Note-worthy in Plymouth: TooBoKou

When the members of Plymouth’s TooBoKou (TBK) - including Glenn Houghton, Dave Ryan, Jeff Ezrin, Greg Finn and Roy Maher - decided to record their first full-length album, they turned to their musical influences for inspiration. Rather than record their CD digitally like most modern artists, they decided to use reel-to-reel recording like musicians of the past.

Today, most CDs are recorded digitally, meaning everything can be quickly altered, sounds can be added and most mistakes can be fixed. However, this is not the way bands like Led Zepplin and Rage Against the Machine completed their albums. These were done using reel-to-reel recorders.

Although the process is much longer and more strenuous, the five members of TBK agreed that they would complete the 13 songs on their album using reel-to-reel like many musicians before them.

Ezrin, the band’s drummer, said that while recording on reel-to-reel makes the band stand out from the many others that use digital recording, it also showcases TBK as a group.

“That’s what the tape does,” he said. “It better represents the band and what we are doing. Every note, everything has been played by us.”

In order to create a CD using this old system of recording, the band turned to Fred Danner, owner of Courtlen Recordings in Hanson. The barn-turned-recording studio was once used by bands such as Aerosmith and Extreme.

All band members agreed that Danner’s knowledge of the music industry, as well as his passion for reel-to-reel recording, made him the ideal audio engineer to record their album.

“Fred is awesome,” said lead singer Houghton. “He is kind of like an old wizard and everyone goes around asking him questions because he knows everything. He is really wise.”

Even when working with such an experienced engineer, using reel-to-reel recording naturally takes a long time. The members of TBK have been working on their current CD since last March.

The first step of this process was recording all of the instruments and the vocals, all of which must be done separately. Then, the band needs to work on mixing, which involves making sure that each instrument is as loud or as soft as it should be. This is the stage the band is currently working on. Finn, the band’s guitar player, said this is a crucial part of the process.

“It’s kind of making everything come together and making it sound like what you would hear on a CD, instead of where the drums could be louder than the guitar or the bass could be completely on its own,” he said. “It’s putting everything together to make that one thing whole.”

Once mixing is completed, the songs must be mastered and duplicated onto CDs. In all, Houghton said he expects the CD to be completed by the fall.

After spending so much time with the TBK, Danner said that he was happy to work with such a talented local group.

“The band’s got potential without a doubt,” he said. “They are good guys and they are honest about what they’re doing, which is a good thing. After awhile, when you’ve been in this business, you know that. You can read that.”