James Farber, Joe Ferla

[Robobo1]

Am curious if anyone here knows anything about these two gentlemen... have you been present at their sessions? Learned anything from them? Have interesting info about their techniques? The "vibe" of their sessions?

They are two of my favorite engineers... I've been very impressed with both of their recordings, but they aren't mentioned much around here.

[XSergeantD]

I know Joe. Haven't seen him since I moved out west. Very good engineer. When I was at Hit Factory I'd see him all the time before and after his sessions - can't give ya any tips as I was running the tech dept so I didn't sit in on his sessions. One thing I remember is that when I saw him walk in with one of those $250 power cords I said, hmmm, maybe it's not just a load of crap, maybe they do work. I never got to compare the $ cord w/ a stnd IEC cord though. But after listening to his ProAcs, I did go out and get a pair for yself. He no longer deals ProAcs and thats about as much info I can send your way. He is a really great and kind gentleman

[Robobo1]

Thanks! This is the kind of info I'm talking about

Wish I could get to know these people and pick their brains... just get a sense of how they work, not necessarily techie specifics...

Originally Posted by XSergeantD

I know Joe. Haven't seen him since I moved out west. Very good engineer. When I was at Hit Factory I'd see him all the time before and after his sessions - can't give ya any tips as I was running the tech dept so I didn't sit in on his sessions. One thing I remember is that when I saw him walk in with one of those $250 power cords I said, hmmm, maybe it's not just a load of crap, maybe they do work. I never got to compare the $ cord w/ a stnd IEC cord though. But after listening to his ProAcs, I did go out and get a pair for yself. He no longer deals ProAcs and thats about as much info I can send your way. He is a really great and kind gentleman

[dynamo]

I've been in a session with Joe Ferla, just one day out of 2. A trio: drums, bass, guitar... if I well remember, that was it. He is, as said, a very nice person indeed and very generous in sharing his knowledge and experience. He is one of my favorite engineers too so when I heard he was coming i actually asked the studio manager to be in there even if i was not scheduled for that day.

He was there sharp and started to set up mics and me helping him while assistant was calibrating the Studer. I asked him a bunch questions about mics and placement and even if we were quite busy he took the time to answer to everything... Once musicians arrived he started to work on the sound and levels.

He's fast. He moves a lot. Back and forth from the studio to contol room ( that's when you shut up and just listen...). He changed the mic on the snare ( from....to AKG 452). He moved the mic (M88) from the kick a little further and so on. Minor but significant changes, a little eq with the 8078 and the sound was there! He has a very purist approach to sound. A simple but effective technique. The cool thing was that while he was doing what he was doing he was actually telling me WHY he was doing it and asked me if i could hear the difference...play attention, compare...

Yes, he had his Proacs with all the audiophile cords and cables. Audio Research solid state amp, a pair of
V76s, a bunch of M88s (Classic edition) and a Sanken, i think the CU-41 (w/transformer) which was used on the upright bass together with the 84 placed inside the bridge. By the way he used rubber bands to suspend the 84 inside the bridge cause the foam may/does affect to tone..

One of the things, many, I've learned from him that day. Thanks Joe!

[Robobo1]

Thank YOU Dynamo!

This is great stuff... do you remember how the session itself went? What was his interaction like with the musicians?

Do you remember what he used on overheads?

[dynamo]

My pleasure. The session went really smooth. We were totally ready when the drummer got there and started to set up his kit. He was the first also to sound check. Like said there were some changes on the mics and placement with Joe listening to the drums in the studio and then back in the control room a few times. He then recorded a little bit of the drummer warming up and it sounded just fine, righ there.

Then was up to the bass, located in one of the isolation booths. Again minor tweakings. Almost no eq. at all. Last the (acoustic) guitar, again in one booth. This was miked with a 47 feeding the V76. All great musicians with great instruments. No tension, no sweat. Everybody knew what to do and it all simply just worked in a natural way. There was not a minute of "wasted time". Joe gets the sound right away. The group was ready to record in less than an hour and they just had to focus on playing. Everybody was very relaxed and enjoying it. Joe puts everybody at ease and it's really a pleasure to work with.

