The truth About "My Band in a TOP Studio"

[andredb]

for all who visited the Thread "my band in a TOP studio...."

http://gearslutz.com/board/forumdisplay.php3?f=11

The song was recorded mixed and mastered here in Italy using Cubase SX3.
A few Recording notes.
Drums:
Recorded Flat
Mics in random order MXL 603-Audix D6-Sm57-TBone Ribbon-
Vocals
TBone RB 700 Ribbon (a 150$ mic)
Fx on Voice is a Freeware VST Delay...
Guitars
Mainly With TBone Ribbon Mics, a MD421 Here and There...
Bass Guitar
Direct signal then processed with a Freeware VST amp simulator from Voxengo.

Other random notes..
Main Mic preamp here is a Vintec Dual72
A little Distressor only on voice during recording.
Plugins used are UAD-1 La2+Pultec and Kjaerhus Audio stuff.
Mastered In Cubase Mostly with Kjaerhus Audio stuff.
Audiocard is an RME multiface (stock converters)

No use of A.W. whoever he might be!
No use of Analogue recording.
No single element in the recording chain is more than 1000$ or so.
No analog summing or external mixer during Mixdown, all ITB!
Did you noticed that the vocal chain is not
"U47 in a DW Fearn Pre + Pultec + Fairchild 670 straight to MCI 2inc" ??

My aim was to know if someone could spot the difference between a 5000$ (for one song) production with 1millon$ worth of equipment with a TOP (or so considered) engineer and a 500$ production (for one song) with 15k$ worth of equipment done be me...

I really hope everybody preised (sp) the quality of the recording for it's actual quality and not for the names/equipment/places i said were involved, it would be very sad and frustrating...

I'm really sorry I took fool of you!!!

All opinions and insults are welcome.

[drmmrboy]

With all the song uploads, mp3s, wavs, shootouts, I've been waiting for someone to pull this off!!!! thumbsup

Some guys might be a little pissed, but I'm diggin your dirty little trick.

I'm listening again right now, and yeah, sounds good! Nice job!

Andrew

[blaugruen7]

very funny, andreb.
and in the next sentence you would say charlie parker plays on plastic saxophones?
right?

[shangoe]

i downloaded the track and the quality didnt impressed me much. it has some kind of nice texture but overall sounded hollow. especialy the vocals sounded very bad. dont want to pull this in the dirt. its a good sounding song, but not when it claims to be a top studio product....

i had to admit i was doubt the alalog route for me for a moment...

but ITB can be outstanding, i think this guy has a kick ass ITB sound:
http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...highlight=sm57

[lucey]

Nice job thumbsup

I was a little worried that it was mastered by Sterling, then again it had lots of clipped peaks

[andredb]

First of all thanks!


<I was a little worried that it was mastered by Sterling, then again it had lots of clipped peaks >

What you mean with that? you do not like my mastering or Sterling Sound mastering in general?
I worked a couple of time with UE Nastasi at Sterling Sound with very good resoults...
Then again I think my mastering is quite clean and translates well everywhere...

[joaquin]

Originally Posted by andredb

No use of A.W. whoever he might be!
No use of Analogue recording.
No single element in the recording chain is more than 1000$ or so.
No analog summing or external mixer during Mixdown, all ITB!
Did you noticed that the vocal chain is not
"U47 in a DW Fearn Pre + Pultec + Fairchild 670 straight to MCI 2inc" ??

That's some funny & inspiring shite!!
Though, I must say, that I was a quite disappointed with A.W. intervention
Cheers...Joaquin.

[SpaceChild]

Brilliant. I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing using a SoundBlaster and only freeware apps, but you actually did it

Be prepared, now you'll get bunch of ppl saying that *actually* to tell the truth the sound wasn't that great in the first place. It's just the way things are with some people


Spacey

[Jason Poulin]

Good one!

I knew you were up to something!

but that doesn't discredit you on the quality of the mix.


Good prank!

Jason

[Jules]

(cough...)

Originally Posted by Jules

You guys must be in heaven!

I bet you could die happy!

KILL YOURSELVES!

(only kidding)

Seriously.. what a lucky break..

Nice story to finish 2005 with....

(unless you are joking with us and did this all on a 002 in your parents garage in Milan)

Good one!
(by the way that wasnt a guy called Marco was it? Used to live in London?)

[not_so_new]

As Slipperman would say..... hohohoho what a hoot.

I just listend to the track now, nice mix. Agree with a few others that I am not really digging the vocal sound so much but the rest is good stuff for sure. Great work and this could go down as a Gearslutz classic if it gets much notice down here in "good news"... props for you.

[AdamNewman]

Ahhhhahhhahaaha.

Sounds good anyway man, which is what matters, right? =)

Tell A.W. I said hi if you ever do get to see him.

Cheers.

[opentune]

I knew it couldn´t be A.W. who was working on your mix, ´cause i´ve been
tracking drums with him at that time...



Well, i guess that there were a couple of people who knew what was going on,
but kept their mouths shut. So we were able to enjoy this thread a little longer!

btw: nice mix and good song!

[DonPedro]

I didn't buy the story and understood what you were doing, but NOT FROM THE MIX. The mix sounds fine. It was the way you described your session and equipment. A little bit to good to be true, like "my day started with a surprise blowjob from Miss Hawaiian Tropic, and then it only got better".

[AdamJay]

well you convinced me of the Chinese Ribbons for electric guitar.... and rock vocals.
now i have zero second thoughts about the ShinyBox 23C's i ordered.

where on the drum kit was your TBone? a couple feet in front of the kit i assume?

