OK, Dig This...

[dbbubba]

This is a nearly mastered version of a cut from a project I have been working om with a friend for some time. A few tweaks might still happen before it's done.

I was all cut to blackface ADATs since it was the only real way to ship an entire CD project back and forth across the U.S. when we started in 2000.

Drums cut in my living room
Neve 1073s, Spheres, so-so mics
Dan Wojcieowski on DW drums (he's endorsed by everyone and I don't know what the snare was)

Everything else cut at friend's home studio
UA610, Manley Vox Box, 1176s, Nuemann TLM103, SM57s, RE-20

Transferred back to DP4 and edited.
Mixed through Midas Venice 320, Unltra Harmonizer for DDL, Lexicon 200 (maybe in there?) 1176s, dBx165, dBx160s
Drum ambience is a re-record with playback speakers in my living room recorded stereo in the kitchen and breakfast room.
The vocal double has a bit of old school ATD like Abbey Road stuff.

Mastering chain:
Neve 1073s, GML 8200, Neve 33609

MP3 trashed the sound up even further, but it's a pretty "manic" cut.

Enjoy!

Danny Brown

[Matt Grondin]

I think it sounds pretty damn good... the drums are kickin'... I really dig (and this is rare for me) the extremely distorted vocal part. The only thing it's missing to me is some bass guitar... it doesn't seem excessively bright, and the low end isn't necessarily missing, but the bass guitar to me is nonexistant, and I'm listening with a subwoofer as we speak. Other than that, it's sounds sweet... make me feel confident in my Venice. Good luck.

[dim light]

Yeah damn cool drums - love the vocals the screaming stuff is brilliant -

[dbbubba]

Well, thanks guys!

I'll post a few more of these when I get time.
This is the slamming - est one.

I do worry about the brightness because it was recorded on ADATs, mixed on Genelec 1029s and then we used the GML 8200 and added some "air."
We were monitoring through Tannoy Golds with Mastering Lab crossovers in a fairly tweaked studio.
It all sounded good sitting in Hollywood at 12:00 am!
There were also FIVE pretty experienced pairs of ears that ranged from me (50) to young guns in their 20's.
My real question is if I should make a -3db cut @ 200hz.
It is a bit woofy in that range on some monitors (particularly my older JBL sets.)

The artist is Terry Glaze who was Pantera's oriinal vocalist and front guy for Lord Tracy back in the late '90s. He played and sang it all. I think that on this cut he is using one of the early '80s Pantera Dean guitars through a 18W Marshall. He has an awesome GTR and amp arsenal.
The drums are Dan Wojchieowski who is a '92 (?) UNT grad and presently plays for Olivia Newton John and Andy Timmons. He also toured and played on the later Leann Rimes stuff. He can play any style from big band to this stuff (I made him listen to Stone Temple Pilots before we cut this.) Wojo is the ony drummer I have recorded since 1994! Once he had Kieth Carlock sub for him (Kieth is Sting's drummer.) I have probeby cut over 200 radio/TV production cuts with Wojo. He is the man! We cut ten songs in four hours on this session!

Danny Brown

[dbbubba]

Oh yeah.....

The screaming distorted vocals were from a CASSETTE 8 track demo version!
When we re-cut this piece I always thought back to the original demo vocals.
There are some screaming parts that he said that he couldn't and wouldn't re-do because it hurt his throat a bit!
I thought that it was a good contrast and it follows the schizophrenic mood of the guy relating the little "tale."

The were cut with a cheap mic plugged into a tube Echoplex and straight to the TASCAM 8 track cassete recorder/mixer thing. The echo stuff was all cut live on that fuzzy 8-track recording!

I had to take the cassette track and edit it into sections and slide it around in DP4 and MAKE it fit the track.
The tempos were different by at least 12 bpm and the original wasn't cut to a click.
The fact that it is so "crazed" let me be free-er with the timing.

Danny Brown

[dim light]

((HA!)) damn cool approach man - Thanks for sharing - love reading this

[Andreas G]

Wow Danny,
great mix and a damn cool performance, I really enjoy it!

Originally Posted by dbbubba

My real question is if I should make a -3db cut @ 200hz.
It is a bit woofy in that range on some monitors (particularly my older JBL sets.)

