Jason Sadites

The Normalizer2 Project
By Barry Cleveland
“It started in 2001, when I had the idea to write music to one of my drum solos,” says drummer extraordinaire Marco Minnemann (UKZ, Paul Gilbert, the Aristocrats, Mike Keneally). That became Normalizer, and a few years later I recorded another, 52-minute drum solo that I called Normalizer2. Alex Machacek decided to compose music to it, followed by Trey Gunn, Mike Keneally, and others. My drum solo became the pizza dough for everyone's personal toppings.” Minnemann also recorded his own version, on which he played multiple instruments, including guitar. His gear included a ’70 Telecaster, a ’80 Stratocaster, a ’78 Hamer Sunburst, and a ’90s Danelectro Baritone. He played through a modified Marshall JCM800, a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin, and various software models. Eight Normalizer2 albums have been recorded thus far, all of them quite different. Here, we spotlight the six Normalizer2 albums that were recorded by guitarists.

Mike Keneally
Evidence of Humanity
Gear: ’88 Fender Clapton Stratocaster. 2005 custom koa Charvel. Various Taylor electrics and acoustics.
Process: “I was working on Scambot 1 simultaneously with Evidence of Humanity, and I wanted to approach them completely differently. John Czajkowski lives a half-hour from me and he made his studio, his engineering abilities, and all his amps and other gear available. Whenever I had time, I’d go there and have at it. I had no music prepared in advance. We’d listen to small portions of the drum track and I’d quickly compose or improvise something along with it, then orchestrate that portion of music—continue until complete! Marco’s stream-of-consciousness solo was very comfortable territory for me, and his endless flow of amazing ideas prompted all kinds of styles and techniques to emerge.”

Trey Gunn
Modulator
Gear: Warr 10-string and 8-string guitars. 11-string Godin Glissentar. Kramer Turbulence R-36.
Process: “Modulator is the most challenging recording I have ever made. Sometimes the drum parts were insane, like 8 over 9. The object was to make it appear that Marco had played to me, not vise verse. As a guitar player, I had to fit tightly with the drum parts, but also retain a loose feel. A combination of fully composed lines and open improvisation fulfilled that. I recorded in Apple Logic Pro, and each completed section would be put into the big timeline in WaveBurner. The hardest part was re-writing adjacent sections that didn’t transition well. I had to re-compose the endings and beginnings of ten different sections to make them sound convincing, which often meant using a similar guitar approach over the end of one section and into the next. Sometimes I would edit my playing as if the audio were a giant score, but then need to replay everything once I had found the right parts.”

Alex Machacek
24 Tales
Gear: Bill DeLap custom. Godin Freeway SA. Steinberger GM4T. Yamaha Acoustic. Fractal Audio Axe-Fx Ultra. Line 6 DL4 (for looping). Apple Logic Pro plug-ins. Ebow. Slide.
Process: “My main goal was to create the illusion that the drum part was played to the music and not the other way around. When I started working on 24 Tales, I had no intention to ever reproduce any of the material in a live setting, so I didn’t limit myself in terms of layers and overdubs—and that actually enabled me to approach the task more from a composer than a guitar player perspective. The beauty of ‘recomposing’ is that you can put the musical magnifying glass on details of the existing material that otherwise might be overlooked or lost—and trust me, there are lots of ‘details’ in Marco’s solo!

Jason Sadites
Behind the Laughter
Gear: Michael Tuttle Custom Bent Top.
Process: “I worked within Cubase 5 and used the Time Warp tool to create a tempo map and to assign time signatures to the different ‘sections.’ After that, I looked for drum sections that seemed to stand out as individual ‘songs,’ and then able to begin composing. To avo - Guitar Player Mag

Dan McAvinchey: Jason, when did you first get interested in guitar, and how did you learn and progress as a player?

Jason Sadites: I first picked up the guitar around age 10. My aunt had left an old Suzuki classical guitar in our basement. I started with that and an old Hal Leonard method book. That taught me to read basic notes and get my fingers working. Shortly after I began reading guitar magazines like Guitar Player and Guitar World. I ended up learning a lot, at that stage, from the various articles and lessons that those magazines had to offer.

From there I would just read and study music theory on my own, with the help of a lot of books along with many, many hours of physical practice on the guitar itself. By the time I was 16, I was teaching guitar at a local music store and it didn't take long before I ended up with a roster of 60-70 students a week.


Dan McAvinchey: Tell us a little about the gear you use to get your sound.

Jason Sadites: The single most important element of my sound, as far as equipment goes, is my Budda amplifier. I play a Budda Superdrive 30 head through a Budda 1210 cabinet. Let me tell you, these amps are just amazing! They are extremely responsive to the players touch and can give you everything from gorgeous clean sounds to the heaviest of heavy tones, while never losing clarity! The Budda 1210 cabinet is awesome also! It combines 2-12 inch and 2-10 inch speakers all in one cab. The 2 - 10's are open back while the 2 - 12's are closed back. So you can imagine the versatility it offers in the studio. The combination of the Budda 30 head with the Budda cab gave me everything I needed to get all of the different tones on my CD "Orbit", it was all I used, so that is what you hearing on every track! All the guitars were recorded with the guitar plugged straight into the amp with any effects added at the mix.

