ATTN: Chris Testa if you're on GS!!

[Jon Harter]

Wow, I love the new Jimmy Eat World record! It sounds so amazing. The production value is completely top shelf. Is it possible that you could answer a few questions from the slutz about the recording?


Thank you so much for your work on an awesome new record!

-Jon

[ChristMarioT]

Hello.... thank you so much for you compliments... I really appreciate that.... we had the best time recording the record and we really did it "on our own" in their own space... really changed my view on studios forever.... so... yes... I would be more than happy to answer any questions anyone has about the recording.... I was there for 95% of it (my buddy and working cohort, John Fields, co produced one song) I wasn't really around for so I'm not entirely sure if I can answer questions about that one tune but otherwise.... please....

GAME ON!!

[Jon Harter]

Awesome!

Ok, first off, I've read on a few threads that you are kind of a drum guru in the studio. Some of my favorite things on Chase This Light, are all the snare sounds you got. Can you clue me in a bit about the snare, possibly tuning, chain or anything cool you did with some of the snares we here. I especially like the snare sounds on Big Casino and the big wet snare on Gotta Be Somebody's Blues.

Also, I saw The Dixie Chicks documentary and noticed you were in some of it. How was working with them? We have Natalie's father down in our studio sometimes for groups he produces. He's a super nice guy. The girls seem like fantastic musicians.

Thanks man.

-Jon Harter

[ChristMarioT]

ok..... let me just preface all of this by saying..... It's all about the music... I love the gear and all that... but as George Massemburg said... "it's the arrangement".... ok... let me say this too.... Zach Lind made my job really easy.... he is an amazing drummer and obviously, fully experienced in the studio..... this is how it went down.... we listened to the demo together and discussed the whole part and vibe of the track before we did anything.... that would dictate the drums, the parts and the gear..... (luckily for me Zach has like 30 snare drums and 100 cymbals).... while I was doing other things Zach would spend some time getting a kit together that he believed was good for the tune.... he would also have at least 4 snare choices available...we would record a verse and chorus then sit and listen to what we believed sounded the best as a KIT.... ok.... "Big Casino"... I think that was a Tama Bell Brass but I'll have to ask Zach... "Gotta Be Sombody's Blues".... that was a Tama Kenny Aronoff 6.5 Black Beauty (discontinued I believe).... it was tuned down really low and taped up.... I like to associate this sound with the great Al Jackson.... (my buddy John Fields calls it the "fat sack"... I think I like that better!)... the key is tape and .... NO rimshots.... it really brings out the character of the drum...... as far as mic's... I usually used 2 mic's.... my main mic was a Josephson e22s.... the BEST microphone I've used in a long time and the best mic for drums..... Thank you STeve Albini!!!... the other mic I used was an older Shure Unidyne IV (props to Dave Way for hipping me on to that one.... its the mic that they used on Bonham.... mostly live... but its Bonham... the greatest..so.... ) they were tracked seperately.... I believe the mic pre was a Chandler LTD1.... I love the vibe of that pre and the eq helped a lot... the Shure was usually compressed the Josephsen was left alone.... I usually track some sort of distorted fx as well (thanks Tchad Blake!) and there are certain rides when you can hear this fx..... ok.... I think that's it.... "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues" was one of my favorite drum sounds that I ever recorded and Zach did tell me that he thought it was the best drum sound he ever got on any Jimmy record (I LOVE all their records.... love Trombino and Gil Norton... but I do think it is the best drum sound... ha).... ok... DIXIE CHICKS.... they are.... cool as shit.... talented as shit.... the best hang.... the hardest working.... and all of the above.... THEY RULE.... I worked on the album for 16 months (I know... a total dream) and I still didn't want it to stop.... Lloyd Maines?..... amazing and as down to earth a person I've ever met.... there is a solo in the song "Favorite Year".... musically... the best moment on the record... Lloyd is amazing... ok... I'm done for now... he he... c

[mackdamon]

I've been listening to the record nonstop, great tones, but much more importantly, amazing vibe. Gotta Be Somebody's Blues is stellar production, hats off to you certainly.

How exactly was Butch Vig involved in the making of the record?

