Pat Metheny Recordings

[jpupo74]

Hey slutz...

I was wondering if someone here is interested in Pat Metheny´s overall sound!

I have heard a lot about Pat selecting the cymbals for ex drummer Paul Wertico and a really demanding environment. Maybe someone has info on their gear or recording chains. Where do they track, mix, etc...

Hope someone has these recordings on the TOP of references for nice sounding music like I do.

PUPO

[mds]

I don't know much about the PMG records, but Pat told me that One Quiet Night was done direct from his acoustic into DP via his MOTU interface. He was just screwing around with the new version of DP and the stuff he recorded came out so well he decided to release it. He also said that album sold more copies than anything he's released in years.

Mike

[the1Hub]

there is a interview with pat on apples website. its mostly about using apple products but he talks a little about how he records and you can see a lot of his gear in the background. it was worth the time to watch it. the new PMG album is really good, i saw them back in march. for the first set they played the whole album straight down, it ruled.

[garysjo]

Rob Eaton has done most of if not all the PMG records for years. o/dubs, editing and co-production recently by David Oakes, who is also their live FOH mixer. Last few records done in P-Tools. Mucho time spent on the PMG records, not typical of the jazz world.

[jpupo74]

Does anyone know something on drum settings?

I think they are so good, I wonder if they are recorded in a normal session and then comes the Mastering or if they sound like that since the begining!

Pat should have a FTP site filled with thousand of his PT SESSIONS!

PUPO

[Clueless]

I bought The Way Up a few weeks ago, along with some other famous new releases (like Coldplay X&Y). The Way Up is a truly great work--great music, brilliantly recorded, well-mixed, everything. The other stuff...not so good.

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by Clueless

The other stuff...not so good.

Hey clueless, what do you mean with The other stuff?

[Clueless]

Originally Posted by jpupo74

Hey clueless, what do you mean with The other stuff?

I mean Coldplay X&Y -- what were they thinking? I enjoyed Parachutes, but if X&Y were my first CP album, I'd never buy another.

Ben Folds Five Forever and Ever Amen (yes, I know I was late getting it): great fun stuff, but the mix is just terrible!

Aimess Mann The Forgotten Arm -- sounds like it was badly tracked /and/ badly mixed. I love Aimee's lyrics and musical style, yet I get the distinct impression that somebody's (Aimee herself?) trying to sabotage her with bad production values.

[jpupo74]

I was going to buy it on the weekend!

I should go and listen to it though...

I will visit the thread where they´ve been talking for a while....

Good Luck,
Pupo

[Eagertone]

i concur. PMG drums always sound super crisp... i have yet to get sound like that out of my gear, though i'd love to. i first got into pat and lyle when i was like 14, and i've been hooked ever since.

one quiet night was an old 828 (the orrignal, not mkII) into a powerbook running dp4. most of it was tracked in one night, he then went back to record some songs for variety... ie... making sure there were a good amount of both picking songs and a good number of strumming songs. that's what i heard anyway...

[cultureofgreed]

I have heard he works his band to death rehearsing for weeks then jumps into the studio and knocks-out the tracking in a few days, is that true? If it is I would have to guess he is a engineers dream gig come true.

[Mike O]

I don't know if it is still true, but Pat has stated the Group material used to be done by playing the material live for months prior to recording - by design. Although very much composed, let the players "find" the tune. Indeed many of his recordings (especially ECM) will give the exact days recorded.

I imagine however that this is no longer exclusively true (not much of what he does is - a good thing). He and Lyle used to also be huge Logic heads. Others here mention PT and DP. Not sure if, when, or why the change. As with his guitars I think he uses whatever tools will provide the tool he wants/needs.

It's true that the percussion on his albums ALWAYS sounds great. All of his drummers have had such finesse. I have not heard the one about him choosing cymbals but I would not have any reason to doubt it. He very much considers the quality of the sounds part of the composition/orchestration.

[mds]

They rehearse like crazy for everything. Pat is a very driven and picky guy. They have pretty lengthy rehearsals almost every day of a tour. The do often work on stuff for the next record on the current tour. I'm sure it is a total blast to record such amazingly accurate and hard working musicians. To top it all off, Pat is one of the nicest dudes I've ever met.

