Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Mack Atomsmasher DB-18

Mack Guitar Amplifiers is designing a signature amp for David Barrett called the Atomsmasher DB-18. It's a deluxe version of their Heatseeker, which is a class A, point to point hand wired 18 watt guitar amp featuring Groove Tubes, a Celestion Greenback speaker, and a new reinforced cabinet, all for bigger monstrous tones! The Atomsmasher features a beautiful green faceplate, designed by Paul Reid of HotHouse Creative Inc.
Check out www.mackamps.com for more information on how to purchase this awesome new amplifier!

Monday, March 11, 2013

David Barrett Trio CD Release @ Mod Club April 18!



Come celebrate the release of the new DB3 album and the 50th birthday of DB3 drummer extraordinaire, Alexander 'Sascha' Tukatch at The Mod Club April 18th!

We will be play new videos from the debut album just prior to DB3 taking the stage to perform the entire album live with a few surprises, and after we'll celebrate upstairs, sign cds, and hang while we listen to the album on the main system!

Doors at 8PM, Show at 9PM
Tickets are $20, includes show and CD, $10 for just the show!

Friday, January 4, 2013

David Barrett Pigtronix!



Here is the new Pigtronix video produced at Ravenswood by Paul Reid of HotHouse!

Friday, November 30, 2012

WIN a Trip to David Barrett's Guitar Summit! - Bobcaygeon, ON




David Barrett has given Long & McQuade a spot for one guest at his upcoming Guitar Summit - and we'd like you to win it!
Simply send an email  by end of day Sunday, January 6, 2013, telling us (in 150 words or less) why you'd like to attend this weekend. Be sure to include your full name and telephone number. All repsonses will be reviewed, and the winner will be randomly selected from the top answers.
Please note: winner must be 19+, and transportation to and from the event is the winner's responsibility.

DAVID BARRETT GUITAR SUMMIT
February 1st to 3rd at Ravenswood in Bobcaygeon, Ontario

Having recently recorded his last record with producers Alex Lifeson (Rush) and Alan Parsons (Pink Floyd, Beatles, Porcupine Tree), progressive rock guitarist David Barrett is getting out of town for a guitar workshop retreat. The workshops will include “All About Playing”, performance and technique; “All About Composition”, composing and arranging for guitar; and “All About Sound”, amplification and effects.

Saturday evening features a concert by David Barrett Trio!

This is a very exclusive gathering of a dozen participants in an intimate setting of picturesque Ravenswood, a 200 year-old log home in the woods just east of Bobcaygeon, Ontario (as made famous by the Tragically Hip). The weekend starts Friday afternoon, February 1st and ends Sunday afternoon February 3rd. 

Also included in the weekend:

1)    Informal cooking class (think Darryl’s Place)
2)    Catered dinner
3)    Wine tasting
4)    Nature hike
5)    Photography workshop

All food, drinks (wine and beer) and accommodation are included.

For more information, visit Long & McQuade

Monday, October 29, 2012

Pigtronix Canadian Tour

I'm really excited to be part of the Pigtronix Canadian Tour, I'll be doing guitar clinics at Cosmo Music Richmond Hill Nov.17 - 2:00PM, Steve's Music Toronto Nov.22 - 7:00PM, and Mojo Music Oakville Nov.29 - 7:00PM. 

I'll be going over the incredible line up of Pigtronix effects including the Echolution, Mothership, Envelope Phaser, Fat Drive, Philosopher's Tone, and Class A Boost that were all used on the new David Barrett Trio album!



Thursday, October 18, 2012

Recording guitars with Alan Parsons.


DB3 was asked to take part in an all day Alan Parson recording workshop in Toronto, needless to say the trio jumped at the opportunity. We had been working on our album consisting of ten instrumental songs produced by Alex Lifeson and Richard Chycki, and actually finished recording everything the night before our day at Noble Street studios with Alan Parsons. Alan really wanted to do a tune with vocals, so I already had a tune written and recorded but had not used it yet for the trio, because I felt it was a vocal tune, I sent it to friend, photographer, and sometimes singer Paul Reid. About a day or two later Paul sent me an mp3 of what he had done with it, and I responded with, “I think we’re done...!”. Everything on the final version of Belmonte was recorded in one day and remixed a couple months later by master engineer Richard Chycki at his home studio, Mixland.

