Beth Gibbons and Rustin' Man – Out of Season

[phill brown]

Originally Posted by grrrayson

Phill:

Firstly, thanks for sharing your wisdom with us here!

This is one of my favorite albums of all time, constantly on repeat. I love the lush strings and horns, the dark vocals, all the brilliantly textured background sounds seamlessly faded in and out.


I'd love to hear anything you could tell me about this album.

What was your involvement, exactly? I did notice there were a lot of engineering credits on it–did they move around a bit?

I'd love to know how the lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, and strings were recorded and treated. I've heard she did a lot of lead vocals at home on a 57. A lot of the backgrounds sound a bit smoother, though–were those done much differently?

Once again, any info would be appreciated!

Regards,

Grayson

The album was recorded over a three year period. Recorded to tape (24 track) then put into Pro-tools. I would record backing tracks at Konk Studios for a week, then Beth and Paul would spend a month or so at home studios editing and de-grading sounds. Drums were recorded with only 4 mic's, acoustic Fet 47 or Coles. Then another week of recording. Strings and Brass recorded at Westside Studios (I did not engineer these sessions) - then taken home to edit, treat etc. Most vocals were done at Beth's home on a 57. She has a great collection of mic's but Beth and Paul are into Lo-Fi. Backing vocals were recorded with an assortment of mic's and studios - Mixed at Westside on a Neve - Flying Fader Desk. The only outboard used - EMT echo plate, a spring reverb and two DDL's. The textures and sounds were all sorted at the home studios - all I had to do was 'balance' the mix. (we often did 20 or more alternative mixes - the favourite 3 mixes were then edited together) I love this album too - beautiful.

[grrrayson]

Thanks for sharing. Three years! That's a lot of time but I'm not surprised.

If you're still reading and care to tell me how you tracked the upright bass and acoustic guitar, I'll leave you be for the moment.

Again–very nice work on your part, Sir.

[phill brown]

Originally Posted by grrrayson

Thanks for sharing. Three years! That's a lot of time but I'm not surprised.

If you're still reading and care to tell me how you tracked the upright bass and acoustic guitar, I'll leave you be for the moment.

Again–very nice work on your part, Sir.

On most tracks acoustic guitar is played Neill MacColl - mic'd with Coles as a crossed cardioid pair, 12" - 15" away. Upright bass - Simon Edwards, either Coles, U47Fet, Sony C48.