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Gary Numan
Synths & Home Recording
Ade Fenton
Producing Gary Numan
F. Reid Shippen
Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, India.Arie
Matt Chamberlain
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Drums for Bowie, Amos, Brickell
Moses Sumney .c
The Path To Aromanticism
Julien Baker
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Turns Out the Lights in Memphis
Calvin Lauber
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Gear Reviews
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52 The Aesthetics of Remastering Reissues years and the brief few months he spent in the early
‘80s at Stanford’s CCRMA (Center for Computer
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56 Gear Reviews Research in Music and Acoustics) studying under John
74 Larry’s End Rand Chowning, the inventor of FM synthesis (the concept
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told me, “I was in way over my head, but just being
a fly on the wall was pretty awesome.” This got me
thinking about how we really learn the craft of
recording. Most all of my experiences in music began
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with situations that were “over my head.” Learning
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This pic is me in 1983, just before I went to CCRMA, in the Buchla Modular self with talented people will always provide the
studio at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, which was another push that we need.
amazing situation to throw myself into. The small blue box at bottom left is Larry Crane, Editor
a 6800 CPU, and a prototype digital sequencer/DAC I built, that I wrote hex
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machine language code for to control the Buchla. Fun stuff! -JB
The Creative Music Recording Magazine
Editor
Larry Crane
Publisher &Graphic Design
John Baccigaluppi
Online Publisher
Geoff Stanfield
CTO & Digital Director
Anthony Sarti
Production Manager & Gear Reviews Editor
Scott McChane
Gear Geek at Large
Andy Hong
Contributing Writers &Photographers
Cover art by Chris Dauray <duration.consulting>
Zachary Gresham, Nolan Knight, Sam Leathers, Luke Coifait, Roman Sokal,
Genna Webb, Mark Rubel, Jessica Thompson, Johnnty Rego, Matt Hinton,
Heba Kadry, Tom Fine, Ben Bernstein, Alan Tubbs, Ryan Massey, Garrett Haines,
Gus Berry, Tony SanFilippo, and Dana Gumbiner
Editorial and Office Assistants
Jenna Crane (editorial copy editor), Jordan Holmes (reviews copy editor),
Thomas Danner (transcription),
Maria Baker (admin, accounting), Jay Ribadeneyra (online)
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c/o www.halleonard.com
Disclaimer
TAPE OP magazine wants to make clear that the opinions expressed within reviews, letters, and
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articles are not necessarily the opinions of the publishers. Tape Op is intended as a forum to
advance the art of recording, and there are many choices made along that path.
Editorial Office
(For submissions, letters, music for review. Music for review is also
reviewed in the San Rafael office, address below)
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P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033
All unsolicited submissions and letters sent to us become the property of Tape Op.
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Advertising
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916-444-5241, (john@tapeop.com)
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415-420-7273, (marsha@tapeop.com)
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415-601-1446, (kerry@tapeop.com)
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the spines of several magazines that I keep every issue of soundcheck a band and got into the kick drum part, that what you do in the world. Your positive energy and
(The Surfer’s Journal, Saveur) and decided to keep the spine hit a sour note with me. I thought, “What is it with the incredible generosity is sincerely appreciated. I love all
more minimalist as it looked cluttered with the article importance of the kick drum these days?” When touring as things Tape Op. I used to get the hard copy when I lived
a headlining FOH engineer, I would sometimes teach other in the States back in the late ’90s to early 2000s, but I
names. I figured it’s easy to reference articles by searching
<tapeop.com> for the issue number. -JB
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crew persons on the tour who wanted to learn more about avidly keep up with the online version now that I’m over
live sound. I would offer to mix the opening band of the here in Scotland. I recently read an archived column of
After recording our first two albums at Chris Juppier tour package for free, as a learning experience. They would
yours, where you talked about stepping from “hobby to
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Studios in Hillsboro, Missouri, our band, Wanderin Gypsy, felt mix the soundcheck, hands on the console, and I would job.” [“Twenty Years of Learning and Growing,” Tape Op
that we wanted a more personal space to record. Recording hang out, answer questions, and offer suggestions if asked.
#112.] Curiously, after many years writing, as well as
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in a completely black room did the job, but we just weren’t Very often, the new engineer would spend a lot of time onworking with some amazing people recording and touring,
as comfortable as we should have been. I took a big chance, the drum sound, but miss instrument solos or leave the the current shape of the music business means I’m
sold my boat, and invested thousands of dollars into turning vocals unattended and too quiet. I will never know why presently looking at stepping from “job to hobby.” I’m not
our practice room into a studio, buying all of the necessary
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engineers mix the way they do. And, again, that is a pretending it’s an easy pill to swallow, but there’s a lot
gear to start recording in a sound controlled, yet about the industry I never have understood. You may
personal preference and expression all to their own, which
comfortable, environment. This way we can also record at
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I should respect. But I shall strive to do my never be fully aware of it, but it’s people
our own convenience, and when we have all of our tracks for best job and consider the needs of the artists I work like you – of which there are all too few – who make the
our next album, we will then send them off to Chris for the for. Their wishes should supersede what I may think is the
difference to someone like me throwing in the towel,
final mix down. With that being said, I must tell you that I appropriate way to portray their art, as you have letting it all go and becoming a lost, or carrying on for the
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am new to the digital recording world. Even though I’ve only eloquently stated in your response. Thank you, Aaron, andsake of the art. Thanks for being you. I’m sure there are
received two issues of your magazine, I have found each one I look forward to reading more from you in the future. days you don’t see the woods for the trees, but man, keep
of them to be a wealth of knowledge. I know some formal Andrew Worzella <abstractfolk@gmail.com> on keeping on – it’s important.
schooling would probably be a good idea if I had the spare
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in simple terms so I can understand it. Keep up the good [Tape Op #123] that our studio was listed as Mantra MTA are filled with pleasure. I should’ve written in several
work, and thank you for your service. Recording, not Montrose. As you can imagine, we were times expressing my gratitude. Tape Op has inspired me
JD Williams <https://www.wanderingypsy.net> stoked to be in Tape Op, but a little bummed to find out many times, in many ways.
about the miss on the name. Adrian Olsen recorded all of Damian Panitz <soundsrightsound@gmail.com>
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I had already read this interview [Lawrence “Boo” the orchestral arrangements on the latest Foxygen record
Mitchell, Tape Op #120] in the magazine, but to hear your (by Trey Pollard at Spacebomb) via our 1968 Flickinger
voices (Larry and Boo) and laughter [Tape Op Podcast #12] Console. Thanks for doing what you do! Send Letters & Questions
was all the more special! Thanks for putting it out there for us!
Brian Gard <ponderosabadog@gmail.com>
Alexandra Spalding <www.montroserecording.com> to: editor@tapeop.com
10/Tape Op#125/Letters/
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Matt_Chamberlain__________
Perfect_Timing_____________
by_Geoff_Stanfield___________
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Over the last 20 years Matt Chamberlain has contributed to a staggering variety of recordings including David Bowie, Tori Amos,
Frank Ocean, Miranda Lambert, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Fiona Apple, and Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, to name a few.
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Seriously, we’re just scratching the surface! I first met Matt in 2003, when we were studio neighbors in an old warehouse in Seattle’s
SODO district. I would show up to work, stand in the hall listening to him play, and think, “Yep, all the things they say about him are
true.” His space was packed with many drums, noisemakers, and recording gear. I’d seen Matt’s weird kit combinations online, and was
always inspired by his approaching each project with a clean slate, as well as an openness to experimentation. Recently I was working on
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some music with Dave Matthews, and when we needed drums it seemed like a great opportunity to give Matt a call. When I arrived at
Matt’s studio, Cyclops Sound in Van Nuys, California, it was a familiar sight. Loads of drums, noisemakers, pieces of metal to hit,
gongs, and a ton of great recording gear. We chatted during breaks, over a couple of days of tracking, about drums and recording.
People send you sessions to track drums
on here. Has that become the norm
for you?
Luckily, I still get called to play on records in other
studios, but 25 to 30 percent of my work is here. It’s
mainly a producer coming over with an artist –
maybe a bass player – and we’ll track the rhythm
section to what they have in Pro Tools. That’s a lot
of it. When they send me a song and say, “Do your
own thing,” those are actually the hardest, because
nobody’s here to answer questions. I have to get
them on Skype or email, so it takes a little bit longer.
I engineer those, so I’m over by my kit with screen
share. It’s a lot of work, and it takes me out of the
headspace of just playing.
Did you learn engineering by doing it? Or
did you have friends, engineers, and
producers help you along the way?
Both. On sessions, I’m always driving the engineers
crazy, asking them questions. If there’s a sound I’m
really digging, I’m always asking them, “What are you
doing?” Most of what I learned early on was from
working with Jon Brion [Tape Op #18]. He’s such a
gear nut. I learned so much hanging out with him and
talking about gear. Learning the history of “what this
mic does” or this compressor or that mic pre. Over
time, I would think, “I like that drum sound, so I
should buy that piece.” By working with different
people, I learned different things.
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Jon Brion has obviously been able to
marry the gear to the music. Buying a
piece of gear doesn’t mean anything;
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Especially with drums, it’s the source. Whatever the
source sounds like, that’s what it’s going to sound like.
At least that’s what I think when I’m recording with
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people. I try to make the drums sound – to my ears
when I’m sitting behind them – the way that a mic
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backstory here. singer, Ben [Gibbard], had a space over in the Sound specialized type of drum recording that he does. Most
I moved down from Seattle at the end of 2010, and I City complex and has left.” I called, and it was totally people want a stereo image, so they’ll put up stereo
empty; a 1,000 square foot space! I snagged it, and
was looking for a place, because I’d had a studio in overheads and do the kick thing where you have the
Seattle. I tried recording in a couple rehearsal I’ve been here for four years now. inside kick, and the outside kick. I work a lot with Joe
facilities next to speed metal bands, but it didn’t work It was already built out by Ben? Chiccarelli [Tape Op #14], who’s an amazing engineer.
out. I was talking to my buddy, Jason McGerr [drums, Yes. Thank you, Ben! He has all the different options available. He’s done
Mr. Chamberlain/(continued on page 14)/Tape Op#125/13
enough records, where he knows that down the line weren’t hitting as hard back then. With Motown, there home. I put a 57 into it, and I thought, “Wow, okay!
they might want to go for some other sound. If he has are a lot of tracks where the drummers aren’t playing This is interesting to me! How do I get sounds on
multiple room mics, and different perspectives on the cymbals at all, because of the way they were recording recordings that I love from old records?” The way
drums that aren’t just up close or ambient, he can the drums back then. It would destroy the whole track people mic the drums, and the sounds you’re hearing
adjust to whatever gets put on the music later. I’ve if you hit a cymbal. So if you listen to The Supremes’ from them, affect the way that people play together
learned from that. Every single time I record, I’m songs, it’s amazing how it’s all put together, as well as when you’re making a record. So if you have a really
amazed with these guys. I don’t understand what they the sound of it. I guess it’s really mid-rangey. So I’m cool-sounding drum kit, it’ll affect the way that the
do, but it’s incredible to me. interested in, “How do you do that?” Now you can get bass player’s going to play, or the guitar player. But if
It’s often the combination of people in these full-fidelity drum sounds, no problem; but a lot it’s a super hi-fi kit, it’ll also affect them and it won’t
the room that ends up yielding of times you don’t want that. I’m sure you’ve heard be the same. Those kinds of things interest me.
particular results. the isolated tracks for Led Zeppelin. If you listen to Process.
I did a session where Al Schmitt was engineering. He’s John Bonham’s drums, they’re not massive. There’s not Basically the whole idea is treating drums like they were
a legend. He was like, “Come in for a bit. Check it a lot of low-end or insane high-end. They’re mid- an electric guitar. Guitar players can change their
out.” It sounded amazing; it sounded like a beautiful rangey, and they work in the track. Nothing’s really hi- sounds, from verse to chorus to bridge. Why can’t you
acoustic drum kit. I asked him what he was doing, and fi. The Beatles’ recordings are really mid-rangey, but it do that with drums? In the studio, you can do
he said, “Nothing!” Bob Clearmountain’s [Tape Op works. Now we can make everything so extreme, with anything with drums. You can overdub two kits. You
#84] the same way. You ask him what he’s doing, and so much low-end and so much high-end. Are drums can have one drum kit in your left speaker and one
he’s like, “I’m not doing anything!” supposed to take up the entire spectrum? drum kit in your right speaker. You can have them be
Just get out of your own way… Are you a pretty avid listener, a seeker of one mic each, or going through an SVT rig or
Let the drummer do his job, which is to make it sound new music to check out? something. This is what you can do with the
really good. It’s an acoustic instrument. The way you Yes. recordings of this drum kit. Then there’s the pieces of
mic it will obviously affect the sound; but generally, if There’s an infinity of bands and music to the drum kit that you can change out that represent
you’re a drummer who makes your instrument sound check out. We’ll never listen to it all. a bass drum. It could be anything. It could be
good it should be pretty easy. There’s a label in Seattle, Sublime Frequencies. They something that’s a low-end sound, like a Native
What do you think it is about your released all this crazy ‘60s Vietnamese psychedelic American drum.
approach that has kept you working? rock, and North African folk music they recorded on You have such a sonic palette here, in
I don’t know. one of these little stereo handheld recorders. It’s so terms of both microphone preamps,
You do a lot of different kinds of music. amazing. There’s so much music. As far as my interest treatments, and room, as well as an
You’ve played in very diverse in recording sounds and drums, and trying to be part unbelievable variety of drums and
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situations, so you certainly haven’t of different kinds of music, I think the recording part noisemakers.
been pigeonholed. You’re bringing of it is a big thing for me. It’s not just showing up with The great thing about this place is that I have
something else to the table. drums. I love helping engineers out; to go for a sound. everything here. The great thing about doing sessions
I think it’s the way you’re putting it all together, as well If they’re referencing something, it’s exciting to me to
.c that are not here is that I don’t have everything that’s
as how you react to the music. If you’re the kind of try to recreate it. I feel like a musical archaeologist here, and I have to deal with doing something
musician who hears a song, you react to it in a way trying to break a code. “How did they get that drum different. If I go to another studio in town, I might
that might give people more ideas, or you take it out sound?” Even if we don’t get it, it’s fun to try. We end be able to only bring a drum kit with maybe an extra
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of the box. That’s the most common thing I hear from up with something different. Today you and I were bass drum and a couple of little things. We’ve got to
producers, “We wanted you on this session because talking about doing Tom Waits-inspired sounds, and I make it work like that, which is fine. That should
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you’re going to do something different than just was thinking “Wow, how did they do that?” And also, usually work, in most instances. But here I have so
showing up and laying it down.” Sometimes you need what era of Tom Waits? There’s Bone Machine – that much shit. I could easily spend days on one song
to play a simple thing, but a lot of my interest lies in was Tchad Blake [Tape Op #16], with lots of distortion. overdubbing and trying things. I’ve got all the
recording. That’s why I have the studio. I like Tchad Blake was a huge, huge influence on me. I think electronic gear too. I’m a big fan of electronic music.
