Reo Speedwagon vocal sound

[gabler]

Does anyone know what effects were used on the vocals? How did they get that sound? Also preamp,mixing console? I just love the sound from there recordings. Thanks,Steve

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by gabler

Does anyone know what effects were used on the vocals? How did they get that sound? Also preamp,mixing console? I just love the sound from there recordings. Thanks,Steve

Which era?

70's "You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish" or "Hi Infidelity" 1980's?

If you are talking about the "Hi Infidelity" era that would be Kevin Beamish.

[C.Judd Karn]

I love the sound of that record, slow danced it in grade school.
My brother ( I was lucky) turned me on to this record along with some other greats.

This is among the many albums that forms the bedrock of my musical tastes.

Yes, anyone have any info.....fill us in!!!

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by C.Judd Karn

Yes, anyone have any info.....fill us in!!!

My guess is that probably some of it was done at Crystal Recording Studio in Hollywood where Kevin Beamish got his start and made a name for himself.

The amazing thing about him is that he mixed the Miracles "Love Machine Part 1" and got production credit, turned that into Reo Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship's "Winds of Change, Saxon's "Crusader" & Y&T's "Contagious/Summertimes Girls" and because of a Cali earthquake in the mid 90's moved to Nashville and mixed tons of hits for Clint Black, Reba McEntire, Brook and Dunn, Kenny Chesney, etc.

Talk about working non stop and not being pigeon holed.thumbsup

[gabler]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Which era?

70's "You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish" or "Hi Infidelity" 1980's?

If you are talking about the "Hi Infidelity" era that would be Kevin Beamish.

Hi Infidelity is what I like a lot. Also any comments about recording the guitar sound. What tone!

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by gabler

Hi Infidelity is what I like a lot. Also any comments about recording the guitar sound. What tone!

Contact Kevin Beamish on his Myspace and ask him:
Kevin on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

I don't know if he is a member here but anything is possible around here theses days.

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by gabler

Hi Infidelity is what I like a lot. Also any comments about recording the guitar sound. What tone!

that gtr player is great, nice 59 paul, I think he played a real 1960 too?

that tone in changes is frikkin great

[Victory Pete]

The lead in "Heard it from a friend" blows me away everytime!
VP

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by Victory Pete

The lead in "Heard it from a friend" blows me away everytime!
VP

Really? that's the record everyone loves to hate. I like it from a production standpoint and it had great acoustic and Electric gtr tone. Big vocal big drums big 80s.

love it

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by robertshaw

Really? that's the record everyone loves to hate. I like it from a production standpoint and it had great acoustic and Electric gtr tone. Big vocal big drums big 80s.

love it

I dont even know what songs are on that record, I just like the guitars and that lead. Sure the song is corny.
VP

[kevinbeamish]

Hi Guys, Kevin Beamish here
I came across this thread recently and was curious if any of you were still interested in discussing this.
Thanks for caring about the magical age of analog in the '80s
Kevin Beamish, Kevin K. Beamish, Record Producer, Recording Engineer &Mixer. US &International Platinum, Multi-Platinum Albums, Singles. ** Sold 100 Million + Albums &Singles worldwide (Producer &Engineer)Career.

[sailor]

No particular questions, but props for the production work. Great album, Hi Infidelity.

I imagine getting a "vocal sound" for any of REO's records was made considerably easier by virtue of the talent being a vocalist of Kevin Cronin's caliber.

[gabler]

Originally Posted by kevinbeamish

Hi Guys, Kevin Beamish here
I came across this thread recently and was curious if any of you were still interested in discussing this.
Thanks for caring about the magical age of analog in the '80s
Kevin Beamish, Kevin K. Beamish, Record Producer, Recording Engineer &Mixer. US &International Platinum, Multi-Platinum Albums, Singles. ** Sold 100 Million + Albums &Singles worldwide (Producer &Engineer)Career.

