Game Theory Drums

[Ravian]

Hi Russell,

thanx for comming back 2 GS.

I have 2 questions.
On the album Game Theory,the drums on all the tracks are mono(in the middle)
and the other stuff was pan'd around the drums.
Was that decided from the start or in the mixing procces ??
and on what kind of console was the album track'd and mixed??
becaus it sounds superb.



Gr. ravian

[Russell Elevado]

Originally Posted by Ravian

Hi Russell,

thanx for comming back 2 GS.

On the album Game Theory,the drums on all the tracks are mono(in the middle) and the other stuff was pan'd around the drums.
Was that decided from the start or in the mixing procces ??
and on what kind of console was the album track'd and mixed??
becaus it sound superb.

Gr. ravian

Hello ravian,

Mono drums was not really a decision we all discussed prior to starting a mix. ?uestlove uses a minimal kit. Kick, snare, hi hat, floor tom and 2 or 3 cymbals. I'm a big fan of a mono overhead, and for ?uests drums, the room mics are usually not placed for a stereo image. So when i record and mix his drums I'm going for a big sound trying to capture all the frequencies (including the air) around his entire kit. But I might, in the end, use only the kick mics, and the overhead mic into a mono compressor. Or all mics are used in combination where i might be pulling more from the immediate ambience coming from the room mics like some ringning toms and the snare rattle when the kick drum hits. And the close mic swill be blended in for more snap here or more oomph there.

So in this example with ?uest, the approach doesn't compliment a stereo sound. Rather it's more like an omnipresent sound rather than super detailed. So when i mix the rest of the music, instruments have a nice support to anchor on.

The drums that i recorded on that album were all tracked through mostly my own collection of mics and mic pre's. And the mixing console (which for the tracking was for monitoring purposes only) was an SSL J9000.

Cheers

[chester]

Originally Posted by Russell Elevado

Hello ravian,

Mono drums was not really a decision we all discussed prior to starting a mix. ?uestlove uses a minimal kit. Kick, snare, hi hat, floor tom and 2 or 3 cymbals. I'm a big fan of a mono overhead, and for ?uests drums, the room mics are usually not placed for a stereo image. So when i record and mix his drums I'm going for a big sound trying to capture all the frequencies (including the air) around his entire kit. But I might, in the end, use only the kick mics, and the overhead mic into a mono compressor. Or all mics are used in combination where i might be pulling more from the immediate ambience coming from the room mics like some ringning toms and the snare rattle when the kick drum hits. And the close mic swill be blended in for more snap here or more oomph there.

So in this example with ?uest, the approach doesn't compliment a stereo sound. Rather it's more like an omnipresent sound rather than super detailed. So when i mix the rest of the music, instruments have a nice support to anchor on.

The drums that i recorded on that album were all tracked through mostly my own collection of mics and mic pre's. And the mixing console (which for the tracking was for monitoring purposes only) was an SSL J9000.

Cheers

Hello Russell,

thanks for sharing your experiences and time!

can you maybe give me some information of the mic`s and pre`s you used for his drums and how the kit from ?uestlove was tuned or how you tuned it?!

(sorry for my bad english )

bye chester

[Ravian]

Thanx a lot for the info Russ.









Gr.Ravian

[bionic brown]

I noticed on the Voodoo recording that on some of the tracks, the drums are panned slightly left and the bass is panned slightly right. I figured that this might have to do with you recording the drums in mono, therefore giving each instrument it's own space in the mix, like it was done back in the day. Am I correct in this assumption?

And call me a nerd, bu I actually have charts and tables drawn up that I used to analyze Voodoo. (you freak! - Jules )Seriously dude, your Grammy was a well-deserved achievement in the recording arts and sciences.


Sincerely,

Darryl Reeves
www.darrylreeves.com

[Russell Elevado]

Originally Posted by bionic brown

I noticed on the Voodoo recording that on some of the tracks, the drums are panned slightly left and the bass is panned slightly right. I figured that this might have to do with you recording the drums in mono, therefore giving each instrument it's own space in the mix, like it was done back in the day. Am I correct in this assumption?
And call me a nerd, bu I actually have charts and tables drawn up that I used to analyze Voodoo. (you freak! - Jules )Seriously dude, your Grammy was a well-deserved achievement in the recording arts and sciences.
Sincerely,
Darryl Reeves
www.darrylreeves.com

nice one darryl!!! thanks so much man

you know, only a few people have made that comment about the panning on the drums and bass. you're absolutely correct in your assumption! i was definitely thinking "back in the day" including the mono drum thing. and you get a feeling of people in a room. when you listen to those records back then, each individual instrument had it's own different processing and space. bravo

FYI, i purposely made it subtle. i didn't want to freak some people out in their cars thinking something's wrong with their system. and if it gets played in the clubs some dj's may not know how to deal with it. most people these days who are listening to r&b and hip hop are used to the in your face, all consuming, bombastic drums and bass. we knew we were doing something different than anything that was out at that time and we were both, near the completion, wondering how it all would be perceived. so i put in a taste of it to sort of introduce it back...somehow. i do it all the time when i mix, it's just in varying degree's and depending on the artist.

all the best

[recall]

Cool, I was listening to Voodoo today on my studio nearfileds and came across the same thing.

Subtle pans like that really conjure up the space, and its not done enough these days.