In my last article I covered some of the techniques I used to get a decent live recording of the Chicago based band Bomba Deer. The lush soundscape they executed so well was in sharp contrast with the second group performing that night. The Dust Bunnies employ a much simpler orchestration with guitar, Farfisa organ, lightly played drums, and male and female dual vocals. Click their name to get to their myspace where you can hear some of the tracks. Continue after the break for further details on the recording.

The Dust Bunnies sound is pretty minimal but the songs are tightly composed and convey effortless musicality. My approach was to maintain the purity of the live show while enhancing a few of the elements to get it sounding a bit more like a record. The recording was as easy as pie compared to Bomba Deer, but I found that the mixing was a bit more of a challenge. Eventually, I realized that it was the lack energy where a bass guitar would be doing its thing. This wasn't a problem when listening live but for some reason the recording left me wanting for it.

I found what I was looking for by treating the organ like two separate instruments. The notes a bass guitar would cover were being played but didn't come out in the right way until I had a separate track with the effects and mixing similar to what I would use on a bass track. With the other track I just tried to make it sound more like a Farfisa organ. Although it took a little while to tweak the settings I was happy with the end result.

There is talk of taking a few of these songs from both bands and putting them on a 7" record. I'll post an update with details if I hear anything.