Wow! Thanks for being here! I am a huge fan of your work. It is my dream to sit in a recording studio with you and talk... How were the vocals recorded? Which mic,compressor,eq the reverb,the room size... Anything to do with vocals and guitar. This just made my day! Steve

[C.Judd Karn]

Everything on hi infedelity sounds so good and from the heart.
Any info on recording or mixing any of the instruments would be
Awesome!!!!

Also, what medium do you work on today?
And what changes in your work process have occured either from
Technology or your evolution as a engineer/producer

Thanks for sharing in advance!

Sent from my DROID2 using Gearslutz.com

[C.Judd Karn]

I just viewed your full discography....
Jaw dropping!!



Sent from my DROID2 using Gearslutz.com

[gabler]

Originally Posted by Frank_Case

Gary Richrath is certainly one of the most underrated guitarists of the 70s. He deserves to be ranked with the best.

I agree,you dont hear nothing about him and he is one of the great players!

[C.Judd Karn]

The solo/lead lines for "roll with the changes" are so good....
They push the song along and keep the vibe of the lyric..
Very lyrical playing, which you rarely see in a guitarist.
He is one of the greats!

Sent from my DROID2 using Gearslutz.com

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by gabler

I agree,you dont hear nothing about him and he is one of the great players!

he left the group because he didn't want to play slow songs. Has had his own band for years, but I've never heard them.

[markchatwin]

I just listened to a smattering of KB's work from the REO stuff to Chesney to the Mighty Clouds stuff. I guess the main things I hear are always a tight Bass/Drum sound with all of the other ingredients nicely spread around a good vocal and good song.

It's hard to think of questions but here goes:
Kevin Cronin's voice seemed to like a lot of reverb and/or doubling - was that his choice or yours? Whatever the answer it's the 80's sound to me... I've always felt whatever he lacked in sheer vocal prowess he made up for in giving it all he had for the song. That always translates to soul...

Chesney's is a more "direct" sound as if he (or you) is saying "less reverb" or a more "conversational" type production. Is that more the "Nashville" way?

Lastly when you record a vocalist like the guy at :52 seconds on this Mighty Clouds clip:

The Mighty Clouds Of Joy - If Jesus Can't Fix It - YouTube


What mic or vocal chain do you reach for? These are those big "percussive" Gospel singers and they must need a compressor on the way in big time???

I was in LA in the mid 80's and went to the Dick Grove Music School with Denise Cronin (I guess Kevin's x) and wondered if you knew of that school? I know that we recorded our demos with Eddie King at Kingsound studios in the Valley... What were the primary studios you worked at?

Anyhow great stuff!

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by kevinbeamish

Hi Guys, Kevin Beamish here
I came across this thread recently and was curious if any of you were still interested in discussing this.
Thanks for caring about the magical age of analog in the '80s
Kevin Beamish, Kevin K. Beamish, Record Producer, Recording Engineer &Mixer. US &International Platinum, Multi-Platinum Albums, Singles. ** Sold 100 Million + Albums &Singles worldwide (Producer &Engineer)Career.

Welcome aboard, my hats off to ya!

VP

[kevinbeamish]

Hi Guys,
I'm very busy this week, not to mention a small back surgery yesterday. But I do appreciate your interest and I will start to answer your questions Friday or over the weekend. Thanks for being patient, and again thanks for caring.
Kevin
Kevin Beamish, Kevin K. Beamish, Record Producer, Recording Engineer &Mixer. US &International Platinum, Multi-Platinum Albums, Singles. ** Sold 100 Million + Albums &Singles worldwide (Producer &Engineer)Career.

[Mertmo]

wow, I love it! This is when Gearslutz is the best!

Yes, thanks Kevin for making Hi Infidelity, a record that really made a huge
impression on me as a kid! Such a cool sounding record!

Funny, I was contemplating starting a Gary Richrath appreciation thread a few days ago!

His playing is so bad ass. So bold, full of attitude and yet very lyrical. One of my
earliest influences for sure. For me he's kind of the quintessential les paul rock guitarist.
He took the sonic signature of that instrument in that setting, and just pumped it to the max.

"don't let him go" never fails to rock my face off, at the end when the guitar
does that crazy bending riff on that one note... fantastic!

