What I Traded My TV for

I love that Tampora band...

2010-04-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

I played on another classmates 5th cycle project last night. This time we did my bluesy/country rendition of Cowboys From Hell. It was quite funny, and done entirely with first takes. The lyrical content provided by Mez may be a little inappropriate, so I'll see how the mix comes out tonight and decide if its post worthy.

I am playing engineer tonight on my 5th cycle project, and will be recording "Robot Skeleton" performing an original tune called "NightHawk". It should be glorious.

Stay tuned you three.

They hide their finest bean!!!

2010-02-17T21:30:00.001-08:00

I posted this a couple weeks ago and forgot to put it on here...oops! I know the 5 of you wait with bated breath for every one of my posts, so I apologize for the suspense. This is another Devin Townsend song, this time electric and jumpin'. I LOVE the guitar tone I got on this one. It's my SG with EMG 81's in open C through the tiny terror. As with almost all Dev's material its a "wall of sound" concept so close your eyes and listen carefully...

<a href="http://brettborgard.bandcamp.com/track/hyperdrive">Hyperdrive by Brett Borgard</a>

CRAS - Day one

2010-01-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

The new adventure has begun!!! After a two day orientation and the distribution of even more audio gear, including a new 13" MacBook Pro, I am starting the first real day of classes. We had some homework assigned from the orientation, just reading, but the delivery system they have rigged here is pretty neat. Their website and network allows the instructors and IT staff to push files to our individual computers as well as making them available on the website. Combined with the website's online quizzes and reviews it makes for a great way to stay engaged at all times. I took some of the quizzes available before I read any of the material to gauge how much that was going to be taught I already knew. I scored 90% or better on the first couple without reading a thing... wahoo!!

I have a few projects in the work music-wise that I will be posting soon, and I found a student here from Texas that blows harp!!! I have been playing acoustic and singing while he wails away, its been a blast so far and I'm sure we should have a collaborative recording before long. Stay Tuned!

Westward Bound

2009-12-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

After a short pit stop in New Braunfels to pawn off some more of my non-musical gear and eat a fantastic chicken fried steak, I'm finally hitting the road. It has yet to sink into my head that I quit my highly lucrative (and easy) job to go and make music. I'm sure the 18 hour drive ahead of me will provide ample opportunity for reflection...

I will attempt to chronicle the adventure as I see fit on my new twitter account here

http://twitter.com/brettborgard

Happy trails!

DWTMH - Dancing with the Metal heads

2009-11-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

Some excellent tips from the alterna-tweens for pit etiquette.

Enjoy.

Murmaider, Murmaider, Murmaider!!!

2009-10-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

"It's a song about mermaids... and murder." - Nathan Explosion

James and I recorded this cover tune of Dethklok's Murmaider. It was a total blast. Here's the details:

Guitars 1-6: Gibson SG Faded through Orange Tiny Terror/Orange 2x12, mic'd with a Shure SM7B direct into PT7.4

Guitars 7-8 (solo/fills): Gibson SG Faded and Washburn Idol through PodFarm.

EzDrummer Drumkit from Hell.

VOX: Rode NTK

<a href="http://brettborgard.bandcamp.com/track/murmaider">Murmaider by Brett Borgard</a>

Departure

2009-06-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I've finally made something I'm pretty damn happy with. I'm predisposed when recording music to tinker with it forever and never be satisfied. This of course leads my output to be somewhat restricted. Anyway, here is some info about the recording:

Devin Townsend, known for his wild antics and schizophrenic heavy music, has composed a new album called "Ki". It is a big departure from his earlier work with Strapping Young Lad and Devin Townsend Band. It is almost entirely clean tones on the guitars and very mellow. I was really drawn to this particular song "Quiet Riot." There is a lyric in the song "Thank you Jean Michael, I'm on my way to hell." "Jean Michael" is John Michael Osborne, a.k.a. "Ozzy". I learned how to play metal music by listening to Ozzy records, apparently so did Devin!

This song was recorded in about 6 hours, with my Takamine acoustic on my couch using my laptop, the Digi 002R, and a single Oktava Mk-012-01. I then recorded electric guitars with my B-Bender Telecaster using PODFarm plug-in in ProTools 7.4. All the keys are Xpand! by Digidesign. The vocal tracks were sung into an M-Audio nova and are almost all first takes, there is no vocal comping on this track. That's pretty much it! Recorded in 6 hours, mixed in a day and now it's out there!!

