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FOR MUSICIANS ONLYHurricane Sessions
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December 9, 2008 -- For the toms, we're going to use the exact opposite approach as we did with bass, kick and snare. For one things, there are only seven times Manny went to this particular drum during the song. He only hit the floor tom once. |
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| Even though the isolation was pretty good, we're going to make it even better by getting rid of everything that's not the drum we're listening to. |  |
| Always make your editing cuts at a zero point. |  |
| Instead of reducing the peak, we're going to bring everything thing else up to share the gain. |
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At this point, things are starting to sound better. The overheads really need very little done, just a couple more dB at 4.2k and above 6k.
Then I make one more pass through the vocals, giving each phrase the same scrutiny and levelling that I did with the bass. It doesn't take quite so long, depending on how many words are in the song, but it does the same thing for vocals as it does for the bass, namely brings out the extra frequencies and depth that were getting buried.
Vocals are what started me down the path of doing these things manually. The most amazing thing about it is that it makes an SM-58 sound as good as a condenser vocal mic.
Guitars -- When he first listened to the raw tracks, Carl declared that the tone of the guitar(s) was "perfect." Except for overall gain, I have not touched the guitar tracks yet.
The only real problem child is the hi-hat. There was a guitar change between "Cry" and the previous song. Someone may have bumped the hi-hat mic because it is nowhere to be found, even though I can hear it faintly in the background. Sometime before calling this one finished, someone is going to have to play the hi-hat and fill this in.
No EQ whatsoever on the vocals, bass, guitars, or toms. These was a point a couple of pages back in the process where I added a little tone to the kick and snare, a little high end on the overheads. Other than that, I've been through every track and done little else than correct the gain structure for each one.
Instead of trying to make it sound like something, I have allowed it to sound like it was in the first place. That's where that "warmth" is that the vinyl fanatics are so nostalgic for. And it's not forced, it's just the way it came out. I've put a soft limiter on the drums (-26dB threshold), but no compression or limiting of the overall mix.
It took me three days to go through one song. It's a slow process, with a long boring period of minor, repetitive changes. But when you come out the other side, the song is full and it is loud without being compressed. We built the volume from the inside out instead of smashing everything to try to get what we wanted. The gizmos and gadgets are necessary aids when you're working live, but for recording, I try to avoid them if at all possible.
Recording is about catching what happened.
This one will go in the listening pile for now. This session needs backed up, the first of the third generation. It's not done yet. I never actually got to any real mixing yet. There's no automation going on (except for vocal effects). But I've already listened to it enough for now. I'm going to move on to the next song.
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