7 songs in 11 hours

[lucey]

I record/produce 4 or 5 artists a year and they're always interesting ... friends of friends.

Here's some tracks from an EP we did in a day and a half last week with 17 and 18 yr. olds. The drummer I had recorded previously in my nephews band Pen Cap Chew, when he was 15. This band is called He, Himself.

Drums and guitar were tracked live.

There are a number of reasons to share these, but the thing I want to point out is that band preparation, mics/pre combos and 2" mojo are no joke. These mixes were done in 20 minutes or less.

[wallace]

The electric guitars sound good, were those the R92s, Brian?

[lucey]

Originally Posted by wallace

The electric guitars sound good, were those the R92s, Brian?

yup

Maven Peel Ganesha ->R92->Altec 1567A->tape

[wallace]

Is that the amp with switchable wattage? I liked the punchyness of the guitars on "Brand New" the best. what was the acoutic guitar chain?

[dim light]

Did you touch those green compressors in your rack!? Sounds good man! *Thong's up*

/Cool Mo De

[bcgood]

The "He Himself-Brand New" mix sounds really muddy to me. I don't like the drums, they sound like they where recorded in a closet or something. When bands are really loud like this, (distorted guitars yelling, loud vocals…). I think it would be really cool to separate each instrument by giving it a unique tone. Listen to "Peg" by Steely Dan. Sure it's a totally different style but it illustrates what I mean by separating the individual elements of a mix. Listen to a lot of the Steely stuff and you can pick out each individual instrument so easily. With a punk style I think this would be kind of a cool contrast from the norm and would help make it more "professional" sounding, not to mention it definitely wouldn’t be typical or cliché.

bcgood

[lucey]

Originally Posted by dim light

Did you touch those green compressors in your rack!?

Those are Altec 1567 pre/eq's ... used on the L/R guitars with a touch of HI lift.

The Acoustic was a cheapo Takamine with 2 mics ... Korby 251 at 2' and C42 at 4' I think ... to GTQ2 and TG2 ... can't recall for sure.

The toms had no bottom heads (too po to buy heads!) but it's a fun sound. No 'Peg' here!

There's a touch of Massive Passive on the 2 mix to open it up, as well as the L2M limiter at 3:1 (lots) and then AD -> L2 (mild) -> Hedd192.

[dim light]

Man Kevin showed me another song you recorded and mastered and it was soo nice and I saw those lovelly pictures of your rack - what a place you got man. If I come to the state I would love to check out your place.

[lucey]

Originally Posted by dim light

Man Kevin showed me another song you recorded and mastered and it was soo nice and I saw those lovelly pictures of your rack - what a place you got man. If I come to the state I would love to check out your place.

this one below, by Matt Beckler?

any mastering i can do for you over there, i'm for rent

[Tetness]

Lucey, your stuff sound great!!!

[dim light]

Originally Posted by lucey

this one below, by Matt Beckler?

any mastering i can do for you over there, i'm for rent

Sweet! This song is awesome man, love the room sound and feel. Great vibe!

[Ruphus]

Brian, SOB.

Ruphus

[lucey]

thanks fellas ...


here's a charming love song from a LA group called Slowdeath

(I know the vocal's low ... that's what he wanted.)

[Tetness]

Can I send you something to Master over the internet? Or does it have to be on tape. Because if I can email you a song and paypal you, that would be great. Let me know.

Tetness

[lucey]

Originally Posted by Tetness

Can I send you something to Master over the internet? Or does it have to be on tape. Because if I can email you a song and paypal you, that would be great. Let me know.

Tetness

Absolutely, most mixes come in as files, tape is a rare treat ... FTP and Pay Pal is the way it normally goes. Snail mail works too. Wire transfer is nice ... whatever.

Send me a PM or email blucey@columbus.rr.com

[Tetness]

Great. I just emailed you.

[wallace]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to mastering soon. How loud are you making your masters these days, compared to other recordings? I know you're not into the smashed thing but I need something a little louder than I can get with Pro Tools mixes.

www.yousendit.com is nice for transfering files too. Stefan told me about that.

[RoundBadge]

Pretty tough sounding group of kids..
dig the guitars Brian.. nice n' throaty ggrhh

[eyesore]

Originally Posted by wallace

The electric guitars sound good, were those the R92s, Brian?

I think the ones that come in around 2:30 in "Brand New" sound pretty bad. A cleaner sound there would allow all the notes to be heard better as well as provide some much needed contrast within these songs.

