"Delectably unique music"
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Tim Scott's FAQs
General Knowledge
Music Quiz
Recording Equipment
Guitar Geeks
Recording Acoustic Guitar
General Knowledge
Q. At what age did you start playing guitar?
A. My Grandad gave me an old Spanish Acoustic age 10, but I took the strings off it, sprayed part of it black, and then hid it in the wardrobe. I started properly at age 14 on bass but swapped to lead guitar at age 15.
Q. How many years have you been playing?
A. I've been playing for about 20 years now.
Q. What's the smallest/largest audiences you've played to?
A. The largest audience I've played to was supporting Suzi Quatro about 5 or 6 years ago I was told the gate was 24,000 now that is scary. Other than that probably 2500 – 3000 live alongside Judge Jules at Eden in Ibiza during the Radio 1 weekend. The smallest was probably The Thatched House pub about 5 or 6 but it was still a great gig.
Q. What's your favourite song?
A. If I had to choose I'd have to go for Rosanna by Toto just hearing that song on the radio with Steve Lukather's awesome solo was unbelievable, that was probably partly what inspired me to pick up the electric guitar.
Q. Who are your top five favourite guitarists?
A. That's hard to narrow down as I've taken in so many influences over the years and continue to do so from any music or musician that I think sounds cool. So here goes:
1. Steve Lukather (Toto, sessions for Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, etc...)
2. Van Halen (Van Halen, sessions; Michael Jackson, etc...)
3. Joe Satriani (Solo instrumentalist, sessions; Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, etc...)
4. Steve Vai (Solo instrumentalist, sessions; Frank Zappa, White Snake, etc...)
5. Jeff Beck (Solo instrumentalist, sessions; John Mayal, The Yard Birds, Rod Stuart, etc...)
Q. What was the first album you ever bought?
A. 'Variations' by Andrew Lloyd Webber which I found out years later features Gary Moore on guitar which is way cool as I played Gary's album 'Still Got The Blues' until it would play no more.
Q. What's your favourite confectionary?
A. It's a tough choice between sherbet 'Dip Dab' with 'strawberry flavour lolly' and 'Sherbert Fountain' - 'fizzy sherbet with a liquorice dip'...ha ha.
Music Quiz
Q. How do you go about writing tunes?
A. I generally start of with a chord progression or a riff on guitar or bass that has potential, and record it roughly and start adding other parts to see where it leads. I can usually hear parts to go with it and where I would like it to lead, in my head as I listen back to the ideas I've laid down.
Q. How do you come up with the initial riff or chord progression?
A. I just throw my fingers on the guitar and see what falls out and although this might be a hit and miss process over several minuets, hours, or even weeks and months it works for me, so as they say 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'.
Q. Why don't you write lyrics to your tunes?
A. I've loved instrumental music from the day I was born so the music I compose is far more influenced by the instrumental greats of Pop, Dance, Rock, Blues, Funk, Classical and Jazz. Although I've learnt a great deal from the numerous songs that I've played and still continue to learn, although not my main passion they have contributed a great deal to the way I play.
Q. Are you in a band at present?
A. Not at this moment but I'm looking forward to putting an outstanding band behind my solo music sometime in the future as its popularity escalates. I played all the instruments on my first album but I'd love to work with other musicians and play more of a producer's role allowing me to concentrate more on my composition and guitar playing.
Q. Have you ever played in Bands?
A. I've played in numerous Pop, Blues, Rock, and Indie bands almost from the day I started playing which was the most fantastic experience but my solo material is by far my best asset and also my greatest passion.
Q. Have you ever written any songs with words?
A. When it comes to writing songs I'm best suited to working with others who write lyrics and co-produce while I come up with that all important killer hook riff, melody, or chord progression. As with out a shadow of a doubt I know through experience that, this is how I work best in the context of song writing.
