Dan McAvinchey

We have tried to record as much of our playing as we possibly can, both in practice and "jamming" sessions, and when we perform live, to give ourselves some feedback. When playing it`s very difficult to listen to yourself because you`re too busy thinking about what`s going to happen next, while in critical listening you concentrate on the blend of what has just happened. By listening to recordings of ourselves we can pick out the improvisational parts that work well, sound great, or have promise, then try to concentrate on developing them.

Part two of our e-mailbag dump, answering some of the most commonly asked questions about releasing and promoting records.

The odds of doing anything significant in the music business are long from the start, but artists who can't think beyond the short term have it thousands of times harder.

The talented artists associated with Guitar Nine relate stories of their best, worst or most memorable live dates.

The past few years have seen the rise of several new ways to get your music promoted and selling, leveraging the strengths of the Internet.

I was never a fan of direct guitar sounds but for some reason this album ("Zone") is full of direct guitar. All of the rhythm tracks, clean and dirty, were recorded direct. I find that this gives the punchiest sound out there. The Sans-Amp rack really helped also. It is one of those `plug and play` pieces of gear which tone just oozes out of.

The only recording I do at home is for demo purposes. My engineer and I have actually built a commercial studio in San Luis Obispo, CA. The studio is a 3,000 sq..ft., 24 track, digital facility. It was a huge project, spanning two years. The great thing is I don`t have to worry about the clock anymore. There is a tremendous feeling of freedom when I can spend the time needed to record my songs, the way I feel they should be.

McAvinchey signs off on the popular series; what will the future bring.

But even with my success in Belgium, it was impossible to get any industry support/interest generated. It was then the time of Kurt Cobain and friends, people like Tony MacAlpine and Greg Howe weren`t having any luck, what hope was there for me? Releasing my own CD seemed like the only answer.

Except for distribution, I`ve always made out better doing it myself using investor money then any contracts I`ve been offered. I have a "go in the studio and play" mentality. I don`t overdub, and I usually only do two or three takes for each piece. I make sure when I go in, I`m ready! So my costs are embarressingly low!

I like to take another artist`s song and vision and take it to another level. My experience with Fourth Estate, as well as contributing to many other projects and playing in countless cover bands, gives me a broad perspective in which to approach working with a variety of different artists. I am also very picky about sounds and tones and I think that translates in most of the projects I`ve produced.

We have our own recording facility at our rehearsal studio and have been doing all recent recording there. We also rent time if necessary at a more elaborate studio. Ralph (Perucci) has his own studio in Manhattan.