4 x 'Finished Product' songs recorded mostly with BeesNeez microphones

[anguswoodhead]

Hi there fellow Gear Addicts.
I am always getting asked for clips showing off my BeesNeez mic collection (which is ever growing).
So I thought I would post 4 'finished product' songs for your listening pleasure.
Artist is Tania Netherway from Qld, Australia. (who has kindly given me permission to post her material)

Credits :
Produced by Angus Woodhead
Guitars, Bass, Keys & Percussion recorded at Woodhead Studios, Beerwah, Qld, Australia.
Drums and Lead Vocals recorded at Heliport Studios, Buderim, Qld, Australia.
Backing Vocals recorded at Ossebaar Productions, Childers, Qld, Australia.
Violin & Mandolin recorded at Bloody Dog Studios, Sydney, Australia.
Engineered by Angus Woodhead at Woodhead Studios and Heliport Studios.
Mixed by Angus Woodhead at Woodhead Studios.
Mastered by Leon Zervos at Studios 301, Sydney, Australia.

Lead Vocals by Tania Netherway and her nephew Al
Backing Vocals by Eric Ossebaar
Drums by Marty Smith
Bass by Mark Peric
Electric & Acoustic Guitars by Benjy Pocock
Piano, Organ & Synths by Angus Woodhead
Violin & Mandolin by Marcus Holden
Percussion & Loop programming etc by Angus Woodhead

Mics & Pre's used :
Lead Vocals - BeesNeez Mahalia thru a LaChapelle 992EG with a little Atomic Squeeze Box
Backing Vocals - BeesNeez Sally thru a Warren Huck TC Pre
Bass - DI thru a Rob Squire racked Siemens V72 with a little Retro 176
Electric Guitars - Mahalia thru the V72
Acoustic Guitars - BeesNeez Lulu Fet up close with BeesNeez Tribute 1 a couple of feet back - Rob Squire Neve 283 Pre's - Retro on the T1
Organ - Leslie cabinet with BeesNeez Jade and Mahalia either side - Neve Pre's
Piano - 2 x Lulu Fets over the hammers with Phelicity and T1 as M/S Room Mics - 4 x Neve Pres
Synths - DI'd thru the Neve's
Violin - Carillon Ribbon with Phil Cole Valve Pre
Mando - AKG 414EB thru a UA 6176
Drums -
Kick - Beta 91 plus Yamaha Sub Kick - JLM Audio TG500's
Snare - 57 Top, 441 Bottom - TG500's
Toms - 421's - JLM dual 99v500's
Hats & Ride - close mic'ed with AKG 451's - Dual 99v's
Overheads - Coles 4038's - Vintech X73's
Rooms - M/S pair - Royer 121 (Fig 8) with BN T1 (Cardoid) - La Chapelle 992EG Pre's

Mix :
22 Ch's summed thru my Tascam M700
Mainly UAD2 Plugins
Lexicon software verbs
JLM Audio modded Chameleon Labs 7720 on the 2 Buss

SSL converters in my room
Lynx Aurora's up at Heliport
RME for the BV's and Fiddle / Mando

Sorry - couldn't help putting up an image of me wearing a Gearslut t-shirt sitting at a really nice 'Slutty' piece of gear - LOL

[anguswoodhead]

FYI
Shoot For The Moon has the Piano.
Favourite has the Fiddle & Mando and features the male vocalist Al.
Dreams is looking like being the first single.
Pink Elefants is the title track of the EP and has the Organ with Leslie.

[Dean Roddey]

I listened to Pink Elefants. I'm listening on the crappy bedroom speakers, but it sounds really good to me, mon. Everything seems to be where it should be, and not not where it should be. Nice sounding snare in particular, at least on these speakers.

[anguswoodhead]

Thanks Dean - there has been quite a bit of positive feedback on the drum sounds in general.

I always tend to go with a 57 on snare top - secret is a good drum of course and the JLM Audio TG500 has a nice 'thickness' to it which helps.
I used the UAD SSL channel strip on Sn Top & Bot in the mix - some EQ along with compression and I also used the UAD Precision Limiter to prevent the louder hits from jumping out.

[AfterViewer]

Hey Angus! Listened to "Dreams" and getting ready to listen to "Shoot for the Moon". Very PRO! Great Indie Sound. EXCELLENT! thumbsup

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by AfterViewer

Hey Angus! Listened to "Dreams" and getting ready to listen to "Shoot for the Moon". Very PRO! Great Indie Sound. EXCELLENT! thumbsup

Thanks for the positive comment mate.
The Bass player felt the Bass could have been a little louder - the bottom end was tightened up a bit by Leon in mastering.
Others have loved the vocal sound - especially the BV's.

