Walter Becker's "Circus Money" album

[Jay Messina]

Originally Posted by FunkyKeys

Thanks for doing this, sir!

I would love to hear a little bit about your work on Walter Becker's "Circus Money", one of my favorite albums in recent years.

How much of it is recorded live? (It does sound very live)

Can you tell us a little about recording the rhythm section, especially the drums and bass sound absolutely fantastic (as well as having - obviously - a great groove)... Very punchy and warm.

All the best!

FunkyKeys

I recorded most of the tracks, with some overdubs, but the majority of the sweetening and mixing, Walter did in L.A. Everybody played live, with Walter being in the same room as the drums (his amp was isolated). Keith is a great drummer so I had a nice head start on the sound. I believe I used some Coles for room mics, which I printed with some compression. The bass was a combo of DI and amp. I'm not certain which mic I used. It was either a RE-20 or a U-67.