To finish: MTL4, MTL5, MTL6. Also “early history of recordings”
Mortified Studios was officially created in January of 2007. Although I had been recording music since August of 2003, I never considered my home recording equipment as a studio until January of 2007. The name of the studio comes from my record label at the time, Mortification Records.
early history of my recordings. talkboy, radios
changed laptops to record when still in Montreal, first recording session in Feb 2014? for the Marc Hoyland project. from Dell Vostro (get model number) to Dell Inspiron 17-3737
In NJ it was called “Mortified Studio”. When moved back to Montreal, it was renamed “Mortified Studios”. Most probably by accident, at some point I started calling it “Studios” in plural form, but at some point I remember looking at all my notes to see which form, singular or plural, was most used and it was plural. So the plural form became the official name. In 2018, while documenting and archiving my work extensively, I started separating the two entities, so that that Mortified Studio was in New Jersey and Mortified Studios was the various locations in Quebec.
Being a home studio, the location changed every time I moved. At first the studio was named “Mortified Studio”, but after a couple of new apartments, it was renamed “Mortified Studios”. Each of the locations had a different setup so I find it best to explain the progression by location.
-NJ0
92 Stephenville, Edison, New Jersey
August 2003-July 2006
Before having a studio name. Equipment was initially very limited. Everything from August of 2003 until September of 2004 was recorded using an external Gateway desktop microphone > line-in of my Gateway computer> using Windows Sound Recorder. Some cassette tapes were used with live sound from a boombox but none have been recovered. Starting in September of 2004, I used the following setup: Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > line-in of my Gateway desktop > using Windows Sound Recorder.
Then during the summer of 2005, Mike Vassalo, who was at the time playing in Black Sand and Starless Nights, told me about a program called Cakewalk Sonar, which was the only difference from the setup of 2004.
Finally in January of 2006, my gift for my birthday was a new computer, which I built myself from parts I got on New Egg. This new setup allowed me a lot less latency with the recordings, but there was definitely still some. The setup then was Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > line-in of my Alienware desktop > Cakewalk Sonar.
-MTL0
6392 Louis Dupire, Montreal, Canada
July 2006-November 2006
Again this was prior to using a studio name. I had moved to Montreal and stayed with my grandmother for a few months. I didn’t have the chance to pack up my belongings before coming up, which meant no amp nor my own computer, so I used her desktop computer for the time. I installed Cakewalk Sonar on it and managed to get an even more basic setting. Because I had no amp, I had to use my Boss MetalZone as a pre-amp. But I also didn’t have a way to plug my pedal into the computer so I purchased a Monster Cable double male 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch wire, which went from the pedal straight to the computer: Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my grandmother’s desktop > Cakewalk Sonar.
-NJ1
92 Stephenville, Edison, New Jersey
December 2006-July 2007
When I came back to my parent’s house, I was very happy to use my own computer again and to have the bass’s pre-amp between my guitar and my computer. In January of 2007 I discovered the reverb option in Cakewalk Sonar and that’s when I decided that my music was getting a notch better and had the idea to name my home recording equipment with a studio name. The setup for this location was always Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Alienware desktop > Cakewalk Sonar
Also bought AKG 271 MKII headphones.
Possibly also bought a new microphone to record Soufferance vocals
-MTL1
2108 Bleury, Montreal, Canada
August 2007-May 2008
This time when I moved to Montreal, I took all my things with me. Actually they were sent to me via U-Haul with one of my uncles. But I had everything and kept the same setup of Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Alienware desktop > Cakewalk Sonar. But I ran into a lot of problems with my computer not recognizing both audio channels and also some times when my Monster cable needed to be only half connected to properly get the frequencies. My computer was also starting to get old and slow and I had problems with latency when using a lot of effects.
-MTL2
6394 De Lanaudiere, Montreal, Canada
May 2008-October 11, 2009
When I moved on De Lanaudiere, I still had the same equipment and same problems as on Bleury. Still the same setup: Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Alienware desktop > Cakewalk Sonar. Most of the time at this location my computer simply wouldn’t let me record at all. I remember that for almost one whole year, roughly from July of 2008 to June of 2009, I couldn’t get my computer to detect any incoming sounds. The last working sound was a Human Infect rehearsal and I finally got it working again to finish the Soufferance album “Travels Into Several Remote of the Mind” in 2009.
Bought eBow around September of 2009
-MTL3
7515 St Dominique, Montreal, Canada
October 11, 2009-June 30, 2010
I was a little bit more lucky at the St. Dominique location. My computer was working most of the time and I recorded a lot of new stuff, still with the same setup: Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Alienware desktop > Cakewalk Sonar. I may have started to experiment with different programs at this location, including Adobe Audition.
-MTL4
1310 Henri-Bourassa Est, Montreal, Canada
June 30, 2010-June 20, 2011
This location wasn’t as good to me. My computer was becoming so slow that I wasn’t even able to record anything at all. Finally, in early July of 2010, after moving in, Jeremy brought over his desktop computer and we attempted to combine them but the result was even slower. He had recently bough an Apple laptop computer and so the next time he came over, on July 11, 2010, he decided to give me his old Toshiba Satellite laptop, which for me was like a brand new machine. The setup was mostly Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Toshiba Satellite laptop > Adobe Audition
Phil also gave me his old analog 4-track tape recorder and speakers, and possible a microphone that came with it? This might be where/when I got that second mic.
-MTL5
1360 Du College, Montreal, Canada
July 20, 2011-June 21, 2012
Guitar > Boss MetalZone pedal > Ibanez Soundwave 35 bass amp > 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch Monster cable > line-in of my Toshiba Satellite laptop > Adobe Audition
Sometime in September 2012, the Toshiba laptop stopped working and my uncle Stephane Fania gave me his Dell Vostro computer, but always had problems detecting the sound with the Monster cable
Xmas 2011, Steph offered to give me either a drum machine or a digital 8-track recorder Fostex. I wasn’t interested in either but I picked the digital recorder because out of the two, I figured that I was more likely to ever use that one.
-MTL6
6396 De Lanaudiere, Montreal, Canada
June 21, 2012-May 30, 2014
Dell Vostro. But had problems with recording.
Got new Dell Inspiron December 2013
Got Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 in February of 2014
-STH1
1113 Chemin des Hauteurs, Saint-Hippolyte, Canada
May 30, 2014-April 29, 2015
When I moved to Saint-Hippolyte in late May of 2014, I was using my Dell Inspiron with Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
-ETL1
141 Rue Deguise, Entrelacs, Canada
April 29, 2015-May 7, 2020
May 31, 2015 I created the Mortified Studios logo using Hillary font
chose that font because it resembled the Mortification Records logo drawn by Kelly Spinks.
August 2017 bought more cables and things to make a pedal board.
February 2018 bought premium guitar strings to get going again.
September 2019, changed the way my studio is wired. For recording:
Guitar > Analysis Plus Yellow Oval Cable > Boss Digital Reverb RV-5 pedal > out in stereo 1 going to Peavey Combo 550 Amp, then going out to Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 1st generation, the other going straight to the focusrite.
In May 2020, moved to New Brunswick and the studio was renamed La Detente Studio.