Tin Bath

I had an almost out-of-body type experience last night. I'd recorded an electric guitar track and I was messing around with Altiverb (Impulse Response Reverb software plug-in). I downloaded some novelty impulse responses from here a few weeks ago, but I hadn't bothered with them.

They've got IRs for telephones, portable radios, washing machines, flower pots. It's great. Years ago, Pete and Curly set up his guitar amp in the bath and we recorded the guitar that way for "Love With the Proper Stranger," which was my second Natalie Wood song. Anyway, with Altiverb you can do that kind of thing really easily, no amp lugging.

So one of these novelty IRs was a tin bath, which of course I had to try over the guitar track. What happened next is hard to describe, but suddenly it was as if the headphones were no longer on my head and I was listening to the track through the amp and speakers, which were switched off (it being late at night and the kids in bed). So I thought I must have kicked the on button of the amp or something, because it absolutely sounded completely unlike the guitar was coming through the headphones. Total transparency. Which took me back to the first time I heard Altiverb, and it knocked me out.

Usually, I just use the Bill Putnam Echo chambers as my reverb, because I don't really kno what I'm doing with this kind of stuff. But I know Pete and Curly would love it.