With the AW4416 are Vertical Horizon (l-r): Matt Scannell, lead vocalist and songwriter, Ed Toth, Drums, Keith Kane, Guitar and Sean Hurley, Bass Matt Scannell is an upbeat, articulate guy who gives the impression he could happily discuss music late into the night. But Vertical Horizons’ 29-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist morphs into a man of few words when asked to explain why his group’s RCA debut, Everything You Want, has generated hit after hit: "Simple, sincere songs." STUDENT OF SIMPLICITY: MATT SCANNELL OF 20 yama ha all access winter 2k1 21 A DECADE HAS PASSED SINCE SCANNELL AND CO - musician,andIrealizeditwasn’tYngwieMalmsteen- wewillbeabletobypasscertainstagesofworkingina guitaristKeithKanemetatWashington,D.C.’s styleguitar.Fromthatpointon,Ifocusedonsinging bigstudio.Wemightbetrackingdrumsataprostudio, GeorgetownUniversityandstartedgigging andsongwriting. butcuttingbackgroundvocalsorexperimentingwith withonlytheirvoicesandapairofacousticgui - alternateapproacheshereatmyplace.Havingahome tars.Eventuallytheywentelectric,recruited What was your biggest challenge in evolving from studioisgreat,buthavingagreat-soundinghome bassistSeanHurleyanddrummerEdToth,and an acoustic duo to an electric quartet? studioisthebest. developedenoughofagrassrootsfollowingtosell Notgettingoverwhelmedbytheperipheralthings. 70,000self-pressedalbums,mostlyfromacartrunk. Withalloftoday’sunlimitedtechnicaloptions—sounds, So what’s your next move? Scannell,speakingfromhishomeinNewYorkCity, numbersoftracks,sequencing,pitch-correction— Wehaveabunchofsongsthatarereadytogo, recentlyanalyzedhisband’snot-so-suddensuccess. there’sadangeroftoilingendlesslyonasonginsteadof butIwanttowritealotmorebeforewegointopre-pro - justfinishingit.That’soneofthehardestthingsabout duction.IwrotealltheEverythingYouWantsongsina Did your years as an acoustic duo help you learn makingrecords:knowingwhenyou’redone. four-orfive-monthperiod,aswellas10or15good how to focus on the songwriting essentials? songsthatdidn’tmakethecut.Buteventhoughwe Ithinkso.Beingaduoforcedustobehonestand You’re one of the first musicians to get your hands haveanicewelltodipinto,Iwanttospendsometime truewithourmusic.Ifyouapproachsongwritingwith on the new Yamaha AW4416 Digital Audio creatingagain.Sometimeswritingsongsislikebeinga simplicityandwritelyricsandmelodiesthatreallymean Workstations. runner.Ifyoutrain,train,train,theprocessalmost somethingtoyou,peoplewillrecognizeyourconvic - Yes.I’duseda4-trackcassetterecorderforallmy becomessecondnature.Yourmusclesseemtobe tion,evenifit’snottheirkindofmusic.Ifwe’dstarted demosfortenyears.That’saboutasbasicasyoucan doingsomeoftheworkforyou,andyoudon’tcollapse outasafullband,wemighthavebeenfocusingon get.AtthesametimeI’vehadachancetoworkin fromexhaustion.Ifyouwritealotandworkconsistent - moreperipheralthingslikesonictreatments,tones,pro - someofthegreatestprostudiosandbecomeacquaint - ly,thecreativesparkbecomesmoredisciplined. duction.Thosethingsareimportant,butit’sevenmore edwiththeamazingpossibilitiesthattechnologyaffords importanttostartwithbasicquestionssuchas"Isthis usthesedays.TheexcitingthingabouttheAW4416is So you don’t subscribe to the "lightning strikes" This Year’s Modeling: agoodsong?"Liketheoldadagesays,youcan’t thewayitmarriesthosetwoworlds.Itcanbeasimple, school? Scannell on Yamaha’s polishaturd. get-the-job-donemachinewhenyouneedaquick, Ineverdiscountlightningstriking.Thosearethe DG Stomp Guitar easydemo.Butifyouwanttogetsophisticatedand