Recording - June 2011 - 64

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Suggestions: As we stated earlier, this is a fairly involved track, and one that also owes to some pretty identifiable sources. As for suggestions, acoustic 12-strings can be tricky instruments to record, that said, Greg’s Neumann TLM 103 is a damn fine microphone and most certainly up to the task. We would encourage some active experimentation with positioning of said mic in the future. A few inches here or there can make a huge difference in tone. Regarding the snare drum, parallel or multiple compression would be a better route as far as taming things a bit. Check out any of the fine articles on compression that have been featured in Recording for guidance here. As for the other issues, a slower delay on the vocals would help to make them less jittery, and while Greg is at it, turning down the organ would actually help the track feel more integrated.
Summary: Lots to do here, but fortunately, lots of good material to work with.
Contact: Greg Sarge, gfsarge@hotmail.com.

Kjetil Landsgard
Equipment: 2.6 GHz dual-core PC with M-Audio Fast Track Ultra running XLN Audio Addictive Drums; dbx 266XL compressor, Gibson Les Paul through Laney half stack, Musicman bass.

Greg Sarge/The Signs
Equipment: MusicXPC computer with Digi 002 running Pro Tools 8 LE with Digidesign and AIR plug-ins; Alesis monitors, Sennheiser headphones, Neumann TLM 103 and Shure SM57 mics, Rickenbacker 4002 bass, Gibson Les Paul guitar, “and other assorted items.”

Music: “Misunderstanding” is a male vocal rock song. Greg did it all himself in his home studio, with the exception of the drums which were played by Phil Robertson. Recording: Greg has delivered quite an ambitious piece here. “Misunderstanding” comes across as a end-periodBeatles-meets-Neil-Young work, and certainly shares characteristics with both of these musical titans. So was Greg’s effort a success from a recording point of view? Let’s take a look. The track begins with a loooooong keyboard pad—hey, didn’t we put a cease and desist order on those several issues back?!—followed by the introduction of two 12string guitars that were unfortunately quite thin-sounding through our monitors. As the other instruments entered, our focus shifted to the drums, which were very well played and recorded (love the toms!) with the exception of the snare, which was sadly overcompressed, resulting in a squashed sound. The remainder of the track was a bit hit-and-miss, although we must say that the processing on the vocals became tiring after a while, and the bass guitar actually seemed to drift (auto pan?) during sections. We also felt that the volume of the organ near the end of the song overpowered the drums.
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RECORDING JUNE 2011

Music: “Never Forget” is a male vocal rock song. Kjetil was the sole proprietor on the project. Recording: Kjetil has delivered a strong, strong effort here, and one that but for a few minor issues may have landed him in our Spotlight feature section. Starting with the good stuff, Kjetil is obviously a skilled guitarist/vocalist, and he has gotten good solid tones on both his vocals and electric guitars. We liked the aggressive nature of both performances and the way they steered clear of artifact or shrillness. He also did a darn good job on the drum programming, especially considering the musical genre. In our experience, uptempo, energized rock tunes like this one are quite difficult to program drums for, due to the speed of the kick and fills. Unfortunately, to our ears, while the programming is solid, the drum tones and particularly the room ambience applied to the kit seem at odds with the other sound sources. While the guitars, vocals and overall arrangement suggest a large sound stage, the drums are presented with a rather organic, small- to mid-sized room feel. Combined with a somewhat weak sounding bass guitar, the track never quite takes on a unified identity to our ears. Suggestions: Finding a “sound” can often be problematic, particularly in a one-man-band setting. Back in the day, a handpicked producer would have been on the project helping with just such matters. That ship has sailed in today’s recording environment, so the multi-hat wearers look to folks like us for advice. To that end, we hope that whatever ambience was applied “in the box” can readjusted to provide a larger overall feel to Kjetil’s drum program. That, along with the addition of some increased low end to the bass guitar, should turn things right around rather quickly.
Summary: A talent for sure. Just that close to Spotlight material... hit us up again soon!
Contact: Kjetil Landsgard, noonesalone@hotmail.com.

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Recording - June 2011

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