Recording - November 2010 - 60

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so erratic that it required that level of squashing? If so, perhaps a new performance or some supplemental drum replacement would be a better choice. Once he has revisited his individual sound sources, we would ask him to take the same honest look at his mastering. There is a huge difference between “want” and “need”, folks. We have serious doubts that Donovan’s mix was so out of whack that it needed this much mastering compression. If indeed it actually did, then we would advise him to go back and remix the track until it doesn’t!
Summary: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Contact: Donovan Cox, guitarmagic101@hotmail.com.

Mark Hibbert
Equipment: Soundscape R.Ed 24-track DAW; RØDE K-2 condenser mic, Focusrite TwinTrak Pro mic preamp, Urei 1176LN compressor/limiters, t.c.electronic M3000 reverb, Yamaha REV7 reverb; Guild D-50 acoustic guitar, Fender Precision Bass, Fender Strat, claves, shaker, Roland JV-1080 and JV-880 sound modules, Ludwig drums.

Donovan Cox featuring John Stanek
Equipment Used: Digi 003 running Pro Tools 7 with Sony Oxford plug-ins, Overloud TH1 guitar amp plug-in, IK Multimedia Ampeg bass amp plug-in, and iZotope Ozone mastering suite; Avalon 737sp channel strip; M-Audio Sputnik tube mic; Schecter C-1 Elite electric guitar, Ibanez bass, Korg Karma (Drum Loops and synth parts).

Music: “Farther” is a male vocal rock song. Donovan was the one man band/recordist with a little help from John on lead vocals. Recording: Oh compression, ye are an evil temptress! Despite all of our efforts, many of our submissions are still suffering from major issues involving compression, and sadly “Farther” is a prime example. The track intros with a fairly standard synth bed, followed by one of the more squashed and flattened mixes that we have heard. What was in all likelihood a fine recording of a creative, ambitious composition has been rendered as flat as a pancake by overzealous compression/limiting. One listen to the pumping squashed snare drum should have been a big red flag here, and the fact that Donovan either didn’t hear it or chose to ignore it is troublesome. As for the remaining sound sources, it’s impossible to surmise the quality of their sound given the circumstances. We can say that the performances themselves all appear to be topnotch. Suggestions: Compression/limiting mismanagement has reached epidemic proportions in modern recording, and that includes some very high-profile commercial releases. The chase for the brass ring of volume has skewed the vision of recordists at every level, and dynamic range and tone have been kicked to the curb in far too many instances. We would suggest that Donovan go back to the drawing board with “Farther” and re-examine just what and what doesn’t need compression here. Was the snare performance
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RECORDING NOVEMBER 2010

Music: “A Long Way Back” is a male vocal acoustic rock song. Mark did it all with the exception of the drums which were courtesy of Ron Rudge. Recording: Mark has created an interesting and often-difficult sonic scenario here, with the inclusion of several instruments that share a common frequency range. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin and shaker, a fairly common recipe for disaster! So how did it all turn out? Let’s take a look. While he has chosen to wisely pan his mando and acoustic guitar out to approximately 11 and 1 o’clock, the song still gets a bit claustrophobic at times. Several factors seem to be contributing here, and they are not all panning issues. For starters, Mark’s bass part is very active, unfortunately a bit too active to our ears. This, combined with the lack of a strong kick/snare presence, helps contribute to a general sense of “wandering’ in the track. And while we applaud Mark’s panning choices on his acoustic guitar, mando, and rain stick and to a lesser degree, the electric guitar, placing his backing vocals straight up the center of the mix is clogging things up considerably. Suggestions: The use of panning is certainly a matter of taste. Some top-flight mixers such as Bob Clearmountain are known for the amount of placement in their mixes, while others find something a bit more narrow more to their liking. What is undisputed across the board, however, is the fact that certain sound sources are almost always granted the center of the mix. These include the kick and snare drums, along with the bass and the lead vocal. From there it’s “mix to taste”, although planting something as spacedemanding as the backing vocals in the center is a pretty sure way of causing a logjam. We would suggest that Mark move his harmonies out of the center and to also establish some type of low end rhythm presence in order to rein in his bass and counterbalance the many midrange to high frequency sound sources in his mix.
Summary: “Damn, this traffic jam.”
Contact: Mark Hibbert, markhibbert@verizon.net.

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Recording - November 2010

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