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recording, I like sounds, and I like performances. I the moment I heard his recordings, it changed my If you’re working on your own music,
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don’t think that some drummers – who are really great whole life, in terms of sound, and what was possible what drives what you’re going to do?
players – are aware of their sound choices. I don’t with drums. Up until then I thought you showed up in I was listening to something this morning on my run
know why. There are a few guys that I know of and I a studio, the engineer mic’d your drums, they sounded that I really liked the groove of. Maybe I want to copy
always wonder, “Why don’t you use different sounds really good, and then you went for performances. that feeling and go from there. The chord changes and
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that are available? There are other snare drum That’s essentially what it is. But I did a session with melody could be totally different, but I like the feeling
sounds!” I don’t know – if, as a session musician, – Tchad Blake once, on a record for this band called Wild of it. Or I’ll be practicing on my drums and think, “Oh,
you can be a specialist and be like Stewart Copeland Colonials. I showed up, and he had a binaural head that’d be cool to record.” I’ll record it, and then I’ll
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and say, “This is my snare drum sound.” I think you microphone for an overhead mic, and these corrugated think, “Oh, shit, I should put some bass on it.” It
have to accommodate the situation if you want to be tubes from Home Depot pointing at the drums, and he happens a lot of different ways. Then I have that live
a part of a lot of different types of music. There are was putting [Shure SM]57s in. Then he had a 57 in looper [Gibson Digital Echoplex]; a lot of times I’ll
some guys who are known for laying it down. They’re front of the kit going into one of those Shure Level- make a loop, record it into Ableton Live, and then
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rock drummers, and they’re badass. Those are the Locs. He said, “Play a bit, then come in and listen.” I later I’ll get back to it, start adding instruments, and
records they do. But I personally love being a part of came in and listened, and it changed my life. It was see if I can make something out of it.
every type of music. I’m a fan of it all. If I could do a like, “What? This is incredible! What the fuck is going Tell me more about the looper you use.
hip-hop record and get my acoustic drums to sound on?” He had the overheads going through [Tech 21] It’s great. I can send MIDI control information to it from
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like a breakbeat; that, to me, is incredible. It’s fun to SansAmps and two [Teletronix] LA-2As, but it was a a drum pad. I can be playing and hit a pad that starts
sit here and be like, “Let’s put some weird-ass mics on binaural head. Then he had the Level-Loc and the the record, and then I’ll hit the other pad that starts
the drums.” If you listen to original Motown records, tubes. It was so cool-sounding. From that moment on, the loop. I don’t even have to try to press a button or
or any of that early-’70s and late-’60s funk, how the I thought, “I need to figure this shit out.” I bought a anything. I can still have my sticks in my hand. So I’ve
hell did drums sound like that? Obviously, drummers little SansAmp, and I had my 4-track cassette player at got control of all the parameters via MIDI. I have it
14/Tape Op#125/Mr. Chamberlain/(continued on page 16)
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pumping through a little PA system in the room with If you’re going to make a country pop record, you’re going production to it? Would you have such a minimal
guitar pedals on the aux sends so I can dub it out, or for a certain thing, which is generally electronic-y approach? That producer, Malay [James Malay Ho], who
distort it, or whatever. I’ll record it direct, or put up a drums. Or, if you’re going to have real drums, they’re does the Frank Ocean production, is an old Seattle-ite.
room mic and record a loop. I just got these SVT amps. going to be overdubbed with the electronic drums. It’ll He’ll do these productions that are so minimal, but
I was thinking it would be fun to put some shit be a hybrid. Or maybe it’ll just be acoustic drums for they’re so beautiful. The bass drum will not just be a
through the SVTs and mic those in the room. certain parts of the song, and electric drums for other bass drum. It’ll be a bass line, but it’ll serve the purpose
Yeah, every drummer needs two 8x10 parts of the song. If you listen to pop music, you’ll of a bass drum and a bass. It’ll change pitch. There will
speaker cabs! What are some of understand that it’s definitely not a performance thing. be no bass on it.
the things that you don’t like when It’s more of a sound design situation. There are the Max Yeah. The use of space in music is often
you go to a session that you see Martins of the world, and those guys who do those pop overlooked.
engineers doing? records. It’s sound design, really. You’re dealing with so Yeah. Or maybe you leave big holes in the music and
It’s funny, because in the past 10 to 15 years many sounds that really define the song, like the synth don’t fill them in with anything, because the sounds
everybody’s become a pretty good engineer. I sound; or the sound of the snare drum, that is maybe a you have are so extreme and they’re interesting to
haven’t had any bad experiences. There were a clap with a snare sample and then an acoustic snare. So listen to. I know I always try to minimize what I put
couple times where I’d come in and listen to the doing a fill into a chorus has to be a hook. It can’t be on a track, but I always end up feeling, “Oh, it needs
drums, and the kit sounded disconnected. In those like, “I did a couple of takes and got this cool vibey [more]!” So I end up filling every sixteenth note with
instances, I figure, “Well, maybe the engineer’s not thing in the chorus we’re going to use.” It’s not that, at something, instead of letting space happen.
going to do anything to the drums right now. Maybe all. It’s a whole other mindset. In that situation, it’s You claim you could never be a
the mixer will fix them later.” But, most of the time, almost like a game. “We’re going to play the game of producer; but you are a producer, in
folks get great drum sounds. I’ve been fortunate. I making this kind of record.” Then you understand the a way. You’re crafting.
can’t think of a time recently where I’ve walked into parameters you’re working in. I couldn’t imagine. When I see my producer friends
the room and was thinking, “Eh, it’s not happening.” In that situation, do you bring a lot of going through the shit they go through… [laughs]
Since everybody has a recording situation in their boxes and drum machines that It’s like you’re a psychiatrist. And plus, I’ve never
house, and since Tape Op came along, people are you’re familiar with to help create worked with vocals or a vocalist. I’ve never comped
more interested in recording now on their own. the sound design? vocals, or tried to get a vocal performance. I don’t
When they record drums, they’re excited. In the late- Yeah, for a lot of it. In Keith’s instance, he is very hands- know how to do that.
’80s and early-’90s I was doing sessions where I on and knows what he wants. A lot of times, we’d The point is that you’ve worked with so
thought, “Man, this sounds horrible.” It was on a reference other artists. There was a Kendrick Lamar many great singers. Somebody that’s
Neve console to tape, with all the good gear on the song he loved at the time. He wanted to do that kind recorded as much as you, with as
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drums. I’d come in, listen back, and think, “What’s of vibe with the drums, where it’s super lo-fi acoustic many great artists as you have, has
wrong with this? Is everything out of phase? What’s drums; but there’s some programming underneath it had a special insight into so many
going on? There’s no vibe to these drums.” I’d walk to make it sound more modern or pop. That, to me, is creative processes.
out in the room, and it would sound great. I didn’t experimental. That’s fun. Let’s put some limited .c But I’m always gone. After I do basic tracks, I don’t get
understand. I didn’t know what to say to an engineer bandwidth mics on the drums where they sound really to see how they put their vocals together. I don’t know
when that was going down. I’d wonder if maybe it mid-rangey and compress the fuck out of them so they what happens. But usually they sound great when
was me. Lots of it is the drummer. If you’re not sound like they were sampled off some shitty old you’re tracking. Maybe they use the tracking vocals and
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tuning your drums right… When I was 21, I didn’t record. Then program a cool 808 snare to go with it. they edit or add a few things. I know some people go
know what the fuck I was doing. I was playing in Then you put them together, and it’s like, “That back, redo everything, and stack harmonies. As far as
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clubs. If I was going into the studio, I would buy sounds pretty cool!” It’s not a drum performance, but producing projects, I don’t know. It would have to be
new drum heads and hope for the best. it’s a cool sound. It’s a studio sound experience, which the right thing. Actually, I figured out that it would
You’ve touched on that, but having pop records are. Hip-hop is like that too. It’s a have to be done in under two weeks. That’s my
your drums sound good and knowing different mindset. I’m not attached to any way of requirement. If I could do a record, finish it in two
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how to hit them makes the doing records. I like doing them. I like good pop weeks, and play drums on it, I would be fine! [laughs]
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engineer’s job a million times easier. records. I like good hip-hop. If I can contribute to the Now that’s all the budgets allow!
Yeah. I thought you were supposed to hit your drums good part of it, it’s all right with me. Yes, perfect timing!
like you do live, where every performance was Yeah. Lately, there are some really good When you’re on the playing side, what
supposed to be raging. It took me a while to figure it pop records that I love listening to. kind of feedback do you like to
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out you can’t do that. It fucks with your time, fucks I think the production is incredible. receive from the people you’re
with your feel. It messes with the sound of your Yeah, sonically it’s amazing. Listen to a working with?
drums, because your cymbals are bleeding in to all the record like The Weeknd, and that That depends. Some people have great demos. There’s
record has some sonics on it that are
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other mics. It makes them sound smaller. really great shit on there, and great drum ideas. But
Right. I think some engineers in the bananas. The record that Tchad some sessions come with a guitar and some singing.
studio feel that they’re not doing their Blake references is Missy Elliott’s Those situations, unless they have a very specific idea,
job unless they put 15 mics on drums. Supa Dupa Fly. I like to search for a bit. If they have specific ideas,
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If you look at the old pictures of James Brown recording I love all that Trent Reznor does. I’ve always been a fan I’ll definitely lay it out for them. But with Pro Tools
sessions, you’ll see something like a [Neumann] U 67 of the way that he takes acoustic drums, and they’re so now, you can throw ideas at the song. If the producer
over the kit, and maybe there was a kick drum mic. fucked up, or they’re super hi-fi; but there’s something keeps track of the playlist, they can try shit later if
Those records sound incredible! wrong with them the way he recorded it, the hybrid of they’re not exactly sure. Usually the process is to play
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We were talking earlier about the Keith electronic and acoustic drums. I love it. It’s genius. I the song down so it sounds good, then get the artist’s
Urban record and how it wasn’t really think that opened up a lot of possibilities. Then real ideas down, and then improvise. Do the most un-
even your drums. What was that minimal songs, like that Lorde record [Pure Heroine] tasteful, over the top shit; because you never know.
experience like? Why do you think that came out a couple years ago. Try to imagine: if How much of that experimental playing
they want that? someone gave you those songs, would you do that ends up on the album?
16/Tape Op#125/Mr. Chamberlain/(continued on page 18)
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Depending on the producer, they might come back and go, “Oh, that one thing. That
became the verse groove.” It’s easy to go back and play the shit that you know has
worked over the years, just from a drum perspective. There are the obvious things
that work. But sometimes people want to go outside the box. They can always go
back to the 2 and 4.
Is there anything you feel you haven’t had the opportunity to
do? Or someone you’d really like to work with that you
haven’t?
Yeah, yeah! There are artists that I’d love to be in a creative situation with. Björk is
up there. I would love to get in room with her, to see what we could do with drums,
percussion, and electronics. That would be really fun. It seems like she’d be really
receptive to working like that, depending on what she’s into at the moment. There
are hip-hop producers I love. But with hip-hop, there’s [generally] no need for
acoustic drums. They might take a loop of something to make it sound like it came
off a record. Malay lets me do my live looping through a PA. I’ll start dubbing it out;
he records all of it, and he’ll use it as a loop library. If he’s writing with somebody,
he’ll take a little bit of it and I’ll get a writing credit, which is cool. I love
experimental electronic music. I love improvisational music, like jazz. I love
songwriting. There’s so much music to dig. Then there’s so much from other
countries. All the amazing drumming, cool grooves, and textures from Africa. I love
Northern African music, like Moroccan and Persian music.
You hear it coming through in what you play. You can
hear the influence of things that’ve managed to
weave their way in.
When I was living in Seattle and I had Critters Buggin going, we did a US tour with a
Moroccan group, The Master Musicians of Jajouka. They’d play a little bit, we’d play a
little bit, and then we’d all play together, and it was improvisational. In my mind, I
played with them to their kind of feels. I still don’t think I totally understand; it’s not
perfect. In the U.S. and the Western world, grooves are so rigid and perfect. But in
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Cuban music, African music, Northern African music, and Brazilian music, everything
is between a triplet and a sixteenth note feel. Everything is in between what we play
over here. A lot of that music is interesting, because it’s from different cultures that
aren’t from America or Europe. They have the weird, lopsided shit going on. The
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tonality too; it’s obviously not A 440 [tuning], and it’s not a normal scale. It’s not
even tempered 12 note. There are a lot more notes to their octave. Like Indian
classical music; I love listening to Zakir Hussain play tabla and I try to incorporate
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that into my drum kit playing. It’s fun to put on those records – like Fela Kuti; or
traditional African drumming, like Burundi drummers – and to play along to at least
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figure out the feel of it. Not necessarily exactly what they’re doing, but at least to
understand. Those Tinariwen records are the same. It is so bad ass; it’s so funky. You
get stank face the whole time you’re playing. How did these guys get so funky?
And there are no drums! There’s a gourd, and there’s a kick.
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Yeah, there’s just a big gourd and sticks. The guitar tones are so gnarly. It’s like blues
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music. It’s so bad ass. I remember discovering Tinariwen at Wall of Sound Records
[Seattle]. I started doing that in college. I remember when I discovered Ravi
Shankar. It’s like, “This jazz program is making me nuts. I need to listen to some
other music.” I would always listen to it and think, “This is like freedom to me. All
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these different cultures, they have this music they make that means more.” It means
more than Western music, which is generally about selling records, or partying, or
getting laid. [laughter]
It’s tied to the culture, and to religions.
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Yeah, and to ceremonies. It’s a tradition. They have traditions of music in all these
cultures. So it feels like it means more. Like with those Jajouka guys, they were
telling me they have songs for when women give birth, songs for when people get
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married. The whole culture knows these songs. They’ve been around forever. It’s like
all of the Alan Lomax field recordings. Or like a Daniel Johnston record; it sounds
like he recorded it on his boombox! The performances are amazing. I’m gonna sell
all my shit and overcome my gear problem! [laughter] r
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<www.mattchamberlain.com>
Julien Baker
Accomplish the Most with the Least
by Zachary Gresham
photo by Nolan Knight
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Turn Out the Lights is really beautiful. repairing guitars.” I went to school to learn that,
Oh, thank you! systems optimization, and building stages at festivals.
I find it difficult to disconnect from it But because we were all in the same program – all of
emotionally for a while after I’ve my friends who were wearing their headphones
turned it off, which is the sign of a around their neck and mixing at the campus Starbucks
quality record. – those were the people who would say, “Hey, I have
That means a lot to hear. Thank you. some extra studio time. Do you want to come in and
You made it at Ardent in Memphis, but record?” I think that it is important to keep yourself
you did your previous album, open to opportunities to gain experience.
Sprained Ankle, at a studio in You’ve got to get in there.
Virginia, right? Hands-on experience taught me so much. I took so many
Yeah. Spacebomb Studios. Most of the songs on Sprained classes on systems optimization, signal flow, and live
Ankle were recorded at Spacebomb, but there are two sound mixing. But what taught me how to find my
on there (two with percussion, “Vessels” and “Brittle way in a live sound setting was doing sound for bands
Boned”) that were recorded at Cody Landers’ house. at venues. What taught me how to act, how to
He’s an incredible engineer. vocalize what I wanted, or the protocol inside a
Were you recording yourself before recording studio, was being able to spend that time.
that? I think that’s a good thing that MTSU gives you. There
When I was in high school, the band I was in [The Star are resources on hand to take the theoretical
Killers, later known as Forrister] put out a full-length knowledge from the classroom and apply it in a real
[American Blues] album that we recorded entirely in setting. Otherwise, I couldn’t have gotten to meet
Cody Landers’ attic. We were all kids, and he took on [engineer Michael] Hegner and do the first demos of
this project because we were his friends. It was a labor what would eventually become Sprained Ankle. He was
of love, as well as a learning experience. We had no idea sitting in the library and asked, “Does anybody have
what to ask for and what sounded good. It’s funny, a song they want to do? I’ve got a session in 30
looking back now on what we were trying to emulate. minutes and no one to fill it.” I was like, “Yeah.”
What were you trying to emulate? Of course, you had to put the time into
Well, Matthew [Gilliam] – the drummer and one of my having a song.
