| Questions..
OH NO!! THE DREADED PHOTO SNAPSHOT OF THE MASTERING LEVEL...
Something we all love to see right?
Ted Jensen masters a lot of the bigger rock records today. I think we all know that, he also masters for most of the bigger mixers as well. I have known Ted for many years, he mastered one of my own records, that was on vinyl 25 years ago.
The state of mastering today could take up pages here, I am sure it has. Since this is all subjective and there have been numerous articles on this including one I wrote for Rolling Stone last year I think I am going to lay out on this one. We all know what happened, the brick wall is still alive and well for rock music.
The real issue is full dynamic range, can the record be played loud with frequencies hitting your ear at the same time without ripping your head off.?
For me Riot can, It is loud, but even. This is hard to maintain for any mixer today. I do not think this subject can be discussed in a few sentences, it is a battle that has been going for 10 years. When I hear other mixers like Brendan O'Brian and Andy Wallace I know they understand the battle and do a hell of a job combating the state of the audio industry.
As far as the mixing and recording of Riot that is not that easy to explain either.
I really appreciate the drum comments that is always great to hear. Zac is a great drummer and I pushed him pretty hard. There is an article in the new Drum magazine that explains most of it in detail in a 5 page article.
As far as samples go, they were used on every track in different velocities and different rooms throughout the record. Each song has a different set of circumstances. I used 5 snare drums on the record and different Kick configurations as well. The outboard that remained constant was an ADR stereo compressor, a transient designer, an AMS reverb, an SSL 4000 ultimation console and Nuendo platform. I also was not joking when I said I had an SPX90 on a rail and rode it in there at times for that cheap trashy sound on the snare. There were numerous sets of samples used in varying degrees some sent direct and some not.
The snares used were DW, Porkpie, a Tama and a Vinnie Paul. All with mic top and bottom. The kick was extended in a usual dual configuration with a blanket and the mics were strategically placed. The room mics were also placed to enhance the excitement and a mono mic was spanked hard down the center.
The real challenge on this record was to get the band slamming hard and still fit Hayley's voice in there. She is a truly wonderful singer and she really likes to rock hard. It was sometimes not easy fitting all the vocals in with everything pumping so hard.
Mixing is an evolution, there is no magic formula. Most of it has to do with the band and the dynamics they play with. When I mix, I usually work section by section. I would guess there would be hundreds of micro moves at the end, sometimes more.
Songs like Hallelujah took two days, Miz biz was a one day mix.
I hope this helps. Thanks so much for listening to the record and for paying attention to the detail. After all we are all still students of this craft and the good news is if we work hard we will get better everyday.
Recording and Mixing are an evolution of knowledge, a progression of taste, and certainly an understanding of ensemble dynamics. I have been doing this for years and truly believe that I am only scratching the surface one day at a time.
There are no short cuts here.
thanks,
DB |