Susan Vega 99.9

[bcgood]

Concerning the album by Suzanne Vega - 99.9

1. What was Susan's vocal chain for this album?

2. What type of deck and tape did you use to track?

3. What board was used for tracking and mix down?

4. What studio and room was used for tracking?

5. This is more of a broad question but how did you approach recording this album and what was your recording philosophy at the time?

Sorry for the lame 1,2,3,4 format for questions but that's the only way I could think to start things off...

I really love this album, I had no idea you engineered it till I read it in one of the posts on here. ANY stories that you could tell or things you remember about recording this album etc. would be greatly appreciated. This has been one of my favorite albums for a long time.

I think I got it in Christmas 1992 on tape and I remember playing it on a little Sony tape deck. My favorite song at the time was London. I love how in the song "Fat Man and Dancing Girl" the the sonic landscape just explodes with those strings, awesome stuff. I personally think this is some of your best work, one of the better albums of the 90's IMHO, classic!!!

Thanks for being so open and insighful Tchad!

bcgood


I found this on Suzanne's website:


Nicky: And I love that little celestial bit of background chorus, that you were singing there.
Suzanne: Yeah, that was me singing "something cool against the skin".
Nicky: Yeah, like that. That was through some sort of strange sound system?
Suzanne: Yeah, Tchad, er...Tchad had come back from India...Tchad was the engineer and he came back from India carrying a PA system that they used to use to play from the rooftops in India, and so I was singing through it.
Nicky: Brilliant. [SV laughs] Talking of India, it's like sort of "Sergeant Pepper" starting all over again, all these studio experiments and seeing what sounds you can get. Was it like that, this album?
Suzanne: Yeah, we did a lot of experimenting...um, down to what we were using for the drum kit. We weren't using the normal sort of rock 'n' roll drum kit, and Jerry Marotta would...Jerry and Mitchell Froom and Tchad would come make up a new drum kit every day from different percussive instruments.

[tchadb]

Originally Posted by bcgood

Concerning the album by Suzanne Vega - 99.9

1. What was Susan's vocal chain for this album?

2. What type of deck and tape did you use to track?

3. What board was used for tracking and mix down?

4. What studio and room was used for tracking?

5. This is more of a broad question but how did you approach recording this album and what was your recording philosophy at the time?

Sorry for the lame 1,2,3,4 format for questions but that's the only way I could think to start things off...

I really love this album, I had no idea you engineered it till I read it in one of the posts on here. ANY stories that you could tell or things you remember about recording this album etc. would be greatly appreciated. This has been one of my favorite albums for a long time.

I think I got it in Christmas 1992 on tape and I remember playing it on a little Sony tape deck. My favorite song at the time was London. I love how in the song "Fat Man and Dancing Girl" the the sonic landscape just explodes with those strings, awesome stuff. I personally think this is some of your best work, one of the better albums of the 90's IMHO, classic!!!

Thanks for being so open and insighful Tchad!

bcgood


I found this on Suzanne's website:


Nicky: And I love that little celestial bit of background chorus, that you were singing there.
Suzanne: Yeah, that was me singing "something cool against the skin".
Nicky: Yeah, like that. That was through some sort of strange sound system?
Suzanne: Yeah, Tchad, er...Tchad had come back from India...Tchad was the engineer and he came back from India carrying a PA system that they used to use to play from the rooftops in India, and so I was singing through it.
Nicky: Brilliant. [SV laughs] Talking of India, it's like sort of "Sergeant Pepper" starting all over again, all these studio experiments and seeing what sounds you can get. Was it like that, this album?
Suzanne: Yeah, we did a lot of experimenting...um, down to what we were using for the drum kit. We weren't using the normal sort of rock 'n' roll drum kit, and Jerry Marotta would...Jerry and Mitchell Froom and Tchad would come make up a new drum kit every day from different percussive instruments.

1.Vocal=251>most likely an LA3A
2.Deck=Studer of some sort, tape??????
3&4.Tracked on API @ Dreamland, NY. Mixed on API @ The Sound Factory, Studio B.

I like this one too. Mitchell and Suzanne connected on that record.
I had been in India for two months before we started, just soaking up the atmos with my first wife.
I must have heard 100 of those systems in all different environments, mostly outdoors, and loved every one of them. I had to have it, so just before I was to leave India for Dreamland Studios I bought a system + an analog delay and three 58 style mic's. To ship they sowed it up form fitting with cotton cloth, horn and all in separate packages. Looked fantastic when I walked into the studio.
I've used it so much I couldn't begin to catalogue here but it did shine with Suzanne. Her voice through it was another world.
Jerry on his full kit of Taos drums and other sundries......
how could I go wrong?

[bcgood]

Thanks for the info Tchad. Seriously, when I found out you engineered this it was like, wow! Ok, this guy is one of my sonic heroes...

bcgood

[bdmctear]

Originally Posted by bcgood

Thanks for the info Tchad. Seriously, when I found out you engineered this it was like, wow! Ok, this guy is one of my sonic heroes...

bcgood

My favorite as well.

Tchad, I hear some reverb on vocals, as well as throughout the rest of the sonic landscape. I know that in the time since you have generally moved away from reverbs, developing your use of distortion (sans Amp) instead. Would you say the evolution began sometime after 99.9? During?

[tchadb]

Originally Posted by bcgood

Thanks for the info Tchad. Seriously, when I found out you engineered this it was like, wow! Ok, this guy is one of my sonic heroes...

bcgood

THX.
Great piccos by the way.

[tchadb]

Originally Posted by bdmctear

My favorite as well.

Tchad, I hear some reverb on vocals, as well as throughout the rest of the sonic landscape. I know that in the time since you have generally moved away from reverbs, developing your use of distortion (sans Amp) instead. Would you say the evolution began sometime after 99.9? During?

I don't remember any reverb, just delays through the Ahuja on 99. Doesn't mean there wasn't any though.
I do use reverb, just not all that often but I've always prefered dryer sounds, almost as if they were recorded outdoors in a field.

[jarbar]

Originally Posted by tchad blake

I do use reverb, just not all that often but I've always prefered dryer sounds, almost as if they were recorded outdoors in a field.

I've always wanted to record outside but have never been in a suitable environment. Have you ever done much of this (other than bino field recordings)?

[tchadb]

Originally Posted by jarbar

I've always wanted to record outside but have never been in a suitable environment. Have you ever done much of this (other than bino field recordings)?

Not too much but a bit on Waits/Bone Machine.
2x4's on 'The Earth Died Screaming' and various vocal bits and one or two things on The Black Rider as well.

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by tchad blake

THX.
Great piccos by the way.

Did you mean my photos? Thanks for checking them out!

bcgood