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closest friends – our biggest influences are probably I didn’t think about that. Writing is always a compulsory
Manchester Orchestra and Circa Survive. We wanted to thing, so I always have literally hundreds of voice
sound big, bombastic, and theatrical, but with sinewy, memos.
reverb-y guitars. The other guitarist listened to Wilco,
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Guster, and folk-adult-rock. It ended up sounding half voice memos on the phone?
like Whiskeytown and half like Sunny Day Real Estate. That’s how I make the very first part; the writing process.
Those are mixed very, very differently. Also, and this If there’s an idea while I’m playing guitar that I think
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is true with youth, is that everything is more is worthy of being explored, then I’ll make a short
exaggerated. You want things as more drastic, colorful little 1-minute voice demo and save it as “cool riff
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caricatures of themselves. I always wanted a 30- 85,” or whatever. Then later it will be fleshed out as
second reverb tail on my vocals. The guitars had to be a song with placeholder lyrics. I finally took the
super loud. Matthew had the biggest snare that was plunge and got a real DAW. I use Logic now and I do
sold at the local music store, because everything had those little MIDI things for keyboards. I can plug
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to be so powerful. A better way to put it is that it straight into a little one-input interface and have my
actual guitar sounds from my pedalboard. Before that,
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automation works, why you track drums first, or why It’s a great program for cutting up
you don’t want to put a whole bunch of reverb on the samples.
drum kit, even though it sounds cool as an idea. Yeah. It’s really limited. I guess that’s how you learn. I
You went to MTSU to study recording? was also using a Toshiba computer from 2006,
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I did. I went to MTSU because they had a really notable because I held off for so long, saying, “I’m not going
and reputable recording industry program, but my to buy a computer. This one works fine.” It’s so hard
thing was always live sound. There’s an audio for me to give in and upgrade my gear, because I get
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engineering major, and within that you can specialize used to working within the parameters I’ve become
in recording arts or live sound. I don’t have the familiar with.
meticulous drive to pick apart a waveform in a DAW. I From that perspective, let’s talk about
make my own demos, but they’re simply for mapping going to Ardent Studios. Listening to
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out songs. I can’t sit there and master forever. When the record for the first time, I kept
I was a kid I learned how to use a PA, and then they waiting for the gigantic production
would let me run the console at shows. I thought, to kick in. Almost all the songs have a
“Well, I could do that. I know how to do simple moment where I thought, “Here it
circuits, so maybe I could work at a repair shop comes.” But it never does.
Ms. Baker/(continued on page 22)/Tape Op#125/21
It’s really interesting to me that you say that. I felt With these songs, I sat down with a spiral like; but I think everybody plays them so hot and
self-conscious in the opposite way. I thought, [notebook] and mapped them out. I thought, “This bright, because that’s the Nashville sound. I
“There’re eight vocal tracks and strings, and my song is tedious. What small embellishment can I thought of Telecasters as country music guitars
buddy’s playing clarinet. This is so much.” By add that will change the song enough to re-focus until I saw Now, Now and Circa Survive on tour.
comparison, it’s much more expansive than Sprained the listener’s interest, without detracting or Both the guitarists were playing Telecasters. I was
Ankle. I was worried. I had this oxymoronic fear that obscuring the totality of the song?” One of the best like, “What is happening? How are you guys getting
it would be too similar to my past material and also pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten was from Josh this sound out of a Telecaster?” Then I used my next
too different, but not in the right ways. I wanted to Scogin [of bands The Chariot and ’68]. We were at paycheck to buy a Mexican Tele. I love it.
have it be very dramatic – and have the parts that a show, and we were talking about how The Were you using Fender amps already?
seem like soaring ballad climaxes – because I’m a Chariot’s records are so interesting. They’ll have Yeah. The first amp that I used was this Vox digital
sucker for that kind of dynamic. I think it’s very this incredibly heavy breakdown, but it’ll be free combo that was bad news. Well, it wasn’t bad
emotive. But I also wanted to be careful that I didn’t with no time signature at all. Or the song will news, because I think those amps that have the
take so much of a maximalist approach that I completely stop and then something from Atlanta effects built-in are good for learning. I wasn’t
weighed the song down, or it got to this critical AM radio will play, and then the song will pick back playing big shows, so why would I need a $700
mass where there’s too much going on. up. “How do you know to do that? Is it just a amp? The first real amp I bought was the Fender I
That’s an incredibly mature perspective. novelty, or what?” Josh said, “I think you have to replaced the speakers in. I had it for a really long
I don’t mean this because you’re think of what will make people back up the track time. Then I bought the 1x12 on tour when the
a younger person, but just in because they missed a thing.” You don’t want to tubes of my other amp broke, and now I play
general. There are people who never make a song that goes on in a predictable fashion through stereo amps. It’s interesting that the idea
get there. without introducing new elements. to do that never occurred to me, even though I
Thank you. I’m going to acknowledge your compliment; You got an incredible guitar sound on had two amps on hand. Even on Sprained Ankle, I
I didn’t take it as a thing about my age. But I agree. the record. You tour with a [Fender] played through one amp.
I think that restraint is such an important skill in Twin and Deluxe, right? You use so much reverb and delay, it’s
music. For a long time when I was playing guitar in Yes. We recorded a lot of Turn Out the Lights on my little perfect for what you’re doing.
a band – and I think this had a lot to do with my 1x12 Deluxe, but I also have a 2x12 Blues Deluxe Sometimes we’ll be at a festival and I’ll play through
insecurities about being a female in a male- that I took the speakers out of and replaced with one amp. The way that my looping system is totally
dominated scene – but every time we played a show, Warehouse guitar speakers called Veteran 30s. I got jury-rigged, I can use it into the first and second
I had to rip a crazy solo so that everybody knew I was the higher-wattage option because there’s way more channels on a Fender amp.
“good.” Still, one of my primary lurking fears about gain room before it breaks up. My one gripe about It’s a wonderful, underused feature,
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performing the material that I have today is that if I Fender amps is that they break up too soon. having the two channels on those
have a song that’s three chords of quarter notes, By design. A lot of people want blues. amps.
everybody’s going to be bored and put to sleep. But Exactly. I get it. With the Twin, it’s fine. It’s a really It is. So much of my musical knowledge is very de facto
that’s the challenge. Restraint is such an important sparkly break up. The Deluxe amps, I like the.c and functional, and it doesn’t result in a logical
thing. Just because you have every single color in warmness of them. But when you start to break up understanding of the mechanisms I’m using. On my
your palette doesn’t mean that every Deluxe, there’re two input jacks. I’d say, “Oh, I always
single color serves the painting. I think plug into input 2 because it sounds different, and I
“This land of words like discipline,
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there are artists where the maximalist like that sound.” I didn’t know until October of 2017
approach serves them well. When you motivation, and obsession are all that one of them is high gain and one of them is
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think about a Bruce Springsteen lower gain. I had no idea. It sounded different. Now
record, like Born to Run. Or have you
fluidly bound.” I have two A-B-C-Y splitters on my board; I send out
listened to Kimbra? from those two channels a dry channel and a reverb
Yeah. A lot going on there. such a warm, midrange-y amp, it gets fuzzy really channel on one amp, and then yet a third reverb
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Or St. Vincent. There are so many sounds; it’s insane. quickly. I really like those speakers in that amp. I channel into a different amp.
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But I think the challenge with my music is figuring use so many of my instruments partly because they Is the reverb channel 100 percent
out how to make it interesting while still leaving it sound the way I want them to, but also partly saturated?
pretty sparse. It’s an interesting interplay. How many because it took so much work for me to get them to It’s all the way on, all the time. The dry channel is there
points of dynamic can you introduce into the song, sound the way they do that maybe my goal and my in case the two stereo outs of my looper go off,
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as subtly as possible? ability met in the middle. Especially with the because I’m paranoid about my loop breaking and
Do you go into recording feeling like wiring. I have a [Fender] Telecaster that I modded, there being no safety net for me to play through. I
you’re going to do what you do live, and it took so long for me to figure that out when was not always that wise. I have been brought low
but with a little extra?
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I was 18, trying to read a circuit diagram on how to by humiliation, the great teacher. Now I have one
There was this reciprocal relationship between the live get your pickups to go in series or parallel, and add fail-safe channel. The rest of my loops come out on
and the recorded for this record. Another thing I that little option with the 4-switcher. Once I finally different outputs.
wanted was not to say, “I don’t know how I’m going did it, I was like, “This is what I want, for sure.” Do you use the amp reverb?
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to pull this off live, so I’m not going to explore this Whether or not it was what I was going for, I was I used to have it pulled up to quarter to two almost
possibility.” Now I do the weird play-guitar-and- so committed to doing it. all the time, but now I like the flat character of the
piano-at-the-same-time. I decided if I wanted to Do you go back and forth between series amp enough, and I have three or four different
have clarinet in there, then it’d be worth it to add and parallel? reverbs. The Strymon blueSky is always on. I forget
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clarinet. I think I was a lot more particular about the No. I have the blue guitar, it’s a Mexican-made Tele, that I have it on my board, because it stays on. It’s
instrumentation on this record because I knew that and then I have an American Tele, which is the the staple of my tone.
it would be received in a different way. With Sprained butterscotch one. I leave it on series all the time. I read that you used a [Neumann] U 67
Ankle, I was recording the songs as they had formed You have to put aftermarket pickups in Fender for recording your voice. Is that right?
in my free time, using my looping pedal or whatever. guitars. The Telecaster has the plucky clarity that I Yeah.
22/Tape Op#125/Ms. Baker/(continued on page 24)
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Did you do a shootout, or did you know going in you wanted a
67?
We tried out that mic because Calvin [Lauber, engineer for Turn Out the Lights]
Calvin Lauber
Recording Julien Baker
suggested it. On Sprained Ankle, I recorded part of it on a [Shure] SM7B. We used by Zachary Gresham
a couple of different microphones on that one. I don’t remember what the other
one was. With the Neumann, I’m very reluctant to use mics with so much crispness, You came up over and
Sam Leathers
because I think my voice has a tendency to get really nitty and bland. over again in the
I respectfully disagree, but go on. interview that we did
Well, okay. Maybe I’m hyper-critical of my voice. But that vocal mic sounded really with Julien.
nice, especially in the room. Once we started tracking with that, I was like, “Yeah, Julien and I grew up together
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I’m really, really happy with this vocal sound.” It’s an incredible microphone. It playing music. I had done
sounds like it’s capturing what’s happening to your ears with intense clarity. demos with her, prior to
Whenever I make my little Logic demos, I go in there and notch out 2.5 to 3 kHz, working at Ardent. We were
because it sounds really annoying. When I started singing in a band, I wanted the working out of another studio
vocals to be pushed all the way to the back and ‘verbed out. I was self-conscious called The Grove. I was her
about my voice. I never really wanted to be a singer. I wanted to play guitar. Then engineer at Ardent as well.
our first show came up, and we didn’t have a lead singer, so I said, “I’ll sing until Where’s The Grove?
we find a singer.” Then I became the singer. Every single time we performed live, The Grove is out in the suburbs
someone would say, “That was really good. You should sing louder!” of Memphis. It’s a smaller studio. Julien was living out in the suburbs at the time, so
Did you try to change the way you sing? we would meet out there and cut ideas for the record. We probably cut 20 or 25 songs
By the time The Star Killers had been a band for a while, I would do the shouty scream over the course of the six months leading up to the Ardent session.
thing. But then that became a gimmick of my voice. It was atonal. It was less about Did you know they were demos that you were making?
the pitch and more about the intensity and having the gang vocals part where At first. Then, as we were building them, the idea grew that they were already coming
everybody sings along. It took touring for a while as a solo musician for me to together more than we’d anticipated. A few of those tracks from the demoing process
become completely comfortable with my voice as an instrument. That was also actually made it onto the final album, mostly guitar tracks. I know on “Happy to Be
Here,” those were the guitar tracks from the demo.
“What I think you glean from those is not that it was better What credits do you have, aside from this?
in the past, and we should only record to tape, and only Primarily I’m a local engineer in Memphis. Julien would be my biggest credit.
use old vintage equipment. I think the process is that you Do you work at Ardent often?
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should be able to accomplish the most with the least.” Yeah, I’ve done a lot of engineering there in the past. A year ago I took a gig as the
probably because I still smoked at the time we recorded Sprained Ankle. Singing was head engineer at a studio in town called Young Avenue Sound. Since doing the Julien
really taxing on my voice. When I had not smoked for a little over a week, the way record, I’ve had an influx of local people wanting to work with me, which has been
that my vocal control and the timbre of my voice changed was amazing. I thought, awesome.
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“This cannot be real.” That made me much more confident, and it made me take Because Turn Out the Lights is so sparse, I feel like we can
singing seriously. My voice was no longer just a vehicle for poetry that I was using probably get a pretty encompassing look at what you did, if
to “Leonard Cohen” out my lyrics. I think that’s also what made recording this you don’t mind.
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record a lot different. I was more ambitious with what I could do. It was a very simple set up, as far as signal chain goes. For vocals, it was a vintage
How long did you have at Ardent Studios? [Neumann] U 67 into a Spectra Sonics preamp that was pulled from the original
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I booked out six days, intentionally. We ended up staying there 12 hours a day. Time console at Stax. We ran into that pre with a [Urei]1176 compressor. That was her
flies when you’re in the studio, because it’s fun, and exciting, and interesting. I chain for all the vocals.
think I limited it that way because of that fear of overproducing the record. If I Did you print to tape, or go straight to digital?
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gave myself too much time, I would fall into a paralysis of option anxiety. In Straight to digital. For guitars, we had a [Shure SM]57, and I had a Neumann M 249
hindsight it might have been good to have a deadline, but also take a rest. Record around three-feet away from her guitar cab. We were running Spectra Sonics pres on
@g
for a week, take a month off, let the tracks sit, and then come back with fresh ears. her guitar as well. Then strings were on the Neumann M 249, and we ran that through
Maybe I was over-restrained, like I was overcompensating for my fear of the Neve VR pres. At Ardent, we had the Neve VR console, so we used those pres for
overproducing. a lot of the auxiliary instrumentation. They sound great – I love that console. I think
It sounds like discipline is a huge part of your whole process.
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we cut a few auxiliary guitar parts through the Neve, but the primary guitar parts
Oh, definitely. I talk about this with so many of my friends in music. This land of words were through the Spectras.
like discipline, motivation, and obsession are all fluidly bound. For any of the players All the guitar was just the Neumann and the 57?
on the record, like Cam [Boucher] from Sorority Noise, or Camille [Faulkner], who tours That was the main guitar sound. We cut everything in the live room of Ardent Studio
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with me, the way that those people interact with music is almost obsessive, but in a A; I had Earthworks mics set up in the room for the grand piano. We used PZM mics
way that drives them to be the most optimal players they can be. Not in a competitive for close mics for the piano, and then the Earthworks as the far left and right piano
way. I really don’t think that trying to be the best you can be means that you have sound. We used those same room mics to capture some of the guitar. There was guitar
to be obsessed with being the best musician out there, or being superior. bleed in some of those, as well as her vocal. We purposefully used the room vocal
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It’s its own reward. sound underneath her close vocal on some parts.
Exactly. I think the fact you say that discipline is a huge part of the record is because Was she doing guitar first to a click, or were you doing live
maybe it wasn’t that I had to apply an effort to sit down and map out the songs takes?
