Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

When you layer several guitar tracks do you get one track that is the main one that makes the song sound complete and then go back and enhance that? Or do you ever think of the layers as creating one part that wouldn't sound complete if you took off a layer?
I am sure this varies---like when you did the tribal tech improvisation albums and layered you were working with preexisting music and you layered to fill it out.
I guess I am asking about your new album primarily.

Thanks---I hope the new album is going good.

[Scott Henderson]

Yes, there's a main track, which is what you'd hear if you came to a live gig. I never want to record stuff I can't play live. The layers are mainly textural in nature, but sometimes I compose parts which didn't exist before. Those parts won't be on the gig, but they're not important enough to ruin the song if they're not heard.

The fun part is taking what I do live and assigning this or that section to different tones. The hard part is making everything sound separated and clear. Of course panning is a big part of it, but different guitars, speakers and pedals also help. Alan Hertz is mixing the record in a few weeks, and last time he heard some of the stuff, he said all the guitars sound too big. It's my nature to try to get fat tones, but I know if all the guitars are fat, everything gets muddy and doesn't leave space for the bass and drums. So I guess we'll be turning down mids and low mids on some guitar parts when we mix.