The overheads were 54s and he used Coles 4038s for the room. I thing there was a 3rd mic oh in the center.... not sure, can't remember.

[jpupo74]

Hi,

I was searching for Sanken mics and I found this thread. I had the chance to meet Joe Ferla this summer. As somebody mentioned before he has a purist aproach. He goes for the sound just from the source, lots of mic tweaking. Isolation, as much as he can, we actually placed the mics inside the piano and then we proceed to cover it.

He's not using Proac anymore, he swapped to Hot House Speakers amd preamps plus pretty expensive cabling, he says it makes a HUGE difference. He loves Neve and the 480, can't live without them.

We recorded a 5tet.; Piano, Sax, Guitar, Drums and Bass.

He uses a pair or more cymbal mics plus a mono overhead, usually a 4038.
He loves 84's on Doble Bass and Guit Amps...
That day we used an M49 on the upright, he goes for a really acoustic sounding bass with a lot of "wood" and deepness.

He uses BD 88's on percussion instruments...
Neumann 254's for cymbals are his go to mics!

We did the tracking for a whole session and then he mixed a tune...
He first balances everything and ballpark it...starts cleaning with EQ...FAST!
Lots of tweaking with the 480's predelays on verbs and placing intruments...always with his eyes opened looking between the speakers and actually pinpointing everything.


GREAT GREAT GUY!

Cheers,
Pupo

[kurtr2]

i have worked alot with both joe ferla and james farber. i am a musician whos been on many session with both of them, my own records and others. they both are the best engineers i have ever worked with. they are so fast and mellow you hardly even realize they are doing much, and then you hear the sound- big, natural, beautiful. one thing they have in common that in my experience all great engineers have in common is that they are open to new ways of doing things. they dont dismiss any input but at the same time they always have this masterful overview of the whole session. very clear communicators and fun to work with, lots of laughs, and very serious and smart about what they do.
james has been using a tube tech lca-2b on the 2-bus, it sounded so good i got one for my home studio. they both monitor with pro-acs, but joe brings his in along with his own power amp and cabling. i bought a pair of the pro-acs from joe several years ago. they are great. james recently used an LA2A on the saxophone, and a Pultec eq on the guitar. he recorded the sax with a focusrite isa preamp, i forget the model number (110?). the music has always been jazz. james likes hard panning, like older jazz records, but doesnt mind doing it other ways.
both james and joe are totally down to earth and cool, easy, fun and inspiring to work with!

[PRuthenburg]

Hi Pupo,
Just say this thread while looking for Sanken also.

Just curious if you remember what Joe Ferla used on the piano?mics,pres,ect?

You said the mics were in the piano then it was covered with blankets?

Thanks much,
Pete Ruthenburg

[Joe Ferla]

Hi Pete,

The only time I cover the piano with blankets is when it's in the same room with other loud instruments........otherwise I hate covering pianos. I've been switching between Schoeps and KM84's on piano lately. A C-24 also works well. I'm a Neve fan. I try to use these pre's on just about everything. The best clue I can give you is to always go into the studio and listen to the instrument you're recording and match that sound in the control room. If your monitors are true you can't go wrong with this technique. I hope this helps.

Joe

[henryrobinett]

Geez! Words from the man himself! Hello Joe! I've loved your stuff for years!

[PRuthenburg]

WOW!Answer from the man himself!

I'm experimenting with our C7 in the studio now.We've got a pair of Earthworks QTC1s,4050s,414s and recently a pair of Sanken CU41s that I'm trying.

Also have a pair of Mojave Audio MA-200s we're auditioning.

A pair of 84s have always in the back of my mind;maybe the next purchase.

Any specific Neve pre to go to or just the Neve family in general?