Here are some of the details of how we recorded the guitars:

The main guitar track was recorded live of the floor using an Epiphone double neck on the 12 string neck, tuned to open E. The guitar had just been outfitted with new Mack Alnico 4 and 5 humbuckers (it sounded very close to the Gibson EDS 1275 that was on loan to me from Alex Lifeson). Alan then suggested we triple track the 12 string, with each additional track detuned by 1 cent, one up, one down, each overdub went through a Pigtronix Fat Drive, needless to say it sounded pretty thick!

For amplifiers we had 2 isolated Mack amps, a 15 watt Mack Skyraider with a 12” Eminence Red Coat speaker, and a 18 watt Mack Heatseeker with a 12” Celestion Greenback, miked with condenser microphones. Alan prefers condensers microphones on electric guitars, it’s unusual, but I’ve had good luck doing that with my AKG CS 1000 at my home studio.

When it came time to record the guitar solo, I brought out my main guitar, a 1968 Gibson ES 175 that I’ve played since 1982, plugged it into a Pigtronix Fat Drive, Pigtronix Envelope Phaser, using both the envelope follower and phaser, and the Pigtronix Echolution, for additional analog delay and modulation. And again, both Mack amps were used.

So there you have it, it was a bit stressful to record a complete tune with vocals all in one day, and in front of a studio jammed full of a couple dozen recording engineers, but it turned out to be a great day, and the song couldn’t have turned out any better!

About Me

My Photo

Borne from the mind of guitarist / composer David Barrett and at the behest of friend, mentor and Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, The David Barrett Trio was formed in the early summer of 2010. Drawing from a catalog of well over 40 new compositions intended for the trio – including bassist Jason Farrar and percussionist Sascha Tukatsch, they began fleshing out the music for an instrumental progressive rock trio in July 2010. Demoing and tweaking the material throughout the summer and early fall of 2010 led to an invitation to debut the work in progress at Toronto’s Gibson Guitar Artist Showroom. The trio used this invitation as a milestone in their preparation for the eventual recordings.

During a brief touring, acting (yes, Alex plays a Scottish doctor in the sequel to the smash hit Trainspotting) and writing hiatus, producer Alex Lifeson scheduled the first of several intended recording sessions in early December of 2010. Manning the console for these sessions would be renown recording and mix engineer Richard Chycki ( Rush, Dream Theater ). Three songs were mixed from the first sessions – the aggressive Hollowbody, the multidimensional Sonar, and the melancholy Disappearance. David Barrett Trio’s first three singles Hollowbody, Sonar, and Disappearance are now available for download on iTunes and all other digital distributors.

As a result from all the attention these three instrumentals generated, David has become an endorsing artist for Pigtronix Futuristic Analog Technology, Mack Amps, and d’Addario Canada, as well as a product tester for Gibson Guitars. Alex Lifeson’s famous Gibson double neck guitar was on loan to David for the last couple of years, and can be heard all over the trios recordings.

A photo session with HotHouse photographer Paul Reid has produced the Yousuf Karsh influenced images that effectively portray the trio and their unique style. Already Reid’s pictures of Barrett have been published in international guitar magazines such as Premier Guitar, and the trio has already received stellar reviews in publications, such as Prog Rock Magazine.

In May of 2012 David Barrett Trio was asked to participate in an all day Alan Parsons Master Class recording workshop at Noble Street Studios in Toronto, in which they were the band being engineered and produced by Alan Parsons himself. The result was the epic song Belmonte, the only DB3 tune to feature vocals. The vocals were done by none other than the bands photographer and album artwork designer, Paul Reid.

The members of the The David Barrett Trio have a well established history and a portfolio of international touring and recording – experiences that translate well, both on and off stage. In Toronto, DB3 has played a year long residency at the prestigious Orbit Room (coincidentally owned by Alex Lifeson), headlined at larger concert venues such as Mod Club Theatre, and opened for prog rock legends Saga, to a sold out crowd at The Sound Academy.

David Barrett Trio’s self titled debut album has been completed as of the autumn of 2012, containing tracks produced by Alex Lifeson, Alan Parsons and Richard Chycki. The album will be released in the winter of 2013.

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