Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black

[DRC]

Im not sure if this is the right forum for this but what the hell....

This album is stunningly beautiful. I love the songs on Trouble. I think "Jolene" might be one of the best songs ever written, at least in the past decade. But Trouble sounds like a demo compared to this. Ethan Johns really outdid himself on this. I thought his best engineering work was on Chris Stills "100 Year Thing", but this new Ray La album takes the cake.

The vocals are so delicate yet perfectly audible, and balanced against the instuments which sound gorgeous as well. The reverbs are really lush without being too much. The strings arent the same old boring padding, yet not obtrusive with to much movement.

Id love to know if any sluts have any dirt on what was used (and how) in the studio? Vocal mic? Console? Anything at all?

[84K]

The new album is amazing. Any little girl (or girly men) who like John Mayer should check this out. This is the real vibe.

[Brad Blackwood]

WOAH - I had bno idea a new album was out. Ray is my fav artist in the last couple of decades...

Thanks for the head's up.

[DRC]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

WOAH - I had bno idea a new album was out. Ray is my fav artist in the last couple of decades...

Thanks for the head's up.

No problem.

[redddog]

Sweet. Ray's one of the best. He's like the Anti-pop artist. I just listened to "3 Days" and ...wow. Ethan Johns is one of the best producers in the world.

Gorgeous.

[nadumr]

I had the pleasure of seeing him this past sunday at Maxwell's in Hoboken (approx 200 cap room)... it was a "myspace secret show"...for free. I would have paid hundreds for the opportunity to see them in such an intimate environment. it exceeded every expectation I had... he is timeless and the performance was flawless!!!
adam

[WindowSills]

Originally Posted by DRC

Id love to know if any sluts have any dirt on what was used (and how) in the studio? Vocal mic? Console? Anything at all?

They tracked at Allaire and at Johns' 3 Crows. At Allaire they worked in the Neve room. 3 Crows has the Swettenham built console (not a Helios) that used to be at Glyn's farmhouse studio. Both places they used have open floor plans - the console is out in the live room. Medeski, Martin and Wood were at Allaire in the Great Hall working on their own album at the same time - that's John Medeski playing the funky electric piano on Ray's "Three More Days".

Both albums, "Trouble" and "Til The Sun Turns Black" sound like they could've been released decades ago. Excellent songs, performances, and of course - sound. If anyone else knows more, please spill.

[Bob Olhsson]

It's got real dynamics too and Ted Jensen did a wonderful mastering job!

This is the kind of CD that gives me hope!

[Power Supply]

This album is exquisite! Just gorgeous.
Ethan Johns deserves major props for not
messing it up. I'm not crazy about the string
or horn arrangements but the record still kills.

[shack jonz]

Originally Posted by DRC

I think "Jolene" might be one of the best songs ever written

You speak entire gospels of truth with that statement.

[CrazyBeast]

I actually just heard "Trouble" in it's entirety this last weekend (three times in a row in fact while driving), and I thought the same thing!! I bet the new one is great as well.

Someone tell Bob Dylan to listen to it.

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

This is the kind of CD that gives me hope!

[Chucho]

Originally Posted by CrazyBeast

Someone tell Bob Dylan to listen to it.

and all those folk in the thread about the music industry.

[DRC]

Originally Posted by WindowSills

They tracked at Allaire and at Johns' 3 Crows. At Allaire they worked in the Neve room. 3 Crows has the Swettenham built console (not a Helios) that used to be at Glyn's farmhouse studio. Both places they used have open floor plans - the console is out in the live room. Medeski, Martin and Wood were at Allaire in the Great Hall working on their own album at the same time - that's John Medeski playing the funky electric piano on Ray's "Three More Days".

Both albums, "Trouble" and "Til The Sun Turns Black" sound like they could've been released decades ago. Excellent songs, performances, and of course - sound. If anyone else knows more, please spill.

Thanks for the info. Anybody else?

[Joe Cole]

A sports talk host here in MTL, Mitch Melnick, has been talking up Ray Lamontagne for some time now. He uses his stuff as lead in and lead out to his segment pretty regularly, letting the track play for over a minute each time. Great stuff.

Funny how a sports talk radio host on AM plays better music then all the regional FM stations combined.

p.s. this host also has dabbled in small show promotion... always in the "no depression" side of the tracks.

[DRC]

Originally Posted by Joe Cole

Funny how a sports talk radio host on AM plays better music then all the regional FM stations combined.

No kidding. I cant even listen to satelite radio.

[WindowSills]

Originally Posted by DRC

Id love to know if any sluts have any dirt on what was used (and how) in the studio? Vocal mic? Console? Anything at all?

If you head here http://www.threecrowsmusic.com/studio.htm and then click on the box that says Ray Lamontagne (it's the only one there) you can cycle through some pics taken during the sessions. They're a little grainy (on purpose I'm sure), but there are a couple of good ones of the drum kit.

[redddog]

Where in NY state is that studio?

[WindowSills]

Originally Posted by redddog

Where in NY state is that studio?

Allaire is in Shokan, NY - the Neve Room, which is where they worked (and where it seems the pics are from) overlooks the Ashokan Reservoir. It's a gorgeous studio check it out.

Johns' Three Crows Studio is in California I think (don't have my TapeOp in front of me at the moment).

[Fast Castle]

And there are two distinct vocal sounds on the album, explained, I guess, by the two studios? Some of the later songs, Lesson Learned, Until the Sun, Can I Stay, have larger vocal sounds, even more "tapey," and with a bit more substance in the mids (as well as all of that felt-like air on top!). The earlier songs are a little thinner and clearer (but still nice).

