4-track EP I did of a solo artist!

[SMX_Dizzy]

He's a folk/pop artist, and wanted the EP to sound very raw. He didn't want me to do a lot of work, and didn't want it to sound overdone. Not dull per se, but not flashy...he thought every track sounded perfect to what he wanted it to be like, which was great.

For "The Ocean", I mic'd the piano using the MXL 604s, pointing at the hammers at about a 30 degree angle, spaced about a foot and a half apart; one at the lower octave and one at the higher octave. Straight signal, nothing done to the tracks. Personally I thought it didn't sound bright enough, but he felt it was the perfect sound for what he wanted to achieve in the song. I used the Nady RSM-4 for the vocals, brought out the highs a bit more, and put on a little bit of church reverb. I mic'd the mandolin with one 604 about a foot away pointed at where the neck met the body. Straight signal on that track.

For "Providence" I mic'd the acoustic (12-string...very nice!) with one pointed directly at the bridge and the other pointed directly at the 12th fret. Straight signal, nothing done. For the bass, we actually used a Strat and went direct through the V-amp using the tube preamp model, and just put the bass all the way up, treble all the way down, and the mid up a tiny bit. Put some compression on it, and that was it. I did the vocals with the RSM-4 with the same eq, but no reverb. For the drums, I used the Audix i5 on snare, Shure Beta 52 on kick, and the 604's in an XY configuration for the overheads. I used brushes, and put a studio ring on my Chad Smith sig snare. All four of those tracks were straight signal. The crashes didn't come out too much because of the brushes, but lucky for me that's what he wanted. The harmonica was mic'd with the RSM-4, and was straight signal.

In "Brandy's Wine" the piano was mic'd the same way as in "The Ocean", and the acoustic, bass, vocals, harmonica, and drums were all mic'd and processed the same way as in "Providence". I took the studio ring off of the snare for this one, though, and used sticks.

In "35 to 75" everything being played was done the same as the previous two songs. I put the studio ring back on the snare and used sticks.

All in all, I'm really pleased. It came out just like he wanted, which is all I really could've asked for. I know if I would've spent more time on it, I could've gotten it to sound a little better and gotten it to where I liked it, but being perfect to him was more important to me. Achieved that semi-raw folky type sound he was going for. You'll probably notice couple mistakes in a few of the songs, but he didn't wanna go back and re-track, and I feel it made it a bit more personal and "real" in that respect.

So, even though the mixes are final and the EP is pressed, I'd still like opinions. Let me know what you think, what you would've done differently, what you would've tried, etc. I'd appreciate it!

Alec Perkins The Ocean - Putfile.com
Alec Perkins 35 to 75 97 - Putfile.com (Providence)
Alec Perkins Brandys Wine - Putfile.com
Alec Perkins 35 to 75 - Putfile.com