Condenser Mic Identification (Metallica)

[Geddyleewannabe]

I was watching a documentary which shows Metallica recording their "Black Album". The documentary is called "A Year-and-a-Half In the Life of Metallica". Part of it shows James Hetfield tracking vocals. Has anyone seen this documentary and identified the condenser mic he is singing into?

[matt thomas]

thanks for playing - but its actually a shure sm7 dynamic mic. Don't worry, I had the same question when I saw the doco.

http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm7.asp

Designed for broadcast but quite well thought of round here for many duties. do a search.

narco

[matt thomas]

Actually come to think of it I'm thinking of their more recent doco on their latest album, might be the same though?

narco

[De chromium cob]

He's also singing into a Neumann 47FET if I remember correctly....

[Geddyleewannabe]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

He's also singing into a Neumann 47FET if I remember correctly....

Which movie are you saying you saw this mic in? "A Year and a Half..." or "Some Kind of Monster"?

I know about the Shure SM7 in "Some Kind of Monster", but I don't remember ever seeing James singing into a condenser in that particular movie.

However, he is clearly singing into a condenser on "A Year and a Half...". Was that a Neumann FET47 he was singing into?

[OVERNIGHT]

SM7 was also Michael Jackson's vocal mic on Thriller. Quincy Jones used it as a vocal mic on a grip of records he produced. That's just one more piece in the big puzzle of clues that will one day point to the irrefutable fact that MJ and James Hetfield are really one and the same person. I mean, just think about it, have you ever seen them together?

[C_F_H_13]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

He's also singing into a Neumann 47FET if I remember correctly....

That is correct.... 47fet in year and a half.... sm7 in some kind of monster

[Mark O]

Anthony Kiedis used an SM7 on blood sugar sex magic.

[jbuntz]

Originally Posted by OVERNIGHT

SM7 was also Michael Jackson's vocal mic on Thriller. Quincy Jones used it as a vocal mic on a grip of records he produced. That's just one more piece in the big puzzle of clues that will one day point to the irrefutable fact that MJ and James Hetfield are really one and the same person. I mean, just think about it, have you ever seen them together?

I've heard the same thing about thriller but bruce makes it sound like it's a U47 (at least later MJ stuff). James sings into a U47 FET in the nothing else matters video for whatever that's worth. His more rock vocals are probably cut with an SM7.

[James Lugo]

Fet47

[Geddyleewannabe]

Anyone know what he used on the earlier albums (i.e. Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets)?

Also, would you say that most who use the SM7 for vocals use a mic pre? I know it's a dynamic so it would not be necessary but still could be beneficial.

[Almost Human]

Originally Posted by Geddyleewannabe

Anyone know what he used on the earlier albums (i.e. Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets)?

Flemming Rasmussen produced and engineered those albums. His website for Sweet Silence Studios is here:

Sweet Silence Studios


Here's his e-mail addy from the site:

Flemming Rasmussen


Maybe someone could invite him to the site to speak the albums if you guys want?

[Geddyleewannabe]

Here is a copy of the e-mail I just sent him:

Dear Mr. Rasmussen:

I am a member of the gearslutz.com bulletin board and we have been discussing the gear used to record James Hetfield's vocals. Here is a link to the thread: http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php3?t=58664

Our question for you is what mic(s) and preamp(s) did you use for James's vocals on the "Ride The Lightning" and "Master of Puppets" albums. Thank you for any response you would be willing to give to us. You are also invited to come to the site to speak about the making of these albums if you would be so willing.

[Flemming R]

Hi There

Flemming Rasmussen here. Thanks for the invitation.

I was aked to tell a little about the vocal recordings on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.

Both those albums were recorded on my Trident A range desk from 1976. (I still have it), and I used the mic-preamp in the desk, and the eq as well.
The signal was then send to a Urei 1176 Compressor and straight to tape. Both albums recorded on 2" ampex tape.
I cant remember what mike i used, but I will check that out for You.
It was probably a Neumann U 87, but Im not shure.

Hope this answers your questions.

Flemming Rasmussen

[e-cue]

Awesome... now with a little thread-love from MW...

[Phantom Void]

Hej Flemming.

En fornøjelse at se dig på dette forum! Velkommen

Could you tell us more about how the guitars were recorded on both albums? (guitars, amps, cabs, mics, pre´s etc.) How many rythm guitar tracks were used on the Ride album, panning, efx etc.?

I LOVE the sound of this record! It´s very dark and raw!

/Alberto

[PhonoquO]

Hi Flemming,

I had the pleasure of meeting you and the band at a gig at the CNE in Toronto in 1990, when Metallica played on that Aerosmith tour with Warrant and the Black Crowes. Me and a buddy were 16 at the time, and we were able to get a couple backstage passes of some stage crew that were leaving the premisis after the 2 opening acts. I'll never forget the experience, as we were both devoted Metallica fans. You and the band were quite friendly considering the only people backstage were friends and family. I still love the first 4 albums to death, and have alot of respect for your work on those albums. What are you doing now?