Though my mixing room is mainly diconnected because of rebuilding, I wanted to hear your mix in my room, so I burned a CD, connected the CD-Player with my old Siemens desk and tweaked the eq of a stereo channel until it sounded right to me. I was surprised that the equing was really drastic. I cut the highshelf (fixed at 12K) around 4-6dB (sorry, there is no dB scaling on this old eq) boosted the fixed lowshelf (80Hz) at around 3-5dB, boosted at 4-5K (again no scaling) around 4-5dB. I used also the preamp as the input for tranny saturation. The result was a better presence on vocals and guitars, less fatigable brightness in the topend but still clear and transparent, more meatier fuller lows but still not moody or to much, now the bass is hearable. Overall it has more punch and sounds fatter but still clear. If you 're interested in hearing I can do an improvisational connection to post you a mp3. Just let me know.

Good luck with your final master

Andreas

[dbbubba]

Well, Terry's pretty well pleased with it and there are several different versions of each cut with the high end attenuated to various degrees. So, it's really covered there.

I can still do the -3 @ 200hz cut when it is burned.
It's not like this going to mass release anyways.

The .mp3 conversion in iTunes really makes it spizzy and messes with the low end.

I'll post a more ballad-like cut and you can hear the bass better on it.

Danny Brown

[everybody's x]

you need to sum this through a PM1000 to give it that pro sheen!

I KID I KID!


sounds really good, the 200-300 only gets woofy when everything kicks in at the end, but its not distracting

drums are fantastic

I'm saving that cassette tape trick

[djui5]

Cool song

[lordnielson]

I dig it

[Frugaljr]

Great drum sounds and performance. A bit light on the vocs to my ears, but I don't necessarily listen to the genre much.

[dbbubba]

Well, thanks guys!

I am leaning towards leaving it alone in the 200 hz area now that you guys seem to think it's OK.
It's hard to guage the high end as an .mp3 and I can hear artifacts in the middle break with the crazy Echoplex stuff.
I just wish I could have got that old analog sound for this.
I'll have my Studer A810 up and running soon, but not soon enough.

I spoke with a good friend of mine tonight that I trust who was The Cult's bass player for hire and cut bass tracks for a few dozen late '80s label metal acts who's names I forget now.
He said, "Leave it alone Danny! It sounds like a record!"


You know... the tracks are not that EQ'd except for the kick because I was forced to use one of those goofy-ass EV Ndym mics.
The kick works, but I wish it had more character.
Wojo is also a studio drummer and although he brought a "rock" kit he has learned to get a very consistent drum sound and it is maybe a bit more "controlled."
Then again, the consistancy on his part allowed us to cut ten tracks really quickly.
This is MAYBE the third pass of the song on drums.

I found a picture (not digital) of Wojo cutting the drum tracks in my living room.
It was pretty minimalistic mic'ing!
It looks like a SM57 on the snare and toms with the EV on the kick.
The OHs were SM81s which I'd never have used, but I had no choice.
Never loan your mics out because they'll be out of town whe you need them!
I would hve prefered maybe some AKG 414s.
SM81s, ADATs, 16 bit!!!!!!!
At least they were plugged into pair of Neve 1073s.
I can hear some pre-amp compression on the hard cymbal crashes.
If I was smart I'd have run the OHs through a JoeMeek Twin Vcs because it dulls stuff out BIG TIME when it compresses.
I just hate that unit (it isn't mine to sell) and never thought to use it.

Well, thanks for the compliments.
I'll try to post another from this project.

I am in the middle of archiving my years of DATs and I've found some funny stuff I recorded years ago!
Most is radio/TV production stuff.
I'll post one of those.

Danny Brown

[superburtm]

I dig the mix and the tune

[djui5]

Originally Posted by dbbubba

I am leaning towards leaving it alone in the 200 hz area now that you guys seem to think it's OK.
It's hard to guage the high end as an .mp3 and I can hear artifacts in the middle break with the crazy Echoplex stuff.

It's the high end that bothered me. mp3 or not, it sounds a little bright up there.

The OHs were SM81s which I'd never have used, but I had no choice.

Great mics! I really like em on OH's. Also notable are AT 4047's. (in the budget range)

[dbbubba]

Yeah, this cut is bright!
DAMN GML8200 piece of sh*t!!!!
Do you really need "air" on a 16 bit ADAT recording?
.... ahh. everyone's happy though.
I have some versions that are not as brite.

I use SM81s live all the time, but I prefer a large diaphragm condenser in the studio.
They will work for jazz or C&W though.
They aren't the worst mic for OHs by any stretch though!

DB

[Matt Grondin]

I would still like to hear more bass guitar... that would really make it jam. But that's just my opinion... it's a minor complaint really.

[max cooper]

Yeah, I think the reason the bass feels missing to me is that the kick is damped.

Really good sounding vocal track; I'd bring it up, but that's me.

It's nice to hear a singer who likes to make some racket.