EQ Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 33) METAL were the kick-drum mics, and the top and bottom snare mics—which were a Shure SM57 [top] and an AKG C 451. I feel that when you bus your toms together, you’re too restricted at the mixing stage. We ended up with 33 drum tracks between the source and room mics, and I didn’t feel we were herding tracks that bad during the mix. The only concession we made was not going to analog tape for the drums— which the band wanted to do. Locking up two tape machines would have been a huge hassle, so it was way easier just staying with Pro Tools. Actually, I felt our track assignments were pretty conservative considering the drum setup we had— although it definitely helped to submix the kick drums and the snare mics. What types of guitar gear made the scene during the sessions? Gates: Our guitar tech, Walter Rice, brought in all these crazy amps, so we took the best elements of Bogners, Marshalls, and other models. We’d blend four different amps together to get the right tone. And, of course, I had my Schecter Synyster Gates signature model guitar, and Zacky used his Schecter Zacky Vengeance Custom. Archambault: We had a lot of guitar stuff. Marshall sent over a bunch of amps, and I think we had every Bogner amp that has ever been made. Walter was absolutely an amazing resource for cool, one-of-a-kind amplifiers, and that gave us the palette to go straight for the tone from the source. We didn’t need to use multiple mics and mic positions. In fact, the whole record was done with one Shure SM57 We put that mic dead center . to one of the cones in the speaker cabinet—an inch off the grille cloth—and ran the signal through a Neve 1073 or a Neve 1084 preamp with a touch of compression from either a Fairchild 670 or a dbx 160 VU. That was the signal chain. What speaker cabinets were you using? Gates: We mostly used a Marshall 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestions G12L-35s, a Bogner cab, and a Mesa/Boogie 2x12. Did you use a splitter to route the guitar into several amps at once, and then decide which tone worked best for the song at hand? Gates: We didn’t split signals. We constructed the tones by choosing an amp for each track, and we layered the sounds one by one. When you play through several different amps at once, I’ve found that you lose the magic of what each individual amp can do. I’d rather play each overdub through one amp at a time. We also wanted each part to have its own unique feel, so we didn’t paste, say, a guitar part for a chorus onto all the other choruses. Archambault: We did split the guitar signals for City of Evil and Waking the Fallen. We’d use a Little Labs PCP Instrument Distro, or a Radial JD7—which I’m a huge fan of—to send the signal to two or three amps simultaneously, and then blend the various amp sounds to taste. But, for this record, we wanted the best thing we could get out of, say, the MIXED Bogner Uberschall with just one microphone, and pan the signal to the left. Then, we’d get what we liked out of a Marshall DSL100, and pan it to the right. Like Syn said, we wanted the vibe and tone of the individual amps to be maintained throughout the rhythm layers. In what type of room were the guitar amps recorded? Archambault: We did the guitars at Eldorado Recording Studios in Burbank, California. It’s a one-room facility, but it has TheAll Sound Measure of Hear into your mixes with unparalleled clarity, accuracy and detail. Listen longer with less fatigue. Neutral, uncolored sound, an uncompromised midrange, surprising bass extension and shocking output. These are the hallmarks of the all-new Klein + Hummel O 410. O 410 Active 3-Way Tri-amplified 1” / 3” / 10” www.klein-hummel.com O 110 Active 2-Way Bi-amplified 1” / 5.5” O 300 Active 3-Way Tri-amplified 1” / 3” / 8” O 800 Active 10” Subwoofer Bass Management A Sennheiser Company For details on the complete range visit: www.klein-hummel.com www.eqmag.com FEBRUARY 2008 EQ 33 http://www.klein-hummel.com http://www.klein-hummel.com http://www.klein-hummel.com http://www.eqmag.com
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