Pre-Production Session #1

[Mixwell]

This is Pre Prod Session #1

"In the End", written, and preformed by Dan Rutman.

He is the front man for the Band "The Matter", and I feel he is a very talented guy, which is why I have chosen to start in on pre production for material that he has conceptualized without his bandmates. I have agreed to become his "produsah" and "engineer" for the project.

Dan is a little rusty in this clip. He definitely needs to work on vocal pitch, and some other things with the instrument. Nothing that some practice and patience can't handle. He plays the acoustic rather loudly and it "chokes" the instrument a bit. Just a small detail, but something to pay attention to.

This example is four audio tracks with the backup vocal, starting with the Josephson C700A on the Main Vocal, and Acoustic [our Taylor] set up in m/S mode, with the middle of the microphone facing the performance. I decoded it at the console while I recorded it. He sang and played at the same time. In the next session/take, we will separate the audio, as this produsah wants more separation for mix time, and I want to work the usefulness of the C700A's directional characteristic, which can be varied immensely. This is clear on the backup, as I had complete control over proximity effect by sliding the OMNI capsule down in the mix. Automating this will be COOL as SHIT!!!!!

Anyway, I used the VT2 for the recordings, direct to the RADAR @ 96K, no processing. FLAT. I moved the Microphone Several Times but his performance was very dynamic and hard to wrangle with my technique selections. Well, I ended up wrangling it at mix down on this example. The /S is hard panned, while the OMNI is in the foreground panned center. The L/R /S channels are tucked back a bit on the desk.

I turned the microphone back to Center during the recording of the bckup's. In mIx time the Backups went through a STC-8 and then into the RETRO 2A3 for thicker than Mississippi mud harmonics. Then were set back quite a ways [and again had UBER control of directional character with the OMNI and FORWARD FACING FIGURE EIGHT creating the CARDIOID pattern in varying degrees!!!!!!!!!!!]

I used a Dangerous S&M over the mix, with a Mercury EQP-1 over the SUM [Mid] Insert point. This put a GIGANTIC SMILE ON MY FACE, as I proceded to MAKE THE MIDDLE HUGE SOUNDING] "Holy shit the mix just happend" is what I said to myself. I also did some serious "PULTEC'ING" of the High End on the Middle, as there was some "rasp" on the vocal that I had to lessen.

I used the Atomic Squeeze Box on the 2-mix after the S&M box. I used some spring verb returning to the console, but that's pretty much all the gear I used. I printed the mix back to RADAR and exported it to the Mac. Then I brought it into Logic and Made an MP3.


http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/IN-THE-END-ROUGH.mp3

[Aski]

This is cool. Hope to hear the whole project through to the end if possible.

[burnthair donethat]

me too. one of the reasons i love this place.

[Mixwell]

Here is some more Audio from round two. Be kind to my rough mix.

We moved the microphones many times. I love our room.

Ask me what I did tomorrow. Brain is too crispy.

http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/intheend.mp3

[Sandyrb]

Hey Adam.

That's a really sweet acoustic tone you got going on there... very "three dimensional". :)

Cheers,

[Mixwell]

Hey Adam.

That's a really sweet acoustic tone you got going on there... very "three dimensional". :)

Cheers,

Thanks Sandyrb!! Much Appreciated!! That's Dan's "bright" takamine, that I MADE him RE-STRING before we even THOUGHT about recording it with anything. The strings on there made it sound like a razor blade style chorus. I used a TELE C12 passing into a AMI TAB V78M, dry into the RADAR. This was also the vocal chain by the way. The acoustic track was the first track we recorded. I used the microphone in Cardioid pattern and moved it several times to find the "sweetest" spot on the instrument, which turned out to be more or less the center of it, pointed at where the fret board beings, maybe less than a foot off. His guitar ACTUALLY GETS BRIGHTER on the BODY, which I found interesting.

Anyway, GOD DAMN. WTF, was I thinking with that above mix? Its WAY over compressed. You know the saying, "don't go into the supermarket when your hungry"? - well, don't put a compressor on your mix @ 4 am. Especially a UAD Fairchild. I will NOT be doing that again. I'll probably upload the non-digitally compressed file as well. 4 am compression is stupid. You'll want more gas when your ears are TOAST. I had a great balance going with the console, and using the FCS P3S over it, to gently glue the whole shebang together, and I printed the mix to 2-tracks of the RADAR with decent digital headroom. I ended up burning that mix straight from RADAR and while I had to crank the knob all the way to playback at a decent level, it SOUNDED WAY BETTER to me. Surely I would add a little gain, but I went out of Control with the Child, and it changed the sound significantly.

So, yea, this is getting interesting as I like Dan's song writing skills so far, and we are experimenting on everything. We cut the vocals with the same chain [C12 -- AMI TABv78] and then the reverb'd out electric was an Oahu Amplifier Placed high up in the room, on a back shelf 10 ft up facing the corner of two cement surfaces. Since we just took down the road cases from up there, exposing the cement walls not only changed the sound of the room slightly - but gave me an idea. I aimed the amp upward, and put a RCA 77DX hanging on a RCA Starbird Stand and positioned it to monitor the corner of this cavernous cement dwelling I have created for Dan's 95 Gibson Firebird with three mini-buckers. I put him in the control room, and patched him into the TG2 DI input. I then patched the output of the TG2 all the way into our Little Labs PCP [in the live room] In reamp mode. This way I could control the breakup to the amp head, and better gain stage the instrument [with a cool sound]. After I was able to dial in the electric sound, I moved the microphone several times, using my ear as a guide, of the rooms effects.

