The Subways- All or Nothing

[frase89]

one of my top 3 albums for 2008 so firstly, congratulations on a great record!

hoping you can shed some light on the recording process...more specifically

1: drums. love the drum sound, particularly on 'burst' and 'always tomorrow.' how were the room mic's treated? their seems to be a fair bit of ambience to the kit but its still manages to punch through the wall of guitar.

2: guitars. i've only ever seen billy using vox amps, AC30's and various heads...he obviously uses pedals live but where there any other amps used on the album? things like the riff from 'shake shake' are just single note lines but still sound massive, how much doubling was done on the record?

apologies, this is more along the lines of engineering than producing but any info you can share on the session would be much appreciated

Thanks

[Billy Bush]

Originally Posted by frase89

one of my top 3 albums for 2008 so firstly, congratulations on a great record!

hoping you can shed some light on the recording process...more specifically

1: drums. love the drum sound, particularly on 'burst' and 'always tomorrow.' how were the room mic's treated? their seems to be a fair bit of ambience to the kit but its still manages to punch through the wall of guitar.

2: guitars. i've only ever seen billy using vox amps, AC30's and various heads...he obviously uses pedals live but where there any other amps used on the album? things like the riff from 'shake shake' are just single note lines but still sound massive, how much doubling was done on the record?

apologies, this is more along the lines of engineering than producing but any info you can share on the session would be much appreciated

Thanks

Hi - Don't know which song you're referring to as 'burst' but on always tomorrow the drums were a Pork Pie kit with a 60's Ludwig Acrolyte snare. Recorded at Conway "C".

(thanks to mike fasano for taking copious notes!)

close room mics were coles, far rooms were Telefunken 251's - no real processing going on during the tracking. The room just sounds that good!

I think a big part of the drums being able to cut through the guitars is due to the band - they have an amazing organic thing going. The way they each play really complements each other and they manage to have a lot going on without stepping on each other.

Guitars were mostly a Gibson ESTD, a Diezel VH4 and a Matchless DC30. Royer 121 and PR30 mics, Germanium preamps. A lot of the sounds had some sort of pedal involved - we really geeked out on the pedal front and sometimes we had 4-5 stomp boxes going at once.

Rhythms were doubled, sometimes quadrupled with a different guitar sound.

They were great to work with and it's amazing how much easier it is when everyone in the band can really play AND they know their parts inside and out. It was a fun record to make!

[Worlez]

Interesting stuff billy, just wanted to say that I think you and butch did a GREAT job on that record. Love the difference in vibe you got over their first record.

One of my favourite records of last year!

[ButchVig]

Originally Posted by Billy Bush

Hi - Don't know which song you're referring to as 'burst' but on always tomorrow the drums were a Pork Pie kit with a 60's Ludwig Acrolyte snare. Recorded at Conway "C".

(thanks to mike fasano for taking copious notes!)

close room mics were coles, far rooms were Telefunken 251's - no real processing going on during the tracking. The room just sounds that good!

I think a big part of the drums being able to cut through the guitars is due to the band - they have an amazing organic thing going. The way they each play really complements each other and they manage to have a lot going on without stepping on each other.

Guitars were mostly a Gibson ESTD, a Diezel VH4 and a Matchless DC30. Royer 121 and PR30 mics, Germanium preamps. A lot of the sounds had some sort of pedal involved - we really geeked out on the pedal front and sometimes we had 4-5 stomp boxes going at once.

Rhythms were doubled, sometimes quadrupled with a different guitar sound.

They were great to work with and it's amazing how much easier it is when everyone in the band can really play AND they know their parts inside and out. It was a fun record to make!

There are a really tight band, great live! Billy was fat at doubling guitars, and Charlotte came up with some wicked bass lines.
Josh is a great drummer....and kind of a nut...he didn't use any hi hats...lots of cymbal washing Keith Moon style...

They had SO MUCH enthusiam in the studio, it was a pleasure to work with them.

Rich Costey mixed the album...I think it sounds amazing!

[ButchVig]

Originally Posted by ButchVig

There are a really tight band, great live! Billy was fat at doubling guitars, and Charlotte came up with some wicked bass lines.
Josh is a great drummer....and kind of a nut...he didn't use any hi hats...lots of cymbal washing Keith Moon style...

They had SO MUCH enthusiam in the studio, it was a pleasure to work with them.

Rich Costey mixed the album...I think it sounds amazing!

I heard Girls and Boys on the radio yesterday, it sounded amazing, Rich;s mix is really powerful!

[rockordie]

+1 thumbs up on the subways album!!!
i´m listening to it as reference during the mixing sessions i do these days and i´m blown, how unreachable it sounds. althogh i have a nice desk to work with (ssl duality 48 ch) and used loads of really shiny mics (u47, u87, brauner vm-1,...) and pres (v76, langevin, ...) during the recordings, the gap to the reference is still depressing. the drum-room on the subways album is amazing and the low-end of the bass just kicks ass.
i wish i could spend one day in the studio with you guys to see how you manage to make the stuff sound so impressing.
keep up the great work!!! thumbsup