Actually it's interesting that you say 'Great Indie Sound'....
When I first spoke to Tania and she asked me to 'Produce' her I asked her to play the songs to me - just her singing with an Acc Gtr.
I discussed with her the options that I felt we had based on that initial listen.
It was pretty clear to me from the first few notes that her sound was more of a Folk Rock vibe than a Top 40 Pop sound.
I could have tried to 'mould' her into a 'current' or 'contemporary' sound with sampled drums etc., but I prefer to let the style of the artist dictate direction then contribute 'Production' ideas to enhance that.
She is very happy with the end result and said she wouldn't change a thing.

Some Producers have a 'style' or sound that all there work has. (a generalisation I know)
I try to be a Chameleon and adapt my Producing to fit and enhance the artist - keeping there individuality.
I guess I try to help them 'find there voice' rather than cloning them into what the world is buying right now.
Of course there are times when the artist wants a Top 40 sound and I give them that.

I guess thats the beauty of not having to deal with labels but just deal with Independant 'self financed' artists - no one is telling us what to do.

[Rockshamrover]

All these songs sound great, the singer has a wonderful voice. She reminds me of the singer from Catatonia.

These are real Goldilocks songs, everything is just right

[jeremyglover]

sounds great angus.
i dig the bass and snare in particular but of course it's all about the song isn't it!

jeremy

[a.beck]

Sounds good mate. Those 441s on the toms sure do look like 421s though.

I just received my Arabella a couple days ago, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Looking more forward to it after hearing these.

Also, that's a very interesting choice on the rooms - I'll very often use a M/S pair for room mics, but have never thought to go with LDC/Ribbon combo. Would love to hear a snippet of just those, matrixed to stereo, if you have time and/or feel like posting them up.

Cheers.

[JEvans_AU]

Hey Angus, i'm having a listen to the mp3's now, it sounds great! two thumbs up
I think the magic must be in that beautiful desk
Cheers Jono

[mics]

Originally Posted by JEvans_AU

Hey Angus, i'm having a listen to the mp3's now, it sounds great! two thumbs up
I think the magic must be in that beautiful desk
Cheers Jono

I think that it has to be the T-shirt!!!

Cheers

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by a.beck

Sounds good mate. Those 441s on the toms sure do look like 421s though.

Aaaaaahhh yes you are right.
Typo there - they are of course 421's - original post fixed.
I will post the drum room sound with and without my mix EQ & Compression when I get a chance.

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by Rockshamrover

All these songs sound great, the singer has a wonderful voice. She reminds me of the singer from Catatonia.

These are real Goldilocks songs, everything is just right

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by passivepeter

sounds great angus.
i dig the bass and snare in particular but of course it's all about the song isn't it!

jeremy

True - it can be a temptation to just focus in on certain aspects of the mix (as producers / engineers / studio guys) but I reckon when something is produced just right the listener (even a Gearslut) is magically drawn to the vocalist and content more than individual elements - I hope I have achieved that here.

Originally Posted by JEvans_AU

Hey Angus, i'm having a listen to the mp3's now, it sounds great! two thumbs up
I think the magic must be in that beautiful desk
Cheers Jono

Had to get Warren Huck to tweak a few things - still not fully sorted but definately heading in the right direction.
Thanks again for all your help Jono - legend.

Originally Posted by mics

I think that it has to be the T-shirt!!!

Cheers

Yeah - I couldn't resist - maybe you should start selling BeesNeez T-shirts - that would cause a stir on that other forum - a photo of me wearing one of those holding a fist full of your mics.
Love your work Ben - you da man !!!!!!

[Ugur Dariveren]

Well done Angus. Pretty cool stuff.

[Croaker]

Originally Posted by a.beck

Also, that's a very interesting choice on the rooms - I'll very often use a M/S pair for room mics, but have never thought to go with LDC/Ribbon combo. Would love to hear a snippet of just those, matrixed to stereo, if you have time and/or feel like posting them up.

Cheers.

me too!

Angus, love the drum sound also. Whats the room like. Ceilings height? I am assuming you got most of the sound from the coles in the mix.

Nice recordings.

aloha

[Heartfelt]

Nice work, Angus and the mics sound awesome. It makes me stoked. I will have an order placed on Monday for 2 Lulu's. Those, along with my James wil cover TONS of ground for my projects. I can't wait to see 'em.

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by Croaker

me too!

Angus, love the drum sound also. Whats the room like. Ceilings height? I am assuming you got most of the sound from the coles in the mix.

Nice recordings.

aloha

Thanks mate - hope the LaCh 583 is going ok.

Drum room is 7500 x 4200 x 3200 high.
Actually Al has just extended the floating timber floor the full length and the reverb time of the room has almost doubled.
Sounds awesome.
I'll post some clips asap.

[Croaker]

the 583 was getting lonely so I got him a twin brother

dam now thats a big room. I believe that ceiling is higher than texas stadium roof!

32 feet right? hahahaha

you just cant beat a nice room!!

[anguswoodhead]

Yeah - LOL

What I've posted here is the encoded M/S pair.
BeesNeez Tribute 1 as the Cardoid and Royer 121 as the Fig 8.
Both thru the LaChapelle 992EG.
No EQ or Compression.
Tracked at 24 / 96 with Lynx Auroras.
30 seconds bounced out of Cubase 5.
2 different drummers on 2 different days.

