EQ Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 26)

ANOTHER DAY Wilson (left) and Mike Love (right) discussing the production of Pet Sounds. process it much in the end. Now, we have a lot more flexibility in terms of EQ and compression. I tend to record Brian more with compression than with EQ. I don’t want to over-EQ his vocals, because I know it will be a different sound by the time we add everything else. How many background vocalists did Brian have you record for That Lucky Old Sun? We set up a quad pattern—four sets of baffles together so the seven vocalists could sing facing each other on their own mic. Almost everything is doubled. What personal changes have you seen in Brian, as far as being a recording musician, over the course of the years? Brian has had a troubled life. But I have to say he has become so much happier and grounded and independent since I first met him. One of the biggest things was when he finished SMiLE. Everyone has been talking about this album for 40 years, obsessing about the album that never was. But Brian had also been carrying that around with him all this time, and it was a major turning point for him when he was finally able to finish that piece of music. We mixed SMiLE in three sections. Brian is not somebody to sit around and watch digital paint dry. Darian Sahanaja was involved, and when we got each section together we would have Brian come down, play him the whole thing to get his changes, and then he would take a CD home. When we had done that the third time, I said, “Brian, that’s it. That’s SMiLE completed.” It’s not an exaggeration to say that when he realized SMiLE was finally finished, Darian and I literally saw something change in him. It’s interesting to think of somebody like Brian who isn’t like most of us. Most of us are programmed to follow the mantra of “This too shall pass.” Most of us can get over death or a disability, and it makes sense, because it’s what we have to do to survive. But Brian isn’t able to put things aside. A disappointment like SMiLE wasn’t something of which he could say, “Okay, it didn’t work, I will go on to something else.” Brian did great work after that, but SMiLE haunted him for all those years. So the change I’ve seen is in his level of confidence and happiness that he finally completed something that was so important to him. That was the peak of his art at that point of time. Up to that point in 1967, making and recording music was the joy of Brian’s life. SMiLE began that way, but by the end it was a horribly painful experience for him to work on, and that is why he dumped it rather than allow it to completely destroy him. And he suffered for it. It took Brian a long time to come back from that. Finishing SMiLE was a big deal for him personally. He realized this thing that had been hanging there for 40 years was now finished. He completed what he started in 1967, and now he’s moving on. More Online! For an interview with Mark Linett focusing on the recording of Brian Wilson’s SMiLE, go to www.eqmag.com/article/ an-evening-with/Dec-06/24480. 26 EQ NOVEMBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://cafepress.com/musicplayernet http://www.eqmag.com/article/an-evening-with/Dec-06/24480 http://www.eqmag.com

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

EQ Magazine - November 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Brian Wilson Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Sony Acid 6 Abelton Live 7 Controller World New Controllers Analysis Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - November 2008

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