Rusty Deathnail

Sorely underused Trem pedal in wood case. No A/C adapter for it. 40. PM if interested.

Cheers,

Rob.

i also heard that they record the drums with mic's that are suspended from the the high walls which creates a sort of ambience, is this bullshit? cos i think it sounds pretty cool

I always close mic the kit but the lucky thing that The Mill has is a lovely live room which is half stone, half wood and there are always two ambient mics in place to capture the room sound. They help to add a nice element. I don't usually use a lot of them but they come in really useful for natural ambience and colour. There was a third mic suspended about half way up the ceiling which was supposed to be great. I'm hoping to one back up there.

Generous? Ha!

The Mill is an absolute rip off and Neil is WAAAAY out of touch with modern recording techniques (and fucking slow at doing anything).

He is a man who is all too conscious about his 30 quid hourly charge and takes an age to work his outdated equipment, which he does inbetween day long tea breaks and tedious stories. I had to tell him to hurry the fuck up a lot. A lot.

So in conclusion - don't go to The Mill unless you happen to like REALLY expensive tea and biscuits.

That's a pretty harsh post about Niall. He is a very talented man who can really help bring a mix together. The Mill can give the best live drum sound of any studio I've heard in Aberdeen let alone the possibilities of guitar and vocals.

The weakest point in the Mill's set up (and I have discussed this with Niall) is the recording software he uses. It's an old program called Vision and it does a fine, fine job for recording and most aspects of editing but it struggles when it comes to automation. It's just not as user friendly as ProTools or Logic when it comes to that.

The 30 an hour seems to really put a lot of people off as they are worrying about the time and not relaxing into putting in a good performance. The pay rate is something I'm hoping to be able to relax a little and give people a bit of freedom with. Maybe throw a few extra hours in just to get a track right. It does the band a favour as much as the studio.

I'm hoping to get a Myspace sorted by the end of the month so please do get in contact if you want to do some recording. I'm quite flexible with hours and really want to work with some of the bands we have up here in the North.

The biggest problem with The Mill is it's elusiveness; I haven't seen any advertising for it (and I've been up here 8 years) and it seems to be known about only by word of mouth. I'm hoping to make it a bit easier to get in contact.

Here's some pics to peruse:

Had this for a few years. Last time it was used was for some Dedalus rehearsals. Previous owner to me used it for karaoke so it's never been pushed that hard.

Sufficient for small gigs or excellent as a vocal PA for a rehearsal space etc.

All in working order; The mixer has a built in effects unit with varying delay and reverb settings.

Small graphic EQ and individual 4 band EQ across 8 channels (Fixed Q, High, High Mid, Low Mid, and Low).

It's not missing anything bar the manual!

Included are two Peavey Speakers which came with the unit originally. Both are working and are loud enough to annoy the neighbours.

Bought for 400, looking for 300.

Anyone interested?

The vocals are nice and clear, though the backing vox in the outro snuck on me like a rapist in the night and almost made me spill my coffee.

Finally! I found that sound. Must remember the settings for that one.

This was easily one of the gigs of the year. I haven't felt so enraptured by show in ages. It completely absorbed you.

The visuals, the slow movements of the band, the strings - THE STRINGS!

Let's not forget the awesome use of the entire frequency range. That low end got down to your bones.

My favourite quote of the night was near the end of the set when Phil turned to me as streams of light were flying past on the visuals and he said "we're going into hyperdrive". Didn't feel far off.

Someone said they played for an hour and half? Is that right because it certainly didn't feel that way. I've often worried about seeing "post-rock(ish)" bands who won't hold my attention in a live format but SOTL utterly nailed it.

Fiction Action are still the strongest thing on that CD. I enjoyed the PVH track muchly. Need to see a second live show to get a bit more of a feel for them though.

Indubitably sir! That would be balls of fun.

This was a blinder. Thoroughly enjoyed the second band - great projections, jumpsuits and sounds. Enablers were everything I hoped they would be. REALLY hope they do return. Good work Sharon and Scott!

Does this mean you're going to goose Enablers Bobby?

I'm not sure goosing is gonna fly with this lot. I'll try and show my appreciation by more generally accepted means. Is a shame you aren't here for it. It would be piping hot fun! Not long now....

Can't wait for this! Got the album End Note a couple of weeks back. Was having a bit of a Slint revival at the time and this fit beautifully into the bracket. Heavier and maturer than the aforementioned and incredibly atmospheric. This gig is gonna have balls.

