Mixing Master Of Puppets

[rhythmmaster]

This is a question for MW and i am suprised its never been asked before. Could you talk us through how you mixed some of the stuff on MOP? I'd love to know whatever you are willing to share!
How did you get the GTRs to sit? Compressors used? Any tips from those sessions? How long did it take you? How about mixing the drums? Any triggers? Processing used to get them sounding the way they are?

Any info on this would be amazing Michael!

Cheers

[Gregg Sartiano]

There was a bunch of info posted on the tracking sessions, incl. notes on amp settings.

[rhythmmaster]

Originally Posted by Gregg Sartiano

There was a bunch of info posted on the tracking sessions, incl. notes on amp settings.

thanks mate, i've already read over that. I'd love to know more about the mixing sessions though-and MW is the man who'll know

[Gregg Sartiano]

Cool. Just checking

I'm gonna crank "Disposable Heroes" here in a sec...

dut-dut-dut-DUT-dut-DUT-DUT!

Yeahhhhhhh...that's better!

[CorkyTart]

Those guys were whacked on booze and blow in those days (From what I understand) so I'm curious how they got stuff done.

[s.d.finley]

Master of Puppets....

I still remeber where I was when I heard Cliff Burton has died in that bus acciedent..

I was in 10th grade, it was after 2nd period....at my locker, and a couple of buddies told me...

As for the Metallica guys being on coke....have you read the lyrics for Master of Puppets the song?

[DeeDrive]

Originally Posted by s.d.finley

Master of Puppets....

I still remeber where I was when I heard Cliff Burton has died in that bus acciedent..

I was in 10th grade, it was after 2nd period....at my locker, and a couple of buddies told me...

As for the Metallica guys being on coke....have you read the lyrics for Master of Puppets the song?

Chop your breakfast on a mirror...isn't that the line?

[rhythmmaster]

as far as i am aware Hetfield was only a booze man, Burton was a weed smoker and Ulrich and Hammett dabbled with coke for a while but were never big users............or so they say!

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by rhythmmaster

This is a question for MW and i am suprised its never been asked before. Could you talk us through how you mixed some of the stuff on MOP? I'd love to know whatever you are willing to share!
How did you get the GTRs to sit? Compressors used? Any tips from those sessions? How long did it take you? How about mixing the drums? Any triggers? Processing used to get them sounding the way they are?

Any info on this would be amazing Michael!

Cheers

Oh boy...let's see.

First of all Flemming did an amazing job tracking everything (of course he had the help of a Trident A-range ) which made mixing a breeze. James and Lars had very set ideas on how everything should sound, unfortunately sometimes different ideas, but that's part of the job, right? So, I had Lars sitting on my right and James sitting to my left and all I heard was, from the left: "The fvcking drums are killing me". From the right: "All I hear is the fvcking guitars". So I asked: "What about the bass?" Unanimous from the left and the right: "He is not here...!" Cliff did come in though to help mix a bass intro for one of the songs (Orion?)

Most of the tracks were transferred to 3M digital 32 track, but the drums where still on the 2". It was mixed on a 40 channel SSL4000 with the help of a Neve sidecar (used as a mixer only) and some other mixer (I think it was a Midas or Soundcraft). Some of the gear (hard to see in the pictures): Klark DN730(?) reverb, 2 Lexicon 480 Reverb (very little of those got used), some modified Pultec EQs, Orban 622Bs for the drums (still got 'em), a few UREI 1176, dBX 160s and 165s, Lexicon Prime Time 93 and Prime Time II 95, Quantec QRS, 2 AMS delays and a AMS reverb, GML EQ, a whole sh*tload of UREI 530 9 band graphic EQs for guitars, La2A, LA3A, Roland Dimension D, Eventide 910, MXR pitchtransposer etc. The attached picture is from the Dokken “Under Lock And Key” mix, but it was the same room with the same gear.

I had my Tannoy M3000 “Classic” monitors right on the meterbridge of the SSL (see picture, the big ones in the back), now they are sitting in my basement, for sale, freshly re-coned, want them?

If I remember it right, it took us about 2 weeks to mix the entire album. We had a bit of a holdup, because we were missing a 2” reel with the tracks for a tom fill and it had to be flown in from Denmark. Absolutely no triggers on the drums, that's the way they sounded.

The guitars were on 6 tracks: 2 tracks left (separate performances), two tracks right (separate performances) and one track each with just the low e-string for the chunk parts. Like I said, everything was recorded top notch so it was easy to mix.

As far as I remember nobody was on any heavy drugs during that time. I only saw the occasional beer, never ANY drugs.

That's about all I can remember...

[mdsmith64]

Cool stuff Michael. Thanks for sharing. Nice pics too. But who is that skinny young kid with his foot on the console? An assistant?

[not_so_new]

Let me see if I have this right... someone could actually buy the speakers that MOP was mixed on?



I am not a big Tannoy fan but I would buy them just for the f*ck of it to say that I had them ya know? Too cool.

Thanks again and again for sharing with us Michael.

[rhythmmaster]

excellent stuff Mr Wagener!

[anne_paranoid]

One of the things that more i love of this forum is that you can be speaking hand to hand with people.... who recorded and mixed the Mater of Puppets!

How many times i wondered " My god, how the **** did they get the sound? "

Definitively, internet surprises me everyday.....

[s.d.finley]

I love this Forum!!!

[eleo]

Hey Michael,

hails from the north, Hamburg
I really respect your work so much

Just pure genious thumbsup

Eleo

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by mdsmith64

Cool stuff Michael. Thanks for sharing. Nice pics too. But who is that skinny young kid with his foot on the console? An assistant?

That was right after I quit smoking, I was 147 pounds then (and 20 years younger)

[anne_paranoid]

Originally Posted by mwagener

That was right after I quit smoking, I was 147 pounds then (and 20 years younger)

And how much for these historical monitors used to mix one of my favourite albums?

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by anne_paranoid

And how much for these historical monitors used to mix one of my favourite albums?

PM'd you

[ArcCirDude]

Originally Posted by mwagener

As far as I remember nobody was on any heavy drugs during that time. I only saw the occasional beer, never ANY drugs.

That's about all I can remember...

Then what's that white powder in the plastic bag on the desk???

[mwagener]

HaHa, that's not white power, it's actually a label on that plastic bag. As you can see we are in the mids of repairing one of the SSL channels and the bag contains parts. Looks funny, though

[djui5]

wow MW, I didn't know you mixed that record. Nice work Yes, I've been under a rock

What fx did you use on the vox on the title track?

[4stringerfinger]

I am too interested in the monitors...

[Harley-OIART]

Originally Posted by mwagener

MXR pitchtransposer etc.

Sorry to add to the pile on of questions.
I studied that album like a grad student!
Anyways I would really like to know where the MXR pitchtransposer was used. Just a little bit of detail would be great!

-Scott

[mwagener]

Originally Posted by Harley-OIART

Sorry to add to the pile on of questions.
I studied that album like a grad student!
Anyways I would really like to know where the MXR pitchtransposer was used. Just a little bit of detail would be great!

-Scott

Scott

if it was used onMoP (the picture was actually from the Dokken "Under Lock And Key" mix) it was either on BG vocals or maybe on a guitar solo.