Ocean Song

John Akim Gosaw and Darryl Park

Genre: New Age







Released 1995, 2000, and 2001, on CD and cassette

All songs written by John Akim and Darryl Park

Produced by Demetrio R. Navarro

Bells by John Akim

Guitars by Darryl Park

Keyboards by Demetrio R. Navarro

Reissued album cover and sleeve design by Demetrio Navarro



Technical Notes

All songs were performed using various urn-like and bell apparatuses, electric guitars with processing and Korg synthesizers. All performances are live (no sequencing). Original recording done on Tascam 688 multitrack recorder and mastered to Sony DAT. For the re-issue, all original analog tracks were transferred to Cubase VST via the Event Layla digital audio interface and mixed and mastered in Cubase VST.

AKG C-1000S, Shure SM-57 and Peavey PVM-1 microphones were used to record all bells. Editing and mastering was originally done on Tascam 688 and subsequently on Cubase VST 3.5x for digital remastering.

Recorded at NavarroLand Music - Hidden Valley.
Digital remastering at NavarroLand Music - Bonavista.


Song List

1.    Ocean Song
2.   
3.   
4.   
5.   
6.   
7.   




Production Notes

This album was a typical one or two day job for John Akim. Wanting to keep studio costs down, he was determined to get it all recorded as fast as possible. This is my first collaboration with Darryl Park, an innovative guitarist before his tragic accident. Darryl made extensive use of stereo echo effects on his guitar that were printed directly to tape (no post-processing effects).


Guitars were recorded first and then we recorded John's bells on top of the guitars, with John "playing along" to the guitars.


The bells were recorded with a primitive microphone setup. Demetrio did not have a great collection of microphones to use and they made do with low end equipment. Some careful placement of the microphones at locations that best captured the bells' character was done before printing to tape. Nonetheless, John and Darryl were happy with the sound that was recorded, capturing the essence of the so-called "healing properties" of the bells, for which John was known in local New Age circles (of which Demetrio is not a part).


In the Hidden Valley studio, Demetrio did not have a separate room from which to record the bells. So the bells were setup in the basement and the wiring (mics, headphones, and intercom) were snaked through the house ducting. Some creaks in the studio room floor were present so recording of the bells was a hush-hush-don't-move operation. House noises that killed a take included water drips, furnace clunks, and floor noises. This was apparatus that was employed on Demetrio's first collaboration with John Akim ("Dolphin Song").


Sales from the album were disappointing compared to "Dolphin Song", which likely prompted John and Darryl to offer two reissues. The CD release of the album included an additional "whale symphony" (samples from humpback whale recordings) at the introduction of the song "Water Diamonds".





Last Updated June 18, 2001





© Copyright 1997-2001 by NavarroLand