Cheers Kevin!

[kevinbeamish]

Hi Guys,
Kevin Beamish here,
I'll address the Gary Richrath guitars and tone questions.
I first started working with REO in 1978-1979 on the "Nine Lives" album. We began the first tracking sessions at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, CA. After working on drum sounds with Alan Gratzer and getting Bruce Hall's bass sound, it was time to find the great guitar sound that Gary imagined and demanded for the album. The song "Heavy On Your Love" was the first focal point as Gary had a tone in his head and a sound image that just was not coming out of his amplifier speakers. Before the days of music computers and all the guitar and amp emulators that we have today, we had the obvious tools to work with: guitars, amps, and pedals (the usual array of stomp boxes that were available at the time, real wah-wah pedals, etc.). So, now that I've told you what you already know, this is what we did...
Gary and I, along with Kevin Cronin (KC from now on) went into the main live room in Studio A at Sound City to find that magical guitar sound. It was (and still is) a huge, warehouse sized, untreated room with very high ceilings and a linoleum tile floor. Note: This is the same studio where many great albums were recorded. Fleetwood Mac (Rumours), Tom Petty and lots more - also the seminal album of 1991 that changed the world and invented the word "alternative" -Nirvana's "Nevermind". Another very interesting note: The warehouse which houses Sound City was in a very industrial part of Van Nuys. Prior to the studio, the building was the U.S. home to VOX amplifiers. And before VOX the space that is the huge live room held an immense water tank where the underwater scenes were filmed for the 1958-1961 hit TV show "Sea Hunt" starring LLoyd Bridges (father of Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges). Most of you won't remember, but interesting trivia nonetheless. But I digress...
I attempted to get Gary to verbalize his vision for the guitar tone he envisioned but he truly couldn't. It was a sound he was hearing in his head and it was my job along with KC to try to find it. In these situations it's crucial to keep an open mind, try anything and everything, use your instincts, experience, and gut feelings. Check your ego at the door. ( As you've surely heard many times before - "keep it simple", "simple is better".) For the young and upcoming engineers out there who also have a musical, creative desire to also be a producer, here is one of my favorite thought processes - I think of myself as an idea man. If you have good ideas, throw them out there IF AND ONLY IF you're convinced that you have good and viable thoughts to be considered. I try to think like a professional baseball player, a hitter who gets paid millions of dollars to bat with a .300 plus batting average. Meaning: If you come up with 10 good creative ideas and 3 of them stick and work, then that is considered successful.
I convinced Gary and KC that we should return to the basics and start over from scratch in order to find and create the desired tone - it just wasn't working with the initial setup that he was playing through in that early session.
At that time Gary had several favorite guitars. A 1959 Les Paul Sunburst, a '58 Goldtop, and a 3 pickup Black Beauty (I think it was a 1960). The '59 sunburst was a wonderful, well intonated axe with an awesome sound. But the incredible sound of that guitar also had everything to do with being in the hands and fingers of Gary, an amazing and passionate player and musician. In my opinion, one of the most highly under rated rock guitarists out there.
The '59 Paul was our go-to guitar for the majority of rhythm parts and solos, with the other two seeing action here and there.
We tried a handful of amps and speakers. The powerful Marshall 100W heads and slant cabs were loud and raucous, but in the end too much for the tight, but more controlled big sound we were seeking. In addition, we decided to take away any impedance (pun intended) between the guitar and amp, so any and all pedals were disconnected. After more amp trials we pulled out Gary's Marshall 50 Watt Combo, and set it on a folding chair so that it would speak a little more freely in the room than just sitting on the floor. Immediately after plugging it in we were onto something. With 15 or 20 minutes more of tweaking volumes and tone settings, and turning the chair in the room this way and that to find the sweet spot, I put the (obligatory) Shure 57 slightly off-axis to the speaker with the mic almost touching the grill. Don't forget that as good as amp/speaker sims have become, a real amplifier moves real air in a real room full of air... A few millimeters this way and that with the mic and there it was - the sound Gary had held in his head, a sound we all LOVED, and a good start to a 5 year, 15X platinum adventure I shared with REO.
In conclusion, the guitar sound that many of you have commented on was truly simple, yet in a strangely complex way because today we tend to get lost in the technology that's available to us and we forget the importance of the old source-to-load electronic (and sound) equation. "The possibilities are mindless" and "You can't see the chorus for the trees" are appropriate quotes I've come up with. An awesome guitar in the hands of a great player connected to the right amplifier with nothing but a high quality cable in the way - what a concept!! Just add a simple dynamic mic run through a vintage Neve console and...MAGIC.