Chris [the beer padawan] is also featured here on drums. I must say, he's a great drummer. He nailed it out pretty quickly, and responded immediately to the changes I asked of him. This was a interesting setup to say the least. We had our gobos surrounding where the drums "usually are", but we decided we wanted a lo-fi drum sound, so I put him in the same cavernous corner behind the performance area, with inventory and storage all around the kit. Very dead and closed off, but with some decay near the snare. I worked the kit sound for a little while, [TUNED AND DIALED IN THE DRUMS] as we figured out the dynamic and got a really cool, "earthy" yet "mid-fi" type of sound. I moved the microphones maybe 6-8 times. The 77DX was pointed at the snare about 2 feet away facing into the kit and at the ride cymbal, still going through the Fearn. I then snorkeled a U48 in Cardioid between a massive gobo in front of the drums and our nice microphone locker and rack panels deadening the kit even further. This mike is also going into the Fearn.

On the Mix end, to the console I used a TG1 for the acoustic guitar, and I thought it was great what it did for the track. This box will be recalled. I used a Mercury EQp1 on the kick to balance it broadly. I think that's pretty much all. Kind of blurry honestly. I am going to remix this soon, and get a better balance.

[Mixwell]

http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/intheendmix.mp3

[Mixwell]

So, after a couple days with this above mix. This IS the sound we want. The next session, we will be adding a cello. I think one thing that really hits home with me [and is evident in this thread] that you can't overwork yourself in the studio and need perspective with fresh ears. There is some good discussion going on in the pre-production thread about artist fatigue and as an "enginHEAR" you are not immune to fatigue during long hours of working.

Anyway, there were some cool things going in this mix, and I feel the electric tracks are spectacular for what they are. Very ethereal and organic. I love the Oahu [with good tubes in it] and that part of the warehouse sounds really cool. The electric bed is basically dry except for the dubbed side track in the solo and in certain sections, which is hitting a Demeter Spring reverb panned opposite of the dry signal. That's the exact effect Dan had in his head. 77DX Aiming at the corner, patched into a Fearn amp panned off to the right. Simple and Effective.

The Main vocal passed through the Pheonix which was like a million fingers on the faders of the console, and instantly glued the dynamic of the main vocal into the mix I had built around it. This thing is one of the best compressors I have ever used and its like a time machine to the old school. Its purity of squeeze is bonkers. Its beyond words. The Acoustic GTR went through the TG1 [again] and really helped in the same manor as the Pheonix on the vocal, but with more apparent grab with an added wavering enveloping to the compression that made it easier to fit into context because of the timing on the part. I panned it slightly to the right.

The Chorus and Low Note dub vocals were set up on their own faders and set slightly back in the mix. They are dry except for the AMS RMX16 I am using. All effects pass into the RMS216, and a pair of API 312's are making up the gain to the console. We added the bass, when the mix was 75% there. I used the super secret IBP re amp trick which works wonders for NOT hearing TONE LOSS and COMB filtering when using a DI track AND a Amp track.

1) I patched our P-Bass With Flat wound strings into the TG2 DI input.

2) I used the Patch Bay to Multiply the Line Output of the TG2, with one side going into a Channel on the Recorder, and One Side patched into the Little Labs IBP in RE-AMP mode.

3) I patched the RE-AMP Output of the IBP into the special Little Labs STD cable, and then 100 feet out to the live room via Balanced XLR Cable.

4) I Took the STD receiver box and patched it from the tie panel lead and then into the Amplifier [Vintage AMPEG SVT] and connected the Cabinet with GO-BO's all around it.

5) Put an R84 on the SVT - going into my VT2 [of course]

6) Sweep the Phase Knob to tweak WHAT IS GOING to the amp head, and Played with Rotation until I heard the BEST sound possible.

The 2-buss is going into the P3S from the JCF summing amps on our PM2K. Sounds pretty good.

[Halfway Competent]

You've got some weird scratchy/thumpy sounds in the left and right ears... sounds almost like something out of phase between L/R. Listen on headphones if you're not hearing it.

Other than that, pretty good so far!

[Mixwell]

You've got some weird scratchy/thumpy sounds in the left and right ears... sounds almost like something out of phase between L/R. Listen on headphones if you're not hearing it.

Other than that, pretty good so far!

Not hearing any L/R phase issue on my end with my last mix. Listening on Senn HD280 Pro's I don't hear any oddness. I am sure I would have heard a problem with the S3X-H's in the studio, but it sounds fine on the cans to me. Can you elaborate?

You might be referring to his hand knocking against the acoustic GTR in certain parts?

[Halfway Competent]

Hmm, looks like that was my phone doing that, then.

