n-Track Studio's Featured Artist of the Month

SEPTEMBER 2000


The Five W

 . Featured Artist's Web Page: http://www.AtomicEyes.com


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.

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.

(..) 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.



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.

Breaking News 


Atomic Eyes will be at The Tavern in Chattanooga on Vine Street near UTC on 9/27! 

The band is getting airplay in Chattanooga on two stations' local shows with 'Conditional'

Cd for sale: AtomicEyes Demo

What's Being Cooked Up?
Featured Artist of the Month - Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Are you an n-Track Studio's User? Would like to be reviewed? Send email to alex@n-track.com, reporting as much info as you can. Also including your recording equipment, procedures, tips & tricks for advantage of all the n-Track Studio's users.


(..) We plan to record an indy CD in January and have over 30 originals. The newer stuff is better. The songs you hear online are at least a year old (when we were really green with little experience).