Check out the difference in volumes on the vocal between, say, Barfly and Can I Stay. The vocal in Can I Stay is WAY louder, and listen to all that tape hiss.

All over I hear sounds that I associate with Neve pres. Not positive.

Anyone wanna conjecture on the vocal mic (s) used? There are times when I think I'm hearing ribbons, but I'm not sure.

[DRC]

Originally Posted by WindowSills

If you head here http://www.threecrowsmusic.com/studio.htm and then click on the box that says Ray Lamontagne (it's the only one there) you can cycle through some pics taken during the sessions. They're a little grainy (on purpose I'm sure), but there are a couple of good ones of the drum kit.

Thats awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[Wiggy Neve Slut]

Trouble is a FANTASTIC album and highilights the fact to me that there are still people out there making awesome music. Great production aesthetics as well.

Wiggy

[w2w]

Ethan Johns is one of the best of todays group of producers.(Gee,wonder where he got that from!!) All his records are a treat to listen to.

[WindowSills]

Originally Posted by Fast Castle

Anyone wanna conjecture on the vocal mic (s) used? There are times when I think I'm hearing ribbons, but I'm not sure.

In the one pic from Johns' website (link posted above) where Johns is playing electric, in the foreground is a chair and what looks to me like a Shure SM7 positioned about where someone's head would be if they were singing. Pure speculation, but it may be that if Ray was singing and playing guitar at the same time, they may have used the SM7 for his vocals on those tracks.

Coincidentally enough, the same day Ray's record came out, Pete Townshend's entire back catalog was re-issued in remastered versions with bonus tracks. The new version of "Rough Mix," the album he did with Ronnie Lane, is now a DualDisc. On the DVD side there are about 50 photos taken during the sessions at Olympic, which were produced by Ethan's dad, Glyn. In a couple of shots, Ronnie & Pete have SM7's in front of them for vocals and U87's (or something similar) for their guitars. There's also some interviews with Glyn & Pete on the album (taken from a documentary on Ronnie Lane) and a 5.1 surround mix by Bob Pridden, and Glyn's original stereo mix in 24/96. All remastered by Townshend's former brother-in-law, Jon Astley - who was actually Glyn's assisstant on the original sessions.

Edited to add: I just checked the site and there are a bunch of new pics - this time some of Ray sitting in a chair and playing/singing. Unfortunately, I still can't make out for sure what the mics are. Maybe someone else can.

[Fast Castle]

Windowsills, just speculating a bit based on those pics you pointed out:

There's a pic there, wide, with no people in it, that looks down on the kit on the right and some acoustics on the left. Notice the mic in the bottom left corner? I think that might be Ray's vocal mic. That position looks roughly like where Ray would be positioned in relation to the room, the drums, and the other stuff. Also it looks like it might be that mic he's singing into where he's sitting with the acoustic... though that pics very shady, and it's hard to tell.

That mic looks like a M49. That also makes sense to me, cause those mics have a strong high end, and are often chosen for female singers, and the highend on Rays voice is very prominent, almost to the expense of the mid range (but not quite... whatever it is, it really works).

Just a guess of course.

Now if someone would tell me what that very distinctive looking mic on his acoustic is. Man the guitars sound good on that album.

[Fast Castle]

Well, wait, the more I stare the more I think you right about that SM7 looking mic. I'm kinda surprised about that, if it's the case.

[john caldwell]

Originally Posted by Fast Castle

...the more I stare the more I think you right about that SM7 looking mic...

That's how I took the 3 images that depict the guitar/vocal station as well. I don't know what's on the guitar, maybe one of those larger end-address Neumann mics?

John-

[blackbox]

In the tape op interview he did a few months back, there are some cool shots of his studio which show very plainly a chair with a sm7 set up as a vocal mic and a u67 quite obviously for an acoustic. Since i consider his work with Ryan Adams and Ray as the shiz-nit for the singer-songwriter/live-in-the-room thing, I gave it a shot. The sm7 is the bees-knees for this stuff. It's very directional so bleed was suprisingly, or I'll say astonishingly, negligible. This lent itself remarkably well to making phase issues, the real sonufabitch when doing vocal and acou gtr stuff, nonexistent. It made it effortless, really. Set it up, hit record. Plus the sm7 gives a really great and usable tone. Of course with the artists and performancers that Ethan Johns works with, it's gonna sound great regardless. You just have to capture it well.

[WindowSills]

Originally Posted by blackbox

In the tape op interview he did a few months back, there are some cool shots of his studio which show very plainly a chair with a sm7 set up as a vocal mic and a u67 quite obviously for an acoustic.

Thanks for reminding me to go look at that TapeOp piece again. I think the acoustic mic in the website pics isn't a U67 though. It's a thin straight body with a round capsule - maybe a Beyer M160?

I also just noticed something unusual (to me) about his drum kit in all the pics I've seen - no crash cymbals - just a ride and a hi-hat. In many of the pics it looks like a Coles 4038 as the overhead in the rack tom/snare zone. Can't quite make out the kick drum mic in TapeOp - and on the web pics it's not seen thanks to some baffles.

[burst]

Originally Posted by WindowSills

I also just noticed something unusual (to me) about his drum kit in all the pics I've seen - no crash cymbals - just a ride and a hi-hat. In many of the pics it looks like a Coles 4038 as the overhead in the rack tom/snare zone. Can't quite make out the kick drum mic in TapeOp - and on the web pics it's not seen thanks to some baffles.

Not only that... but a *double* bass drum pedal?!!! On a LaMontagne project?! That's just odd.

[DRC]

I gotta go and order that back issue of TapeOp. I love that vocal. I wonder if they kept the tracks sung with the SM7? Or did they go back and do overdubs with a LDC?