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in a spiral notebook, or think about them and listen to them over, and over again. We did it differently on different songs. I wish I could tell you the exact song, but I
It’s what preoccupies my mind all the time, so the only way to abate the anxiety of know there was at least one where we cut guitar and vocals together. But the majority
creating is to be engaged with it. But, at the same time, that’s why I only wanted of it was cutting a guitar to a click, and then going out and tracking the vocals after
to book out six days. It’s really important to get a great raw sound. We did a lot of the fact.
setting levels for what would basically be how the record sounded. That’s the advantage to doing demos first. You already know
exactly how the song goes when you get in there.
24/Tape Op#125/Ms. Baker/(continued on page 26)
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It’s a huge advantage not to “fix it in post.” Like I said, we’d worked closely on it for a while, so Were you surprised by what Craig
Exactly! Get it right the first time. This thing that Calvin and I by the time we got to Ardent it was a pretty exact Silvey sent back?
would say to each other all the time is, “It’s worth it.” When I process. We knew what BPM we were working Yes and no. Yes, in that I think that Craig killed it and
would record a vocal track and it was almost what I wanted, and with, and we knew where the verses and choruses it sounds really great. I love the mixes, absolutely;
I felt I could live with it, we could nudge a note, or we could were. We could move on to making the sonics but no in the sense that I think Julien and I had
comp it. But I had the time. I’m not flying out to L.A. to do a sound good. calculated the songs and the pre-mix so much that
two-hour recording session and we have to comp it. We had the She said your mantra was, “It’s worth Craig didn’t try to diverge from that at all. He really
time to get it right, and it’s worth it. We ended up tracking a it,” in terms of getting the right just amplified the vision that Julien and I had sent
whole bunch of weird piano, guitar, and keyboard tracks that sound and take instead of trying to him, which I thought was awesome. It was cool to
didn’t make it on the record. But what if it had been awesome? fix it later. get it back and hear this really great version of the
It’s worth it. When you start with good ingredients and you do That’s my sentiment working with anyone, but quick mixes that we had put together. I can’t
less work on the back-end to try to wrangle it into sounding especially someone as talented as Julien. Just complain at all about what Craig did.
good, it’s so much easier. And it sounds very pure and more knowing the potential that’s in her all the time. Did I mention how great the guitar
organic, because I think you can tell when a song has had to Whenever we’re recording, I know she has the tone is?
be manipulated. perfect take probably a take away. Thank you. I think a big part of that was a healthy
You can. It’s almost never going to be as good as When she told Matador Records that dose of reverb and effects from her pedalboard, but
it would have been. she wanted to use her childhood also a mixture of close mics, the Earthworks mics,
Exactly. There are so many great records that are tracked live. That’s friend to engineer the record at and something I haven’t clued a lot of people into
how recording used to be. Now I’m going to sound like one of Ardent, did they push back at all? that we did with her sound. It’s fairly obvious, if
those people who thinks that antiquated methods of recording They didn’t push back. As far as I know, they trusted you listen to it, that we used her Neumann vocal
are the only way and swears by tape only. No, there are amazing her judgment. It was intimidating for me, as a local mic too. I had it recording at all times. It picks up
things we can use Pro Tools for. But I think the ethos of old- engineer. Matador’s A&R flew out and checked out the close string sound of her electric guitar. We
school recording is getting a great live sound. I watched a the record right after we cut it. We got a great both found that blending that in a bit, the dry
documentary about Tom Dowd [Tom Dowd & The Language of reception from them, and they were really nice strumming of her electric guitar, added a lot to the
Music]. He plays the faders like a keyboard. It’s so cool. Whenever through the whole process. Then I did some total picture of her guitar sound.
I watch those documentaries, I’m amazed at that process, reference mixes with Julien; we sent those You can really hear it on a couple of
because it’s happening to those people in real time; it’s just their references to Craig Silvey, and he ended up doing tracks.
job. They have this very colloquial relationship with the music. the final mix. Yeah. I think it’s important when it’s just a vocal and
Chilling out with Aretha Franklin and not knowing that it would What did you send him? Pro Tools guitar to have multiple perspectives.
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change history. What I think you glean from those is not that it sessions? She was doing the guitar takes from
was better in the past, and we should only record to tape, and Yes. I sent him Pro Tools sessions with the plug-ins, behind the vocal mic, even though
only use old vintage equipment. I think the process is that you automation, and everything. Julien and I had built she wasn’t singing?
should be able to accomplish the most with the least. You should up certain ideas about where reverb should be on She was doing the guitar takes from within a few feet
.c
know how to utilize a room, or you should know when it’s certain vocal lines and when a delay should of the vocal mic, but she wasn’t singing. We had it
enough. I think sometimes the necessity of having only four randomly kick in and such. engaged all the time. The recording was very
tracks, or having only eight channels, or what have you, makes It’s really noticeable, in the calculated for how little is going on. At the end of
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you be more discerning. The options aren’t endless. The time is headphones especially, where the the day, we had probably five mics on the guitar. I
not endless. You make a leaner, refined version. reverbs abruptly begin and end. don’t know if all five were used in the final mix,
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Craig Silvey mixed Turn Out the Lights? There are these moments where it feels like she’s but it was the idea that there’s only going to be
Yeah. We had a mixing day with Calvin; then he and I shot some right in your face singing, then she takes it to one guitar playing, so let’s make sure that we
mixes back and forth. I had very specific things I wanted out another planet and it’s far away. Her whole thing capture several perspectives.
of the mix. It was really observable what Craig changed, but he was tying that in with the lyrics. I thought that Turn Out the Lights sounds like a
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didn’t necessarily remove or add anything. I was amazed at how was really interesting. big, produced band record, but
@g
much he was able to add to the tracks. I think the people we I was terrified on almost every song without the band. That’s an
involved on the record were all ones we wanted to use, either that gigantic bass and drums were interesting twist.
because of their prior work, or our prior history with them, going to kick in at the climaxes. Yeah, totally. I’m glad you think so. I think the same.
indicated that they know how to be tasteful. Especially with Yep. I love working with Julien. She’s absolutely killing
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Craig Silvey. I knew a few of the notable records that he had Did that ever come up as a possibility? it. I’m so proud of her. r
done, like Arcade Fire, but when I started to look at the breadth It really didn’t. Julien is massive on her own. She picks
<https://www.facebook.com/calvinlauberaudio>
of the work he had been a part of, it was amazing. up a guitar; with the effects she uses and the way she
Zachary Gresham leads and records The Mute Group in
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Did you choose Craig, or did Matador say they controls her voice, the power of a full band is in this
Nashville, TN <www.themutegroup.com @themutegroup>
wanted him? five-foot girl alone. There was a B-side cut that had a
Thanks to Ted Matsumura for instigating this interview.
Matador brought the idea. I was reluctant because I wanted the drum part that didn’t make it to the record, but that
least tampering. They said, “We have this guy we think you’d was the only song we experimented with drums on. Tape Op is made
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really like. Give it a chance.” I’ll give anything a chance; but if On every other song, I honestly don’t even think we possible by our
I didn’t like it, I was ready to say, “No.” We sent a test mix, and considered it. advertisers.
when I got it back, I was like, “We should have the record mixed Were you doing takes all the way Please support them and tell them
through the sixth day, or were you you saw their ad in Tape Op.
st
om
consider Moses Sumney your guide through
the stillness. A relative newcomer to the scene,
his live shows in Los Angeles attracted an .c
impressive list of fans from the music elite.
He has performed with, and alongside, artists
such as Beck, James Blake, Dave Sitek
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(TV On The Radio), Solange, Erykah Badu,
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by Geoff Stanfield
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big fan of lo-fi, unprofessional recordings. On a whim, On Aromatacism you worked with Matt the early 4-track work made me obsessed with that
I decided to put it out as a free download. Because I Otto, Joshua Willing, and Ben Baptie. process, and with the graininess of tape.
was meeting producers at the same time I was making How was that to work with people and Were you bouncing all the tracks,
those 4-track recordings, there was a lot I started trust them with what they did? .c or were the mixes to tape? Or were
making for the album way before that first EP came out. Working with those people who ended up on the record you talking about limiting yourself
I always had the idea, or vision, of the album in my was amazing. All of them. I had a wonderful process. to tracks and doing sound-on-sound
mind in the years leading up to its release. I knew it The thing to keep in mind is that between 2013 and that way?
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would be more polished, and that there would be more 2017 – when the album came out – I worked with a It was really in the mixing process after we’d recorded
computer recordings. I wanted it to be more fleshed lot of people, and a lot of that won’t ever see the light everything. We went track by track when mixing to a
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out, instrumentally; but I also knew that I didn’t have of day. Before I got around to working with those reel-to-reel that Ben has. What else stuck with me?
any money, so I didn’t really have a way to make that. particular collaborators, I had gone into studios with Sending my vocal through an amp. That’s something
There’s “Man on the Moon,” one of the first songs I put bigger producers, doing the rounds a little bit. I knew I was doing in the 4-track days that carried over to
out. It’s on Mid-City Island. I started making a studio how much I hated working with people. the album.
m
version of that. I thought it was going to be on the Did you feel that the music was changing Is that on “Don’t Bother Calling”? Is
@g
album, but I ended up cutting it. It’s a studio version by working with different people? that an amp vocal?
of it with a drummer; Thundercat [bass] plays on it. I felt like people didn’t respect me or my opinion, That’s tape. The effect on that is tape. I don’t even
There’s a string section and all this production. Then I because I was so new and didn’t have much technical remember what we sent through the amp, honestly.
turned around and made the 4-track version of it. The knowledge; and because they were regarding me as Loop pedals are something you use a lot.
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album Aromanticism starts with the track “Man on the just a vocalist. When I’d get in the room with people, I’ve used it in a live show with a band also. People always
Moon (reprise),” which was initially the reprise of the they’d be like, “Yeah, sing this certain thing.” I’d say, assume that I recorded using loop pedals on the album,
studio version of “Man on the Moon.” Then I ended up “Hey, what if we make the drums like this?” They’d but I didn’t. I did a lot of multitracking; a lot of vocal
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cutting the full song and keeping the reprise, because say, “No.” It was quite difficult in the beginning to layers, but they were pretty much all individually
I liked it as an intro to the record, [as well as using it get people I was working with to take me seriously. [created] without utilizing a device. In the live show I
as] a connecting piece to that EP. It was always the They’d like my voice, and then want to sculpt it in a never stopped using a loop pedal. I built out the live
plan to do music that was more fleshed out, but it took way they thought was fit for it. I learned early on to shows in the early days when it was just me, a guitar,
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me a few years to do it. run away from those people, because I want to have and a loop pedal. Now it’s me and two or three other
You’ve talked about your first record creative control over my own work. people, but I still utilize it quite a bit.
being “purposefully incomplete.” I Who was driving that? You did all the vocals on the record?
thought that was an interesting idea. Sometimes I’d have a meeting with a label, and they’d 100 percent me.
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Yeah. It was really necessary for me to learn how to get ask if I’d met a certain producer. I’d be down, because They’re awesome; beautiful and
out of my own way, get out of my own head, and learn I didn’t know what to do. I got to a point where I was orchestral. Not a traditional
how to put music out. I was so used to not putting really desperate, and at my wit’s end. I didn’t know approach to background vocals. Were
music out and dreaming about it. When I started how I was going to make the record. Then I realized you asking for more tracks? Were you
making it, it was so intense for me to put anything that I had to do it myself. In the beginning I thought experimenting and finding it?
Mr. Sumney/(continued on page 30)/Tape Op#125/29
That’s exactly it. I can do prearranged writing, but I Thematically I was exploring isolation, loneliness, and What’s her name?
found on the record that most of, if not all, the vocal emptiness in a lot of ways. Not permanent emptiness, Brandee Younger. I really suggest you look her up on
arrangements are on the spot arrangements. “Give me but the idea of a void. I think it was important to reflect YouTube and watch anything of her playing live. She did
another track.” I love it. that musically and not do too much. With the lyrics the an NPR Field Recordings video that’s excellent. I truly
There are probably parts you wouldn’t question became, “How much can I get from saying the believe she’s the best harpist in America. She’s got a
have come up with on paper. least?” A lot of the music I’ve released has been classical background, but she shreds on jazz. We
Well, I also don’t know how to notate. So that would experimental in form, because a lot of the songs I write recorded a ton of her playing harp, and took that back
have been interesting! are often long and really lyrical. It can take a long time to my house. That was such a crazy experience. When
Aromanticism is very psychedelic and to get the point across. “Plastic,” especially when I first we started making this record, I didn’t know how to use
cinematic at times. You’ve wrote it, was a challenge to write a short song with just software at all. I basically learned how to use [Apple]
mentioned you wanted it to have a one chorus. The point is that every time you repeat a Logic over the course of it. Because Cam only worked
“pre-sleep” quality. line, it hopefully has a new meaning. Maybe the first on Fruity Loops, he couldn’t edit the harp. He was like,
The main trick, and the main challenge, was not time I say, “Notice you’re not listening,” it means “I think you should do it.” That was my first time going
dousing everything in reverb. You think “dream something different the second or third time. There’s in that deep on an edit. We had so much harp.
state,” and suddenly it’s, “Oh, let’s make it sound such a power in reemphasizing something. The Was she tracking to the tune or
washy and confusing.” I think there are multiple challenge with performance and production then playing free?
things. Maybe the biggest way I found to execute becomes how to reemphasize something without it We had her do chords and predetermined parts, and then
that was to be free and adventurous. With songs like being redundant. With “Plastic” it was saying that line she improvised a ton. I think most of what we used
“Don’t Bother Calling” or “Make Out in My Car,” I over and over again while allowing the music were her improvised parts; I took her best bits and
was letting the melodies linger and take left turns underneath it to morph. I think it changes key. It’s the made them into parts that were more consistent. I
when they wanted to, instead of trying to feel too same sentiment, but hopefully everything around it knew that I wanted a long song on the record. I also
structured or too repetitive. I think a facet of colors it in a new way. It was the same with “Make Out wanted a song that started with a beat to move into
dreaming is that you never know what’s going to in My Car.” There’s a double vocal, then a harmony, then the live realm. I was really inspired by this Jill Scott
happen next. You turn and you’re in a new scene. I it’s sliding up, and then a new drum thing you don’t song, “Talk to Me” that transitions from being studio
think I needed to first and foremost let the melodies notice coloring the world around it. The music is part of to totally live in the middle. I always wanted to really
do that how they saw fit and go to weird notes the lyrical intention, and I’m trusting the listener to be explore that, but go way more psychedelic. I knew I
when they wanted to. In the production, it was able to fill in the blanks. It’s risky, but for me as a had to pay homage to Stevie Wonder in some way.
allowing elements to come in and out in a similar listener it’s so fun listening to a song that doesn’t have Everyone must pay their due. Quite a while after we
way. We ended up doing a lot of sound design, harmonies. As a listener, I’m always singing the started the tune, I assembled a band. We got into a
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which is my favorite. harmony. I wanted to not take that joy away from the studio with Paris Strother, who plays in the band
So are you starting the tracks with click listener. Sometimes what’s imagined is so much better. KING. I sat with her, and we constructed the chords of
and guitar? What’s the seed? Leaving space for the adventurous listener to let their that end part. We also recorded it as a trio with bass,
It’s really different for every song. For “Don’t Bother mind go off is so important. .c keys, and drums. Then I had her play all the synths at
Calling,” I played a bass guitar. That was just bass and Walk me through the track “Quarrel.” the end, and the piano outro as well.
vocal for a long time, and it mostly still is. Then, at The tune ends in one spot, and then There’s so much great arrangement, in
some point, I added the vocal swirls in the beginning you get this incredible Stevie Wonder terms of countermelodies with the
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in order to mimic strings. Later I got Rob Moose [Bon / Radiohead moment. horn parts. Actually, I don’t know if
Iver] to play strings. We had a long conversation It was such a long process! For me, all the songs start they’re horn parts.
