn vintage drum kit, tambourine, burns marquee electric 12 string, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: Everything here was recorded at Aisle 6 except the vibes which was done at Anglican Church Grammar. I’m pretty sure we used the gaffa tape on the toms for this one too. The count down at the beginning was made using the plastic record player and an old mathematics record I found.

Take You For Granted: trumpet, trombone, euphonium, clarinet, orchestral snare drum, hand/crash cymbals and concert bass drum, harpsichord, tambourine, vibraphone, drouyn vintage drum kit, sleigh bells, string quartet, rhodes mark V stage 73, hammond B3000 with leslie cabinet, roland system 100 synth with 103 mixer, burns electric 12 string, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: We recorded the bed of the song at Aisle 6 studios including the strings. The Harpsichord was recorded at the Queensland Conservatorium of music and the Orchestral percussion including the vibes at Anglican Church Grammar School. Pretty much everything else was done at Aisle 6 except the brass and clarinet in the intro which was done in about 3 different “secret” locations (in other words, we’ve forgotten where!) With the toms, we used the gaffa tape on them again to get that dead sound.

Moth and Rust: hand claps, vintage maracas, acoustic guitar, roland dx7, tambourine, pearl masters custom drum kit, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: Scott converted an old speaker we had in the studio into a microphone. We used it to record the drum sounds in the intro. The piano sound was done on a roland dx7 through some kind of distortion pedal.

Missile Crisis: roland system 100 synth, pearl masters custom drum kit, “smokey” marlboro mini amp, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: I think this is the first song we recorded in these sessions. We used the “smokey” amp for some of the noisy sounds as well as for the guitar sound at the beginning of the last verse.

Peace Be With You: french horn, harpsichord, sleigh bells, wood blocks, hand claps, timpani, suspended cymbal, hand/crash cymbals, tambourine, string quartet, drouyn vintage drum kit, yamaha yc10 organ, hammond b3000 with leslie cabinet, system 100 with 103 mixer, bongos, various electric guitars, bass and amps.
Notes: We recorded the orchestral percussion for this track at ghostgum studios and the harpsichord at the Conservatorium. Everything else was done at Aisle 6 including the strings. The noisy breakdown section features piano which was recorded at Anglican Church Grammar and we used the brass and strings from some of the other tracks to help build the chaos. We also used heaps of samples from records played on the AIWA plastic portable record player; some forward, some backwards.