Thanks much Joe!Good to have you here.

Pete Ruthenburg

[PRuthenburg]

Forgot to mention I've tried our Royer SF-12,but have gone with other things usually.

Pete

[Remoteness]

Excellent, Welcome to the Remote Possibilities... forum.

It's truly a pleasure to see you here.

[Jungle Jazz]

Hi Joe,

It's terrific to have you here. Just wondering: how do you tend to place your piano mics, especially if you are using Schoeps or KM84s on a jazz session? Thanks!

[MattJazz]

Hey Joe, thanks for the killing bass sound on Regina's c.d.
-Matthew

[Joe Ferla]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to be here. Regarding the miking of a piano:
It's a difficult instrument to capture correctly. Sometimes I'll use the Schoeps or 84's in a XY cofiguration up near the hammers. I'll experiment with the placement in terms of how close to the hammers. The closer to the hammers renders a clear precise image with good articulation but lacks some richness. Moving the mics away from the hammers will add some richness back. In addition sometimes a mic down in the tail of the piano will add richness and sustain to the low end. Use something like an 87. You can mix this in with the low X mic. This is a very nice piano sound. Placement differs with each piano and each player. I like the Neve pre-amps in the 8078 consoles the best. These are the 4 band eq's with a hi and lo pass filters.
Hope this helps you out.

Joe

[Jungle Jazz]

Thanks, Joe! That helps a lot.

[maikol]

Welcome here Mr Ferla and thank you for sharing your time and your knowledge with us!

It is unvaluable to have people like you here!



-So do you still use a lot those KM54's (or are they 254s?) on OHs?
I've used some recently on acoustic guitar, and i've loved the crisp that they put to the sound! Now it seems very to clear to me that i can hear that exact crisp/richness on the cymbals of records you did! (hope i'm not wrong though... )



-Someone talked about V76's too. Do you place them close to the microphone, or in the CR?




-I am highend cable believer too (i've heard more differences between AES cables than between converters!!! ). Do you use those only for monitoring, or even on mics power supplies, A/Ds...?



Power cords only, or audio cables too?



I guess you must have some preferred brands/models? well maybe i'm asking too much, sorry!


Anyway thanks again for being here, Joe.
Maikol

[Joe Ferla]

Hi Maikol,

You called it right. My favorite cymbal mics are KM54's. I use them as often as possible. And they are great on acoustic guitars. You're hearing the nickel capsule in these mics.
Cables. I've used high end audiophile cables for years on everything. Power, mic lines, balanced inter-connects, speakers. Some of the brands I've played around with that I like are Cardas, Kimber, Wireworld. At the moment I'm using Kimber 100% silver speaker cable and Cardas Nuetral Reference inter-connects. My monitor system is from Hot House Pro ( model 165 near fields and the model 1000 amp). That combintion is awesome. It's totally transparent and really true.
Hope some of this helps.

Joe

[maikol]

Hi Joe,


Yes it helps a lot, thank you very much.

Cardas... i like the softness they can have and what they do to the low end, too.

But Kimber, i don't know!

I wonder if they're even imported in France? I'll check that!

What would you say about them?


Have you heard of Van den Hul? They have a large catalog with even not so expensive models aimed to professionnals (The Big Mic for example is an octopair).


One last question (sorry to ask you so much! ): were you using studio 100's for Proacs or another model?

If yes, how would you compare them to those Hot House you're using now?


I'm asking because actually i'm a very happy user of studio 100's. I couldn't say enough how good they are!
Finding problems while working is really easier on them than on any other speakers i've worked with (until i find even better or course! ).