[ChristMarioT]

First off, let me tell you what the scenario was..... the band really wanted to make this record on their own... Jim and I had been talking about it for awhile and I got signed on pretty early to come out and record.... they wanted to work with a well known top knotch producer for pre production only. I think Butch, through the grapevine, heard about this and got involved..... so... Butch was involved in 2 really important ways... first, he did pre production with the band and helped them get organized and focused... second, he was someone who we would constantly bounce ideas off... I would usually upload a ruff whenever we did something significant and then call Butch and talk to him about it. He came out to Tempe a handful of times and suggested some stuff and it all just seemed to work out great. Towards the end, Butch came by my house and we went through the multi's making sure we felt good about everything. It was a real group effort and I think everyone felt good knowing that we had Butch on our side. Butch is an amazing guy and without a doubt one of the most down home dudes in the business.... I feel incredibly luckly to have worked with him and gotten to know him.... to have a production credit on a Jimmy Eat World record with Butch Vig is a pretty amazing thing.

[andrewh]

Chris:

Thanks for talking about the record...the vinyl sounds great!

What microphones were used on electric guitars?

Also, how does Jim approach layering his vocals? On all their records he always seems to find ways to double the vocal with both a hi and a low part, while still using it as a subtle effect. Any insight?

[StevieRaveOn]

Chris,
If you have anything particular that stood out to you, could you elaborate on the point of using their own space and your thoughts that changed on studios? I've heard of a couple of albums I believe that went that route lately, alas, I'm waiting on Amazon to ship some of them so I haven't been able to check them out yet.

Just curious to hear it from an engineer's point of view.

Thanks for your time.

[mackdamon]

Thanks for the heads up.....in the karma universe, I'm pretty sure your fridge is stocked.




-M

[macleodgrant]

Originally Posted by ChristMarioT

First off, let me tell you what the scenario was..... the band really wanted to make this record on their own... Jim and I had been talking about it for awhile and I got signed on pretty early to come out and record.... they wanted to work with a well known top knotch producer for pre production only. I think Butch, through the grapevine, heard about this and got involved..... so... Butch was involved in 2 really important ways... first, he did pre production with the band and helped them get organized and focused... second, he was someone who we would constantly bounce ideas off... I would usually upload a ruff whenever we did something significant and then call Butch and talk to him about it. He came out to Tempe a handful of times and suggested some stuff and it all just seemed to work out great. Towards the end, Butch came by my house and we went through the multi's making sure we felt good about everything. It was a real group effort and I think everyone felt good knowing that we had Butch on our side. Butch is an amazing guy and without a doubt one of the most down home dudes in the business.... I feel incredibly luckly to have worked with him and gotten to know him.... to have a production credit on a Jimmy Eat World record with Butch Vig is a pretty amazing thing.

i loved the work butch did with the smashing pumpkins and of course nirvana! he definitely complimented them big time. you never seem to know where song writing ends and producer starts - in my mind it's a collaboration so essentially an album is not a band but rather the collaboration of artist, producer and engineer. i guess that why producers are so important...could make or break the album

i'm not so sure how i feel about garbage though, some tracks are good but not on the whole

i haven't heard 'Jimmy Eat...' so may have to look it up
it's great that you're willing to answer questions about the album on this board, thanks, grant

[Jon Harter]

Originally Posted by ChristMarioT

Lloyd Maines?..... amazing and as down to earth a person I've ever met.... there is a solo in the song "Favorite Year".... musically... the best moment on the record... Lloyd is amazing...

Yes, we always look forward to having him. The highlight of the Chicks album for me is definitely "Lullaby." I can't even focus on any kind of engineering on that tune because it's got such great vibe and emotion. Which as you mentioned, is what it's all about. The SONG.

Anyway, thank you so much for your responses so far. I look forward to possibly crossing paths sometime. Good luck and great job on the latest record.

-Jon Harter

[allencollins]

Originally Posted by jonaknt

Jimmy Eat World

When I was 11 years old my uncle Joe had a restaurant called
Joey's Eat World

[arizonadrum]

yo, this is zach from the band. chris told me to come on here and correct his errors..haha.

big casino snare was a dw brass 6.5 with a wide snare strand (42 strand i think)...with a control sound remo head. we overdubbed cymbals on that song.

the crash cymbal on "...blues" was a 24' zildjian orchestral select ride (i don't think they make these anymore.....but they ****ing RULE!)

any other questions, hit me up....

btw, chris t is the mother ****ing man!

[Jon Harter]

Originally Posted by arizonadrum

yo, this is zach from the band. chris told me to come on here and correct his errors..haha.

big casino snare was a dw brass 6.5 with a wide snare strand (42 strand i think)...with a control sound remo head. we overdubbed cymbals on that song.

the crash cymbal on "...blues" was a 24' zildjian orchestral select ride (i don't think they make these anymore.....but they ****ing RULE!)

any other questions, hit me up....

btw, chris t is the mother ****ing man!

Zach, thanks for getting on. I'm a huge fan of your playing.
You're one of the most tasteful and solid players around.
Congrats on the new album! I really like it.

