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Originally Posted by rodrigo  Hi Butch!
First of all, I'm a big fan of your work (both as a producer and musician). I think it's incredibly cool that you're doing this. Welcome to Gearslutz!
I love the overall production of that record. It has a perfect balance of synths and heavy guitars; acoustic drums and samples, etc. Everything from the reverse pizz. on "Androgyny" to the RetroFunk break on "Cherry Lips", all the bits work perfectly together.
Any tips you can offer as to what to look for when designing electronic drum sounds? How to achieve the low fi washy sounds you get for instance at the break just before the first chorus of Androgyny? Do you reamp a programmed beat? There are several layers of hihats, some are clean (played live?) others are syncopated and dirty. How do you get those dirty hihat sounds? In which ways do you tweak samples (drum machines) in order to bring them to life?
I hope my questions aren't too specific. I would love to hear any details about the overall production for that record. Like the wall of guitars in "Shut your Mouth", the percussive (synth?) stuff at the background on "Untouchable" etc.. The whole record is amazing. Thanks Butch. Cheers! |
Cherry Lips is a funny song, we slowed the track down so it gave Shirley's voice a crazy "helium" effect at normal speed. I recorded the verses through a wah wah that I pushed up and down by hand, cuz I couldn't get the timing down with my foot.
And it's not a guitar, the primary sound is a sped up tuba sample. I think we added a guitar underneath it...can't remember exactly...
A lot of the Garbage songs had multiple drum sounds...live drums (usually looped and mixed down to stereo, sometimes mono), programmed beats (usually run through an amp or stomp box) and sometimes we would make our own "record"...which means taking a beat, maybe with a bass line, guitar line, or some sound effect, and running all of them through the same stereo effect to give it a "mastered" feel...almost like we were sampling off an old album.
Programmed hi hats from a sampler or drum machine ALWAYS sound better with some dirt on them!