Listening back on a better playback setup, I don't hear that noise. My bad.

Silly phones. (Interestingly, I never heard that on other sources on that device.)

[Mixwell]

Hmm, looks like that was my phone doing that, then.

Listening back on a better playback setup, I don't hear that noise. My bad.

Silly phones. (Interestingly, I never heard that on other sources on that device.)

Well, that's a relief!

Not that your gear wasn't working right, but that I am an engineer too!!!!!!!!!!

[Tomasz]

Awesome.. but what do the waveforms look like?;) fuzzy caterpillars, hopefully... NOT!

You might be referring to his hand knocking against the acoustic GTR in certain parts? Ala Michael Hedges, perhaps.. Me likey!

[Mixwell]

Song #2 of Pre-Production

"On A Line", Written and Composed by Dan Rutman.

http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/Onalinemix.mp3

Vocals are a little bright in sections, I tried my best to fix it.

[Mixwell]

Here is the 44.1/16 WAV because MP3 Sucks.
http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/Onalinemix.wav

[Mixwell]

Damnit. I'm going to have to master the two mixes to equal volume.

Oh, well. Practice.

[Halfway Competent]

Song #2 of Pre-Production

"On A Line", Written and Composed by Dan Rutman.

http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/Onalinemix.mp3

Vocals are a little bright in sections, I tried my best to fix it.

Hmm... Maybe a tad bright. Thing is, it overall doesn't sound bright but for a little bit near the very top; kinda peaky. I think what I'd do is sweep a narrow peaking boost until that brightness jumps out, then notch it a little.

I really like the sound of the guitar solo that's panned to the right. Nice 'verb... Which one is it?

[Mixwell]

Yea, HARSH in areas is better way to put it. I have made a decision to REDO the VOCAL, since I can get a better sound, and Dan can perform it better.

The Acoustics are recorded with the UM70S/MV692 into my Fearn, then panned hard left and hard right. The Solo is the Same chain, and the Verb is the Bricasti M7,

[ROCKER STUDIOS]

http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/intheendmix.mp3
The Acoustic Guitar sounds like he is Sitting in front of me (Clean,Clear)
Vocals sound way better now then the first round what an improvement(wow)
Back Vocs I personally would put a bit more verb on them
The slide guitar Id pan from side to side for more 3d-ish effect (But I do smoke a lot of Hash):D

Sounds Great Adam

[Mixwell]

The Acoustic Guitar sounds like he is Sitting in front of me (Clean,Clear)
Vocals sound way better now then the first round what an improvement(wow)
Back Vocs I personally would put a bit more verb on them
The slide guitar Id pan from side to side for more 3d-ish effect (But I do smoke a lot of Hash):D

Sounds Great Adam

Thanks Rick!

We finally finished "On A Line" [after re-cutting a harsh sounding vocal track] and I think it came out pretty good considering everything we went through to finish it. I definitely had some criticism for Dan, but I think we've done the best that we can do here, [for a demo recording] since we actually have taken the time to care about the performance and thus have adopted the ethos of organic production. We don't want to fix things later. We move the microphones around here.

Here ya go!
http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/On_A_Line_Final_Mix.mp3

[phrenology]

Stuff sounds freaking great Adam. The vocal is intimate without sounding too squished (i'm referring to the In the end 3 mix). Crisp acoustic. sounds expensive, and more to the point does the song justice. Makes me want to record more shit.

[Sandyrb]

We finally finished "On A Line"

Thanks for sharing Adam, sounds LOVELY. Pure and clear. In particular I like that spooky vocal which comes in around 2:44, that's great.

There's a wee "blip" or something at 2:58.8... not quite sure what that is... it seems to be right channel only. You probably spotted it anyway.

Anyway, an extremely pleasant sounding track indeed! :)

Cheers,

[Mixwell]

Hey Sandy, Phernology,

Thanks very much for your kind words on the works. They are much appreciated, and helpful. Dan is always looking for feedback on where he can improve and what he can accomplish with his songwriting. Likewise for me, on the engineering and sound part. Very happy to hear the comments thus far on that note. Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that this "blip" noise is the Chair he was sitting on! I toil over this shit for hours! Fudge it, we'll do it live!

[Mixwell]

There's a wee "blip" or something at 2:58.8... not quite sure what that is... it seems to be right channel only. You probably spotted it anyway.


Hey Sandy,

I just listened to this again and heard the "blip" that's a digital gremlin NOT on my tracks or my mix down. WTF? I hate you - HAL2000. I'll try and re-upload my mix without that stupid blip. And Here I thought you heard something even smaller.

[Mixwell]

24-96K (http://www.movethemics.com/uploads/adam/on_a_line_EXPORT-stereo.wav)

Best to right click and save as if you want to hear no blip @ 2:58 [thanks to Sandy for pointing this out - you can tell he is an engineer with acuity for attention to detail].

HAL 2000 must die.

I will erase him if he does this again.

In the year 2010, computers still epically suck. WTF?

[Sandyrb]

thanks to Sandy for pointing this out

You're welcome bro. Jus' doin' ma job, sir! :)

Cheers,