I'm sure after I listen more and more I'll be back on here to ask more questions.

Thanks again!

[Jon Harter]

Ok, the hihats on Somebody's Blues??

[arizonadrum]

Originally Posted by jonaknt

Ok, the hihats on Somebody's Blues??

i used a pair of cie vintage zildjian 14' and i used a medium hard yarn mallet to play on the hats.

[strawberrius]

too bad u didnt yet have that DW ballad snare on the sessions

[matt82aust]

i am absolutely loving the album guys, the songs and productions are amazing, so just wanted to give you guys the big thumbs up.

also zach,the gig you guys did at the Metro in sydney last year (played for near 2 hours!) still rates as the most enjoyable gig i have ever been to, sensational!

[jchadstopherhuez]

listening to the new record right now...

really diggin it !!!

nice work gents....a great "home" recording !!!

became a fan of the band after checking out "clarity" a few years back.

your records are great.

keep it up.

best,

jchristopherhughes

[not_so_new]

I guess this shows the power of the Internet as a marketing tool huh?

I have never listened to a Jimmy Eat World record but because you guys have been so cool to answer questions and hang out with us I will give it a try!

Thanks guys, very cool.



What kind of music is it? Anyone care to discribe Jimmy for me?

So Chris, two mics for drums huh? Care to get into that a little more? Oh and no rimshots for the whole recording or just that tune? And the two mics deal, same thing, just that song or the whole production?

When you say no cymbals Zach are you including hats? If I choose to go without cymbals I usually will do the hats with kit because it helps the drummer groove a little better (often that drummer is me...).



Thanks again guys, again very cool of you to hang out. Oh and if you subscribe to this thread you will get emails if someone posts another question or an update.

[picksail]

Originally Posted by not_so_new

So Chris, two mics for drums huh?

From what I gathered he used two mics on the SNARE.

[Jon Harter]

Originally Posted by strawberrius

too bad u didnt yet have that DW ballad snare on the sessions

So the first time I heard of the ballad snare I thought it was a joke. Haha.
I'm totally sure that thing would sound super fat but I don't think I could take myself too incredibly seriously if I was playing a snare on floor tom legs. Well, at least a few chuckles. Anyway, still wanna try one out to hear how they sound.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by picksail

From what I gathered he used two mics on the SNARE.

I read is post a few times and was not sure so I figured I would ask.. I mean while the man is here right?

LOL

Thanks dude.

[picksail]

Chris,

Totally off-topic, but I recall having seen you at a Glen Ballard/Dave Stewart party a few months ago. Was that you?

Stewart

[arizonadrum]

Originally Posted by not_so_new

When you say no cymbals Zach are you including hats? If I choose to go without cymbals I usually will do the hats with kit because it helps the drummer groove a little better (often that drummer is me...).

yeah...i played the hats with the drums on big casino but on the others where we overdubbed the cymbals, i left out the hats and dubbed them later.

[arizonadrum]

Originally Posted by jonaknt

So the first time I heard of the ballad snare I thought it was a joke. Haha.
I'm totally sure that thing would sound super fat but I don't think I could take myself too incredibly seriously if I was playing a snare on floor tom legs. Well, at least a few chuckles. Anyway, still wanna try one out to hear how they sound.

i have one, it's awesome. be scared.

[Fred67]

[quote=not_so_new;1569696]I guess this shows the power of the Internet as a marketing tool huh?

I have never listened to a Jimmy Eat World record but because you guys have been so cool to answer questions and hang out with us I will give it a try!
quote]

Agree...same here....got to listen now!
And super-cool of the guys to tell about the recordingsessions.

Great.
/Fred

[ChristMarioT]

is anyone gonna hit me up with some real questions? ha!..... as far as studios go... I worked at the Hit Factory (the best studio on the East Coast) and Cello (the best studio on the West Coast).... but working at the Jimmy Unit2 studio in Tempe was the best.... a full on playground where the clock wasn't ticking.... Rick Marino did the design and I've never had more fun working anywhere else..... it was the best time

[mackdamon]

A lot of the lead vocals seemed stacked, but not. Like some 8 voice chorus thing from an old eventide. Your vocal chain would be a very interesting read, to be sure.

-M

[pigpen]

Just wanted to pipe up and say thanks for showing up here...both of you. thumbsup
Love the records, have for years.

I heard that the studio has a Shadow Hills Gama 8 for drums...true? Just curious which transformer you used if so. And an Equinox too if my ears did not deceive me?

I'd also like to hear about the vocal stacks...he seems to be incredible at it.