If you like this, please check out Devin's Album "Ki".

-B

<a href="http://brettborgard.bandcamp.com/track/quiet-riot-dtp-cover">Quiet Riot - (DTP cover) by Brett Borgard</a>

New Recordings....

2009-06-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've got some new covers I'll post later this weekend. I'm pretty excited about it, it's a softer more mellow side of me. For now, back to mixing!!

stay tuned!!

-B

2009-05-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here's what I did memorial day weekend. It all started with a cool synth sound from Xpand! by digidesign. I'll detail more later, no it's not finished, but here it is:

<a href="http://brettborgard.bandcamp.com/track/shelter">Shelter by Brett Borgard</a>

Studio Pics

2009-05-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

For those interested, this is where I spend most of my time after staring at a computer screen all day, I go home and... stare at two computer screens. The chair's wheels are messed up, it doesn't roll smoothly, FYI.

Swedes in Texas Part 2

2009-04-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

I worked on this song now called Insomnia a lot since my last post about it.

I finally found a way to upload high quality audio and allow others to get 'okay' quality audio out of it. The track is available for download in various formats or stream it directly from the site.

This version is a HUGE departure from the last one. I completely rewrote the chorus part for all instruments which changed the dynamic of the song altogether. I ended up re-recording the entire thing. Now there are 5 guitar tracks!! A full bass track also was added. I am still messing around with arrangements and may shorten the verse parts a bit, and the verses will definitely be mixed differently once vocals are ready and I have finished changing them...

In the meantime, this is where it's at now!! Let me know what you think!

<a href="http://brettborgard.bandcamp.com/track/insomnia-sketch-1">Insomnia Sketch 1 by Brett Borgard</a>

Insomnia Sketch Version 2

Wrath

2009-03-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

I admit that I was not a fan of their first couple of outings. But the new Lamb of God album, Wrath, has me hooked. Being a musician forces you to listen to music a little differently than your average listener, and when you record, you listen really differently. Without getting into all the details, it all comes down to ear training, knowing what to listen for and directing your ears' attention to that aspect. That being said, I have a few beefs with this album even though I am here touting it.

First, the snare sound. The recording of the snare is fantastic. Electric Ladyland studios in VA. No doubt in my mind they used excellent mic's, pre's, reverbs, compressors (probably a UA or 670). The beef I have is with the tuning of the snare. It's too high for detuned heavy metal!! It's almost like a piccolo snare sound that you might find on a funk or progressive rock album. It's just personal taste but I think it distracts from the heavy and thick sound palette they lay down. The bottom line is that EVERYTHING in a composition should enhance or contribute to the message / theme of the album or song. I think the snare sound being tuned so high (tight) detracts from the heaviness.

Second, the overall mastering of the album feels a little "dry" to me. It sounds sterile. Not over the top by any means, but just a hair dry. You sometimes hear people talk about "warmth" in relation to music, this is usually acheived with high quality compressors and EQ in the mastering stage. Again, this may be just personal preference but I like a big warm fat sound. to me that enhances the "heavy" feel of the stuff. For warmth and heaviness see "Synchestra" by Devin Townsend Band. For dry and heavy, see...well, Wrath. (For BAD BAD BAD Dry see "Death Magnetic" by Metallica, that engineer should be hung and quartered).

Overall though, the songs are much more cohesive than their former and the production is top notch, despite my complaints. So thanks, James for the good find, and see you in the pit April 24th!!!

Swedes in Texas

2009-01-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

So here is the long promised tune I have been working on for about a month now. Disclaimers:

1.) Yes I know it is a rip off. I can't help what I like.

2.) I never intended this for commercial release anyway so F off!

3.) There are no "real" instruments on this yet (That kind of makes it even cooler in my mind.)

Download Insomnia Sketch Here

The intent of posting this is to at least give a glimpse into my process and how a song evolves. But....it all starts with a riff...

So here's the story so far with this one. I was listening to a lot of In Flames at the time and decided I wanted to write a great hook-laden metal tune with a 'Gothenburg'sound and lots of guitar harmonies. I didn't used to care for the blast beats common in some of the heavier and progressive metal music, but, the riff I wrote happened to lend itself well to a blast beat. I rolled with it. The verse parts however I wanted to groove. That sweet heavy groove that makes you bob your head, then the chorus (main) riff comes in and totally knocks you upside the head. An audio 2 x 4, so to speak. So what we have here recording-wise is just that, its two harmonized guitars and Drums.

