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I’m very proud and excited to announce that I will be releasing a new full-length solo album in 2019! You can follow the whole process – the writing, recording and mixing of the album right here on my web site. I’ll post news updates, in-depth written features and video clips from the studio.

This weekend I recorded all the acoustic guitars. It’s a fairly easy process and I’m always most comfortable with recording them in my home recording studio. Still, there’s always the challenge of mic placement and of course – being able to perform well and record quality tracks!

Bjorn Riis - New album 2019

I have a Yamaha LL16 that I’ve been using for a few years. It’s featured on all of my solo releases and Airbag’s Disconnected. Nothing over the top or super fancy but to me it has a really comfortable neck, it’s easy to play and it sounds great. It’s perhaps a slightly darker sounding acoustic but I’ve never been a fan of something that’s too crispy and bright.

I use Elixir 11-52 gauge strings and Dunlop Tortex .50mm and Jazz 1.00mm picks.

Bjorn Riis - New album 2019

The guitar is recorded with a Rode NT2-A condenser mic. I usually have two setups. For the darker single track sounds I place the mic about 5-6 inches away and for the lighter stereo stuff, I like it to sound as airy as possible and often sit a meter away from the mic.

The mic is fed into a Universal Audio Solo 610 tube pre-amp that sounds really nice and warm. It’s set very gently, with just a touch of the input gain or compression, but it makes all the difference and the tracks are very easy to mix in later on.

Acoustic guitar has always been important for me and my music. I mainly write on acoustics and I often build a song around that initial idea or demo. Hopefully that translates to the finished mix as well.

Next up is bass guitars. Stay tuned!

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