EQ Magazine - February 2009 - (Page 17)

How Travis Wrote, Tracked, and Mixed Ode To J. Smith in Just a Few Weeks by Janice Brown “There’s a lot of pressure when you’re on a label, because the record you’re making has to work—it has to sell— and that’s not always the best situation for pure creativity,” says Travis vocalist and rhythm guitarist Fran Healy. “But after 12 years together, we’re now an unsigned band again— totally masters of our own destiny.” Fresh out of its contract with Independiente Records, Travis drew up an ambitious plan for its first recording as newly free men, Ode To J. Smith [Red Telephone Box/Fontana]. Desiring to keep the songs and studio performances as fresh and energetic as possible, the members decided to write the album’s songs in just a few weeks, and then test out the material at some small shows. The kicker was a self-imposed deadline of two weeks to record the entire album, and two weeks to mix it. When EQ caught up with Healy at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, the album was nearly mixed. Emery Dobyns had signed on to record, mix, and produce Ode To J. Smith—a project that began with tracking sessions at RAK Studios in London—but Healy had already nailed a lot of the preproduction work. “Before we even went into the studio, the album was written and sequenced,” says Dobyns. “Fran is a fairly accomplished engineer, and his demos had a great vibe to them.” Ode To J. Smith does not mine Travis’ flair for sentimental Brit-pop, as demonstrated by hits such as “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” Nor do any of the tunes truly recall the jangly folk-rock of favorites such as “Flowers In The Window” and “Coming Around.” On the new album, wailing guitars predominate, bonding with rock-steady rhythms to create a sound that’s closer in attitude to Travis’ first single, “All I Want To Do Is Rock.” “Get your air guitars ready, people,” Travis advises fans in an online studio journal. Inspired by recording the Beatles’ “Lovely Rita” with Fab Four engineer Geoff Emerick for a BBC broadcast last year, Travis wanted to capture big rock sounds the old-fashioned way. They considered recording live to 4-track, but settled on analog 16track when producer Mike Hedges’ machine became available. “We’ve always recorded as a band playing live to tape,” says Healy. “Tape makes you focus, because, in this case, we had only 16 tracks, and we had to make every track count.” Prior to loading in at RAK, where at least a portion of every Travis album has been recorded, Healy and Dobyns worked on selecting the best mics for the project. “Nigel Godrich [producer for Paul McCartney, Travis, U2, Beck, and others] leant us a pair of AKG C12 As, a Neumann M57, a really pristine old AKG C12, an AKG C28, and a Sony C-37A,” says Dobyns. “I knew a good pair of C12As would be great on drums, and we used the C12 on most of Fran’s vocals. The Sony C-37A turned out to be the most useful and amazing room mic.” Travis’ production plans for Ode To J. Smith were straightforward: Set up the right microphones and play. These were totally live sessions, with Healy doing his lead vocals out in the tracking room—either on the C12 while enclosed in gobos, or running around with a Shure SM57 in hand. The band set up in Studio 1 at RAK, where the large live room was divided by a glass wall to isolate three drum kits placed on one side from the bass, guitar, vocal, and piano stations on the other. Travis drummer Neil Primrose switched between the three kits—his regular touring kit; a tiny Ludwig kit consisting of a floor tom, kick, snare, and hi-hat; and a massive “marching band kit” with a 28" kick drum and drastically detuned toms. “Because of our track limitations, I went with very minimal drum miking,” notes Dobyns. “On almost every song—and no matter which drums we used—I had four mics or less on the kit. Having the three kits helped us move quickly. If one drum sound wasn’t working for a particular song, Neil would just move to a different set. “For miking rack toms, I sometimes like to put an AKG C414 in hypercardioid mode to get a nice close sound that will help them pop out a bit. You really get the tone of the drum—especially if the drummer is bashing away all around it. On the touring kit, I placed an AKG D12 about six inches outside of the front kick-drum head, and positioned a Sony C-37A about three feet back from the kick at a height of about six feet. By raising the C-37A up and down from song to song, I was able to get different blends of cymbals and low end.” Dobyns miked the Ludwig kit with a Neumann U47 FET on the kick, and a Coles 4038 placed about two-anda-half feet above the snare. Newspaper taped to the heads gave the snare an extra dead sound. Two U47 FETs were used to mic the marching band kit—one on the kick, and the other positioned below the right-hand cymbal about six inches from the toms. A C-37A served as the overhead on that kit, as well. “For one song, I put a Sennheiser MD421 right inside the marching www.eqmag.com FEBRUARY 2009 EQ 17 http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - February 2009

EQ Magazine - February 2009 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Dave Cooley Low vs. Diamond Hank Williams III Travis Franz Ferdinand Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Apple Logic Pro 8 Cakewalk Sonar Near-Field Monitor Roundup Gadgets &�Goodies Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - February 2009

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