greatestmoments,whenitalmostseemslikeyouhad Modeling Preamp Do you subscribe to that other old adage: that the focusontheartofproduction,youcanuseitforthatas nothingtodowithcreatingthesong.Iwrotethesong best songs can be communicated with only a well.Iamabsolutelyblownawaybyitsflexibilityand "EverythingYouWant"in20minutes,andIswear,Ihad "For an all-in-one modeling amp, it’s incredibly flexible. voice and an acoustic guitar? options.Youhavesuchcontrolovereverything,from nothingtodowithit!Iwasjustaconduitforasongthat Absolutely.Ilovetheimmediacyofsimplyplayinga trackingtoeditingtomixingtomastering.Idon’tthrow wantedtogetout,andIwasluckyenoughtobeawake I like the way it lets me be creative, and it’s a wonderful sinceresongonacousticguitarandlettingthelisteners myenthusiasmaroundlightly,butI’vegottosaythat whenithappened.Butyoudohelpthatbirthing tool if you want to get an idea down quickly. The pre - decidewhethertheyloveitorhateit.Writinginaband Yamahareallynaileditwiththisone. processifyoursongwritingmusclesareinshape.You contextwithelectricguitarcanmakeyoufocusmore know,youalwayshearpeoplesaytheywokeupinthe amp-section voices are expressive, and I’m impressed onriffsthanlyricsandmelodies.Sometimesthat’sokay Do you think AW4416 tracks are likely to make it middleofthenightwiththegreatestsongintheirhead, by how they capture some of that great chaos you get —LedZeppelinmadebrilliantsongsbasedonriffs,and onto your final recordings? toldthemselvesthey’drememberitinthemorning,and someBeatlessongshavekillervocalmelodiesandkiller I’msurethatmanyoftheguitars,vocalsandsam - thenwentbacktosleep.Iguaranteeyou:Thereisno from tube amplifiers. The DG Stomp definitely sounds riffs.Butformeremortalslikeme,it’sbesttostartwith plesthatItrackontheAW4416willbeusedonthenext wayyouwillrememberitinthemorning.Youhaveto better than the other modeling preamps I’ve tried. The lyricsandmelody. VerticalHorizonrecordbecausethemachine’ssound getupandcaptureitwhenithits.Ontheotherhand, qualityissostrong.Thepreampsandcompressionare youhavetoknowwhentoletanidearest.It’stimeto clean, crunch and in-between sounds are especially That’s quite a statement for a onetime shred great.TheEQisincrediblytransparentandmusical. puttheguitardownwhenyou’rebackinsidethebox, amp-like. I’ve got to say, as beautiful as a vintage amp guitar player. You had to teach yourself to be Anotherverycoolfeatureisthesamplingsection.Ithas playingtherote,dogmaticpassagesyou’veplayeda simple. eightassignablesamplingpadsandasimple milliontimes.Attimeslikethat,it’sbettertogofora on ‘10’ is, it’s not a feasible option for a New Yorker like Iadmitit—the’80swereveryimportanttome! sequencer,soyoucancreatedrumloops,orsample walk,seeamovie,visitfriends.Ontheotherhand,there me if I want to keep living where I’m living. On top of [Laughs.]Iloveathleticguitarplaying.It’sfunandexcit - onepartofanarrangementtorepeatinanother.The aretimeswhenI’mvisitingfriends,anideahits,and ing.IspentyearstryingtolearnsolosbyEddieVan instanteditingcapabilitiesareincredible,andtheyfacil - Isay,"Sorry,guys—Iloveyou,butIhavetogettoa that, the DG Stomp weighs only a couple of pounds. Halen,SteveVai,GeorgeLynch.Butaround1990I itateexperimentation.NowthatIhaveawonderful- guitarrightnow." You can carry it in a gym bag." tookahardlookatwhatIcouldbringtothetableasa soundingstudiohereatmyapartmentinNewYork, For more information on the DG Stomp Guitar Modeling Preamp see page 39. 22 yama ha all access winter 2k1 23.