As far as guitars go, I currently own two Fender American Strats. One is an American Standard and the other a newer American Deluxe. The Standard is loaded with Kinman pickups, which are just incredible noiseless single coils that sound amazing! I also have a handmade acoustic guitar built by a luthier from Toronto named G.W Barry. It is a really beautiful instrument - Incredible craftsmanship and gorgeous tone!

As far as effects go, playing live all I use currently is a Guyatone delay and a Budda Budwah wah pedal. That is another great Budda product, really great sounding wah. I used the Budda wah on a number of tracks on my disc also!


Dan McAvinchey: What are you striving to achieve musically, particularly on "Orbit"?

Jason Sadites: I have always been a huge fan of instrumental guitar music and great guitar playing in general. My goal was to not just make a guitar album that was full of over the top technical playing. Not to say I was going to steer clear of playing anything technically proficient because I love hearing a player really cut loose, but I wanted to make sure that I used those passages sparingly to serve the song. Having said that, I really focused a lot on melody and arrangements. I really wanted to write instrumental guitar songs, not just vehicles for me to solo for a whole album! My goal was to have people walk away humming the melodies of the songs while still having the listener feel that they heard some really great guitar playing.

I also really focused a lot on getting great guitar tones on tape, I am a real fanatic when it comes to tone! Those are my goals as a player and writer and I really hope I accomplished these things on my CD "Orbit"!


Dan McAvinchey: Why do you think certain music fans prefer instrumental music over traditional vocal oriented music?

Jason Sadites: That is a great question. I personally am a music fan in general and love so many styles and so many artists of different musical styles. Having said that, I just love instrumental guitar music. There is something great about hearing somebody write music that will - Guitar 9 Records

JASON SADITES
Weve
(JS)


Up and coming jazz rock guitarist Jason Sadites is making waves with his new instrumental jazz-rock fusion CD entitled Weve. With a bunch of fusion superstars assisting, Sadites has composed eleven tracks that provide a rugged format for his guitar prowess. Although he states in the liner notes about being humbled at the prospect of working with several musical legends, Sadites clearly isn’t afraid to share the musical sound stage here with top players like Tony Levin (Chapman stick), Brett Garsed (guitars) and the Bissonette brothers, Matt and Gregg, respectively on bass and drums. Sadites maintains a consistent edge throughout by infusing his strong fusion workouts with durable melodic ideas, case in point being the track “Oddly Enough” which features Levin on bass and Marco Minnemann on drums backing up Jason’s electric guitars and various sound effects. Another highlight here, track six “Fluid” is just that, with Jason’s guitars propelled along at breakneck speed by the Bissonettes. Guitar fans with an appetite for the musical virtuosity inherent in fiery fusion, and perhaps those looking to discover a younger Jeff Beck or Al DiMeola will totally dig where Sadites is coming from. www.Sadites.com


MUSIC WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents JASON SADITES
Guitars Center Stage
Guitarists making waves in the music world,
their new recordings and gear!

Musical Background

I began playing guitar at the age of ten. By the time I was a teenager I was logging many hours a day practicing. I bought my first 4-track cassette machine when I was 16 and began learning the art of recording. For the most part I am a self taught guitarist and recording engineer. I learned most of what I do through lots of studying and trial and error.


New CD


The new CD is titled Weve. It was recorded in many different studios in the U.S, Canada and Europe over a period of about 2 years starting in early 2006. I had the amazing opportunity to work with some of the world’s best musicians and engineers on this project. Among them: Tony Levin, Kenny Aronoff, Marco Minnemann, Brett Garsed, Gregg and Matt Bissonette, Jerry Marotta, Martin Motnik and Jerry Marotta. It was a real honor to hear those incredible musicians perform my compositions. The drums and bass tracks were usually recorded in a studio close to where the respective musician lived, sometimes in there home studio. All the guitars were tracked at my personal studio.

As far as how it reflects my overall style and musicianship, the CD is an all instrumental mix of rock, progressive, jazz, blues and pop. I used a lot of odd time signatures throughout the CD, but not in an obvious way. I always tried to make them sound very flowing and musical. I also always tried to have a strong melodic hook through each and every song throwing in the flashy technical playing only where it was needed to serve the song.


Favorite Guitars

I have never been so happy with my equipment situation than I am at present. I am using guitars by a luthier named Michael Tuttle. After many years of trying many different high end guitars and never being totally satisfied, I had the opportunity at a NAMM show to try one of Michael’s guitars and fell instantly in love with them. He is truly making what I feel are the best instruments available today. You can check his work out at www.bestfrets.com I am playing one his Strat style guitars and a Custom Bent Top.

As far as amps go, I am still using Budda amplifiers. They are all I use and are just amazing. On the new CD, most of the songs feature the Budda Superdrive 30, which is my main amp. I also have a Superdrive 45 which is also featured on some songs on the new CD. I am also anxiously awaiting my new Budda V-20 which should be available very soon. The V series is going to be great. I encourage anybody out there in search of that elusive tone they are after to check out the Budda amps.

Recently I began using Ernie Ball Titani - MWE3