This is definitely the worst. Day. Ever.

Just waiting to get my copy of gui through the post! Love The Field and Matthew Dear right now. Holy Fuck is a constant staple as well.

Was an awesome night. Great to finally catch Katerwaul who sounded immense. Reminded me of U.S. band Elliot in places but with more delay and chunky blasts of guitar. They just sounded huge!

Just caught the tail end of Greater the Shadow and it was good to see an Aberdeen making that kind of noise. Like to see a whole set.

Kartta had a blast. There were reports that bassist Michael was seen vibrating post gig. That's a good thing.... I think.

Awesome. The last time they played here was an unforgettable experience. Awesome.

New PA?

Also: I'm playing down the cellar a week on Sunday (in Kartta for a charity gig). Will the new PA be there by then?

Engineer?

Hey!,

Just wanted to throw my hat into the engineer ring too. I've done a wee bit of work at the Tunnels and at Kilau for the acoustic sunday shows. Currently completing the HNC course at the college as well. Would be really keen to give this a go as I really like the cellar too. Cute little venue which should now fulfill it's potential a bit more hopefully!

BUT! I can't wait to see these guys. Will be highly, HIGHLY enjoyable. If we can get the Constatines up here as well (they're on the same label now with Stars)... well, there might be an evacuation.

Cool, I've heard good things about this band, been meaning to buy one of their albums.

Set Yourself on Fire is what you want. Well received album which is worth a few repeated turns. Great Girl/Boy vocals lead the twee rock! You get the odd sliver of electronica (a la Postal Service) but it's mainly an organic affair. Makes me smile constantly.

New album doesn't really change the formula much to start with (no surprises, less thrilling, but pleasant) but then really flails. Barricade (Track 8) is a B-Side from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that got scrapped. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Please step carefully from there on in.

God I could go on forever....

That's the danger. A lot of people diss the scene in Aberdeen; but there are some seriously quality acts.

The singer-songwriter/folk scene in Aberdeen is actually very good. Kitchen Cynics, Ry Walker, Holy Folks, No Pasaran, Welfare Mothers, Delawair, and several others.

You also have straight up pop like 10 Easy Wishes, who are great at what they do; energetic indie-pop like The Little Kicks (easily Aberdeen's biggest crowd pulling band); some post-rock and post-metal bands like Katerwaul (who are criminally overlooked by pretty much everyone except those close to them) and Fault & Fracture; off-kilter/alternative acts like Copy Haho and Fiction/Action (RIP - easily Aberdeen's finest ever band in my humble opinion). It's all good.

There could be more electronic and experimental stuff - Herzog and Wasow/The Jinx are the only decent experimental acts I can recall seeing.

Yay for Aberdeen.

This is tidy. Gravenhurst are slowly becoming one of my favourite bands, and No Pasaran are very pretty.

The Snafu stage is titchy, though. Kartta will have next to no room!

Gratitude

Thanks man, I really, really appreciate it. See you there!

Hey guys,

Could one of you PM me about this gig. Us Kartta boys have a wee problem and a medium sized favour to ask.

Cheers,

Rob.

I hope I speak for everyone involved when I say that the first night went pretty friggin well! There was a good turn out for all the bands and although it looked at one point as if the uber dj's might have to call it a night early, they pulled through and made strange shapes happen. Next month is gonna be good times. That comes with a guarantee. Actually, it doesn't but look at this!:

The Decemberists - Barrow Boy

Caribou - Yeti

Band of Horses - The First Song

Russian Futurists - Paul Simon

Mclusky - To Hell with Good Intentions

Q and Not U - We Heart our Hive

The Knife - Silent Shout

Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene

Cap'n Jazz - Little League

Broken Social Scene - 7/4 Shoreline

Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube

Fugazi - Epic Problem

Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia

Desert Hearts - This is This

Hot Club de Paris

TV on the Radio - Province

The Cure - Friday I'm in Love

Gang of Four - Damaged Goods

Mission of Burma - That's when I reach for my Revolver

Violent Femmes - Add it Up

Jimi Hendrix - Fire

Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood No.3 (Power Out)

The Smiths - Charming Man

New Order - Blue Monday

Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song

Metric - Emtpy

Interpol - PDA and Evil

British Sea Power - Remember Me

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

Modest Mouse - Float On

Vitalic - Poney Part One.

That's what we remember playing. That infamous purple haze descended again. More treats next month. Stay tuned.