p.s. Kudos to Mertmo for posting "So bold, full of attitude and yet very lyrical. One of my earliest influences for sure. For me he's kind of the quintessential les paul rock guitarist.
He took the sonic signature of that instrument in that setting, and just pumped it to the max." Good insight.

Sorry to be so verbose - this started out as simple post and turned into a novel. If I haven't bored you all to death, post back if you're interested in more memories.

c.2012 Kevin Beamish

[jose & ol gray]

Thanks, Mr. Beamish, for writing that. Your verbosity is a very good thing.

I would gladly read any thing else that you want to write.

[kafka]

LOL. REO Speedwagon. Hi Infidelity. Man, back then we all thought that bands like REO, Journey and Air Supply played such gayball music. Anyone who was anyone liked AC/DC, Kiss and Led Zeppelin. 30 years later, guess what music we all know the lyrics to, by heart? I heard a homeless guy on the street singing Journey's Don't Stop Believing the other day. That's the sign of truly great music. You love it whether you like it or not.

So, Kevin, I have to thank you for coming by GS. Any more you can tell us about the *magic* is truly appreciated.

[Ward Pike]

Many thanks, Kevin! Less amplifier can lead to a bigger guitar sound.

Can you take us through your elaborate process of the vocals on "Keep on Loving You"? Not only is it a great present vocal sound whose clarity rings through in any medium, but the richness of the backing vocals on the choruses is awe-inspiring!!

Multiple takes? Stacked vocals? Balls-to-the-walls chest voice? Mezzo voce? Softly sung stacked parts? Multiple vocalists on each parts? Together or separate tracks for each take of each part? How much of that sound is KC, Gary or someone else? And what about the recording techniques employed?

Many thanks in advance!

[Winey]

What a great thread. Reo is not one of my faves, but I have huge respect for the carefully chosen sounds and obvious hard work put into this stuff. I always liked that guitar player too. LP 50w Marshall combo and a 57. Great combo. Sounds like the tone knob rolled down on some of the solo's as well. Good stuff!

[kevinbeamish]

Hey guys,
Thanks to you who are interested. I'll be happy to post more info, especially about the amazing KC vocal sound. Also about the mix process, gear used, consoles, monitors etc. Right now it's late so I'll post more tomorrow...just let me know what else interests you whether it's REO or any of the many other artists and bands I've had the pleasure to work with over the years.
Best,
KB
Kevin Beamish, Kevin K. Beamish, Record Producer, Recording Engineer &Mixer. US &International Platinum, Multi-Platinum Albums, Singles. ** Sold 100 Million + Albums &Singles worldwide (Producer &Engineer)Career.

[xj32]

Hi, I am XJ and I am an REO fan!!!

Thanks so much for doing this Kevin! I do admit I am more of a fan of their early stuff, especially the long forgotten Mike Murphy years...but I loved 9 Lives when it came out, that album had a great sound and feel. I used to own Hi Infidelity on vinyl as well...but for its time it was waaaaayyyy too overplayed. I really need to revisit it now with older ears.

I totally agree with the statements about Richrath being a totally under appreciated guitarist for his time as he was stellar and equal to his peers in my opinion.

Tells us more please! Mixing, vocal tracking...heck I would love to hear about Neil's keyboard setup and tracking.

XJ

[Sqye]

.

KB!!!

YOU ROCK, MAN!

Thanks a ton for sharing here with us, dude!

Cheers.


.