Recording - July 2019 - 32
Catching
Greatness
PHOTO BY: RIC WHITNEY
Preserving the integrity
In "Before I'm Old", an autobiographical, mid-tempo groove with shades of psychedelic rock, there's no questioning the
influence Jimi Hendrix has on Christone
Ingram. For a few moments, a sprinkle of
"Hey Joe" flavors his licks. "Hendrix was
one of the first black guys to take blues music and flip it into full-fledged rock. That's
a big thing for me, because at the time
it was totally outside of the box, but his
sound was deep-rooted in historical music." When it comes to blues and roots music overall, there's a great deal of respect
that must be paid to foundational, traditional sounds if you want to get it right.
While many young artists find themselves watering down their music to
appeal to a wider audience, Kingfish
doesn't do that. He's keenly aware of
how far to drift. "When I first came on
the scene, I was known for being more
of a traditional player, so I wanted to
keep that a lot with my first record, all
while incorporating some rock/blues in
the mix as well. I think one of the ways
we can get younger people into blues
is if we do incorporate other styles, but
not too much to where the root and the
tradition is gone."
The bulk of what's on radio these
days are crowning works of engineering, with most Top 40 hits being clever
collages of editing and tuning excess.
"I've made those records, and there's
a process that I do when I make those
records," says Tom Hambridge. "This is
completely different."
32 RECORDING July 2019
On Kingfish, if a part was spliced together or flown around, it was for the
right reasons. "I might go, 'You know
what, we kind of do that turnaround
right before the last verse. Give me a
different one of those and let me fly that
in there. It's like a motif, you know, and
it helps the song.' There are edits like
that." On "Fresh Out", an uneventful
moment during Buddy Guy's warmup
created the opening riffs of the tune.
"Buddy was just messing around. I said,
'Give me a little chicken sound,' and we
weren't recording. I have a way of looking at the engineer so he knows I want
him to record. And Buddy's just playing
this stuff that nobody in the world could
play, and I thought, 'It's easier for me to
just get that, and then I can be creative
later on and put that in.'"
In some of the record's more acoustic
moments, like "Been Here Before" and
"Hard Times" featuring Keb' Mo', what
some might consider recording flubs actually contribute to the intimacy of the
tracks. On "Hard Times", a mysterious
ghost vocal treads softly under Ingram's
like the audio equivalent of a doubleexposed photo. "I just wanted a strippeddown front porch deal," says Hambridge. "I had Keb' Mo' play resonator
guitar, and he's being miked as well, so
he's breathing in the room. His foot is
hitting because he's tapping time. Kingfish is in the other room and sometimes
in between, Kingfish is breathing during
stuff. You can go, 'Okay, well, we need
to clean that'-or, 'Does this fit what it's
supposed to sound like?' You know, if
there's a squeak but it sounds cool, why
get rid of the squeak? My favorite records
have those mistakes on them."
For the mix, it was important to Hambridge that the energy of those 48 hours
at Ocean Way was well preserved. "I
want the end product to sound like what
I envisioned and what I heard when
we played it. I always try to keep us on
course for that, because I find you can
get lost in the creation afterwards. I'm the
guy that walks in and goes, 'You know, I
think we've lost this. I don't think it sounds
like what it sounded like when we played
it.'" So about 6-8 weeks after the session
at Ocean Way, Hambridge and Michael
Saint-Leon mixed the record over a week
at Switchyard. To add color in the box,
they inserted the Universal Audio UAD
Neve 1073 EQ, the McDSP AE600 EQ
to smooth out hot spots, and the UAD
Fairchild 660 plug-in for limiting. For timing effects, they chose the UAD EMT 140
plug-in for reverb, and the Soundtoys
EchoBoy for delay.