Guitars:
There are 2 separate guitar tracks one panned slightly left one slightly right throughout the entire song. Both guitar parts were recorded with Woody 2 (see "Intro, Gear List and Pics: Updated!!") direct to Pro Tools 7.4 using Line6's PODFarm plugin. Both instances of the plugin are using the "Treadplate" amp model through a 4x12 cab with the 57 off axis mic'ing option. It's a little "bassy" for my ears, but this is just a sketch. When I record subsequent guitar parts I will probably head up to the studio and use my real Mesa. Woody 2 and him play real nice.

Drums:

The drums were entirely done in EzDrummer 2.0 using Drumkit From Hell expansion pack plugin. These are mostly stock grooves from the vast midi library it comes with but the verse parts were heavily edited in Pro Tools midi editor to get the right hits and feel I was looking for. There is still a lot of work to be done here.

No vocals have been laid down yet although they are 90% written. Here's what I got:

Chorus:
atop this pyramid
I scream
the walls are breaking
nothing I ever did
long held beliefs are shaking

cant stop, shadows falling
whats left
in your eyes wanting
nothing i ever said
could stop this ghost from haunting

verse:
shot for shot eyes pinned wide
what does it take to keep from waking?
Soaked in a freezing tide
this is the cost for hesitating

the path I walk seems clear
the sound devastating
as I drown beneath this wash
pray for death or life to take me

verse:
no time for sacrifice
the blood I've spilt instantiating
black tears broken silence
this pain invigorating

wide awake darkness pure
a tortured mind dialated
numbness the only cure
to live a life as yet unshaded

and as I feared this consciousness follows me down
into this void I stare what fate would hollow this ground?

Next up... Live Drums (maybe) real amps, vocals, and solos!!!!

Let me know what you think, suggestions, etc.

Gear List Part 2: Amps

2009-01-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

This is part two of my gear list updates and deals with guitar amps. I have a couple Line6 digital modeling amps for at home use. I bought an Orange Tiny Terror and Orange 2x12 so that I could have tube tone at the house and my neighbors promptly notified me that was not going to fly. Lesson: Tube amps, even small wattage ones, are LOUD. Anyway, here's what I got:

Line6 Flextone IIIXL
This is a great amp to do...anything really! It is a modeling amp so...you can get anything from country twang to screamin' death metal to really useless insane indie type crap. It's also got direct outs which would be nice except in my tests the outputs were really noisy.

Line6 Duoverb 2x12
This one is pretty cool, a little more 'real amp' sounding than the Flextone. It was a good craigslist find for $300 at the time. It was Line6's first foray into dual amp mode, where you can have two independent amps running at once a la SRV or EJ. Honestly, I never even play this thing...maybe I should sell it?

Orange Tiny Terror w/ 2x12 Orange Cab

Amazing tone out of this little guy. It's switchable between 7 and 15 watts which basically just effects the amount of headroom you get (I prefer the 15 cranked). There are 3 control knobs, Gain, Tone and Volume. The tone is essentially a treble boost/rolloff but seems to really be dynamic and can really bring out the nuances of a good guitar plugged straight in. For example with a medium high gain setting and the tone knob at about 11 o'clock my Tele with the volume knob halfway sounds amazing for blues and Pink Floyd type clean tones. It's driven but clean picking normally then when you really dig in you get some nice dirt. I was most impressed by this thing with high gain settings and a high output pickup like my Woody2 or Flying V. Mic'd up with a 57 off axis this thing is brutal and majorly competes with my Mesa. At only $500 or less for the head...buy one. I lucked out and got the head and cab on CL for $800.

Mesa Boogie DC-5 head and Mesa 4x12 Oversized Cab (80's)

This thing is a monster. First off this is NOT a rectifier amp. There are 5 preamp tubes, all 12AX7's. The power tubes are a pair of 6L6GC's. There are two independent channels, footswitchable, with a 5 band graphic EQ, also footswitchable. The first channel has a more tame gain structure than the second but includes an interesting pull out 'boost' on the gain knob that changes the gain stack. When pulled out the mid knob turned past 12 o'clock also acts as an additional gain stage, making the accessibility to great crunch sounds eminent. The lead channel is a high gain powerhouse and with the EQ in the signal path is designed for tearing your head off. I swapped the stock celestion v30's in the cab for Eminence Texas Heat 150w speakers and damn. I have never once turned this 50 watt beast over 4 on the master volume, its just too much. I am running the cab in parallel stereo as well. This thing does a great dirty stoner metal/ sabbath dark sound as well as a tight super high gain death metal sound. I very nearly plug straight into this monster and get what I am going for every time. Screw a dual rec, the DC-5 will eat it for lunch and still have room to have dessert on your Fender clean tones.

