Martin's Dam

[Fash]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks so much for taking time to answer all of our questions. There is so much to learn and your contributions mean a ton. I was wondering if you could provide any info about the record you worked on with the Philadelphia band Martin's Dam back in 1998. I was just coming up playing around town then, and did a bunch of work at Indre Studios where I believe you worked on the record. Where did you mix the record? What did you think of Indre's interesting live room? What format did you record to? Any insight you could give would mean a ton about the project. I have the CD and enjoy it.

Thanks so much Kevin!

Steve
jealousy curve

[Kevin Killen]

Fash,

Well this is one of those classic examples of how to stretch a budget to its limit. The band had lots of experience in recording themselves in their own ADAT room. Brian and Scott were very inventive in terms of getting real bang for the buck.

I liiked the recording space at Indre, but the Neotek console I felt was a weak link. The studio had a good selection of mics and eq so I had a lot of my gear sent down and we put most of the mic pre's on the floor and recorded straight to the Otari MTR 90. We had 3 days to get 10 basic tracks, mostly drums and bass. Brian and Scott were going to do all of their parts afterwards. Set the band up just in case we got gtrs and vocals. I did a bunch of two inch edits to consolidate the best drum parts and this took the pressure off the drummer to be perfect each time. We fixed the bass on a need to basis.

We made ADAT slaves of the bass and drums for Brian and Scott and they were left with strict instructions that whatever overdubs they did, they all had to fit back onto the two inch master for me to mix.

I left them to their own devices , checking in and offering suggestions about recording techniques. They were fantastic students and we reconvened in NY at Effanel studios to mix the album on the SSL. Granted I had to do some multing of tracks but it was worth it.

The record sounds much more expensive that it cost in reality.

Kevin

[Fash]

Thanks so much for the info Kevin. I remember hearing about the record a little bit, as I am good friends with Michael who owns Indre, but had just met him back then. He has since sold the studio and is concentrating on remote recording. The studio was outfitted with a neat old SSL 4048E/G about two years after you were there and it was a cool, vibey desk. That was the first large format desk I learned on. Michael just sold it, but I enjoyed that desk alot.

Thank you for the insight on the record. When you said you put the mic pres on the floor, do you mean in the tracking room and then ran the signals line level to the control room? Does this method ever cause crosstalk to be an issue, induced via the snake run? Do you remember what mic array/techniques you used for the drums? I specifically have the hardest time getting a great room drum sound. I have experimented with Blumlein and X/Y techniques but I would love to hear some of your insight on how you get great room tracks for drums. I always seem to have too much cymbal sound and not enough body.

Also, when you mixed, did you mix to 1/2" or DAT? The record definitely sounds much more expensive than it was and is a great example of DIY combined with working with a great outside producer like yourself.

Thanks so much Kevin!

Steve
jealousy curve

[Kevin Killen]

Steve,

Yes the mic pre's were on the tracking floor, it was very good excercise running up and down those stairs ( At Indre the control room was above overlooking the tracking space). Running the mics in at line level does not seem to induce a lot of crosstalk, if it does I tend to be more suspicious of the quality of the power or a grounding issue within the studio. Its certainly easy enough to swap out a snake.

It terms of mic placement on the drums, I used some baffling around the kit both front and back and it was very much a "normal" setup. I may have used Coles on the overheads and I will often open up the overheads first when getting a sound. If that is not representative of what the drum set sounds like in the room then it is really worth taking the time to move or change mics and position. I find it helpful just spending a few minutes in the tracking room listening to the kit and walking around.

Perhaps try different mics for the room position, maybe even pointing them close to the ground !. By walking around you should be able to find "that spot". If you are using a lot of compression on the room mics, you will get a build up of cymbals and hi hats. Another trick is to use darker cymbals for tracking, or removing them altogether ( a tad radical i guess , but it worked for Peter Gabriel on "Security") and overdubbing them.

For Martin's Dam , we mixed to DAT and maybe half inch.

Good luck with those drum sounds