Cheers and thanks again!
Maikol

[Joe Ferla]

Hi Maikol,

I think the Cardas Nuetral Reference is really accurate cable, no coloration. The Kimber I have also seems to have no coloration, even more so than the Cardas.
I was using the studio 100 for almost 15 years ( I actually discovered them for studio use and turned everyone on to them). I did love them. Richard Rose of Hot House measured the 100's and saw how they are anything but flat. He designed the 165 to be a flat Studio 100. I always struggled with the lo end on the 100 (a serious bump between 100-125), especially on mixes with complex bottom. The Hot House monitors are really flat down to 60Hz. It's so much easier getting the bottom right. I listen to mixes I did on the 100's and mixes I've done on the 165's and the bottom is much better on the mixes done with the Hot House monitors. I highly recommend these speakers. And they're only $1400.

Have fun,

Joe

[maikol]

Ok! i hadn't understood that you use especially the neutral ref from Cardas, which i too do think are as their name claims... but over my budget for now...

my bad (i was thinking of the sound of the lowest models indeed)

These Hot House monitors seem to be very interesting, actually. Thanks for the info.

And yes, they're pretty cheap (that's the same price league that S100's)

[Robobo1]

Joe,

It's so exciting to see you on the boards! You are truly one of my favorite engineers. In fact, I use your recording of Dave Douglas, The Infinite, as a reference.

Do you find that you only need a pair of overheads, a snare mic, and a bass dum mic for your jazz work? Do you commonly mic the toms? I have been happy using mostly just a pair of overheads with some bass drum and only using the snare mic for brushes... but I find I don't get the beautiful clarity you do on the toms. Perhaps it's my choice of mics - a pair of Heine-modified U87s. They sound wonderful and accurate on cymbals.

Also, how often are you asked to do overdubs on your jazz recordings? What is your opinion regarding overdubs in jazz? Most of the musicians I work with expect overdubs to be a possibility... and if we can't make individual overdubs happen because of the setup, they'll want to do full band overdubs. I'll accommodate them every time, but what happened to doing another take? Sometimes it's to save time, or because a solo was killing and they want to save it, or to fix a wrong note or two... but I wonder if some of the time it's laziness.

Thanks for your time, Joe. Such a pleasure to see you here!

Rob

[Joe Ferla]

Originally Posted by Robobo1

Joe,

It's so exciting to see you on the boards! You are truly one of my favorite engineers. In fact, I use your recording of Dave Douglas, The Infinite, as a reference.

Do you find that you only need a pair of overheads, a snare mic, and a bass dum mic for your jazz work? Do you commonly mic the toms? I have been happy using mostly just a pair of overheads with some bass drum and only using the snare mic for brushes... but I find I don't get the beautiful clarity you do on the toms. Perhaps it's my choice of mics - a pair of Heine-modified U87s. They sound wonderful and accurate on cymbals.

Also, how often are you asked to do overdubs on your jazz recordings? What is your opinion regarding overdubs in jazz? Most of the musicians I work with expect overdubs to be a possibility... and if we can't make individual overdubs happen because of the setup, they'll want to do full band overdubs. I'll accommodate them every time, but what happened to doing another take? Sometimes it's to save time, or because a solo was killing and they want to save it, or to fix a wrong note or two... but I wonder if some of the time it's laziness.

Thanks for your time, Joe. Such a pleasure to see you here!

Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks. I use a lot of mics on drums, every drum is miked. It comes from my early days when I did R&B, rock and pop sessions. That's how I get the definition you're asking about. Yes jazz players expect to be able to correct mistakes.

Have fun,

Joe

[Joe Ferla]

Originally Posted by MattJazz

Hey Joe, thanks for the killing bass sound on Regina's c.d.


-Matthew

Hi Mat,

That was all you. You've got a great sound and you're a beautiful player...made my job easy. Hope you're doing well.

Joe

[jpupo74]

Hey Joe,

It's José...

Remember???



Very cool to have you on this forum!

Thanks for sharing...

[Joe Ferla]

Originally Posted by jpupo74

Hey Joe,

It's José...

Remember???



Very cool to have you on this forum!

Thanks for sharing...

Sure do Jose'. Hope you're doing well.

Joe