Recording Equipment
Q. How do you record your sound?
A. In the studio I mostly mic stuff up using various different mic's into a TL Audio PA-1 vale mic Pre amp chained into a TL Audio C-1 valve compressor, TL Audio EQ-2 valve EQ then through a BBE sonic maximiser 882i as a front end so that as the track is laid down it's very close to how I would like it to sound in the final mix.
Q. What mic's do you use?
A. I've got a Neumann TLM 103 which is a great all rounder from percussion, special effects, to vocal shouts. On acoustic guitars I use a Neumann M147 tube mike usually mixed with a DI but more traditional things on the electric guitar like Shure SM57's, SM57 Beta, SM58 and occasionally an AKG D112 which sounds great, quite surprisingly, as it's usually found inside a bass drum being pounded to bits.
Q. What monitoring do you use at acer studios?
A. I've always been a big fan of JBL's I've had a pair of control 1's for the last eighteen years. I've got a big pair of JBL 4208's for cranking the mix and I've got three different pairs of JBL I-Pod/computer speakers (JBL Creature II, JBL On Tour and JBL Duet) just for checking mixes, as it's important to get it perfect on the type of speakers that music is listened to most on. You can see my studio set up if you visit the Acer Studios gallery page.
Q. What's the most important thing to your sound?
A. I firmly believe it's mostly down to what you do with your fingers and no, you can't borrow mine.
To find out more about my recording methods visit the Recording Tips and Techniques page.
Guitar Geeks
Q. What make was your first guitar?
A. My first guitar was a second hand Antoria copy of an SG short scale bass which I sold a year later for my first lead guitar which was a second hand Gordon Smith GS 1.
Q. Do you still own them?
A. No. I sold them to get the money I needed to put towards a better one.
Q. What was the first truly professional level guitar you owned?
A. I had a Custom Shop Jackson built to my specification with a beautiful carved quilted maple top with mahogany body and neck, but when it arrived I didn't like it as much as the Blue Jean finish limited edition 88' Jackson Custom that I'd been playing in a local music shop so I swapped my Custom for the limited edition 88' and a Fender Champ 60 valve amp so I didn't loose any money.
I've still got the limited edition 88' guitar as it has the clearest sound you've ever heard and I wouldn't sell it for the world. It's number 25 of only 216 pieces worldwide made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Jackson Guitar Company.
Q. What strings do you use?
A. I use D'addario strings for all my guitars and basses. I use 9-42's on all my electrics, 10-47 on my acoustic, hard tension on my Taylor nylon acoustic and 40-95 or 40-125(five string) on my basses. I prefer extra light strings as they allow light fingering of chords, easy legato sweeps, extreme bends and tremolo use without wearing your fingers out to quickly.
Q. What picks do you use?
A. I like a fat pick because they give a thick sound and a more accessible palate of tonal colours. I favour Jim Dunlop tortex 1.14mm but only because they're purple and not blue.
Q. What Pick-ups do you favour?
A. I'm an EMG man as they have a very consistent, beautifully clean sound which is low in noise and high in output so it's easy to drive wireless systems with it and swap guitars around live without alteration of effects and volume settings, but mainly because they look cool.
Q. What amps do you use?
A. Soldano mainly as they sound very fat, they fit in a mix beautifully with very little equalisation and can produce a wide range of tonal colours from clean jazzy, funky to mellow blues up to full on shredding rock very much depending on what fits at the time, plus they all go up to 11 which is one louder than 10, and they're purple, purple all over!
Q. What effects do you use?
A. I have an array of different effects pedals mainly Boss, MXR, Electro Harmonix, etc... but I tend to use these sparingly. I really love the Roger Mayer stuff particularly the vision wah in fact I'm featured in his artist list which is a real humbling. Most of the effects on the record however have come from the rack in the studio: TC electronic G-Major, Lexicon MPX 1 and MPX 500.