[garysjo]

Much of their work was done at the old Power Station, Hit Factory, Right Track. Rooms that Rob Eaton favors. I believe more recently it's been at and D. Oakes at his place in Woodstock then they give it to Rob Eaton to mix. Pat does love ride cymbal though.

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by Mike O

It's true that the percussion on his albums ALWAYS sounds great. All of his drummers have had such finesse. I have not heard the one about him choosing cymbals but I would not have any reason to doubt it. He very much considers the quality of the sounds part of the composition/orchestration.

I heard Pat selected cymbals that will sound as he wanted to sound combined with his guitars. I know with Wertico Setup it was like that.

Just start hearing Antonio Sanchez, the new drummer, seems to have his own wonderfull sound. By the way, I think he has have a difficult time in the band due to the long list of fans that Wertico left behind.

The only thing I have for sure is that if he´s playing with Pat, he´s the man!

PUPO

P.D.

Pat should be a gearslut and tell us all those drum tuning and recording tips!

[doorknocker]

I dig the fact that his more recent, digitally recorded records sound much more organic than his older ECM ones, although musically I really like a lot of the old stuff (The 'White' first PMG album, 'As Falls Wichita', '80/81' )

So much for the analog/digital debate.......the ECM stuff has a signature sound but often is way too cymbal/reverb heavy IMO.

What I really like about Pat is that he balances his elaborate PMG productions with great straight ahead stuff that's done in the old jazz way.

BTW, has anybody heard 'Zero Tolerance for Silence'?
Still not sure if that was a honest artistic statement or just a quick F-off to Geffen!
Though I love him for having the balls to do it in the first place. Imagine a smooth jazz fan who only knows Metheny only by his melodic, softer stuff preparing for a candlelight dinner and putting on that record

Andi

www.doorknocker.ch

[mds]

Zero Tolerance is a weird one...I didn't have the nerve to ask Pat about it, but I'm sure he was just trying something new. I have often wondered if he just wanted to see what would happen if he put his name on something like that.

Antonio Sanchez is freakin' awesome. One of Pat's big concepts is the importance of the drummer. He said no matter who's name is on the ticket that the drummer leads the band. Pat plays a little drums too, so he is pretty heavy into the relationship with what the drummer is doing.

I wish Richard Bona had time to work more with PMG more. He is one of my favorite dudes on earth and it would have been great to see more of his influence in the band. I'm glad Cuong Vu is still around, though!

Mike

[Shaman]

I love Pat Metheny´s works.

"Secret story" is my personal soundtrack for driving through the alps to Italy every summer - a spritual experience listening to it - every single time

I heard Pat´s PT sessions usually have over 120 tracks....

His percussion does sound fantastic.

Nobody mentioned tracking details - I would be super interested into how they track his percussion, guitars.... Anybody ?

Originally Posted by jpupo74

Where do they track, mix, etc...

His recent works seem to be recorded at Right track.
In which studio ?

Let´s bet it´s the one with the vintage Neve ?

Originally Posted by mds

I don't know much about the PMG records, but Pat told me that One Quiet Night was done direct from his acoustic into DP via his MOTU interface.

I blieve I heard, he used an Avalon 2022 with 2 Neumann KM 184 and a guitar pickup system....

[jwag]

I'm kinda surprised this topic hasn't been brought up here before (or at least I haven't seen this discussed). Hell, if it were up to me you could just go ahead and hand PMG a grammy now for 'The Way Up'. I think one of the great things about it is its replayability.

Sanchez is one of those Yamaha players, seems to really shine on the record. Check out his website for kit details.

[bongo]

I had the pleasure of recording him one time at my studio. It was not with his group, he was just the guitar player!
He was set up in medium sized booth, a mic for his acoustic guitar, two mics on his two speaker cabinets and a stereo mic for the room. He barely left the room. He would listen to play backs in there and play along.
We recorded basics for two days. The third day was for fixes and overdubs. We got most of the fixes done on the second day. At the end of the second day he says: let's finish up in the morning and start mixing and get this done. So we started the third day at 10 AM and got done recording at 2PM. I started mixing and we got done at about 4 AM! The thing that stuck me most was that he didn't have his guitar tech pack anything up until we were finished mixing. Just in case he wanted to fix something. Incredibly professional, he was there to take care of business.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by mds

I'm glad Cuong Vu is still around, though!