Short Update: Couple of guitar details...

2009-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Green Meanie:
Super versatile guitar. First off it has a 3 section body, this is unusual in solidbodied electric guitars and makes it very light. The main center piece is mahogany with two basswood "wings", maple neck, with rosewood fretboard. The tuners are grover recessed locking tuners, this means no winding the strings around the posts, excellent addition. The Wilkinson tremolo (bridge) is blocked inside making its tuning incredibly stable. The pickups are a Duncan JB (Jeff Beck) at the bridge with two Duncan Hot rails in the neck and middle positions. The JB is very midrange-y in this guitar, which I love. It makes the guitar really "talk" when you pump up the gain. The hot rails on a clean setting will make this thing nearly indistinguishable from a good 'ol strat. I keep this one in standard tuning and it is my absolute 'go to' guitar. From Megadeth to Pink Floyd to Ozzy it does it all.

Tele:
This thing is a monster. First of all with the parsons-green B-bender installed this thing weighs a TON. However, it more than makes up for its obesity problem with its tone. A Texas Special Strat pickup surrounded by the Telecaster Noiseless Cobalt in the bridge and neck make this thing amazing for country, bluegrass, blues, and even some classic rock. Clean tone = Tele. Period. End of story.

Purple People Eater:
This one is pretty cool, not too many around. It's identical to the green meanie with the exception of the fretboard markers, color and scale. Due to the popularity of detuning guitars Yamaha made the Drop6 line. All that really means is that the nut is slotted for heavier gauged strings and the scale (measurement of nut to bridge) is slightly longer. The string gauges are .64 - .13....in other words HUGE. It's tuned B to b, so technically its a baritone. Way fun for Swedish metal, cool clean tones too.

Intro, Gear List and Pics: Updated!!

2009-01-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to first installment of audio narcissism!! I always have a ton of stuff to say about music, so these posts might be a little random, and then again, they might be long discussions or maybe just an update of what I'm working on. In other words, this will be just like music, sometimes chaotic and some people will like it while others hate it. So be it.

First and foremost I am a guitar player. Started young, still doing it. It's my first and most proficient instrument. As with anyone else we all go through phases of what we like and I'm no different, other than maybe my spread may be slightly wider. For example, I used to play with a semi-heavy metal / southern metal (we called it 'Swamp Metal') outfit last year. It was brutally heavy, super loud, lots of distortion and a little obnoxious at times. I lived for our practice nights. But I noticed on the way there and back I would love listening to Bluegrass... weird.

So the guitars... I currently own...alot. I will attempt to list them here for anyone insterested, eventually I will post pics of each and every one. Here goes:

Electrics:

Yamaha Ty Tabor Signature, green burst (Green Meanie)

Yamaha Ty Tabor Signature Drop 6, purple burst (Purple People Eater)

1982 Epiphone Les Paul Custom, faded white with EMG 81/85

Mexican Strat Frankenstein w G&L picguard & p/u's

Dean Dimebag Dixie Rebel

Fender Custom Shop American B-Bender Nashville Tele

Gibson Vintage Mahogony Les Paul (Woody2)(newest and current fav)

Ibanez JEM 7VWH Steve Vai Model

Ibanez SDGR 4 String Bass

Gibson SG Faded Worn Brown (Woody)

Epiphone SG Gothic Limited Cross w/ Dual EMG 81's (The Beast)

Epiphone Gothic Flying V

Acoustics:

Takamine GS-330S

Oscar Shcmidt 12-String Acoustic Electric Cutaway

Trinity River A-style mandolin

Beard Square Neck Tri-cone Resonator

National Harlem Slim Signature Estralita Resonator (round neck)

Not Pictured:
Taylor Baby (Baby Tay)
Gold Tone Open backed 5 string banjo

Okay, that took way longer than I anticipated, so I will split these posts up. This will be considered the GUITAR post. I will update later with the DRUM post, the AMP & EFFECTS post, and finally the STUDIO GEAR post. Thanks for checking it out, let me know if you have any questions / requests!!!