Recording - September 2012 - 64

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performance issue, there are better ways to achieve that goal. As it stands, we have lost the lyric content of the song, and created a balance issue in the mix to boot. We suggest that Paul experiment with other options, be it reverb/delay or something like a harmonizer to jazz up the vocal. As for the drums, the rhythm section is a team effort and like any successful team, things usually go best when everyone is working from the same playbook. We suggest that the guys take a close look at the sum of their parts and see if they can truly make that statement. In our opinion, the drums need to muscle up to fit the other sound sources as they currently stand.
Summary: Decidin’ time, fellas.
Contact: Paul Winterhalter, paulwinterhalter@yahoo.com

Three Mile Cross
Equipment: Windows PC with PreSonus FirePod running Steinberg Cubase 5, Waves and Universal Audio UAD plug ins, Isotope Ozone, and Toontrack Ezdrummer; Event ASP5 monitors; Blue Bluebird and Shure SM57 mics, Fender Telecaster, Fender Hotrod amp.

Paul Winterhalter/Lucy’s Brown Saville
Equipment: Dell Inspiron 530s PC with Digi003 interface running Avid Pro Tools 7; Mics: RØDE K2 (vocals), Shure KSM27 (guitar cab/room mic), Beta 52 (kick), and SM57 (snare), Oktava MC-012s (overheads), Audix D2s (toms); Mackie 24/4/2 mixer, Focusrite VoiceMaster preamp, Aphex 107 preamps, Symetrix 4-channel gate (drums), dbx 376 tube preamp (guitar cab/room mic/drums), dbx 1046 compressor/limiter (drums), dbx 166 (overheads); Event powered monitors, Behringer 4-channel headphone amp; 1970s Slingerland kit, Gibson Les Paul/Ampeg tube amp, Fender Jazz bass direct w/Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver, Yamaha S90 keyboard.

Music: “Who’s Gonna Save Your Soul” is a male vocal rock song. The track was recorded and mixed by Paul Winterhalter who also played drums. Marcus Christy sang the vocals and played the keys, the guitar was courtesy of Joe Nestico, and Brendan Robinson played bass. Recording: The guys have submitted a trippy effectsladen song with a few problem areas. Things start out well enough, we love the tremolo’d electric piano sound, and the Santana-style electric guitar certainly has the correct wah-wah/filtered vibe. The bass, though simple in execution, does its job. The real trouble centers around two sound sources, the lead vocal and the drums. Affected (and in this case, effected) vocals are certainly nothing new in rock music, and have been used successfully by every one from the Beatles to Peter Frampton (who could forget the talk box?). Sadly, the wah-wah effect that worked so well on Joe’s guitar worked just as badly on Marcus’s vocal. As for the drums, the light brush/weak kick approach is failing to meld with the rest of the instrumentation, and is making the bass sound like it is alone on a desert isle. Suggestions: It is certainly not our intention to secondguess anyone’s artistic vision, but we do wonder what the purpose of the vocal effect was. If it was to disguise some
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RECORDING September 2012

Music: “Wild Spirit Child” is a male vocal rock song. Jez Cox was the one-man band and author, Three Mile Cross being his performing name. Jez tell tells us that he wrote the tune some five years ago and recently decided to share it with us. The whole thing was done at his home studio in the UK. Recording: As for the recording itself, we found that the non-rhythm section areas of the track worked quite well. Jez’s vocals were well recorded and delivered without artifact and the electric guitars sound pretty darn good, with the exception of the added electric during the chorus sections of the song. Through our monitors this added electric does succeed in giving the track a substantial energy boost, as it was likely intended to, but overwhelms the mix due to excessive volume. Regarding the rhythm section, we found that the bass guitar was placed too far back in the mix to rightly propel the track, and that the drums, particularly the kick, had an unflattering “boxy” sound. Suggestions: Fortunately for Jez, the fixes here are fairly simple and straightforward. In order to lower the volume of the electric “power” guitar in the chorus while still retaining the punch, we suggest that Jez either double-track it in real time using slightly different tone/amp settings, or apply a short delay effect to the guitar and return the effected “wet” signal to one side of the stereo field while panning his “dry” signal to the opposite side. After either of those approaches, the guitar should provide more bulk at a lower volume. We would also urge Jez to revisit his Toontrack EZdrummer program and search out some beefier tones. Failing that, his Waves and Universal Audio plug-ins are certain to have sufficient eq firepower to get those drums rocking. Boxy tones are often centered in the 500 Hz range, so start there and sweep around the frequencies, subtracting as necessary. Lastly, adding a dB or two of volume to the bass should bring the entire mix into balance.
Summary: Right then Jez, off you go!
Contact: Jez Cox/Three Mile Cross, jcoxuk@gmail.com

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Recording - September 2012

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