Recording - January 2021 - 62

Readers'

TRACKS
BY MARTY PETERS

Readers' Tracks is where respected engineer
and producer Marty Peters listens to your
recordings and critiques them, pointing out
where and how you can make them better.
Listen to the songs, read the reviews, and
submit your own materials online.
" Center Court " / Typhoon Jr.
Equipment: Fostex reel-to-reel, Sennheiser, Blue, and Shure
mics, Mackie mixer, Alesis monitors.
Music: 'Center Court' is a rock track. Kyle Hodgkin played
guitar and sang lead vocals, Joe Tellmann supplied bass, guitar
and backing vocals, Liam Scott played drums and tambourine,
and Lee Sullivan played sax. The band members all share the
writing, production, and recording credits.
Recording: Typhoon Jr. have submitted a beautifully written
tune here. Recorded on honest to goodness analog tape and
mixed analog as well, the overall sounds are somewhat dark
through our monitors, with copious amounts of processing on
board. Starting with the rhythm section, the drums have an
organic live feel with a fat snare and round kick tone. Those
of you used to hearing modern beater head-dominated kicks
will not hear it on this track; Liam's tones are much more
aligned with 60s and early 70s sounds-a time when limited
track counts ruled the day. Moving on to its partner, the bass
guitar is equally dusky and placed unconventionally wide in
the mix. On the left side of the stereo field resides a very active and heavily reverbed sax, along with the electric guitars.
While the sax performance is quite good, we found the super
active part to be somewhat distracting at times, competing
for attention with the lead vocal. The ethereal backing vocals
create a good deal of tension and drama in the track and
again are presented with a heavy dose of processing. Lastly,
Kyle's strong lead vocal is given quite a wide lane in the center of the mix and it comes across as quite present through our
speakers and headphones.
Suggestions: The band has created a strong effort here, not a
throwback per se, but certainly leaning in that direction. As for
suggestions, the panning of the bass is a bit of a mystery to us.
62 RECORDING January 2021

If it was done in an effort to emulate a recording from a different
era, then so be it. If it was done in order to accentuate the lead
vocal presence, we would urge the group to center it with the
kick drum and then experiment with EQ and ambience in order
to define a space for all in the middle of the stereo field. Moving
on to the sax, we would enjoy a bit drier presentation and a little
less activity during the lead vocal sections.
Summary: Much to like!

" A Refugee Too " / Bill Edwards
Equipment: iMac running Digital Performer, Alesis HD 24 recorder, MOTU and UA interfaces, East West and UA plugins, Nektar
Impact keyboard controller, Gibson guitar, Fender bass, Toontrack
Superior Drummer 3, Impact Soundworks Pedal Steel VSTi, Shure
SM7B and Miktek C5 mics, Royer dBooster, ART TPS II preamp,
Mackie mixer, Mackie monitors, AKG and Sony headphones.
Music: 'A Refugee Too' is a male vocal Americana track
done in its entirety by Bill in his home studio.
Recording: Bill has submitted a fine overall effort here, with
only a few minor adjustments required in order to lift it up towards our Spotlight status. Let's delve into the pros and cons
of 'A Refugee Too' and see just what adjustments will kick it
up a notch. Starting on the plus side, Bill did solid job on his
vocals, both lead and background. The venerable Shure SM7
dynamic mic is an excellent fit with his voice. Long a favorite
of Americana artists, its smooth round characteristics are on
display here and Bill has avoided any plosives, sibilance or
other artifacts in his performances. The small-bodied acoustic
guitar is accurately captured; our familiarity with the 00 Gibson is pretty extensive, and this is the sound for sure. Moving
on, kudos to Bill for his wise panning choices; we love the classic vibe that the opposite-panned tremolo guitar/pedal steel
bring to the table. Their positioning is atmospheric, lending a
nice cinematic feel to the stereo field. As for the downside, we
detect some pretty audible overcompression on the bass guitar
throughout the song, and the bass has a tendency to frequency
mask the acoustic guitar in spots. As for its rhythm partner, the
snare drum seems shy while the pronounced kick is just the opposite. Lastly, the overall tone of the mix is a tad dark through
our monitors and headphones.
Suggestions: As we've said many times in this column, the
closer one gets to a successful mix, the more that the little things
matter. While there are no glaring issues with Bill's submission,
a few tweaks to the bass and drums are in order. Starting with
the drums, we suggest a rebalancing of the kick and snare to
close the gap in their volume. As for the bass, while we're not
sure at what stage the compression was applied, we urge Bill
to back it down, particularly the release time. A slow release
on a sustained instrument will oftentimes lead to the kind of
smear that we're hearing here. Finally, we feel that mastering
could benefit the entire effort, just enough to add a bit of shine.
As we said, little things can go a long way.
Summary: Strong effort.

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Recording - January 2021

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