Recording - July 2021 - 26

Playing speaks
louder than words
Did you swap out mics from song to song, or
was it the same setup the whole time?
Chuck: We swapped out snare drums and maybe changed
the position of the mics, but the sound was primarily based on
the room mics as far as making the drum kit more huge. I might
compress the room mics or maybe add some distortion to it or
something like that.
Peter: I didn't know that. We'd never spoken about this before.
You used distortion? Usually, he tells me everything! [laughs]
Chuck Ainlay, Peter Frampton, Larry Carlton and Rob Arthur
Photo courtesy of Peter Frampton
I assume Rob Arthur's organ on the album is real
B3 and Leslie cabinet?
Chuck: Yes. Generally, I mic that with a Neumann FET47
on the bottom and a pair of SM57 dynamics in different arrangements
on the top. It's sort of a spaced pair, but there's
really only one way to get it symmetrical because the horn is
off-center. One has to be at the front, and one has to be at the
back corner of the side to get both mics at the same distance
from the horn if you want the extreme left/right thing.
Peter: People often tell me they hear chorus on my songs,
and I say, " No, you're hearing a Leslie. "
Wow, and here I thought Chuck is known for
clean and pristine sounds.
Chuck: Engineers often get pigeonholed for the recordings
that they're best known for. I have a certain recognition for
having made records that are really clean in the past, but I try
to be flexible. I love being able to get stellar sounds, but getting
stellar sounds is about recognizing what the song is about and
making the song the best it can be. Sometimes that means distortion.
Sometimes that means more compression.
Peter: Certain engineers and producers come in, and you
pretty much end up sounding like the last act they recorded.
The beauty with Chuck is, he just listens to the music and sees
what it needs to sound like.
Chuck: Thank you, Peter.
Photo courtesy of Peter Frampton
I love the drum sounds you got on this album-
big and huge, especially the kick sound, and
the floor toms on 'Are You Gonna Go My Way'
and 'Dreamland'.
Peter: Dan [Wojciechowski] used the drums from Frampton
Comes Alive, which are my treasured set, and they just
sound wonderful.
Chuck: You can almost always point to the drummer when
it comes to great drum sounds, and Dan's an incredible technician,
and he makes the drums sound great. Like Peter mentioned,
this is the drum kit from the Comes Alive tour. So, it's a
double-headed bass drum.
Peter: With no hole.
Chuck: So, we could not mic inside. It's the way Dan played
it. He could make it sound nice and puffy for 'Dreamland', but
then harder for 'Reckoner' or whatever, just by the way he hit
and released the beater.
26 RECORDING July 2021
On drums, are you a minimal or an over-miking guy?
Chuck: I will do different things on different projects, but
generally, I use two mics on the bass drum. I usually have an
SM57 and an AKG C451 on top of the snare and an AKG
C414 under the snare, and then I'll use another 451 on the
high hat. Toms are usually Audio Technica ATM25 dynamic
mics on top and ATM35 condensers underneath, clip-on mics
with a gooseneck, so you don't have to have a stand. I will then
flip them out of phase like you would the snare mics.
Peter: Do you ever use a [Sennheiser] 421 on the toms?
Why do you use the ATs instead?
Chuck: Yeah, I do, but the AT mics have a real natural
sound and smaller profile, so they don't get in the way of the
cymbals. They don't reject the cymbals as well as a 421, but
I kinda like the extra trash that you get from the cymbals. It
makes them sound more live. Then I generally use a spaced
pair of DPA 4011 condensers as overheads.
The room mics I mentioned were a pair of Coles 4038 as
distant room mics, and then I use a Royer R-121 as a mono
middle-of-the-room mic. Then off to the side of the snare drum
in between the high tom and the high-hat, I'll put a Neumann
KM84 with a hefty dose of compression. It's just something that
I tuck in there that highlights how the drums sound in the room.
There's always a hefty dose of compression on the room mics
during tracking and even more when I mix.
Peter's drum room is actually the perfect size room for drums
because it's not so big that the room's sound gets in the way,
but when you compress it, it just gets really nice and trashy,
and I love that.
Peter: It's nicely ambient. It's about the same size as the
room where Phil Collins did 'In the Air Tonight'. It's not a big
room, but it's got wood and stone and sounds fabulous.
Recording - July 2021

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