With today's affordable multitrack technology, one or two people can sound like a whole band. Here are some MP3 audio examples from JV's home studio along with descriptions of how the songs were made:
 
    • "For What It's Worth", Buffalo Springfield
    • "Collage", James Gang
    • "Sparks", The Who

"For What It's Worth"
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"For What It's Worth" is a song written by Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield and released in 1967. It certainly captured the mood of the day.
 
Kirk Gramcko and I did this version of the song. It has a total of 14 tracks. Kirk played the 6-string electric guitars, 6-string acoustic guitars and sang all the vocal parts, while I played the bass and drums. The general approach was to sync a pair of digital recorders with a Mac sequencer using MIDI Time Code (MTC). In this case, one of the digital recorders acted as the master (by generating the master MTC signal) and the Mac and the other digital recorder were slaved to it.
 
We recorded Kirk's acoustic (Guild D50) using a single AKG C3000 microphone. The mic was positioned just above the top of the fretboard, pointing in towards the hole (but not over the hole). We recorded 2 tracks of acoustic guitar- the main strumming part in one channel and the picked bass line in the other channel. All 5 of Kirk's vocal parts (1 main vocal and 4 background vocals) were recorded using the AKG C3000 microphone. The electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom) tracks were recorded directly using a Zoom GM-200 Guitar Amp Modeler and a FMR RNC-1377 compressor. All of the vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded to the Fostex VR-800 digital recorders using a Symetrix SX-202 mic preamp, a FMR RNC-1377 compressor and Fostex VC-8 analog/digital converters.
 
The MIDI bass and drum parts were recorded to a sequencer (Master Tracks Pro) running on a Mac. The drums (kick, side stick and high hat) and percussion (handclaps) were played in real time using a Roland Octapad. The drum and percussion sequences were then used to drive a Roland R8-M drum machine during mixdown. The sequencer bass track on the Mac was used to drive a Kurzweil 1000GX Guitar Expander during mixdown. The Mac sequencer was synced to one of the Fostex VR-800s via MIDI Time Code and an Opcode MIDI Translator, while a Mark of the Unicorn MIDI Express was used to connect the sequencer output to Kurzweil 1000GX and Roland R8-M. During mixdown, an Alesis 1622 Mixer, FMR RNC-1377 Compressor and Alesis Wedge (for general reverb) were used. The reverb on the lead guitar was provided by a Yamaha SPX-90. The song was mixed directly to a Marantz CDR630 Compact Disc Recorder.

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Kirk Gramcko and I did this version of the song. It has a total of 18 tracks. Kirk played all of the 6-string guitars and sang vocals, while I played all the keyboard parts (cello, violin, viola), bass and drums. The general approach was to sync an analog reel/reel recorder with a Mac sequencer using the JL Cooper PPS2 synchronizer. In this case, the reel/reel acted as the master and the Mac was slaved to it.

We recorded Kirk's acoustic (Guild D50) using a single AKG C3000 microphone. The mic was position just above the top of the fretboard, pointing in towards the hole (but not over the hole). The song shows how the C3000 can capture a crisp yet full-bodied sound of an acoustic guitar (although it helps to have a player with a good technique like Kirk). We recorded 2 tracks of acoustic guitar- the main strumming part and also a fill part near the beginning of the song just after the singing starts. All 3 of Kirk's vocal parts (1 main vocal and 2 background vocals) were recorded using the AKG C3000 microphone. Two electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom) tracks were recorded directly using a Boss DS-1 Distortion Box. All of the vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded to a Fostex A8 reel/reel tape deck using a Symetrix SX-202 mic preamp and a FMR RNC-1377 compressor.

All keyboard and drum parts were recorded to a sequencer (Master Tracks Pro) running on a Mac. The drums and percussion were played in real time using a Roland Octapad. The drum and percussion sequences were then used to drive an Alesis HR-16 drum machine during mixdown. All of the string sequencer tracks (7 total) were used to drive a Kurzweil K2000RS, a Kurzweil K1200 Pro 1, and an EMU Proteus 2 during mixdown. The Mac sequencer was synced to the Fostex A8 using a JL Cooper PPS2 Synchronizer and an Opcode MIDI Translator, while a Mark of the Unicorn MIDI Express was used to connect the sequencer output to all of the MIDI synthesizers and samplers. During mixdown, an Alesis 1622 Mixer, FMR RNC-1377 Compressor and Alesis Wedge (for reverb) were used. The song was mixed directly to a Marantz CDR630 Compact Disc Recorder.

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Kirk Gramcko and I also did this version of the song. It has a total of 16 tracks. Kirk played the 6-string electric guitar, while I played all the keyboard parts, bass and drums. The general approach was to sync an analog reel/reel recorder with a Mac sequencer using the JL Cooper PPS2 synchronizer. In this case, the reel/reel acted as the master and the Mac was slaved to it.

The electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom) track was recorded directly to tape using a Boss DS-1 Distortion Box and a FMR RNC-1377 compressor. Three analog tape tracks were also recorded using the Moog Minimoog.

All the MIDI keyboard and drum parts were recorded to a sequencer (Master Tracks Pro) running on a Mac. The drums and percussion were played in real time using a Roland Octapad. The drum and percussion sequences were then used to drive an Alesis HR-16 drum machine during mixdown. All of the keyboard sequencer tracks (10 total) on the Mac were used to drive a Kurzweil K2000RS, a Kurzweil K1200 Pro 1, a Kurzweil 1000GX Guitar Expander, a Roland U220, and an EMU Proteus 1 during mixdown. The Mac sequencer was synced to the Fostex A8 using a JL Cooper PPS2 Synchronizer and an Opcode MIDI Translator, while a Mark of the Unicorn MIDI Express was used to connect the sequencer output to all of the MIDI synthesizers and samplers. During mixdown, an Alesis 1622 Mixer, FMR RNC-1377 Compressor and Alesis Wedge (for reverb) were used. The song was mixed directly to a Marantz CDR630 Compact Disc Recorder.

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