Where:
Chattanooga, TN USA
Who:
Vocals and Songs by -- Johnny Key (Mechanical
Engineer by day)
Lead Guitar -- Jim Abney (Guitar student at the Atlanta
Institute of Music part time)
Bass -- Wayne Roberson (Computer tech by day)
Drums -- Daren Headrick (Internet Marketing and PR by
day)
http://www.openeyesrock.com
http://www.AtomicEyes.com
info@AtomicEyes.com
When:
December of 1998
Why: (..) One
of our close friends died in a car accident and his passing inspired us
to follow our dreams and not take life too seriously. Our music
reflects our loss and is about the serious side of life. Our original name
was also inspired by this event. Atomic Eyes also hold secondary meaning
to us and if you think about it to others as well with a little creativity.
What:
Rock, Pop, Hard Rock, College/Indie/Lo-Fi
In
Short:
Influences are mainly REM, Collective Soul, Pearl Jam, Bad Company,
James Taylor, and Rush among many others.
Fans can join AE's mailing list at the site
and keep track of them and also have a chance to win their venue demo CD
recorded with n-Track Studio.
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Atomic
Eyes
by Alessandro De Murtas
Featured
Songs:
Conditional
No
One Home
In December '98
Johnny Key, Wayne Roberson, and Daren Headrick began to play music
together and founded the historical core of Atomic Eyes. In early
'99 they would lose a close friend in a tragic car accident. This
event inspired them to take life more serious and to live out their
dreams. Jim Abney, the lead guitarist, was added in the Spring of
2000. He had never played in a band before and has only been playing
around two and a half years on his own before he met the band. So
They are really rookies in the music industry, but have managed to
get a huge response on the Internet at MP3.com
and other similar sites. Personally I think that while the members
need to grow and improve their skill, they have talent and if you
will listen to their songs you'd discover that they have been success
in reverse their passions and feelings in their music. Check out those
guys, you will hear them again. Anyway as Jeff Bridges says in "The
Great Lebowski": "That's only my opinion".
Tips
and Tricks from Atomic Eyes using n-Track Studio.
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(..) The music was recorded with n-Track
Studio 2.0x. We knew, and really still know, very little about
the software but found it easy to use the first night we tried.
We always lay down vocal and guitar work tracks with a click,
then record drums to the click with the work tracks as a reference
point. Then come back and track in guitars, bass, vocals,
backing vocals, etc.While we didn't do this before, we are
now mixing the drums down to one track before proceeding to
other instruments. We also just recently started micing the
guitars so on the earlier songs the guitars sound thin.
The latest -- Lay Me Down, has fatter sound and represents
a mic'd lead guitar. We spent the most time on 'Conditional'
probably about 15 hours or so total, so nothing is really
polished perfectly -- just a testament to what can be done
in a short amount of time with n-Track. We also know nothing
of panning and fading evolutions, or using stereo on drums
just yet, but we are learning, so none of that was done on
the recordings to date.We did have Conditional and
No One Home mastered by collegeroadrecording.com after
supplying a flat mix. On Lay Me Down it is all (compression
included) done with n-Track.
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The pre-mixing of drums has helped in the performance of the
software so we don't have too many tracks and effects bogging
it down. We usually use a RadioShack thin body condensor mike
overhead for the drums with one of their vocal mics on the snare
and kick. That's it. Vocals are done with the same overhead
mic and a wind screen.We sometimes use the BOSS (404?) effects
board for the rhythm guitar and another brand stomp box and
mid range amp for the lead with a radio shack mic and a direct
feed from the amp (two tracks). We have had success getting
a fatter sound out of the headphone jack for the direct portion
of the lead guitar as represented in 'Conditional' with
no micing on that lead guitar.We record vocals with moderate
monitor presence in the background to add a slightly fuller
sound and a little natural reverb. We use n-Track's delay settings
(single with around 9 to 14 % delay) on vocals with sometimes
a touch of reverb. We use a PIII 500 MHz IBM with 10 gigs hd
and 128 megs ram.
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