[superburtm]

Nice trick. We needed that around here!

[Renie]

Originally Posted by SpaceChild

Brilliant. I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing using a SoundBlaster and only freeware apps, but you actually did it

Be prepared, now you'll get bunch of ppl saying that *actually* to tell the truth the sound wasn't that great in the first place. It's just the way things are with some people


Spacey

Truth is that "top quality" gear and production personnel can only go so far with certain artists 'sound' and taste.

I expect a lot of people see no useful point criticizing what they hear as the latter. Especially when the artist side come across as emotionally delighted with the experience as well as the result.

Now the emotional climate is different you might hear some more brutally honest replies.

[andredb]

Hee... I tought i was going to be flamed!!! even the forum owner had kind words!!!
a few answers..

--AdamJay
2 Tbone were used as ambince but not in fron of the kit, in another room! another one under the drummer's seat.

--opentune
A.W.? who the hell is AW?? also, never said when we did the thing, no dates.. no names...

--not_so_new
the point is...
not a single post saying:
"man, no way this is an analogue recording!!" or
"the vocals sucks big time!! no way you used a u47, must be a shitti mic..." or
"man you must be fooling us or you wasted all your money!!"

only NOW i got negative or semi-negative comments about quality...
We should all think about it...

Jules

No.. this is Andy from Milan... nearby...
I case you care you might want to take a look at my studio where the thing as been done.
www.green-sound.com

Thanks!!

[SpaceChild]

Heya Renie, it's been a while. How's you? I Hope all is good

Originally Posted by Renie

Now the emotional climate is different you might hear some more brutally honest replies.

Yeah, indeed so.

Which reminds me. Thanks for your honest feedback on that one tune a year ago


Spacey

[mogWai]

People may just have been being polite. Its a bit difficult to come straight out and say someone's mix/track sucks - especially when apprently done by big name producers in a big name studio

I just listened to the track while reading the original thread. Its a great mix and a wonderful testament to your skills. But if I had heard it without knowing the scam I would probably have felt a little sorry for you that your kick ass equipment didnt really sound much better than my mixes on SX3.

I would have taken great comfort from that, and started feeling a little smug

[opentune]

Originally Posted by andredb

--opentune
A.W.? who the hell is AW?? also, never said when we did the thing, no dates.. no names...

What? You don´t know AW? Neither do i !! HaHa. I was just kidding, man...

[Renie]

Originally Posted by SpaceChild

Heya Renie, it's been a while. How's you? I Hope all is good



Yeah, indeed so.

Which reminds me. Thanks for your honest feedback on that one tune a year ago


Spacey

Hi Spacey

You're welcome!

Hope your stuff is coming along well

[rickrock305]

classic!!!! great idea!!!! and the perfect forum to execute it.

[soultrane]

Originally Posted by andredb

I case you care you might want to take a look at my studio where the thing as been done.
www.green-sound.com

Thanks!!

hey, are u gonna sell the trident, then?

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by andredb

--opentune
A.W.? who the hell is AW?? also, never said when we did the thing, no dates.. no names...

I assume Andy Wallace.

--not_so_new
the point is...
not a single post saying:
"man, no way this is an analogue recording!!" or
"the vocals sucks big time!! no way you used a u47, must be a shitti mic..." or
"man you must be fooling us or you wasted all your money!!"

only NOW i got negative or semi-negative comments about quality...
We should all think about it...

Yep I got that part, that is why I was hohoho'ing. I knew the negative comments and back peddling would start a-fly'n.

I came to the show late so take my words with a grain of salt (as you should do with everything here anyway) but IMHO the track sounds good no matter who produced it. If I would have came in before this thread I would have said that I don't love the vocal sounds, I still don't but all in all it is a quality production.

The point is my viewpoint would not have changed, I take my lumps when I deserve them but many people here are going to jump ship when they read this thread.

[True North]

I thought the audio quality was excellant, job well done!

I thought the song was pretty average but you guys didn't claim to be the second coming of The Beatles, so that explained that.

The only thing that made me question the validity of the 'big producer/mix guy' claim was the brutal lead vocal effects. A couple of people mentioned this on the original thread. I thought there was no way that a top mix guy would let something let that pass, either that or he was just messing with you.

Little did we know that you were messing with us

I am glad you did it, the people on this forum who moan, bitch and complain about the loss of their beloved 2" and go on adnauseum about how hardware is the only way to acheive a good sounding recording drive me absolutely BONKERS!

Wow, you can make a really nice sounding recording without much hardware and on a DAW, who woulda thunk it!

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by True North

I am glad you did it, the people on this forum who moan, bitch and complain about the loss of their beloved 2" and go on adnauseum about how hardware is the only way to acheive a good sounding recording drive me absolutely BONKERS!

I don't think anyone was going on about hardware being the only way to achieve a good sounding recording. I have heard plenty of good recordings made with protools or whatever. And a lot of bad ones as well.

Also keep in mind that listening through a computer on an MP3 doesn't really let you hear everything that is going on.

That said, I still think this recording is quite good, i.t.b. or not.

[rickrock305]

Originally Posted by True North

I am glad you did it, the people on this forum who moan, bitch and complain about the loss of their beloved 2" and go on adnauseum about how hardware is the only way to acheive a good sounding recording drive me absolutely BONKERS!

so did any of these people show up in the other thread, talkin about how good it sounds?

[tedcrop]

On second thought. It sounds like ass. You should use one of those autotune programs to make you sing better.

[tedcrop]

oh and I love the way folks try to cover their ass whilst backtracking.

Who cares really.