for years i've been in awe of this man's work, especially on the joy division album 'unknown pleasures'. it was the first album i heard after abandoning classic rock for the new punk music coming out of new york, LA, and england in the 8th or 9th grade that really made me concious of the impact a good recording can have on already good songs. so my question is this: what kind of gear was hannett working with during unknown pleasures? this isn't an 'alan moulder uses an SSL so i'll get an SSL and sound just like him too' thread. it's merely to satisfy my own curiousity. i figured that if anyone could shed some light on what kind of studios and gear he was using as well as any interesting techniques he used, especially on the joy division LP's, it would be someone on here. cheers everyone and many thanks if someone can help me out! hope this doesn't come off sounding dumb.
He was lauded as a very unconventional production genius..
First - have you see the film 24 hour people? (get it on DVD)
You MUST - an actor plays his part in some scenes, its a good movie anyway and captures that time quite well.. Joy Devision /' Happy Mondays / New Order - its about the record lable Factory records. Some people play themselves in it... Steve Coogan (in the headlines with Courtney Love right now) is a great comedian / actor.. he plays the record co boss.
There was an interesting web site that I saw a while back that had a few stories about how certain sounds were created - recording the drums on the roof, etc. - and also how Martin would sometimes nod off and sleep under the console. I'll try to see if I can find it.
Another album that came out right about the same time as Unknown Pleasures was '154' by Wire. That had an amazing sound as well. I forget now who produced that.
i think he was a great producer myself..i love those joy division albums,happy mondays etc.... u ever check out ESG from NYC that he produced..the way he made those snare sounds flat with lush reverbs...the ESG stuff is CONSIDERED NYC DANCEMUSIC CLASSICS.When i go dancing once in a while..and they play esg.while i'm dancing i always ask myself how they got that sounding like dat....
He was lauded as a very unconventional production genius..
First - have you see the film 24 hour people? (get it on DVD)
You MUST - an actor plays his part in some scenes, its a good movie anyway and captures that time quite well.. Joy Devision /' Happy Mondays / New Order - its about the record lable Factory records. Some people play themselves in it... Steve Coogan (in the headlines with Courtney Love right now) is a great comedian / actor.. he plays the record co boss.
Bring on the Martin Hannet stories...!!
love the movie!! i've rented it a couple of times and just bought it on dvd which sort of prompted my topic.
The DVD has a commentary track by the 'real' Tony Wilson. Commentary tracks are usually pretty useless, but this one's like a 90 minute stand-up routine. He talks a bit about Martin Hannett--if I remember right, they had a big dispute because Factory wouldn't buy him a Synclavier.
If anyone has information about MH, I'm certainly interested.
"the actor who played Martin in 24 Hour Party People was Andy serkis also known as Golem/Smegel in Lord of the Rings."
no shi+!!
yeesss it alll makes sence now....
BTW "EraseYou" by ESG is their best song hands down.....
and the crustie Warsaw Demo is my favorite JoyDivision album
less of a goth more of a speed freak
LouderFasterLouderFaster!!!
but that hannet snare is SLappy!!!
i think my favorite part in that whole movie is when hannett is recording silence on top of a hill and tony wilson shows up and the dialog goes something likes this:
wilson "martin! what are you doing?"
hannett "recording."
wilson "why are you recording silence?"
hannett "well now i'm recording tony f***ing wilson!"
i'd be interested to know what kind of outboard FX, preamps and boards he favored, more out of just knowing than anything.
Another album that came out right about the same time as Unknown Pleasures was '154' by Wire. That had an amazing sound as well. I forget now who produced that.
Martin Hannet spent a LOT of time @ 10cc's 'Strawberry Studios' in stockport.
They had a Helios 26 ch wrap-around console and a variety of basic outboard, MCI JH10 2" 16/24 track from memmory.
There is a great article again in SOS mag outlinging the recording of 10cc's studio masterpiece, " I'm not in LOVE"
I think he really pioneered a lot of techniques, especially the early use of digital reverbs and delays on drums.
He certainly had a 'Sound' which made his productions so unique. I have a lot of trouble listening to Joy Division's stuff cos it just SO damn depressing. I would have to say that the slow, mournful dirge that is 'The procession' is prehaps the most depressing song around!
Cheers
Wiggy
__________________
If i see another 'Which neve clone is better thread... im seriously gona go postal!!!!!!!"
I was once told that Stephen Morris was forced to play each individual drum seperately for the length of each entire song while recording "Unknown Pleasures". This supposedly was how Martin achieved that great drum seperation on songs like "Disorder". This is also supposedly accounts for the mechanical feel of the album. Then again, I bet a million rumours surround all the Joy Division recordings.
There is also the rumors of the mystery voices that appeared on the tapes while Joy Division was recording "Closer". Noone could account for these strange mumbles that could clearly be heard during the recordings. Of course, the band left them in the mixes. Were they ghosts?
Martin was a mad scientist in the studio and I have heard he left no effect unused and no studio trick untried. He also would spend hours and hours getting the right drum sound first, before even bothering with other instruments.
I have also heard that Joy Division themselves actually weren't that happy with Unknown Pleasures. The band wanted the album to be more powerful and full sounding. They thought it was a bit to soft. I think Unknown Pleasures may be the greatest album of all time. Its why I make music....
What I find most amazing about Hannet is that his records still sound excellent even today, and doesn't sound as dated as 99% of the music being recorded in 1980.
__________________ Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.
- Igor Stravinsky.
i saw new order's first show in washington d.c. in 1983 at the ontario theater - the most
impressive thing was stephen morris' drumming - they opened with 'in a lonely place' -
the b side of ceremony - a very drum heavy track - i was right at the stage - he had
a great sound - i loved new order those first two years - then i lost interest -
i have a new client who may
be bringing me a new order remix for october........
i thought 'closer' had a more interesting sound than unknown pleasures.....'decades'
has always been one of my favourites....
the only thing that has ever been stolen from this studio is a mint 'love will tear
us apart' 12" .........
I was just readding the AllMusic bio on Hannett -- I can't believe he was in the pretty awful band Sad Cafe. I owned (and hopefully still do) a 12" album by them but never realized one of my early production heroes was in 'em.
Anyhow, while there are a couple Certain Ratio and Durruti Column albums in my collection, my interest in his bands waned rapidly after Joy Division.
In fact, I found myself loving the first half of 24 Hour Party People and barely able to get through the second half...
[Although the bits with Devoto were, indeed, priceless.]
Does anyone have any leads on some of the specific techniques he used? Def. one of my idols... I got something similar to the atmosphere sound on ESG's "UFO" with an Ibanez AD202 modulated delay on some guitar feedback... and I heard that he was known to use spring reverbs on overheads sometimes... anybody else?
Don't forget the ones he did with the dead kennedy's (in god we trust) and others in the height of the punk era - very powerful, and great sounding albums...
maybe we'll get an actual anecdote from some fly on the wall from one or some of those sessions...
and there's a bit later in this interview with Tony Wilson regarding martin's association with AMS going on to amusingly claim that they created Trevor Horn by not allowing Hannett a fairlight.
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more of a speed freak 
