EQ Magazine - June 2008 - (Page 9)

Of course, having a world-renowned engineer to help show the band the recording ropes helped in making Once Upon a Time in the West a sonic success. Paul “P-Dub” Walton (Bjork, New Order) was brought in to help the members settle on a monitoring system, and he stayed long enough to usher in the album’s mix. “Paul saw what we were working with, and he gave us a lot of good ideas,” says Archer. “For instance, we have a concrete lobby with a staircase that leads directly to a corridor on the second floor. He heard this amazing echo from people talking down there when he was hanging in the hallway, and the next thing you know, we’re moving the drums down there.” Placing a single AKG C451B in the upstairs hall, Walton captured a huge ambient drum sound, but found that after he applied heavy compression, the sound washed out the articulation and punch of drummer Steve Kemp’s playing. [Bitchy editor’s note: You’ll think Walton could have anticipated that outcome before he pressed the Record button—proof positive that even pro engineers can make silly mistakes.] Re-tracking Kemp’s kit, Walton added in a combination of close mics, including an AKG D112 on the inside of the kick drum, an Electro-Voice RE-20 on the outside, a Shure SM57 on the snare, and an AKG C419 on each of the toms. Bringing up the close mics resulted in a big, roomy sounding kit that still cut through the mix. Walton also helped bassist Kai Stephens achieve the round, thumping bass sounds that, along with Kemp’s drums, make a solid rhythm foundation for guitarist Ross Phillips and Archer to build upon. “At first, we built an amp box to help isolate the bass,” Archer says. “But we found that it added some rattle to the bass sounds. So, as we’re into old soulmusic records, we decided that a little bleed on the rhythm tracks would be fine, and we cut the drums and bass together. Kai’s amp was miked with an AKG D112, and we also ran a direct line through a Universal Audio 610. This approach gave us a combination of a really clean direct sound and a punchy amp sound with a bit of natural compression from the speaker cabinet.” The boys of Hard-Fi also learned a valuable lesson from Walton: Sometimes less is more. “We were trying to record our guitars with a Shure SM57, a direct line, and a Neumann M47,” says Archer. “We were having all kinds of phasing problems, and the sound was muddy. Paul pushed us to strip down to the SM57, and, sure enough, there was the sound we were looking for.” Although Cherry Lips is outfitted with an analog console, Archer says the band discovered that analog technology doesn’t always sound better. “We went so far as to buy an old two-inch tape machine just to track drums,” he says. “Everybody always says tape really brings out the transients on a drum track. Maybe that’s true, but we were having problems with the machine, so we just went straight to Logic. The compressor that comes with Logic is great, and when we set the Output Clip to ‘Soft,’ it made the drums sound perfect. Also, we’re a spontaneous band, and using a DAW lets us put tracks down quickly. You don’t realize how much of an advantage that is until you find yourself aligning every channel on a 24-track tape deck before you can play one note of music.” EQ’S “SECRETS OF SIGNAL PROCESSING” WEBINAR Acclaimed author, musician, and EQ Executive Editor Craig Anderton follows up his immensely successful “Mastering in the Home Studio” Webinar with a new offering that shows how to get more out of signal processors than you ever thought possible. In this hour-long instructional video, you’ll learn practical, hands-on, cutting-edge info—underlined by a constant stream of video and audio examples—on topics such as: • All About Side Chains • New Dimensions in Stereo Placement • Creative Ways to Use Vocoders • Convolution: Why Just Settle for Reverb? • Secrets of Parallel Processing • Guitar Amp Simulator Techniques for Electronic Drums and Keyboards • Exploiting Synthesizers as Signal Processors • Better Guitar Amp Sounds Through Restoration Software • New Applications for Dynamics Control • Creating the Ultimate Wah-Wah • “Playing” Signal Processors with MIDI Control Don’t miss this unique opportunity to amplify your creativity, and improve your recordings in new, exciting, and, above all, highly musical ways for just $15! Go to www.visualwebcaster.com/music playernetwork/storefront and stream it now! This Month on EQTV Join us at EQtv—EQ’s own video channel chock full of tips, tricks, tutorials, behind the scenes footage of some of the hottest sessions, and tons more. To check it out, visit www.eqmag.com and click the pretty little link, or go direct to www.eqmag.tv. You’ll be glad you did. This month you’ll see: • Mixing 3 Doors Down’s Newest Release. • How to Build a Great Drum Sound from the Ground Up. • Jazz Recording Tips with the Danny Weis Jazz Band. • Friday Records’ Owner and Veteran Producer Rick Jarrard on the Future of the Music Biz. AND TONS MORE!!! www.eqmag.com JUNE 2008 EQ 9 http://www.visualwebcaster.com/musicplayernetwork/storefront http://www.visualwebcaster.com/musicplayernetwork/storefront http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.tv http://www.eqmag.com

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

EQ Magazine - June 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board 3 Doors Down, Hard-Fi, Paul Manousos Tool Box Panic at the Disco Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Cakewalk Projects Apple Loops Utility SSL Duende Mini JBL LSR4326/PAK & LSR4312SP Holophone H3-D Creation Audio Labs MW1 Studio Tool Amp Modeler Roundup Eventide Timefactor, Electro-Harmonix Stereo Pedals, Korg Pandora PX5D Room with a Vu: Blues Tunes Studios, Silverlake, CA

EQ Magazine - June 2008

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