EQ Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 18)

Rahim—(left to right) Michael Friedrich, Phil Sutton, Chris Bordeaux. Buckets N’ Bass Drums J. Robbins Goes for Massive Grooves on Rahim’s Latest Album by Janice Brown I t’s the hottest day of summer, and New York-based indie rock merchants Rahim are once again making the trip to Baltimore to team up with producer J. Robbins. The mission: Record the asof-yet-untitled follow-up to 2006’s much celebrated Ideal Lives. A D.C. music scene legend in his own right, Robbins has sat behind the board for bands such as The Promise Ring, Dismemberment Plan, and Jets to Brazil. But it’s not just his production chops that make him a perfect match for Rahim—a postpunk band born from the influence of the famed Dischord, Jade Tree, and DeSoto records movement. Robbins is also one of Rahim’s musical inspirations, having served time in seminal D.C. punk-rock bands such as Government Issue, Jawbox, Burning Airlines, and, most recently, Report Suspicious Activity. “We wanted to work with J because of a couple records he has made—especially the Faraquet album [The View From This Tower], says Rahim drummer/percussionist Phil Sutton. ” The admiration is reciprocal. “I love Rahim, says Robbins. “They’re the only band I know ” with an equal abiding love of no-wave post-punk, African music, and the Beatles—and they still sound only like themselves.” Entering Robbins’ Pro Tools HD2-equipped Magpie Cage studio, Sutton and bandmates Michael Friedrich (lead vocals, guitars, keys) and Chris Bordeaux (bass, guitar, keys) had ten days to record and mix 12 new songs chock full of buzzing synth lines and pulsing rhythms. In addition, Rahim was looking for a more intimate sound than what the band achieved on Ideal Lives. “We wanted the listener to hear everything up close, says ” Sutton, “as if he or she is watching us practice in our basement.” First things first—get a tight drum sound. To do this, Robbins deadened the Magpie Cage live room. “I have two big plywood panels that hang off the wall at about an 80-degree angle to the floor, he says. “One side is ” very reflective and the other is dead. For Ideal Lives, we had the live side turned out, so for this session, we’ll turn the panels around.” Then, Robbins drew from what he calls “the Steve Albini” files: Tune the drums meticulously, avoid muffling, use condensers as close mics, and employ the M/S (mid-side) stereomiking technique to capture a room perspective of the kit. The M/S setup consisted of a Neumann M147 (mid) and AKG C12VR (side) placed about head level, directly in front of the kit above the kick drum. For the snare, Robbins captured the attack of the top head and the rattle of the snares by placing a beyerdynamic M201 on the top head, and a Shure KSM 141 on the bottom head. A Shure Beta 98 mini-condenser was clipped on the rack tom, and an AKG C414 was positioned directly over the floor tom. “Phil’s kick drum has both heads on it, Robbins remarks, “so ” I miked both the inside and outside heads. At the mixdown, I occasionally used a ducker to key off the bottom snare mic to 18 EQ JANUARY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - January 2008

EQ Magazine - January 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Robbers On High Street Rafter RTX Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Toolbox Rahim Dimmu Borgir Wu-Tang Clan Special Feature! Mastering for Musicians Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drumheads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Cakewalk Sonar 7 IK Multimedia Virtual Instruments Yamaha MSP7 Shure KSM137/SL K+H O 300 & O 800 Sonica Livetracker Apple Logic Studio Novation XioSynth 25, Audio-Technica ATH-M50, Samson G-Track

EQ Magazine - January 2008

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