Q. What do you do with your guitars when you have to make a plane journey?
A. With the way things are, it's very difficult to get them on board so I have a collection of individual heavy duty custom-built flight cases which are so sturdy that they are hopefully baggage handler proof!!! Plus they are covered in fragile stickers and I check them in separately and walk them down if possible to avoid them going down any shutes.
All my pro flight cases were custom built by the Freestyle case company as they can cut out the interior foam to exactly fit the guitar, so with a little extra material (e.g. pairs of socks, t-shirt, etc.) you can pad it out to stop any movement inside the case to try to avoid any damage from knocks or falls.
Just remember to remove any batteries from the guitar and to slacken the strings to avoid damage to the neck from the radical temperature changes that can occur. Leave the guitar in the case for a least a few hours after you land as this lets it acclimatise to your new environment.
Keeping it in the case as much as possible is best for the instrument because this prevents it from completely readjusting to the new climate so hopefully you wont need any radical adjustments performing on it during you stay.
Q. Which is your favourite guitar?
A. That's a tough one, I am always torn between my custom Jackson SL1 Pile'O Skulls, and the Sims Custom Sparkly Pink Fender Telecaster as its just way too cool and sexy for its own good.
Q. How many guitars do you own?
A. One to match every outfit. (Check out the Guitar Gallery section of the Gallery page to find out what my outfits look like...ha ha!).
Techniques for Recording Acoustic Guitar
Q. What are your preferred microphone placements for achieving a natural acoustic guitar recording?
A. I put one between the sound hole and the end of the neck and one say two meters away at head height as though someone where stood there listening plus the DI from the internal pick up.
Q. Do you have a preferred microphone for each position used, if so what is it and why?
A. I like a Neumann M149 up close then I use a Neumann TLM103 for the ambient mike. I use these because they are the best mikes that I possess.
I then run the mikes through a TL audio PA-1 mike preamp, TL Audio C-1 Tube Compressor, TL Audio EQ-2 Dual Tube Parametric Equaliser, BBE 882i Sonic Maximiser, and then finally to the hard disk recorder.
Q. Could you explain your preferred way of mixing the sounds you use in your acoustic guitar recordings?
A. Close mike right and delay it in a number of samples (related to the tempo of the tune), DI centre, ambient mike left and delay it double the number of samples of the right (related to the tempo of the tune), then bus them together an maybe parallel compress the resulting stereo track to bring it together.
Q. Do you tend to use any acoustic treatments when recording acoustic guitar, if so which would you recommend?
A. No not really I have to make the most of the room I work in. It's more about playing to the boundaries of the available acoustic and appreciating how that affects the take. For example very quiet starts and ends to a recording is down to how you take your fingers on and off and mute between and micro gaps plus quiet sliding from position to position.
Also if a note is very resonant within a particular space I will try an back of the close mike slightly and play circumspectly to adjust the level as part of the take rather than to have to play for hours with it later this avoids over's that are to quick for the meters to read but annoy the ears when you come to the close listening of the mix process.
Q. Have you employed any unorthodox miking techniques on acoustic guitars which have produced a good natural sound, if so what are they?
Probably the most superlative technique for a natural sound would be to set up a stereo pair of mikes at two meters or more, consequently you get the room and the bloom that a real listener would experience during a personal performance. In this situation just moving the pair a fraction may give a perfect sound that needs little work in the mix.
Q. Do you have any other comments/recommendations on this subject?
Re-string the performance instrument with enough time for the strings to settle in especially with a nylon (Spanish acoustic) which will benefit from being restrung up to a few days before the session. Tune your guitar between every take with an accurate tuner like the Peterson strobe.
If the session runs for more than a day you may have to change your stings again for the next day as chances are the intonation will have lost its edge in as little as six hours of intense playing. Just remember re-takes due to tuning error can mean starting from scratch!
Thanks to Lee Bowers for providing these question as part of his HND University Dissertation in Music Production at South East Essex College in Southend.