Analog?

[JQ127]

Hey Butch-just wondering how much you still track analog. On the last Green Day album I read you guys did drums and bass to tape. Do you ever do all-analog projects still? And do you ever mix to tape?
Thanks!

[ButchVig]

Originally Posted by JQ127

Hey Butch-just wondering how much you still track analog. On the last Green Day album I read you guys did drums and bass to tape. Do you ever do all-analog projects still? And do you ever mix to tape?
Thanks!

I don't use that much analog tape any more. For Green Day, we tracked to both Pro Tools and tape, but after a listening session, EVERYONE (myself, band, Chris Dugan the engineer, assistant engineers) agreed the Pro Tools sounded better. I think we used tape on a few tracks (Chris probably commented already on GS)...but I think the reason we chose Pro Tools is that we had a great analog chain going in, with the mics, preamps, and eq, and we didn't need another element to vibe the sound up.

If you had been there to A/B with us, you could hear what I'm talking about....the tracks sounded GREAT coming up on the console...and when played back on Pro Tools, they sounded EXACTLY the same. When we listened to the tape, I was missing transients, thought the bottom sounded mushy, and the top end sounded weird to me.

I do still print mixes to 1/2" tape...although most of the projects I've done lately have come from digital..and a lot of the time I leave that choice to the mastering engineer.