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about making it feel like a dream; making it feel like with the music and not the lyrics. I worked with Cam It’s guitar with distortion and an octave pedal.
things were drawn out, like gum being pulled, so that O’bi on that. He’s a wonderful producer; he works on It’s very cinematic.
you lose track of time, especially if you’re listening to mostly hip-hop and R&B. I was really quite reluctant I’m glad to hear you say that because that was a lot of
the strings. The vocal layering came in somewhere in to work with him in the beginning, because I micro-production; a lot of part by part. “Okay, this
m
the middle. With a song like “Doomed,” I wrote that thought, “I’m not making an R&B record. Why should thing comes out here, and this falls out, and this
@g
with Matt Otto. He played a synth and we executed I work with an R&B producer?” It was a rare situation enters here.”
that by adding a noise track; having it barely there so where a manager set us up. I did it to try it out, and It’s funny to hear you talk about things
that you feel it, but don’t notice it. Then it swells and we made that song. That started with a little drum that are “incomplete.” That one
grows as the song moves dynamically. With that song machine. Cam produces everything in Fruity Loops doesn’t feel incomplete to me.
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it was, “How do we move this without adding too [now FL Studio], which is so amazing to me because I think in order to communicate that the minimalism of
many more elements, like drums?” At one point there he’s done J. Cole and Chance the Rapper, but it’s the record is intentional, there had to be maximalist
was a horn arrangement. entirely on Fruity Loops. We found the chords; I took moments. There had to be the explosion at the end of
There aren’t too many drums on the
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it home, and I could feel it being a lot of things. It “Lonely World.” There had to be both climaxes in
record. was a lot slower, at first. Sleepy is fine with me; it’s “Quarrel,” so that when we get to “Indulge Me,” and
There are very few drums. where I mainly live. But it was also courting the R&B it’s just guitar and a vocal, that’s very on purpose.
But when they happen, like the hi-hat world with this really steady beat, and the chords. I And it shows that you cared about
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coming in on “Lonely World,” you wanted to fuck that up. I was listening to a lot of making a “record” instead of
notice it. Joanna Newsom at the time, and I was really obsessed recording songs.
One thing I’m grateful for about being a solo artist is with harp. I knew I wanted a jazz harpist, and I could Yeah, definitely. It had to be an arc that went all the
that if you start with just yourself, you never have not find that anywhere. We found a harpist on
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om
you’ve got music that has traveled
from album to album.
.c Yeah. I love the idea that a song is a story that can be told
and retold. I’ve gone back and assessed all of it, and I’d
say half of it I want to work on and then put out.
The re-telling of a song or story is an
interesting idea.
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I’ve always been a fan of versions. I remember being a
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have to. Given the chance, you can go back and tell
that story again. I loved when R&B remixes in the ‘90s
and 2000s became such a thing; when someone would
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<www.mosessumney.com>
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st
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1990s his sound morphed into rocking, spatially heavy,
industrial tones, with releases such as Pure, Splinter
(Songs from a Broken Mind), and Jagged. Numan’s
popularity is on a resurgence these days, and his .c
cinematic approach is fresh and inventive as ever.
l
m ai
@g
le
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um
st
Yeah. But you’re making decisions, and
that can be a good thing.
Rightly or wrongly there was a very clear direction, that’s
for sure. Even with this new record, and with the 20-
odd albums I’ve made, I still essentially work alone. I
collaborate now in a much better way than I’ve been
able to do before, but I’m still at a distance. I work
on songs in my studio at home, and produce them up
to a certain point to give them a clear direction. Then
they go off to Ade Fenton, who produces with me
now. He has a clear direction for what I’ve already
recorded, and then he does his thing. He works alone
in his studio, because he’s not that much different
from me, funnily enough. He likes to work alone. Then
he’ll send me back what he’s done, and we may have
a little argument or two. It depends on where it’s
gone. Although we work together, we work in
c Gemma Webb isolation – if that makes any sense. We don’t ever sit
Was it at your first studio session with pseudo-electronic guitar album, and that’s what I took down beside each other in a room and discuss things
Tubeway Army, when you saw a back to the record company. That’s how it started for until it gets to the very last part, roundabout the mix
synth in the corner that would me. That moment effectively changed my entire life. time where we’ll make the decision of whether “that
ultimately change the way your You produced those early albums needs to be there or not,” but we’ve already agreed
music would sound? yourself? that all the sounds and parts need to be there. It’s
Yeah, pretty much. We were signed as a punk band in Yeah, most of the early ones. just fine-tuning at the very, very end of it. That’s the
1978. We were just that – a little three-piece with What was that like recording to tape? only part where we actually sit down together. I can’t
guitar, bass, and drums. I didn’t really want to do that; My first two albums were done on 16-track, 2-inch. I was ever imagine that being any different. I’ve been doing
but I noticed because of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and fascinated with the whole thing; outboard gear and it so long, it’s never going to change. I’ve always
the whole punk explosion, that there were a lot of what compressors did. I didn’t understand any of it. worked better on my own, in terms of the studio.
labels being set up that catered specifically to punk at “You’ve got to put some compression on that.” “What What gear do you have in your home
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the time. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do does that mean?” I had no idea what people were studio?
beyond that. I signed with Beggars Banquet [Music talking about. I was learning as much as I could, as Not much, actually. I think I’m probably going to be
Ltd]. When it came time to go make our debut album, quickly as I could. I was really fascinated by the way something of a disappointment to a lot of people. In
that you could manipulate sound. There was a whole
it essentially would have been a 45-minute live set. We
got to Spaceward [Studios], in Cambridge in the
.c
world opening up to me that I was relatively unaware
terms of hardware, I have an old Alesis QuadraSynth
keyboard, a Moog Voyager which I didn’t actually use
eastern part of England. I’d done one session there of. My whole interest in music up until then hadn’t on the record, a Minimoog, which I didn’t use on the
already, so I did know the man there, Mike Kemp. I been technical at all – it was just tunes and melodies. record either, a Roland keyboard I didn’t use, and an
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went in to say hello and introduce ourselves, and that’s Because I moved into electronic music pretty much Access [Music] Virus I did use, a little bit. The bulk of
when I saw a synthesizer for the first time. He had a from day one, I think it added an interest in the the album is all software [synthesizers]. [Spectrasonics]
ai
[Moog] Minimoog in the corner of the control room; I’d technical side of it that hadn’t been there before. Omnisphere is the main one, with some Native
never seen one before. I’d never been massively Although I produced all those earlier records myself, I Instruments as well.
interested in electronic music. I liked a bit of Kraftwerk. never felt that I was particularly good at it. It was Do you track with [Avid] Pro Tools?
m
I liked what [Brian] Eno [Tape Op #85] did with [David] more about being uncomfortable sharing it with other Yeah. Ade uses [Apple] Logic in his studio, and I use Pro
Bowie – the Low album. But I was still very much guitar people. I don’t mean in a control freaky way, but I’ve Tools in mine. We exchange audio files and MIDI files.
@g
driven. When I saw the synthesizer at Spaceward for got Asperger’s [syndrome], so I don’t always interact When I send songs to Ade, I send him all the audio.
that first time, I was fascinated by it in a nerdy way; particularly well with other people. It’s not intentional, I send him a complete list of what the MIDI is: a MIDI
but I didn’t have any expectations from it at all. He and I don’t mean to be rude or awkward in any way; file with the breakdown of what every single sound is,
said, “Have a go.” He turned it on; I didn’t know how but if someone does something I don’t like, I’m not because we do share Omnisphere. Our software
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to set it up so I just accepted whatever sound it had. very good at the diplomacy that’s needed to move that packages are fairly synced, so everything that I’ve
I pressed a key and it blew me away. This hugely position forward. I’d just say, “No, I think that’s shit,” got, he’s got. He’s able to recreate the song very
powerful, growly sound came out of it. The control because that’s what I think and what I mean. I’m not quickly in his studio, and see what’s going on. He can
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room shook with the weight of the sound. I’d never good at blurring the edges, and I was much worse start to do his particular magic on it from that point.
heard anything like it. I just thought, “Fuck me! That’s then. I learned as I’ve gone through life how to be The fact that I’m Pro Tools and he’s Logic is not a
unbelievable!” I’d only ever heard prog rock or more tactful; but back then I was raw, pure Asperger’s. problem at all.
Kraftwerk-y, bleepy music. I’d never heard anything Everything was black, and if it wasn’t black, it was What vocal mic do you like to use?
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that had any real power to it. The boys had finished white. It’s not the best way to get things out of people It’s called a Saturn, by Sontronics, a British company. I
unloading the van into the recording studio, and Mike around you. I was a dictatorship, I’m afraid. I can’t was using an [Shure] SM58 for years. I did loads of
was out there setting up microphones. He’d left me work in a band. I can’t work within a group of people albums with an SM58. Ade was always giving me shit
st
alone with the synthesizer in the control room, and by all chipping in ideas. I know exactly what I want. I’m about it, saying that I’ve got to get a better mic. I
the time that was done I was absolutely converted. I going to unintentionally upset everybody because I got the Saturn, and it’s made a big difference.
was already trying to figure out how I could convert my don’t know how to be diplomatic. It was difficult a lot Sometimes the things I do are so amateurish that I’m
guitar-based rhythms into electronic grooves; all very of the time. I got a reputation of being arrogant, and an embarrassment to myself.
basic and very amateurish. Over the next three days I a bit of a control freak, but I never was. I was When did you first start a home studio?
turned that entire album [Tubeway Army] into a misunderstood.
Mr. Numan/(continued on page 36)/Tape Op#125/35
I bought into a studio. I did an album called Telekon in did a lot of albums with me, and he taught me a lot the machine; there was a man in the corner with a
1980, and I recorded that in a place called Rock City about mixing, stereo picture, and so on. When the pencil trying to keep it taut, and then he’d bring it
[Studios], which was a studio inside the Shepperton PPG Wave [synthesizer] system came out many years back into the machine again. We did some amazing
Studio Centre complex in England. I really loved it. ago [1981], it was incredibly difficult to make it do things with that, and we could get incredible grooves
There were a couple of rooms, a nice big office, what you wanted to do, and there were some guys going. But trying to sync that by pressing the button
storage for the tape, and all kinds of useful things for known as The Wave Team. at the same time on that [deck] and the 2-inch
me. I bought a share of it, and in a year or two I’d I saw a PPG, with that screen that looked machine – to try to get the groove in sync – was all
bought the whole thing. We actually ran it for quite a like an airplane radar. frustratingly time-consuming. But when I got it to
few years as a commercial studio, and I would leave Yeah, a 1960’s version of what the future was going to work, I really did feel as if I’d created something. Two
my gear there. Sting used it, and all kinds of people look like! It was called Waveterm. The keyboard was or three days of work went into that one little groove,
used it as well for a while. Then we found it very like a 2.2 or 2.3 PPG, and then there was that really which now you can get by just going “click” in
difficult to operate as a commercial studio, because old-fashioned looking screen with little green lettering. Omnisphere. You can say, “I reckon that will work a
someone from a record company would ring up and It was so terrible, but it made some amazing noises. little bit better two or three BPM faster.” You wouldn’t
say, “Oh, have you got the latest SSL-whatever?” You could spend all day trying to get it to do one have dreamed of doing that before – it’d be three days
Before you could say, “No, but we’ve got something sound, but the thing that it did was actually worth it. of work just trying to change the tempo. The thing I
just as good,” they’d put the phone down. We became That’s why software now, like Omnisphere, is so love about technology now is that I can have an idea
a victim of ignorance. People would want the latest incredible. I can churn out hundreds and hundreds of and very quickly, long before the idea has faded from
flavor of the month; a half a million-dollar desk. We’d amazing sounds every day, every bit as good as what my imagination, I can find out whether it works or
have to spend ridiculous amounts of money just to be the PPG would do, and then go back to it the next day not. Back then, you really could spend hours, if not
the flavor of the month. People are ringing up asking and they’re still there. If you went to the PPG the day days, to see if an idea worked, only to find out that
about studios who know nothing about studios. I sold after, everything was gone – it didn’t remember it didn’t work at all. I think the onslaught of
it and decided to set up one at home. I had a pretty anything! So Mike Smith and Ian Herron were known technology that’s coming our way, with a certain
nice one for a little while, but then I ran out of as The Wave Team, and they worked with me on a amount of discipline, is incredibly useful. I think it’s
money. From the late ‘80s through the early ‘90s, I’d couple of albums. Since then, Ade Fenton has probably making music more interesting, or it could be.
completely run out of money. I sold everything. They had the biggest contribution to my musical career of You still do some field recordings and
tried to repossess my house. I was in a terrible state anyone, in terms of studio work. His contribution to incorporate found sounds into your
money-wise, and my career was finished. I had one of what I’ve done on the last four albums has been new music?
those 12-track [AKAI] 1214s. That’s all I had. I had incredibly significant. I rely on him to polish and Yeah, I do. I think it’s important. I’d feel a bit ashamed
to sell most of my furniture just to survive. I did an develop the ideas that I come up with. of myself if I just relied on Omnisphere. I think the
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album called Exile on that little 12-track Akai studio. How have digital audio workstations whole Spectrasonics team has done amazing work;
It came out pretty good, actually! affected your ideas and songwriting? I’m a massive fan of what they do. But I would still
I never heard much of your later ‘80s and It does make a difference. The way that you can feel as if I was taking shortcuts if I just relied on that.
‘90s work back then, but what got me manipulate, post-songwriting, is phenomenal. In .c I really like going out with my little recorders. I often
back in was the album Pure, in 2000. It terms of actual songwriting, I don’t get into the take them with me when I’m traveling. I am listening
had an interesting texture. technology until the song is written. Some people all the time. It’s not always really weird, mad, crazy
I did that when I was still running Logic and [iZ might find the technology more useful in the sounds. I rarely go on the underground trains in
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Technology] RADAR. I was running two RADAR songwriting period, because they probably throw a lot Britain, because of Uber and so on, but one particular
systems linked together to get 48-track recordings. I more ideas into the computer and start to cut them day we did. I noticed that as the train was slowing
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had a Soundtracs desk for a bit, and then I ended up up and move them around. I’m still quite old- down to each station, it made this amazing sound.
having these two Mackie desks that I could link fashioned. I’ll sit down and work on a song all day, It’s like a wounded animal howling, but deep. It’s an
together. Lots of disparate bits that weren’t really with just me and the piano, until I’ve got a song amazing sound. I went back to my hotel, got the
meant to work together. Pure was done on that. exactly the way that I want it to be; structure and recorder, and went back on the train. It took me a
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[Steve] Monti and Rob Holliday, from a band called melodies. In that sense, a tape recorder, or a tape while to get a good recording of it. As you’re walking
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Sulpher, produced it with me. Rob Holliday is a guitar recorder style, is perfectly adequate. A while back, I around, driving, flying, or whatever you’re doing,
player with Prodigy; he also played with Marilyn remember thinking that the technology had got to a there are constantly interesting little sounds popping
Manson, and toured with me for a while – fantastic point where it was becoming a burden rather than an up. I do try, with each new album, to build up a
player. Monti is the studio brains and the drummer advantage, simply because we’re spoiled for choice. I vocabulary of these noises that I find a musical use
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behind that as well. They did the production on Pure could spend days, and days, and days going through for. In effect, that’s the challenge. I really enjoy that
in a very similar way to Ade Fenton. I’d get the songs ten thousand snare drums. It gave me the ability, side of it. I’ve often said that I’m not massively
ready and produced up to a decent level, and then I’d without any discipline, to really crawl up my own ass; musical. I don’t think I’m a particularly good player. I
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put them onto ADAT and send that tape off to them. just constantly experimenting and never really don’t think I’m a good guitar player. I know I’m not a
They would download the songs into their own progressing. I don’t think that way anymore. I can good keyboard player. I can play well enough to write
system, add to it, put it back onto another ADAT, and remember long before sampling was what it is now, songs, but musical virtuosity is definitely not my
send it back to me. I love what they did. It took me we would go out with this old tape recorder and walk thing. I am interested in noises, sounds, and finding
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into a much heavier version of what I’d done before, around the studios at Shepperton’s complex, trying to ways of making those sounds musical. I got that when
which is a direction I was trying to go in anyway, but find interesting things to record. Creating noises by I first discovered synthesizers, trying to discover
they really understood that industrial feel. I loved it. dragging pieces of metal across the street, or banging noises that could become musical. I’ve never lost
Pure is one of my favorite records. and kicking it. We would come back to the studio with that. It’s very much become a part of what I do.