Cheers,

Mark

[Flemming R]

Hi Everybody

Now I had some time to think about it, and check my notes,
Im pretty shure James sang into either a Neumann U-87 or a Shure SM-7.
The Shure SM-7 is one of my favorite mics.

Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.

Keep posting

Flemming Rasmussen

[mwagener]

Flemming, welcome to gearslutz, great to have you here. We would love to see your notes on the Metallica recording sessions.

Trident A range, boy, in my book THE best sounding pres for Rock, don't ever sell that one.

[wwittman]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

.... I used the mic-preamp in the desk, and the eq as well.....

like MOST great recordings.

[everybody's x]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

Hi Everybody

Now I had some time to think about it, and check my notes,
Im pretty shure James sang into either a Neumann U-87 or a Shure SM-7.
The Shure SM-7 is one of my favorite mics.

Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.

Keep posting

Flemming Rasmussen

OOOH YES PLEASE!
Welcome to GS Flemming thumbsup

[Almost Human]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

Hi Everybody

Now I had some time to think about it, and check my notes,
Im pretty shure James sang into either a Neumann U-87 or a Shure SM-7.
The Shure SM-7 is one of my favorite mics.

Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.

Keep posting

Flemming Rasmussen

Flemming...welcome! It's definitely an honor to have you here. I pretty much learned to play guitar by copping Metallica licks from the albums that you were involved with, and I still hold those albums close as some of my favorite metal albums of all time.

We'd love for you to share your studio notes, and don't worry about them being extensive...we love all the gritty details around here...

[GPl]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

Hi Everybody

Now I had some time to think about it, and check my notes,
Im pretty shure James sang into either a Neumann U-87 or a Shure SM-7.
The Shure SM-7 is one of my favorite mics.

Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.

Keep posting

Flemming Rasmussen

Welcome Flemming!

[Matt Smith]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.

Flemming Rasmussen

That would be incredible, Flemming. Thank you so much!!

Matt

[WidgetNinja]

Originally Posted by Flemming R

Hi Everybody
Going through my notes I found all the Guitar eq,s including amp settings for "Master of Puppets" & "and Justice" if You are interested I'll post them
but it is pretty extensive, so be warned.
Flemming Rasmussen

Are we interested?????????? You're a pivotal part of metal history!

You are aware that there are basically 2 tones hotly contested and mythologic in the guitar world, right? The EVH tone is one, and mostly settled. You created the other one. Aside from Mesa IIC+, we know diddly about the MoP/AJFA process really.

The MoP and AJFA saga may finally rest too.

Please, please, please, please.....

[Almost Human]

Originally Posted by WidgetNinja

You are aware that there are basically 2 tones hotly contested and mythologic in the guitar world, right? The EVH tone is one, and mostly settled. You created the other one. Aside from Mesa IIC+, we know diddly about the MoP/AJFA process really.

Yep...it's widely known that they used Mesa Mark IIC+ amps, and Kirk had also mentioned using the ADA MP-1 for some cleans and leads on the albums. Don't know what that was ran into though...the IIC+ I would assume? We know they used Marshall cabs back then, and James has said that he only used Vintage 30's before around that time. There's never been any word as to whether they had the Mesa cabs in there too. Guitars were equipped with EMG 81's from what we've been told. There's also speculation that on MOP, they ran the IIC+ preamp section into a Marshall JCM 800 for a power amp. Again, all speculation. Furman and Aphex parametric EQ's have been talked about to scoop out some mids.

But again, this is all speculation I've listed above over time. It'll be great to hear from Flemming about what was actually used, the mics and pre's used, settings, etc. Really looking forward to the studio notes...

[Blood_duster]

Maybe would could have some info on the MOP mix from Mr Wagener unless its been covered somewhere else

[Flemming R]

Hi Guys

I've been thinking how to do this - so this is the first "Test posting"
Please respond with ideas to make this easier to understand, or (moderator) if the pics are taking up too much space on your server.
This is the Jamez Guitar EQs for Battery rtm gtrs.
The Amp is Jamex Boogie into 2 Marshal cabs. Inserted in the loop on the amp,
is a B&B Audio (Aphex) parametric EQ EQF-1 as show on the left side of the pic.

The mics used are:

1 SM57 Shure in the center of the cone on one of the lower speakers.
1 B&K (DPA) 4006 omni on another speaker centercone.
1 AKG gold-tube in a 45 degree angle to the sideedge of the cab. aprox 4 feet away.

Miking is identical for both cabs.

The settings on the top is the amp settings including the Graf EQ on the Amp.
Mid Right is the EQF-1 loop eq settings.
Bottom is the EQ on the Desk a Trident A-range.
far left SM 57 it means
5K=-2 10K=+3, 150hz=+9, 1K=-3, 50hz lowcut(hipass) Fader=-10.

Hope this is understandable.

Enjoy

Flemming Rasmussen

As I could not put a picture here U get a Link instead.
http://www.sweetsilence.com/GearSlutzNotes.htm

[Flemming R]

Hi again.

I also found some pictures of the amp rack I will post later.

SEEEE U

[Blood_duster]

Any drum notes?