Before clip was done before Al lengthened the wooden floor.
After is after.
The floor was probably 2 thirds of the room but is now the full length.
Fully floating etc done correctly.

Oh - 1 more thing - the drums were setup at opposite ends of the room.

[john caldwell]

Very nice sounds here with excellent clarity, placement balance.

Re-examine lines two & three of Pink Elements for tuning artifacts: "Not EVERYONE knows where you've been...", "it doesn't MATTER...". These are very noticeable and not consistent with the otherwise good work, in my view.

You files appear in general to exhibit lots of mp3 compression artifact - that swirling HF phasing that's readily identifiable. If I'm right, they are 128 KBPS compressions, but the impact seems out of proportion to that. Is there some codec you use that may be suffering? I know that mp3 gets very unfavorable press here on the Forum, but to me 128 usually sounds ballpark OK, with 256 sounding really good most of the time. So I am not a purist in any way when I bring this up, but I definitely identify this sound in your files.

John-

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by john caldwell

Very nice sounds here with excellent clarity, placement balance.

Re-examine lines two & three of Pink Elements for tuning artifacts: "Not EVERYONE knows where you've been...", "it doesn't MATTER...". These are very noticeable and not consistent with the otherwise good work, in my view.

You files appear in general to exhibit lots of mp3 compression artifact - that swirling HF phasing that's readily identifiable. If I'm right, they are 128 KBPS compressions, but the impact seems out of proportion to that. Is there some codec you use that may be suffering? I know that mp3 gets very unfavorable press here on the Forum, but to me 128 usually sounds ballpark OK, with 256 sounding really good most of the time. So I am not a purist in any way when I bring this up, but I definitely identify this sound in your files.

John-

Thanks for your 'constructive criticisms' John.

Firstly they are 128 kB mp3's made from 320 kB mp3's - all I had sorry.
This could be the swirling you are hearing.

Re - the Tuning - have to go back and have a listen - didn't notice at the time.

[john caldwell]

Sure, I hadn't considered the mp3 from an mp3" explanation, but that would do it. Yes, in honesty, the tuning artifacts are quite apparent and unless it's a creative choice to deliberately emphasize them, times being what they are these days, I'd suggest taking another look. The two examples I raised are just that.

John-

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by john caldwell

Sure, I hadn't considered the mp3 from an mp3" explanation, but that would do it. Yes, in honesty, the tuning artifacts are quite apparent and unless it's a creative choice to deliberately emphasize them, times being what they are these days, I'd suggest taking another look. The two examples I raised are just that.

John-

Just had a listen - the EVERYONE is actually the way she has sung it - I remember at the time switching off the Autotune and it was still the same. (now that I think about it I think I even substituted that line from another take to try and improve it).
The MATTER sounds fine to me.
Perhaps some are more attuned to 'artifacts' than others.

I will say in todays music I think Autotune is perhaps applied to liberally - just my opinion.

[flute player]

Very nice recordings and natural overall sound.
You have made me doubt about weather to buy a Phelicity or Mahalia.
The U67-ish sound might be a more versitile one than the C12/251

greetz,

Paul

[chielio72]

Great respect, everything sounds great over here. I admire the way you acheived to make a unified sound, and the musical performance surely helps.

Good job! I hope to achieve this kind of production level too some day ..

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by chielio72

Great respect, everything sounds great over here. I admire the way you acheived to make a unified sound, and the musical performance surely helps.

Good job! I hope to achieve this kind of production level too some day ..

Thanks heaps and welcome to GS BTW. thumbsup

[chielio72]

You're welcome! I enjoy the tracks, they are becoming reference material for me .. thank you very much for sharing this great sounding production! I just noticed there are some digital overs in the tracks .. is this from the mp3 compression? Can I ask how you managed to separate the bassguitar from the kick drum?

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by chielio72

You're welcome! I enjoy the tracks, they are becoming reference material for me .. thank you very much for sharing this great sounding production! I just noticed there are some digital overs in the tracks .. is this from the mp3 compression? Can I ask how you managed to separate the bassguitar from the kick drum?

Thanks - that is a great compliment. thumbsup
pm me your details and I will send you the final wav masters.

Yes - the overs will be from the mp3 conversion.
Leon Zervos did the mastering and he is an extremely accomplished ME - worked for Sterling Sound etc.

Seperating the Bass and Kick..... I've never had real issues with this to be honest.
Just pick which one will dominate the sub area, keep the kick bright and focus the energy of the bass seperate to the drum kit.

Great players with great instruments helps too of course.

[chielio72]

Great players with great sound and a great recording surely helps! Looking forward to the files .. I'll try your tip about the sub and energy.

[anguswoodhead]

Tania has had her EP replicated - looking and sounding good.
We are both very happy with the end result.