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Who else have you worked with in these noises, record them onto the 1/4-inch machine, You’ve been using PledgeMusic for the
the past? and then work out the tempo of the song. We’d then development of Savage, showing
Engineering-wise, the man I did a lot with was Nick figure out how long the tape needed to be for those people rough, in-progress tracks, as
Smith. He died a few years ago in a fairly unusual noises to become a loop that was in sync with the well as little video clips and such. Was
way; I never did find out what exactly happened. Nick music. We’d have seven or eight feet of tape come off that a vulnerable thing to do?
36/Tape Op#125/Mr. Numan/(continued on page 38)
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Yeah, most of it actually. When I make music I don’t throughout the Savage record. I’d really like to do that Ade Fenton is a creative, masterful cutting-
really want people to hear songs until they’re more fully. I don’t really know yet if that will ever edge engineer, producer, DJ, and composer
finished. It’ll be improved along the way. But, in a happen, or even how to go about it. We’ve got some
based in the UK. He has worked with Gary
way, that’s pretty much what PledgeMusic is about: shows booked in November where we intend to have
wanting people to see how a song develops from the an orchestra play Savage behind the band. That’ll be
Numan on his past four studio albums,
very first, basic idea, and then what Ade does. It’s not good. I think so much of it is very filmic and has an Savage (Songs from a Broken World),
just sitting down, writing some songs, and it’s all very epic feel to it. Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind), Dead
easy. I wanted people to witness all that, but actually Absolutely. I love the epic sound that Son Rising, and Jagged, as well as having
letting these go out when I know they’re not right, I you’ve been building up with for the worked on many of Numan’s live recordings.
found that quite difficult and I was very past few records. His sonic work is spacious, sometimes dark
uncomfortable. Whenever I sent something out I Thank you. I think if we could get the orchestral idea and haunting, and frequently soaring.
would do a lot of fluffing around, trying to explain together, that would be amazing. Some of the album
that it will be changed, and making lots of excuses. before [Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind)] does. How did you meet Gary Numan, and
Yet, despite all of my lengthy explanations, I’d still There’s even a song I did called “Down in the Park” what is your working relationship
get people writing back saying, “Well, that needs to from 1979. It’s very similar, in some respects, to what like?
be changed, doesn’t it?” But it’s good, and I’m glad I I’m doing now. It lends itself very much to an We met through a mutual friend 15 or 20 years ago. I had
did that. The whole idea for PledgeMusic is that it orchestral arrangement behind it. But when this tour quite an established career as a DJ, playing the DJ
wasn’t about funding. I’ve got my own studio, and it is done, my aim after that is not musical at all – it’s circuit, and had a couple of techno labels. I always
doesn’t really cost me very much money to make to finish the book that all of this comes from. Savage loved listening to music, going back to Cabaret Voltaire
records. It was about trying to find a way of involving is a musical version of this novel I’ve been trying to and all sorts of weird music. I hadn’t thought at the
fans in what I do. A long time ago, 25 years ago or write forever. That could be the final part of this time to make non-dance music. I started making tracks
more, I used to have a fan club that we ran in Britain. whole Savage period. That’s going to be probably two and playing them for Gary. I think he probably expected
Every month we’d have competitions and the winners years from now, and who knows what new technology it to be crap. He didn’t get what I was doing in the
would get to do something with me during the day, is going to be, and what other things will come along techno world at all, but he quite liked these. When he
just so that I wasn’t this distant figure. Then the to inspire or encourage me to change directions was writing his album Jagged, he had me produce one
internet came along and it made contact in some slightly. I’m keeping an open mind to that. My real of his tracks. He ended up really liking it; he signed me
degrees easier, in that you could actually speak passion at the moment is to see if I can become a up for the album, and we’ve worked together ever since.
directly to people, have your social networks, and so novelist. We’ll see. There’s a very good chance that I We have a fantastic personal and professional
on. We started to do meet-and-greets at the gigs, and won’t be any good at it. That’d be disappointing, but relationship. I guess with people who work together as
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we started to allow people to come to rehearsals so at least that would help me shape my direction after friends it sometimes gets in the way, but it actually
that they could see that side of it. With the this. Knowing what you can’t do is as useful, in some helps that he trusts me personally and professionally,
PledgeMusic campaign, I wanted to do a similar thing respects, as knowing what you can do. r and likewise. He knows that if I have a problem with
but with the actual making of the albums themselves. <www.garynuman.com> .c something, or if he has a problem, we’ll go with
I didn’t want people in the studio, because that whatever is best for the album or track we’re doing. It
would be intrusive, but I wanted people to have an just works. A couple of years ago we had a little bit of
idea about what it’s like to make an album. It’s an a break with one another because I was working on a
Ade Fenton
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extension of the same thing that I’ve been trying to project. When we got back together for Savage, we both
do with fans for five years or more. I thought that if felt like it might be tough to get back into the swing
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people were more aware of what went into making a of things, but it was just ridiculous. From day one it was
by Roman Sokal
record, and the thought processes behind the songs fantastic. We spend very little time in the studio
themselves and the changes you make, that they
would actually enjoy the finished album more than if
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Omnisphere, which you can do loads with. He’d give presence in these vocals?” Then I learned he was using
me MIDI files, with all of the vocal melodies and an SM58 with a sock! We hooked up with Sontronics, and
chord progressions. That would be a basic guide for we used one of their mics called the Saturn. The vocals
how he wanted the tracks to sound. Then he’d say, were a lot clearer in the mix, and I think that went down
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“Hey Ade, you can do whatever you want to now.” to updating the mic.
I’d use those as a guideline to start experimenting I noticed that each of the albums you
with analog synthesizers, and all sorts of other worked on are getting more and more
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things, to see what sorts of sounds I could come up epic in an ambient, atmospheric way. Is
with. He draws the map, if you like, and then I that something you strive for?
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follow and elaborate on that quite heavily. Yeah, I love it. I’m very lucky to have worked with Gary for
So when it comes to mixing, did you 15 years. It’s incredible. r
guys mix together in person?
<www.adefenton.com>
We used a mix engineer named Nathan Boddy. We used
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tweaking here and there. Then for the last three days
before the album was mastered, we spent time in
London at Nathan’s studio for the final mixes. That’s
Tape Op is made
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F. Reid Shippen
Trying to Get Fired & Fun Dates
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of ‘80s pop, like all the Peter Wolf pop music, the of those crazy moments. The engineer was mixing this Yeah. The opportunity came out of that. The cream
David Foster productions for Earth, Wind & Fire, all the song, and they were locking 32-track digital – which rises to the top. In Christian music, there was this
albums by Chicago. As I look back now, I see that I was Nashville’s crazy-ass format – Mitsubishi .c big popular band called White Heart, produced by
gravitated towards great songs and really great machines. Sony digital didn’t hit here until later. One Brown Bannister. He’s got 14 Grammys – one of the
production, but I didn’t realize that at the time. really popular producer decided he was going to use nicest, most-talented producers I’ve ever known. He
AH: That wasn’t inspiring you to be a two 32-track Mitsubishi machines – locking those, worked with Amy Grant and did all her records.
music producer? plus TASCAM DA-88s, two 2-inch machines, and video White Heart had Tommy Sims. Chris McHugh was
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My parents used to say, “Music is an avocation, not a – and they couldn’t get them locked. They all went to the drummer, who went on to be a massive session
vocation!” Until the Grammys started showing up, I guess. lunch in frustration. I stayed, and when they got back player and music director for Keith Urban for ten
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AH: How many Grammys do you have they were locked. That’s when I went from intern to years. All these insane players were circling around.
now? paid assistant, because they were going to another We all got to know each other through that, and the
I’ve mixed ten Grammy Award winning records. A studio the next day, and they were like, “You’re sphere started to expand. The people I was hanging
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Grammy and four dollars gets you a latte at Starbucks. coming. Let’s go.” out with started to get into R&B, and then along
Don’t tell The Recording Academy I said that. AH: How did you go from being an came Jonny Lang, Marc Broussard, and all that R&B-
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AH: When you won your first Grammy, assistant to getting your own type music.
what did your parents actually say? engineering and mixing gigs? AH: Were you tracking and mixing, or
I remember the conversation with my dad was like, “Do I fell into it. The first thing I ever mixed was this were you focused only on mixing?
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a lot of people get those?” I said, “No, not a lot.” He’s Christian hip-hop project. They only had the money for I started doing everything, but there was a period
like, “That’s a pretty big deal isn’t it?” I said, “Yeah, I three songs with the real mixer, and the producer was where I focused exclusively on mixing, because
suppose it is.” I think that’s when it clicked for him going to mix the rest. They had to run one of these there was so much mix work coming my way. That
that this wasn’t just fooling around with music, but [pointing to his SSL console]. I said, “Why don’t you let was a period when I did stupid things, like selling
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an actual job. me mix it? If you hate it when you get in here, you’re my [Neumann] U 47, because I didn’t track. I wish
AH: Are you picking and choosing the going to have to do it anyway. I can show you how to I could get that one mic back. I was pretty hardcore
artists you work with? run the board. But if you like it, so much the better.” I mixing for a long time. Now I’m also doing some
ended up mixing the rest of that record, did another tracking, because what broke me into country music
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music. I saw the Beastie Boys when they were a punk on so many projects within all the record in three days. That was the album that
band. There were all kinds of great music, hip-hop, genres. At what point did you become took them from, “This band might be over,” to one
and all of that culture. When I moved down to F. Reid Shippen, mixer and producer of the biggest bands in country music, period. I did
Nashville, it was country or Christian. I was like, – versus F. Reid Shippen, engineer for that, and Eric Church, and all of a sudden, I’m
“Okay, wow.” I didn’t even know what Christian music Christian music? swimming in country music.
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otherwise, they’re scary good that way. mix, and I was like, “Dude, that sounds absolutely a song, send it out, and have people say, “Hey, where’s
MR: You’ve talked about Christian perfect.” He said, “I haven’t mastered it yet.” I asked, that guitar?” I always ask for the most recent rough. I
music. When I’m flipping through “Oh... what speakers are those?” actually have mixed songs where they’ve said, “These
t h e r a d i o d i a l , t h e r e ’ s a MR: That’s interesting, from the point .c are the wrong guitars” – because they didn’t send a
recognizable sound to that CCM of view of a mixer, to have five pairs rough, the project was three months old, they cut
music. Is it the radio station, or do of speakers. guitars, the guitars didn’t come, the tracks weren’t
they all have that vocal sound? It’s more for the psychological shift of, “Now, let’s listen labeled, or somebody forgot. I am sure to ask, “Do I
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They all have it. That’s probably my fault. to it in a completely different context.” I want to know have everything?” Or, if something sounds strange, it’s
MR: Are you willing to talk about what I’m getting used to, in this context, so that when not my job to say, “I don’t like that vocal.” If
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where that sound comes from? I listen to it over there, it’s like, “Oh, the snare’s way something sounds really weird, I’ll fix it. But sometimes
I think it’s giving them what they want. Genres gravitate too…” So I use that to keep me on my toes. Because I’m like, “Yeah, this vocal is not in the pocket.” They’re
toward different sonic spectrums automatically. nobody seems to make a speaker controller that lets me like, “What are you talking about? It sounds great!” I
That’s what CCM gravitates toward. I’ve never run eight pairs of speakers, I’ve got to custom-make have to say, “That’s your call.” I double-check to make
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actually thought about that a ton. People actually something that will let me switch. sure I’m actually mixing the tracks that I’m supposed
@g
say that. They say, “Oh, I know instantly that’s a MR: When you’re mixing, do you to be mixing. I take a look at the vocal and make sure
Christian song.” So do I. I don’t know why, but it reference other peoples’ recordings, the vocal is great. I try to find a really cool spot and
totally is. It’s so identifiable. I think it has more to or do you stay in your own world? see where the vocal will fit in, whether that’s in the
do with the end result of Christian music. It’s not I made a note the other day to remind myself to put theme of the song, or the elements that jump out of
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necessarily the song, per se. In a lot of genres, the together a list. The thing that made me realize that the song. “What’s the hook? What’s the thing that
end result is, “I have something to say, and here’s a was Sound Check in iTunes. When you listen to makes this most interesting?” A lot of times when I’m
song I’m going to say it with. I want to everything at the same level, some of the old Roy starting a mix, I’ll hear something and say, “Oh, let’s
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communicate it as emotionally as possible.” In Thomas Baker productions sound amazing, and some save that for later.” I’ll fly something to the intro, or
Christian music, the thing they’re saying is a more of this newer music really doesn’t. That was the great change something, and then be like, “Okay, I’ll table
global thing, overall. They’re talking about God, leveler – literally and figuratively. It should remove that and come back later.” I sit and work through the
obviously – something bigger than the actual the volume wars so that we hopefully don’t have to drums, the bass, the keys, and the disparate elements.
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content of a song. One of my favorite Christian deal with that anymore in the future. Unfortunately, It varies so much from song to song that it’s hard to
records of all time is Lauryn Hill’s solo record [The as long as there are artists and managers – and say. There’s no real template.
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill]. That record is insane. drummers – there will still be volume wars. MR: If you don’t work from a template,
But when you really dig into the content, and what AH: Do people still care about the where is everything dedicated? How
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she’s talking about, honestly, it’s a Christian record. volume war here in Nashville? freshly do you approach it?