That whole section is pretty sad sounding on the band's end. I usually am not partial to screamed vocals, but just like for bands around here, when the guy starts trying to sing, I wish he'd just start yelling again. I am afraid nobody's gonna be able to sing anymore soon...

The "He Himself-Brand New" mix sounds really muddy to me. I don't like the drums, they sound like they where recorded in a closet or something.

This seemingly overlooked post is what prompted me to first audition that particular song. I tend to somewhat agree with the poster. The drum accents near the beginning of the song don't feel powerful as they should and the kick is not clear throughout the song. The song has no punch.


Also, I think this is the only song I've heard whose waveform looked like a distorted guitar! Yet, because of the problems with the individual parts, it doesn't even seem as hot as it is.

So then I had to go and download another song to give you the benefit of the doubt, but it only gets worse.

The drums are much better in "Edges Burning" but that's about the best thing you can say for it. What is this thing? Is it the result of you recording them messing around between takes? It sure isn't much of a song IMO.

I still hadn't heard an acoustic guitar, so I had to download the third song, and there it was, but again, that was about the best thing this 'song' had goin for it. It's boring both arrangement-wise and just the song itself. The vocalist seems to have trouble fitting all the words in in spots, and there are some bad plosives in the vocal. It's hilarious how it's this laid-back song and he's all out of breath.

The overall mix dynamics were not destroyed in these two songs like in the first one.

There are a number of reasons to share these, but the thing I want to point out is that band preparation, mics/pre combos and 2" mojo are no joke. These mixes were done in 20 minutes or less.

I've been trying to figure out what you meant here. I think you were trying to say that if everyone is prepared, then it makes your job easier? It seems like you also proved that if the material isn't any good or completely developed and ready, there's no point in spending more than 20 minutes on it.

I record 4 or 5 artists a year and they're always interesting ... friends of friends.

I think the moral of the story is: there are better criteria for choosing one's clients when working with so few. But it was 'interesting'!

It also goes to show that quality is more important than speed.

Maybe I'd get a better estimation of your work from the other two additional clips you posted, but I would need to hear the source files to judge that.

Thanks.

[Ruphus]

Why so nasty?
Sure, I´m just a walking audio desaster, but when I´d get my next amped guitars sounding just close to that, I´ll be glad.

Ruphus

[lucey]

The bottom line is that He, Himself did 7 in 11 for under $600 and were thrilled. Slowdeath was 11 songs in 33 hours for $1500, and they were thrilled.

In both cases they wanted it fast and LOUD. 2" tracks with minimal processing help that happen in a tolerable way ... digital basics that are not mastered with analog sweetening would not sounds as nice, especially at these kind of levels and with so little engineeing time on them.

(To the comments on the mastering ... there was no mastering in either case, just wham, bam, thank you ma'am mixes. If you want to hear my mastering, hire a single, or visit the Tetness thread on "Stalker". As for the music criticism, this is not the place for that ... I'm just the engineer.)





Here's something that was a little slower going. 13 songs in 60 hours, mixed from 2" to 1/2" ... and mastered. Full of dynamics.

[Tetness]

Lucey, I'll have your mastered version up on THE STALKER thread real soon. What a difference. Everything is exactly where it should be now, all of those muddy low mids and now tamed, and for the first time, the vocal doesn't annoy me. Thanks again! I will be senging you more songs in the future.

[wallace]

Has Jesse done anything with that album yet?

[lucey]

Originally Posted by Tetness

Lucey, I'll have your mastered version up on THE STALKER thread real soon. What a difference. Everything is exactly where it should be now, all of those muddy low mids and now tamed, and for the first time, the vocal doesn't annoy me. Thanks again! I will be senging you more songs in the future.

thanks for all the press here Tetness

Originally Posted by wallace

Has Jesse done anything with that album yet?

Jesse's record is printed (1000) but he was so busy with his Mom passing away that he was unable to get a label interested. If anyone has a label contact for him please PM me ...

Originally Posted by wallace

Yeah, I'm looking forward to mastering soon. How loud are you making your masters these days, compared to other recordings? I know you're not into the smashed thing but I need something a little louder than I can get with Pro Tools mixes.

Most mastering will always be about loudenss to some extent, I go for loud and good both. So masters that go over -9 or -8 dbfs are rare, and only at the client's request.

I tend to hear things as sweet around -14 to -12 ... or -12 to -10 depending on the material and the quality of tracking and mixing.