Recording - August 2016 - 64

The Is I Ain't
Equipment: PC with Digidesign Mbox interface
running Digidesign Pro Tools LE 8; dbx 266
(Project 1) compressor/gate/limiter, Lexicon Alex
reverb/delay, Korg DRV-1000 digital reverb,
Yamaha GC2020BII compressor, PreSonus TubePre.
Mics: Audix F10, F12, and F15; MXL 990 and 991.

Music: "Brenna" is a male vocal rock song. Russell composed, programmed, performed, and recorded/mixed the track at his home studio.
Recording: Written and recorded all in the same evening as an
homage to a co-worker, Russell has put together a pretty successful
sketch here by way of his modest (by today's standards) Korg D1600
multi-tracker. So what exactly do we mean by "sketch"?
Well, to our ears, Russell has assembled all of the pieces and parts
required for executing his vision, but in his deliberate haste, they
have not been presented in the final mix as a unified whole. Starting
with a big bouncy kick drum/hi-hat/snare percussion bed, Russell
shuffles his additional sound sources (including several different
electric guitars) in and out of the mix in a rather abrupt fashion,
leaving a distinct energy fluctuation in the overall mix as a result.
On the plus side, Russell has used his stereo field wisely; the panning is nicely conceived throughout the track. We found the remaining sound sources to be generally well recorded, although the effect
on the vocal was a bit over the top, even for a guy who says he
"couldn't sing if my life depended on it".
Suggestions: The old saying "strike while the iron is hot" certainly
has its place in the creative process. Quick bursts of inspiration can
often yield impressive results, particularly in the tracking stages of
recording. That said, at mix time one could certainly argue the case
that slowing things down a bit in order to explore options and possibilities also has merit.
We would suggest that Russell re-examine his mix and find/create
a sound source that could "thread" his mix together in order to minimize the abruptness that accompanies the introduction of his myriad guitar parts. Oh, and by way of some additional free advice: the
music world is full of folks that many would consider marginal
vocalists, guys with last names like Dylan, Young, and Garcia. We
call them stylists, Russell!

Music: "The Is I Ain't" is a male vocal rock
song. Ricky Martinez sang the lead vocal,
Gabrelle Hernandez sang backing vocals, Jorge
Quevedo played the guitars and bass, and
Alain Hernandez played drums and percussion
and also produced and mixed the track.
Recording: Quite an ambitious submission
here from The Is I Ain't. Let's take a closer
look at this rather complex track, and see
what's under the hood.
Upon first listen it was pretty clear that the
guys were setting up a certain ambience here,
with multiple layers of percussion accompanied by several canned "effects", thunder
included. To our ears the overall sound was on
the bright side and rather thin.
Although it took some time, the rhythm section eventually enters the scene, but not with
enough low-end presence to counterbalance
the brightness of the other sound sources in
our opinion. While the performances are certainly solid, through our monitors and headphones the entire track seems to be in need
of a heaping dose of low-end power, followed
by some rebalancing/remixing.
Suggestions: In our experience, overall thinness in a mix can often be traced back to
room acoustics or monitoring issues. Alas,
since the band didn't tell us what kind of
monitors they used when tracking or mixing,
it is difficult to ascertain whether this is truly
the cause, but we'd be willing to venture that
it is playing a part.
Seriously, Readers' Tracks folks... I haven't
had to say it in a while and I was enjoying the
fact, but apparently it's time for a reminder!
There is nothing more frustrating to me than
someone who takes time to list everything from
specific model year of their vintage bass amp
to which loop library they got the shaker part
from... followed by what brand of picks and
strings they use!... and doesn't mention monitors
or headphones. I need to know how you're hearing this stuff or it's much harder (if not impossible) for me to track down where you went
wrong. A word to the wise is sufficient!
Our general advice in these types of cases
is to suggest some active A/Bing, along with
checking reference mixes on various monitor/
car/computer/earbud speakers, in an effort to
establish a full, balanced blend with all of the
various frequency ranges represented on
these different playback systems. Therefore,
this is where we will steer Alain... and any
other of you loyal readers who may be experiencing similar problems.

Summary: Off to a good start.

Summary: Check those mixes, fellas!

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Russell Blunt
Equipment: Korg D1600 desktop digital multitrack recorder; RØDE NTK
vocal mic; M-Audio monitors and beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones.
Martin 00CXAE acoustic guitar, Fender Strat with MIDI pickup into Roland
GR-33 (for electric piano part), Yamaha bass guitar, drum tracks created in
Acoustica Beatcraft software.

Contact: Russell Blunt, russell@ballsytunes.com
64

RECORDING AUGUST 2016

Contact: The Is I Ain't, theisiaint@gmail.com

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2016