She grew up in the church. That’s where she’s coming Almost every song has a rough mix; it’s usually hyped, A lot of the outboard gear doesn’t change settings. I’ve
from. I think country music allows more of that multiband-limited, and loud. If I do a good mix, and bought a piece of gear, like Phil Moore’s Retro 176
because Christianity is a bit more prevalent down I send it to the artist who’s out on tour, they pull it [Tape Op #66], which is great. I messed with it and
here than in the north or the west. There was a into their iPhone. When they listen to the rough mix over the course of a couple months, “Oh, I’m always
44/Tape Op#125/Mr. Shippen/(continued on page 46)
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going to it for this.” So it stays set there. I can change That’s part and parcel to some of what we were talking Yeah, I really don’t get it. What is Dave Derr [Empirical
what it does by changing what goes into it, and how about. If you use the same outboard, the same drum Labs, Tape Op #33] waiting for? The Distressor is all
it goes into it. If I feel like the overheads need a little samples, or the same template all the time, you’re digitally controlled. You could put a USB port on that
more smack, then I’ll insert the [UREI] 1178 on them, going to get into a rut. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of work thing and be done. If I could recall Distressors, I’d
or whatever, and see if that works. If that doesn’t to do. I could get to the studio at eight in the morning have 12 of them.
work, I’ll try something else. But most of the time I and work until seven at night. I want to go home. I AH: I bet it would be cheaper to build.
don’t start with anything. There’s a basic technique, don’t want to be in here 16 hours a day. I start to suck You wouldn’t need all of the
insofar as when songs come in my assistant takes when I’m in the studio for 16 hours a day. I have to controls.
them, cleans all the mouth noise and crap out of the fight the urge to be lazy and be like, “Okay, I know how I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it’s always
vocals – like the diesel generator if they cut it on the to make this a radio hit. I’ve done tons of them in the been done one way, and we don’t want to think about
tour bus, which actually happens. He’ll make sure last year.” No, that doesn’t interest me. I try really hard doing it differently. I’ve had meetings with gear
everything’s cool and that all the files are there. If not to do that. Although sometimes you get forced companies where I’m like, “This is what we would use
you use templates – sometimes, you screw yourself by back, like, “Dude, can you make it sound like this every single day.” The engineers at these companies
starting with a template, although every once in a song?” I feel like, “Well – different singer, different respond with, “I hadn’t even thought of that.” And I
while, you pull something up, something that you band, different song – but I can try.” I get really good reply, “I know, because you’re not making records.”
never in a million years would have thought about, at reading between the lines of what people are trying Honestly, the perfect example is a compressor that I
and, “Oh, that’s really cool.” The happy accident. It’s to communicate. The biggest problem I’m running into reviewed. These guys made this box, and it sounded
honestly another thing I really like about consoles; is that people get used to the demos. Especially demos really amazing. But [in order] to adjust it… If I’m in
that almost never happens in Pro Tools, because that are crushed through two or three multiband a room with a rock star, and she’s like, “I’m ready to
you’re always starting where you stopped last. It’s fun limiters with EQ and craziness. A lot of young producers sing. Let’s go.” She gets behind the mic. As soon as
to throw something up on a console and get a fresh put all that on their mix bus and spend two weeks she starts singing, if it takes me ten minutes to
perspective, instead of, “Oh, this is where we started building a track. They’re not realizing that when there’s adjust, it’s completely useless. I don’t care how good
last.” It’s easy to get used to that. 15 dB of multiband compression, when you take all it sounds. There’s no way in hell I’m going to make
MR: Is it freeing to work on songs you that off and send somebody the files, those sounds Martina McBride wait for me to dick around with all
didn’t track? don’t exist anymore. It’s completely different. Then these little settings. It’s like, “Guys, all you had to do
Yeah, it’s easier to work on songs I track because it you’re trying to get back to that point. I’ve had to train was put four knobs on the front of this thing.” It
sounds good. Or I know who to blame if it doesn’t! But a couple people and be like, “If you really want your sounded great, but it’s totally unusable in the studio
a lot of what I work on, I don’t track. The trick to doing tracks to hit, take all that crap off, and do it from the workflow. I’m amazed walking around the NAMM
this well is, “Don’t go in with preconceived notions.” get-go. Write a great song. Build a great track. Don’t Show. People don’t know how to design for user
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You can go in there thinking, “Okay, this is how it’s cheat it. I can’t take three weeks trying to figure out experience; and user experience has so much to do
supposed to happen.” But for me it’s like, “No. Where how to decode 30 or 40 tracks of percussion going with everything, especially when you’re making
does it need to go?” That’s how I look at it. through this unbelievable mastering compressor.” music. I want a [Universal] LA-2A. It has two knobs
MR: How much latitude do you feel you Anyway – that’s the job. .c on it, it sounds great, and it’s pretty difficult to make
can take in moving parts around? MR: You probably start with whatever it sound bad.
I will piss people off. I remember the first time I worked stereo bus compression you’re going MR: What do you use for converters?
with one producer, he said, “We want this to be radio. to do while you’re mixing? Burl [Tape Op #79, #84]. They sound amazing. I use Burl
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We really want it to hit hard.” I pulled it up, called a Yeah. for almost all the crucial conversion. The rest is
friend of mine, and said, “Let’s re-cut the guitars.” I did MR: For the same reason, it’s going to Euphonix. The old Euphonix converters are fantastic
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it, sent it to them, and they were like, “The mix is affect how everything sounds. If you sounding. Then the two-mix goes [back in] through
great! Whose guitars are these? Who are you to re-cut get 75% of the way through the mix, the Lavry AD122 96 MkIII.
guitars?” I said, “You said you wanted it to hit. I can and then put compression on it... MR: Do you think the Burl has a sound?
mute them.” They said, “No, don’t mute them.” That’s I’ve never been good at that. I mix through what I’m The Burl A-to-D has a sound because of the
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rare, but I do programming on a lot of what I mix. If it mixing through. There’s the SSL stereo-bus compressor. transformers. The Burl D-to-A [output] is really nice,
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needs more bass, I’ll throw a Moog in the chorus. If it It’s a quad-bus compressor, so when you have four clean, and open – out of the way. They sound really
needs a different intro, drum programming... I do channels going through, it’s reacting differently to good. I’ve shot out converters on a fairly regular basis
percussion on almost everything. As far as that. I never use meters. I do a lot more compression for a long time. It’s the first time I heard something
arrangement, I’ll take sections out and shorten them, on individual and parallel tracks than the overall mix. that sounded better than what I was using before,
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or whatever. The beauty about doing it in Pro Tools is, MR: Is there an EQ on the overall mix? which was the Euphonix. The Burls were better. I
“Okay, you don’t like that outro? Undo.” Pro Tools still There are a couple. Right now there’s a tiny bit of the don’t use them for the two-bus [returning mixdown]
hasn’t figured out how to do multiple layers of grouped Dangerous BAX EQ [Tape Op #79] and a little bit of the – sometimes it’s too much of a good thing. The
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“undo,” but it’s easy enough. Mäag EQ4 [#88]. There’s a pair of CAPI VP28 modules beauty about living in Nashville is you can try gear.
MR: Do you tend to spring that on them? [#95] running as line gain stages. The Dangerous All of the favorite tracks I’ve ever cut have been on a
Or is there some communication, Liaison [analog patch recall, #88] is super cool. It lets Neve or an API [console] into a Studer or Ampex
either at the outset or when it’s me insert a bunch of gear. There are some old Western [tape deck], and that’s all transformer-to-transformer.
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going on? Electric transformers inserted on the mix bus right They talk really well together. When I was setting up
Oh no, I totally spring it on them. Most of the time they now, which is really cool. The Liaison lets you switch this studio, I realized I can put an 1176, a Pultec, or
send something, and whenever I get to it, I’ll mix it, them in and out; it’s super awesome. I love being able whatever, on the insert of my converters, and it
and they get mix number one. Sometimes it’s to try different gear quickly. I want it to recall from doesn’t sound nearly as good as if I put it on the
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completely different than what they sent me. Pro Tools, which no one’s figured out how to do insert of the console. The reason why is because that
MR: Would you agree there’s a fine line except the Bettermaker guys. gear was designed to work with a console, not to work
between having a musical style and AH: Yeah, the Bettermaker EQ is one of with converters. I don’t know – that would be
being in a rut? How would you the few analog hardware devices that interesting to find out.
navigate that? you can control from a plug-in. AH: Why don’t you design gear?
46/Tape Op#125/Mr. Shippen/(continued on page 48)
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I’ve considered that. The one thing is – we need another people, I get this unique advantage. I might be and mixing. I’m super interested in the JHS Pedals
mic preamp like we need another hole in the head. I talking to someone who’s making microphones with guy [Josh Scott]. He makes the Colour Box [Tape Op
mean, seriously. How many freaking clones of limiters materials no one else has dealt with, because #107]. Guitar pedals are awesome, because even if
and mic preamps can we put out there? I dig through everybody else is like, “We’ll go overseas and make a they’re not very well-designed, they can still ruin
a lot of gear because I’m trying to find the best thing bunch of mics.” And they’re good enough – that’s sounds in a really fun way. I track with pedals a lot.
ever. Honestly, a lot of the gear that I truly love is fine. But I’ve mixed songs cut on a “good enough” Every time I record there’s a track called “Hot Karl”.
impossible to make, because the equipment doesn’t mic. You put it up next to something I’ve cut the way Don’t Google that. It’s an Ampex run into an old
exist. Or the materials don’t exist. Or they’re illegal – I wanted to, and people ask, “Why doesn’t this vocal guitar pedal that you can’t even get anymore. It does
RoHS [the Restriction of Hazardous Substances sound as good? It’s the same singer.” this pumping distortion thing. It doesn’t get used all
compliance directive] is not a friend of audio gear. AH: When I think about recording the time, but depending on the song it might get
AH: Name one concept of some product music, there’s artistry and creativity used a lot. You can pump that into the drummer’s
you wish you had. involved; but there’s also a lot of ears, and they get amped, because they’re hearing it
I’m considering starting a company that will help working with technology, in the differently – something that’s really cool instead of
people who have great ideas or designs, but know sense that there are best practices something they’re just going to mess with later. I run
nothing about business or marketing and can’t get and the end effect is ultimately a vocals through it. I own two or three really cool bass
out of their own way. [It would be] a company that better recording. pedals I’ll bring, to mess with the bass player and get
can help them, without being the middleman broker Let’s make a panel. That panel is going to include Ray them into a different mode. Guitar pedals are
who’s taking advantage of them and screwing them Kennedy, Richard Dodd [Tape Op #105], Bill Schnee, conversation starters. “What can we do weird to make
over. That excites me. George Massenburg [#54, #63], or whomever. Now this feel different?”
AH: You want to help them start the let’s take all the 1176 clones that have come out, and AH: When you say that you use pedals as
business, not only in terms of finding let those guys play with them. Guess how many are you’re tracking, is that from having
investors, but also manufacturing and going to end up in the garbage? Not enough people used pedals mixing and putting
distribution partners, and everything know what a good 1176 sounds like. We know how to them to use on the tracking side of
in between? make a really good 1176, but it’s incredibly time- the process?
The whole thing. This gets back to the conversation you consuming. You have to go through hundreds of I’m always trying to get fired. I love painting myself
and I had a while back, about the person who’s an transistors and match them by hand. If the circuit into corners, especially during tracking. A lot of
amazing bartender but shouldn’t be the bar manager. isn’t balanced correctly, it doesn’t sound right. It times, I know I’ll be mixing what I’m tracking, so I’ll
That’s cool. We’ll put the infrastructure around you to takes a very special sort of psychotic person who screw myself on purpose to see if I can make
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make great cocktails. If you’re really great at that, you wants to sit there and do all that; and it ends up something different. That Little Big Town record
should be doing that. If you suck at inventory, and being expensive. [Tornado] was an interesting example. That was cut
marketing, and accounting, you shouldn’t be doing AH: Who’s making amazing-sounding live. Drums, bass, one or two guitars, four singers,
that, because you’ll suck at it. It’ll take the time away gear today? .c and a keyboard player – everybody out playing at the
from you doing what you really should be doing, Steve Firlotte, who started Inward Connections – he’s a same time. The drums were in a little room, and I had
which is making cocktails. I co-founded Atomic genius designer. Everything he makes is fantastic. This a mic on the drums running to an old Vega tube amp
Instrument a few years ago, and it taught me a lot is going to tick a lot of people off, but I think almost that was cranked. There was an RCA 44 [ribbon mic]
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about the difference between building a product and everything that gets made for the 500-series on it. We were trying to make something different,
running a successful business. I connected with a disappoints, because it’s making compromises. I’ve and the record sounded way different than
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studio tech and designer, Norman Druce, and together found a handful of gear that sounds amazing in 500- everything else, to the point where people were like,
we built the company. Norman had an idea for a series, mostly from API. But the Brute [Opto-cell] “This is the end. Nobody’s going to play it on the
power supply for SSL consoles, and I had the Limiter from Inward Connections [Tape Op #84] is radio.” And it was a massive hit. Then, all of a
resources and relationships to bring the power supply great. I think the Mäag Audio PREQ4, especially on sudden, it was permissible. “Okay, let’s try and make
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to the marketplace. Plus, I was the end user. Once we ribbon [mics], is ridiculous and amazing. Take old RCA a vibe for the artist.” It’s really easy to be a
refined it, branded it, tested it, and all that, we were ribbon mics, and put the Air Band on them. You can documentarian. I don’t say this to be down on
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able to take it to market and place Atomic power crank it and you don’t get noise; you get this Nashville at all, because Nashville’s amazing. But
supplies with engineers like Bob Clearmountain [Tape beautiful, open top-end. It’s incredible. I use that, as when you’re going in and cutting four or more songs
Op #84], Vance Powell [#82], and Tom Elmhirst. When well as the CAPI gear. That’s about it for 500-series in a day – sometimes even cutting an entire record
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I join a venture, it means that I stand behind the products. Outside of 500-series, everything Jonathan in two days – the easiest way to do that is to be safe.
quality of the product, the people, and the promises Little [Little Labs #75] makes is awesome. His gear is Capture the performance, and it sounds safe. People
behind it, as well as the long-term direction of the not something you use every single day, but when play safe, and you mix it safe, because you’re used to
business. Ultimately, I decided to part ways with you use it, it’s great. The open slot [pointing to a hearing it that way. And you get something generic.
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Norman and Atomic, due to personal differences 500-series rack] is for a Radial Engineering EXTC I’m the guy who likes to go in, and there’s a nice
between us on the above points. It was a great [#100] that lets me run [line level] out through guitar room with a nice drum kit, and I’m like, “Here are my
learning experience. It was very successful, as small pedals – but it’s more of a utility device. drums. We’re using these instead.” I’m taking another
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companies go, and I look forward to my newest AH: Which pedals are you using with the drum kit and setting it up in an iso booth with one
venture. I’m zero percent interested in something EXTC? microphone and a guitar amp; and we’re putting a
that’s “good.” There’s a lot of good gear out there. I Pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. What I cymbal on the snare. All of a sudden the drummer
want something that’s ridiculously good, or I’m not use now generally runs toward older pedals because gets amped and starts playing something cool.
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interested. If somebody comes along with something that happens to be what I have a lot of. The Everybody says, “Oh, man! Let’s start with that!” And
that’s going to beat my Telefunken V76m [preamp] on EarthQuaker Devices pedals are amazing – so many the music follows it. My gig is to be a catalyst.
certain vocals, I’m super interested in that. A V76m creative songs come out of that gear. I’ve used it for Everyone’s processing through their ears, so we get
is difficult to come by. Because I run across these drums, vocals, and crazy, inspiring effects in tracking to touch everything that’s going through there.
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date, because you don’t know. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed. You could be gone
tomorrow. Have a fun date, you know what I’m saying? And sometimes that
backfires, and you get fired.
AH: I love your gear reviews for Tape Op because every single one
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of them is educational. Have you ever taught recording?
Every once in a while MTSU would bring me down to talk to the students, until one
student asked, “Well, what should I really be doing?” I said, “You know what you
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should do? You should drop out of school, buy a pair of Neves, a pair of [Empirical
Labs] Distressors, and start recording.” MTSU never asked me back. I went to school
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because my parents thought I needed to, and I was too young and naive to say, “No,
I don’t need school.”
AH: I went to Blackbird Academy earlier today and spoke to
Mark’s students. I feel like Mark has a great group of
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Mark is an amazingly cool and interesting guy. I think Blackbird has a tendency to
curate that kind of personality, because of everything that emanates from John
McBride [Tape Op #97]. John exists to be exactly what we’re all talking about. If I
had the financial resources John had, I would own that studio too, because I want
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to try everything to find the best thing. He spent 15 years finding the best vocal
chain for Martina, and now he’s got it. It’s that U 47 and that Fairchild. He had to
go through everything to find it, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I have to go
through everything to find the best thing. Otherwise you get complacent. r
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<www.robotlemon.com>
Thanks to Hayley Thompson-King for joining for part of this interview.