Yeah, talk about Talent Deserving Wider Recognition! Cuong played in my band for a very brief time, like 2 or 3 months back in 1993, and even then (he couldn't have been more than 20 years old at that time) his tone, taste, & chops were all mind-bogglingly together.

[mds]

Originally Posted by Shaman

I blieve I heard, he used an Avalon 2022 with 2 Neumann KM 184 and a guitar pickup system....

He told me he just used the stuff built into his guitar for the majority of the tracks, though he could have used a higher end DI. He did go back later and add the cover of Don't Know Why and a couple of others, so he may have used that rig for those.

Mike

[mds]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Yeah, talk about Talent Deserving Wider Recognition! Cuong played in my band for a very brief time, like 2 or 3 months back in 1993, and even then (he couldn't have been more than 20 years old at that time) his tone, taste, & chops were all mind-bogglingly together.

Yeah, Cuong is amazing. I think he's going to become a serious heavyweight in the jazz world. Ever hear the records with Chris Speed and Jim Black? Amazing stuff...

Mike

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by doorknocker

BTW, has anybody heard 'Zero Tolerance for Silence'?www.doorknocker.ch

I have it since it was out on the market! How long ago? I can´t remember right now!

I have just hear it twice though...

Maybe someday Ill try it again...

PUPO

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by bongo

I had the pleasure of recording him one time at my studio. It was not with his group, he was just the guitar player!
He was set up in medium sized booth, a mic for his acoustic guitar, two mics on his two speaker cabinets and a stereo mic for the room. He barely left the room. He would listen to play backs in there and play along.
We recorded basics for two days. The third day was for fixes and overdubs. We got most of the fixes done on the second day. At the end of the second day he says: let's finish up in the morning and start mixing and get this done. So we started the third day at 10 AM and got done recording at 2PM. I started mixing and we got done at about 4 AM! The thing that stuck me most was that he didn't have his guitar tech pack anything up until we were finished mixing. Just in case he wanted to fix something. Incredibly professional, he was there to take care of business.

Hey Bongo,

How long time ago did you worked with him? Tell us more!

Mic's - Verb - Pre´s

PUPO

[bongo]

It was way back in 1997. This album: http://www.view.com/ar71043.html
As far as what I used? Too long ago! I know I recorded it on A-Dats, mixed it on an O2R and just got Sound Designer II the week before. It was before I got my copy of Masterlist, so I couldn't burn him a CD. I remember sitting there at 4 in the morning making him a cassette of the album. Only eight years ago! How things have changed!
Pat had his Lexicon Super Prime Time or something like that, so I did practically nothing to his sound.

[Shaman]

Originally Posted by jwag

Sanchez is one of those Yamaha players, seems to really shine on the record. Check out his website for kit details.

A little hint for recordings details on that website.

Teh room seems to be the Neve studio B at Right Track.
Can´t figure out, which mic is on snare.

all other mics seem to be the usual suspects...

[Steved]

Pat's my all time favorite artist.

Except for Zero Tolerance (for which I have zero tolerance) I've got everthing he's ever released.

Antonio is simply amazing... but I do miss Paul on the older stuff. I'm just so used to hearing Paul's playing on those tunes. Come to think of it... I had the same problem when Paul played stuff that Danny Gottlieb recorded with Pat. I memorized those albums.

All the comments so far are the same stories I've heard.

Tour before last, Pat was using a Mackie Control Universal on top of his guitar rig. I asked him how he was using it, and he said he was controlling all his digital effects with the faders. He said it was easier then squinting at LCD displays and fumbling with tiny knobs in the effects rack.

I said, "But you didn't touch it all night".

"Yeah, once I get it right during the sound check, I rarely have to mess with it again".

Getting it right during a sound check. I wonder what that's like?

[jpupo74]

Originally Posted by Shaman

Can´t figure out, which mic is on snare.

B&K - DPA?

[jpupo74]

http://www.antoniosanchez.net/equipment.html

OTHER MIC ON THE SNARE?

POP FILTER BETWEEN H.H. AND S.D.?