Something to say
In 2015, Tom Hambridge first crossed
paths with Kingfish while they played
alongside Buddy Guy at the Waterfront
Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon. The
two wouldn't meet up again to discuss
making a record until sometime later in
Los Angeles. Hambridge recalls, "We
had a meeting, and I said, 'Well, this
is how I do it, and I need to get great
songs and I need to start writing, and
Recording - July 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2019
Fade In
Fast Forward
That One Mic: Electric Guitar
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram: Capturing the sound of blues guitar
IK Multimedia AXE I/O
IK Multimedia iRig Stomp I/O
BOSS Waza Craft CE-2W Chorus and DC-2W Dimension C
Lauten LS-308
Strymon Volante
Vance Powell - recording and mixing the Stray Cats latest album 40
PSI Audio A17-M
STL Tones STL Tonality–Howard Benson
LEWITT LCT 040 MATCH
Throwback To The Future
GFI System Clockwork Delay V3
Recording - July 2019 - Intro
Recording - July 2019 - Cover1
Recording - July 2019 - Cover2
Recording - July 2019 - 1
Recording - July 2019 - 2
Recording - July 2019 - 3
Recording - July 2019 - Fade In
Recording - July 2019 - 5
Recording - July 2019 - 6
Recording - July 2019 - 7
Recording - July 2019 - Fast Forward
Recording - July 2019 - 9
Recording - July 2019 - 10
Recording - July 2019 - 11
Recording - July 2019 - That One Mic: Electric Guitar
Recording - July 2019 - 13
Recording - July 2019 - 14
Recording - July 2019 - 15
Recording - July 2019 - Christone "Kingfish" Ingram: Capturing the sound of blues guitar
Recording - July 2019 - 17
Recording - July 2019 - 18
Recording - July 2019 - 19
Recording - July 2019 - 20
Recording - July 2019 - 21
Recording - July 2019 - IK Multimedia AXE I/O
Recording - July 2019 - 23
Recording - July 2019 - 24
Recording - July 2019 - 25
Recording - July 2019 - IK Multimedia iRig Stomp I/O
Recording - July 2019 - 27
Recording - July 2019 - 28
Recording - July 2019 - 29
Recording - July 2019 - 30
Recording - July 2019 - 31
Recording - July 2019 - 32
Recording - July 2019 - 33
Recording - July 2019 - BOSS Waza Craft CE-2W Chorus and DC-2W Dimension C
Recording - July 2019 - 35
Recording - July 2019 - Lauten LS-308
Recording - July 2019 - 37
Recording - July 2019 - Strymon Volante
Recording - July 2019 - 39
Recording - July 2019 - Vance Powell - recording and mixing the Stray Cats latest album 40
Recording - July 2019 - 41
Recording - July 2019 - 42
Recording - July 2019 - 43
Recording - July 2019 - PSI Audio A17-M
Recording - July 2019 - 45
Recording - July 2019 - 46
Recording - July 2019 - 47
Recording - July 2019 - STL Tones STL Tonality–Howard Benson
Recording - July 2019 - 49
Recording - July 2019 - 50
Recording - July 2019 - 51
Recording - July 2019 - 52
Recording - July 2019 - 53
Recording - July 2019 - 54
Recording - July 2019 - 55
Recording - July 2019 - 56
Recording - July 2019 - 57
Recording - July 2019 - 58
Recording - July 2019 - 59
Recording - July 2019 - Throwback To The Future
Recording - July 2019 - 61
Recording - July 2019 - 62
Recording - July 2019 - 63
Recording - July 2019 - 64
Recording - July 2019 - 65
Recording - July 2019 - 66
Recording - July 2019 - 67
Recording - July 2019 - 68
Recording - July 2019 - 69
Recording - July 2019 - LEWITT LCT 040 MATCH
Recording - July 2019 - 71
Recording - July 2019 - GFI System Clockwork Delay V3
Recording - July 2019 - Cover3
Recording - July 2019 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202502
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202501
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202412
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202411
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202410
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202409
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202408
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202407
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202406
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202405
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording-november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_20205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/nxtd
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com