EQ Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 40)

DRUM HEADS says. “When I do my solo work, I’ll literally record with anything that’s around—old analog 4-tracks, MiniDisc recorders, iPods, and whatever. However, Wilco records live, so we use close mics and a couple of overheads to capture the drum sound. But I began experimenting with some homemade contact mics that I positioned right on the drums. This resulted in a big, distorted, almost industrial sound. I started controlling the blend of the contact mics with a foot pedal, which gives me more tonal options. I can start with a clean acoustic-sounding kit, and then suddenly shift into this big, distorted kit.” Wilco’s Loft Studio—which is a tenminute walk from Kotche’s house— also allows experimentation. “It’s on the third floor of a building with this amazing set of concrete stairs,” he explains. “You can play instruments— percussion or otherwise—at the top, and place a mic at the bottom to get really amazing sounds.” When it came to recording his third solo outing Mobile, Kotche turned to Wilco band mate Mikael Jorgenson to engineer and produce. Jorgenson—a talented engineer in his own right before he joined Wilco— was drafted to manipulate live sound for Wilco, before the band discovered his talents as a keyboardist. “The sessions for the new Wilco album were brief, intense bursts of creativity, punctuated by people having babies,” says Jorgenson. “It was kind of the same working with Glenn, because we’d do a few days, and then go away for three weeks before we came back to the studio. During the sessions, the Loft was a lot more—let’s say ‘basic’—than it is now, so making the album was quite an experience. For example, we were recording to Pro Tools|HD, but the monitor speakers were in the same room as Glenn, so we had to turn them down when he was playing, and then back up to hear what he did. We were also quite limited regarding mics, because most of the band’s recording equipment was in storage. We relied on a few Shure mics for the kick, snare, and overheads, but that ended up being good, because I wanted the setup to be pretty basic. You see, when you make a straightforward rock album, there are thousands of records to compare it to. But when you make an experimental percussion record such as Mobile, where is your touchstone? So my strategy was to keep things as simple as possible. We didn’t do too much in the way of effects, as what Glenn does is so layered and so dense, that too many effects would have compromised something. Basically, I listened to what he was playing, and I just asked him if there was anything he wanted more detail on.” 40 EQ NOVEMBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.mackie.com/420 http://www.mackie.com/420 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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