Recording - May 2020 - 48

Nick D'Virgilio is one of the most talented musicians I've
ever met. As a founding member of Spock's Beard, Nick is
well known in the progressive rock world and is currently a
member of the award-winning UK prog band Big Big Train.
In addition to making his mark as a drummer, Nick is also a
songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist, and we've been working together in studios all over the world for over 20 years. A
few years back, he mentioned to me that he had begun writing a rock opera. At the time, he had been touring the world
with Cirque Du Soleil's Totem show as the primary drummer
and assistant music director. For six years and almost 1,400
shows, he performed from
a drum booth backstage,
looking at the other performers and audience only
on video monitors. It was at
this point he started working on a concept album
that would later be titled
Invisible. When he began
writing, he started by drawing comparisons between
his current work situation
and the nine-to-five grind
so many people can relate to on a day-to-day basis. Almost
like a scene out of Office Space-picture a guy sitting in the
same cubicle day after day, often contemplating what life is
all about. In Nick's story, one day that guy gets up and just
walks out, and a new journey begins to unfold.
Over the course of the next few years, Nick kept writing,
perfecting and exploring different avenues on where the story could go and where this protagonist might end up. While
its genesis was biographical, the story as a whole isn't. He
let it go where the music took him. In a nutshell, it's the
journey of a man who goes out looking for explanations,
eventually finds himself in a near-death experience, and then
finally comes to the realization that it doesn't matter what
you do for a living, where you live, or how much money you
have, because we all have value.
When it came time to start recording this project, we were
all working at Sweetwater where Nick has been the online
face of drums for the past several years. Through hundreds
of videos and millions of views, there aren't many Sweetwater customers that aren't familiar with his efforts. So, since

Nick (and Sweetwater) is a supporter of all its drum brands,
it brought up some interesting questions: What drum kit or
kits do we use? What cymbals do we use? Heads? Sticks?
Nick is, in a way, endorsed by all the drum manufacturers that
Sweetwater carries. This, coupled with the fact that we used all
these different brands on a daily basis in Sweetwater Studios
on other peoples' albums, well, it just wouldn't make sense (or
serve the project) to just use one or two drum kits. So, we decided to try and use them all. We approached the vendors and
almost all of them saw this as an opportunity and jumped on it.
So, throughout the course of making Invisible, we used Aquarian, DW, Evans, Gretsch,
Ludwig, Mapex, Paiste,
Promark, Remo, Sabian,
Sonor, Tama, Trick, Vater,
Vic Firth, Yamaha and
Zildjian products-all the
while documenting every
step of the process. In doing this, we knew that with
Nick's notoriety in the drum
a lot of people
with Mark Hornsby community,
(namely drummers) would
be holding a critical ear to
our efforts. So, in order to maintain some form of cohesion, we
approached DPA microphones and asked if they would like to
come on board with this project. The answer was an immediate yes. Think about it, particularly for the drums: every song
on this album (that has drums on it) features a different drum
kit, different cymbals, different drum heads and different sticks.
What better way to maintain consistency and sonic fidelity
than using one of the most respected and 'hi-fi' microphone
manufacturers in the business? Well, it made sense to us and
now you get to experience it firsthand. The song we're going
to be looking at is called 'Turn Your Life Around'. It's a fairly
rockin' track and the first song on the album that features a full
band with drums. The entire rhythm section was recorded at
Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, IN, and the strings were
recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. I'm going to take
you through how we recorded all of it, using only DPA microphones. Then, you can head over to RECORDING Magazine's
website and download the actual Pro Tools session and scope
the tracks for yourself. Pretty cool, huh? Thank you Nick, all the
vendors, and of course, thank you Sweetwater!

Inside the

Studio

Photography by Erick Anderson, except where noted

48 RECORDING May 2020



Recording - May 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2020

No label
Fade In
Fast Forward
That One Instrument Mic
Plugin Outlet: Chandler Limited Germanium Compressor by Softube
Incidents in The Sound Lab: Recording and Mixing The String Cheese Incident
Peluso P-28 Pencil Tube Condenser Microphone
Austrian Audio Hi-X55 Professional Over-Ear Headphones
Creative Miking Techniques for Flute, Snare, Piano, and more!
The Do’s and Don’ts of Flute Recording
Stereo Snare and Fun Room Miking Tips
Recording Piano Wrong
Plugin Outlet: Silo Soundlabs Trident EQ plugins
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: miking and making Nick D’Virgilio’s
Samar Audio Design AL95 Passive Ribbon Microphone
Heiserman H47tube Microphone
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Microphone and Preamp Modeling
Readers' Tracks
Plugin Outlet: Polyverse Comet
Recording - May 2020 - No label
Recording - May 2020 - Cover1
Recording - May 2020 - Cover2
Recording - May 2020 - 1
Recording - May 2020 - 2
Recording - May 2020 - 3
Recording - May 2020 - Fade In
Recording - May 2020 - 5
Recording - May 2020 - 6
Recording - May 2020 - 7
Recording - May 2020 - Fast Forward
Recording - May 2020 - 9
Recording - May 2020 - That One Instrument Mic
Recording - May 2020 - 11
Recording - May 2020 - 12
Recording - May 2020 - 13
Recording - May 2020 - 14
Recording - May 2020 - 15
Recording - May 2020 - 16
Recording - May 2020 - 17
Recording - May 2020 - 18
Recording - May 2020 - 19
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Chandler Limited Germanium Compressor by Softube
Recording - May 2020 - 21
Recording - May 2020 - 22
Recording - May 2020 - 23
Recording - May 2020 - Incidents in The Sound Lab: Recording and Mixing The String Cheese Incident
Recording - May 2020 - 25
Recording - May 2020 - 26
Recording - May 2020 - 27
Recording - May 2020 - 28
Recording - May 2020 - 29
Recording - May 2020 - 30
Recording - May 2020 - 31
Recording - May 2020 - 32
Recording - May 2020 - 33
Recording - May 2020 - Peluso P-28 Pencil Tube Condenser Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 35
Recording - May 2020 - Austrian Audio Hi-X55 Professional Over-Ear Headphones
Recording - May 2020 - 37
Recording - May 2020 - Creative Miking Techniques for Flute, Snare, Piano, and more!
Recording - May 2020 - 39
Recording - May 2020 - The Do’s and Don’ts of Flute Recording
Recording - May 2020 - 41
Recording - May 2020 - Stereo Snare and Fun Room Miking Tips
Recording - May 2020 - 43
Recording - May 2020 - Recording Piano Wrong
Recording - May 2020 - 45
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Silo Soundlabs Trident EQ plugins
Recording - May 2020 - 47
Recording - May 2020 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: miking and making Nick D’Virgilio’s
Recording - May 2020 - 49
Recording - May 2020 - 50
Recording - May 2020 - 51
Recording - May 2020 - 52
Recording - May 2020 - 53
Recording - May 2020 - 54
Recording - May 2020 - 55
Recording - May 2020 - Samar Audio Design AL95 Passive Ribbon Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 57
Recording - May 2020 - Heiserman H47tube Microphone
Recording - May 2020 - 59
Recording - May 2020 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Microphone and Preamp Modeling
Recording - May 2020 - 61
Recording - May 2020 - 62
Recording - May 2020 - 63
Recording - May 2020 - 64
Recording - May 2020 - 65
Recording - May 2020 - 66
Recording - May 2020 - 67
Recording - May 2020 - 68
Recording - May 2020 - 69
Recording - May 2020 - Readers' Tracks
Recording - May 2020 - 71
Recording - May 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Polyverse Comet
Recording - May 2020 - Cover3
Recording - May 2020 - Cover4
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