My Morning Jacket "Z"

Quint · 1st July 2009

I know that this album was done at Allaire on their old Neve. As with all MMJ albums, reverb is a big part of the sound. How much of the reverb on this album is natural (ie. room and ambient mics) as opposed to artifical (plate, spring, digital, etc)? If it's largely ambient mics were there a bunch or only a few of them strewn about the place? Or, is some of the "largeness" from bleed? I don't know if the majority of this album was tracked live (band in a room) or overdubbed so that's why I'm asking about the bleed factor. It doesn't sound super "bleedy" to me but that could be due to mic placement and choice as much as anything. Thanks for info you can give me.

johnleckie · 8th July 2009

Hi Mr Quint
The record was all done on 16 tape so may have something to do with smoothness. Most of tracks cut live with whole band including vocals in Great Hall at Allaire. Reverb on voc would be added later and we used Zoom FX box and EMT plates at Sunset Sounds. The reverb on voice would not be from room mics but voc would be recorded as dry as possible and to avoid spill used SM58. The rest of instruments would have spill on.. the room is huge like a wooden cathedral and we had various mics up high and down low. Drum kit is loud in room and amps were behind screens with roofs and blankets. Piano in separate room and often Jim with amp in separate room but glass doors around for good visibility. Even though we were on 16track I still kept two tracks for room ambience.
Hope this of use
Cheers
JL

jimmyz · 24th July 2009

Hi John,

I wondered how you managed to cram this whole album on 16trks! It’s a great sounding record (with fantastic performances). Did you use automation or mix manually at the mix stage? Just wondered if you had timecode and a guard track - leaving only 14trks!

How many tracks out the 16 would you use for drums & for vocal passes?

2inch 16trk seems like such a perfect way to make a record like this, committing to everything.

Best,

Jimmy

1st July 2009	#1
Quint Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,798 Thread Starter 1 Review written	My Morning Jacket "Z" I know that this album was done at Allaire on their old Neve. As with all MMJ albums, reverb is a big part of the sound. How much of the reverb on this album is natural (ie. room and ambient mics) as opposed to artifical (plate, spring, digital, etc)? If it's largely ambient mics were there a bunch or only a few of them strewn about the place? Or, is some of the "largeness" from bleed? I don't know if the majority of this album was tracked live (band in a room) or overdubbed so that's why I'm asking about the bleed factor. It doesn't sound super "bleedy" to me but that could be due to mic placement and choice as much as anything. Thanks for info you can give me. __________________ We (AudioLot) accept VISA/MC, Paypal, Google Checkout, Bank Wire, Checks, and Cash. - Kittonian

8th July 2009	#2
johnleckie Gear nut Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 112	MMJ Z Hi Mr Quint The record was all done on 16 tape so may have something to do with smoothness. Most of tracks cut live with whole band including vocals in Great Hall at Allaire. Reverb on voc would be added later and we used Zoom FX box and EMT plates at Sunset Sounds. The reverb on voice would not be from room mics but voc would be recorded as dry as possible and to avoid spill used SM58. The rest of instruments would have spill on.. the room is huge like a wooden cathedral and we had various mics up high and down low. Drum kit is loud in room and amps were behind screens with roofs and blankets. Piano in separate room and often Jim with amp in separate room but glass doors around for good visibility. Even though we were on 16track I still kept two tracks for room ambience. Hope this of use Cheers JL

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24th July 2009	#3
jimmyz Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 186	Hi John, I wondered how you managed to cram this whole album on 16trks! It’s a great sounding record (with fantastic performances). Did you use automation or mix manually at the mix stage? Just wondered if you had timecode and a guard track - leaving only 14trks! How many tracks out the 16 would you use for drums & for vocal passes? 2inch 16trk seems like such a perfect way to make a record like this, committing to everything. Best, Jimmy