This is the 1st recording session for the Ambient Trio Checkout the overall bass sound. Paul uses a pedalboard/looper called “headrush”. When we were setting the initial levels, he goes from a clean sound to one or more efx, and one of them is a distorted sound. During the live performance, I was the only one wearing headphones. From time to time, I did notice the distorted sound on the bass. Little did I know that this was not by design. Paul was going for a clean sound throughout. The recording levels were good, with plenty of headroom. We determined that the problem was the 9-volt battery in the headrush. Apparently it was weak. I’m still not certain about this. More to come…

The excerpts posted here were taken from a single 50-minute set, played live. There were no overdubs. The current playlist order follows the overall flow of the session, from beginning to end.

Original cover and background art by Vincent Muller.