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Tape Op is made
possible by our
advertisers.
Please support them and tell them
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50/Tape Op#125/Mr. Shippen/(Fin.)
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Mastering in Boston, has been
neglected catalogs. Mastering reissues is a specialty plating bath. This is a mechanically tilting tank that
working alongside mastering
with its own set of considerations, technological tools, gently washes any dirt or dust off of lacquers before
engineer Jeff Lipton [Tape Op
and audience expectations. In the broader world of they enter the plating process. The resulting clean
#34] and the Numero Group for
lacquer played and transferred like a dream – almost
record making, we all have the same goal: to make it
sound great. But how do we do that when our sources “digital” in its lack of surface noise.
.c over a decade, earning her two
Grammy nominations for Numero
are damaged tapes, well-worn LPs, or even cassettes MR: I can think of a particular instance when a track was releases such as Bobo Yéyé’s Belle
that have been buried underground for years? I asked transferred from an aged 1/4-inch tape that had Époque in Upper Volta and Ork Records:
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three other mastering engineers who have restored and suffered from significant shedding prior to arriving at New York, New York.
remastered many reissues, in addition to mastering our studio. As we had done all we could in the analog
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were tiny little dropouts that aren’t usually audible to any of the numerous live venues or over the radio. And
do no harm. the listener; but when you have many of them in most of the music on the radio was from live recordings.
Michael Graves: It should sound great. That’s really the
succession, repairing them greatly improves the However, not everyone plays by the rules. Sometimes
one constant I can think of.
perceived quality of the sound. Then we needed to you want to have your own tape, right? There were these
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possible, in this case I performed some creative as the civil war started to ramp up, Radio Hargeisa –
day? Is it because some limitation of the original
surgery in our SADiE DAW, cloning tiny pieces of drum with one on the largest collections of recordings in the
recording medium impedes the intended expression of
hits and vocals. Editing a transfer from tape presents country – knew they would be a target, so they
the material (like noise, grossly imbalanced
a special challenge, as two seemingly identical sounds dispersed their entire archive to surrounding countries
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get criticized no matter what you do. matter what. We can hear it and feel it instinctively.
Do you approach remastering JB: Choose your perspective and stick with it – defend
differently with records that are the original sound, or improve the original sound.
well-known, versus deep cuts? .c JT: Remastering pet peeve? I’ll go first!
MG: I don’t think I approach a remaster differently than Bad tops and tails, especially on
a regular master. I always try to be respectful of the bootlegs made from LPs.
artists and musicians on the recordings that I work MR: Vintage tapes with print through, incorrectly
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with, whether it’s from a session in 1910 in Mumbai labeled sources, and working on a record with one or
or something recorded in L.A. ten years ago. The level two extremely over-compressed mixes on it.
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of public scrutiny will be different with the well-known MG: Too much broadband noise/hiss reduction. I really
recording, and that’s usually in the back of my mind, do not like this. There’s a smearing or underwater
but I’ve learned that I have to make the music sound that happens if this is used inappropriately, in
pleasing to my ears first. I’ve tried to chase what other even small amounts. It’s like MP3 artifacts, multiplied
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people are looking for, or what I think listeners might by ten. Yet I hear it so often.
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expect, and it never ends well; the process takes JB: Other than the eternal battle of fighting drifting
longer than it should, and I usually end up reverting cassette tape azimuth, it’s clients and/or labels trying
back to the sound I had in my mind in the first place. to transfer analog sources themselves in order to save
I’m not saying that I won’t take notes, or make money. Then we receive crappy files – sometimes even
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adjustments that are requested, but I find that I get MP3s – of cassettes or open reel analog tapes being
less of those if I start off doing what I feel is played on terrible/neglected machines, uncalibrated,
appropriate versus what I think someone wants. I just wrong Dolby settings, wrong format (playing a quarter
finished a Buck Owens project for Omnivore
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musicianship and quality of the recording was who handed over their life’s work of tapes to you. You
unbelievable. The Buck Owens sound is pretty should have let me do it. Even I know my limits – if I
legendary too; there’s a whole genre of country music get an obscure format or a really damaged tape, I’ll tap
based on this sound, so any changes by me could be out and take it to a place like Sonicraft [Tape Op #60]
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tricky. After those first tapes were transferred, I went who specialize in restoring and transferring every kind
about the mastering process as I would any project, of open reel analog tape, and more. They are a major
making adjustments where I thought they were asset to us all – be glad they’re around. On the
needed. Some of those adjustments were different consumer side, there is this two-part assumption that
than what had previously been issued. When I sent annoys me: 1. There are original analog tapes for
54/Tape Op#125/Ms. Thompson/
everything. 2. These holy grail analog tapes are the
perfect, pure sound that has been withheld from the
public until now. Both of these assumptions are false.
There are not analog tapes for everything, and they do
not always sound good. I understand the marketing
reason for stickering “From the Original Tapes!” on the LP
jacket, but it’s getting a bit silly. We’re reissuing projects
from the ‘90s and early 2000s now. A lot of those were
mixed to DAT, not analog tape, and that’s just the way it
is. I have yet to see a “From the Original DATs!” sticker
on a LP. I dare someone to do it.
JT: I’ve remastered from original DATs, and
even MiniDisc! Any advice for aspiring
mastering and/or restoration engineers?
MG: Listen to as many different kinds of music as you can.
Be open to every genre. Make sure you enjoy detail work.
MR: Diversify your approach. A little of this and that – for
restoration, this could mean combining analog and
digital cleanup. For mastering it could mean mixing up
dynamics processes and types of EQs, combining
hardware, software, digital, and analog. Embrace
simplicity and diversity.
JB: Take the time to really learn software restoration tools
– in your own DAW, with iZotope, or whatever. This is
actually something you can practice – do some of your
own vinyl and cassette rips, then restore and remaster
them. There is an infinite amount to learn about phono
cartridge and preamp combinations, stylus types,
tonearm geometry, turntable drive mechanisms, and
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more. All this is a deep well. Study up on various older
noise reduction units used on analog tape machines.
Read a Dolby SR or A manual – that technology will blow
your mind. .c
JT: I’ll wrap this up with my advice: learn to listen to, and
love, noise. Heed the wisdom of Coco Chanel, whose
famous fashion rule was to remove one accessory before
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leaving the house. Apply that to audio restoration: hone
in on what you think is the right noise reduction setting,
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and then dial it back one tiny click. Maybe you’ll go back
later and take out a bit more noise, but I swear by this
rule. It keeps me from inadvertently being heavy-handed
when I’m deep in the zone. r
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headphones. Check out the Focal website for the complete
marketing spiel and design details. extended-range and yet neutral-sounding headphones I’ve on upright much in the way a vocalist will pick apart their vocal
I had the Clear Professionals in for review at the same time ever tried. But, they are somewhat heavy and bulky, and they tone. Not with this mic! My upright has strings that are way
as RME’s ADI-2 DAC [this issue], so they spent a lot of time cost a lot of money. You get what you pay for as far as sound
.c beyond the need for changing, but that’s my sound for live
hooked up to it. But I also used them with my Little Labs and build quality, it’s a matter of whether you need that performance so I have delayed changing my strings for a long
Monotor [Tape Op #117] headphone amp in the studio, and much headphone and if you can tolerate the somewhat heavy time. Thus, I need a mic that can pull out the low-end punch
on various other devices. I set up a 24-hour playlist and let weight on your head. ($1699 street; www.focal.com) and add mid-range clarity to the instrument. The MA-50 did it
them break in before I did any serious listening – the sound -Tom Fine <tom.fine@gmail.com> right away. I placed the mic above the bridge at about the end
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of the fingerboard and bam – instant tone!
quality did not change over the month I spent with them.
The Blackbird This mic also sounds great on bass amps, even at close range.
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pretty remarkable. Many full-size, full-range headphones fall My colleague, Kevin Becka, is one of the founding studio
apart when driven by a wimpy amp in a cell phone. The idea recording teachers at The Blackbird Academy in Nashville, but with a touch more body and warmth than the DI. I didn’t
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of true high-fidelity listening out of a smartphone is pretty along with Tape Op contributor Mark Rubel. Kevin, being a even use the DI track for mixdown, which is rare for me.
darn appealing! teacher, saw a need for a concise book that provides an Tracking with vocals was clear and round, especially through
The Clear Professionals have a sound quality pretty much as introduction to audio recording for his students. I wish this a tube preamp. If I am using a condenser for a vocal mic, I
described by Focal – they are like good modern studio 77-page book, subtitled “Must-Know Audio and Recording typically run it through a Universal Audio 610 [Tape Op #47] or
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monitor speakers with a neutral and extended tonal balance. Principles,” existed many years ago when I began recording something similar, so I can add a little tube drive as desired. For
They are not on the “warmer/softer” side of things like, for my own music. Clearly written chapters outline microphones, vocalists with harsh midrange notches in their voice this can be
instance, Sennheiser HD 650 [Tape Op #43] and not as “in cables, speakers, DAWs, plug-ins, and other hardware. Then preferred over using a tube mic, which I find can magnify these
undesirable vocal frequencies. Even if you love your tube mic
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your face” as Audio-Technica ATH-M50 [#63, #113]. They are voltage, meters, and audio levels are explained. Practical
only slightly less efficient than the ATH-M50, and the bass studio knowledge for mic placement, distortion, and gain for vocals, an MA-50 would be a useful, and often used,
response is dialed in and tight, somewhat deeper and yet less structures are mapped out, along with using EQ and alternative. What attracts me most to this microphone is its
boomy than the ATH-M50. They tell the truth, for better or compression. This is the first book on recording I have ever versatility. Some mics – large or small, cheap or expensive – just
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worse, and while far from diffuse or “soft,” they aren’t harsh. seen that explains how to coil cables properly and why you can’t handle more than a few source types with decent
I listened to all types of music, for hours, at moderate volume should leave more mic cable slack at the stand. That enough character. The MA-50 does it with ease, and without too much
levels, and did not suffer any ear burnout. should be proof that Kevin Becka not only has helmed many time spent chasing the tone. Mojave touts the MA-50 as perfect
I used the Focal headphones to do some cleanup and sessions, but that he can educate properly as well. I love The for home recording, which it is, but I would go further and say
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processing on a small transfer job, and was pleased to hear Blackbird Academy Foundations and will be recommending it that it is perfect for recording anywhere.
that the end result sounded great on both near-field studio to anyone jumping into the world of music recording – and Microphone designer David Royer went on a mission to create
monitors and on full-sized room speakers. I was particularly to a few that may have gaps in their knowledge they’re not an affordable, transformerless large diaphragm microphone that
pleased that the work I did on the low end translated perfectly; aware of! ($19.99 direct; halleonardbooks.com) -LC would outperform more expensive mics of the same ilk. I think
for me that has been a problem with other headphones. he achieved something special, one that holds its own among
the best mics out there. ($495 street; www.mojaveaudio.com)
56/Tape Op#125/Gear Reviews/ -Ben Bernstein <benbernsteinmusic.com>
up to the doorstep of tube distortion, yet not over the
Retro Instruments Warm Audio threshold. An amazing offering of smooth saturation; gravy
Revolver dual-channel compressor WA-47 & WA-47jr microphones on top of mashed potatoes. I couldn’t ask for a better
I’ll begin this review with a confession; in over two decades After “warming up” with various other classic mics – the capture. We added trombone and it nestled comfortably into
of mixing albums I’ve rarely mixed through a bus compressor. WA-14 [Tape Op #122] and WA-87 [#119] – Warm Audio the song. Smooth and big, yet subtle; even when lowered in
Why? The more I kept hearing that I “had to” in order to get brings out their take on that most iconic of microphones, the volume underneath the singer’s verses. You could hear the
good results, the more I balked at using one. I’d tried out the Neumann U 47. Warm is known for taking well-known audio trombone, but it didn’t step on the vocals or anything else.
stereo compressors that I owned and was never quite enthused designs and making them easier, and less expensive, to The WA-47jr FET version is a tubeless version. I didn’t expect
enough – plus I was getting decent mixes without a mix bus manufacture without losing the essence of the original. Few it to bloom on louder sounds, and it didn’t. Though it wasn’t
compressor, so why did I have to change my style of working? of us can afford a mic that costs $15,000 and, if you must as smooth as the WA-47, it exuded many of the same sonics.
But when Phil Moore at Retro Instruments sent me his new have a Neumann then you must buy a Neumann to scratch This is a damned good mic, but how does it sound in
Revolver two-channel tube compressor to try out, I realized it that itch. But if you want a tube mic within the same family comparison to a real U 47? I didn’t have a “real” U 47 to test
seemed to be built specifically for mix bus compression (but of sonics, you have many other choices, including the new against, but The Kitchen Studios (Dallas, TX) has a pair of
certainly not limited to this function), and that to get full Warm WA-47 mics. Pearlman TM-47s. In their tuned rooms, we used both models
value out of this unit I’d better try mixing through it. This may Warm brought out both a tube and FET version of the WA- on male vocal, bass, guitar, and drum overhead. The
have changed the way I work forever. 47 at the same time. The transformerless WA-47jr comes with Pearlman is a superb mic, and had a more defined low- and
In 1959, EMI Studios (Abbey Road) purchased several Altec all the accoutrements of their more expensive mics, including high-mid emphasis than the Warm, which had a higher
436B compressors, and they were majorly modified by staff a screw-in style suspension mount and an easy-to-maneuver pitched low-mid bump. The Warm held its own, though we
technicians and eventually sent out into the studios as the hard mount. The mic itself has a 70 Hz high pass filter, -10 could hear more detail in the Pearlman, especially on drum
RS124. Many of The Beatles’ instrument tracks, submixes during dB pad, and choice of cardioid, omni, and figure-8 patterns. overhead. A Pearlman T-47 is three times the price of a Warm
bounces, and full mixes benefitted from these custom units. The tube model has more patterns, but no filter or pad. They WA-47, but for many of us spending almost $1000 on a mic
Revolver, likely named after a certain LP, is supposedly based on share the same 47-style capsule, so it doesn’t have any hint is already busting the budget. Even if you have all the money
the RS124 but is a completely different device. The two of the peaky, bright sound we get from some cheaper large in the world, the WA-47 is a great mic. The finished songs
channels of compression are simple to set, with Input and condenser diaphragm mics. The “proper” tube WA-47 is a large from our test recordings were outstanding. While you may
Output knobs reminding me of Universal Audio’s 1176, or mic; it’s huge and heavy. Thankfully it comes with a heavy- think that piling on the tracks of a “character” mic might
Retro’s own 176 (based on UA’s predecessor to the 1176 – I own duty suspension mount, with dual, snap-in metal bands. One prove too much of a good thing, it isn’t. If you don’t drive
two of these) [Tape Op #66]. Attack and Release knobs add thing the manual doesn’t mention is the proper set up of the the mic you get a polite signal that is well balanced and
proper control. There is a shared Dual Threshold, and, when mic and suspension mount. Users new to the big mic game defined, even if it has that 47 low- and high-mid emphasis.
using the channels in mono on different sources, I just left it may have a hard time figuring out the clasps and metal bands The WA-47 is simply fantastic. For $300, the WA-47jr is a
at 12 o’clock and used the Input knob to push the signal in for correctly. You don’t want to break your mic and your talent’s really great mic, and a detailed change from dynamics or
more or less compression. A dual position 6 dB detector roll off toes at the same time. The TAB Funkenwerk transformer, JJ ribbons, yet not shrill. Many modern interfaces can deliver all
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Sidechain (90 and 250 Hz) is super handy, and a Link switch is, tube, and WIMA film capacitors show where the money goes the sonics necessary for a squeaky-clean capture, so much so
of course, present. One might complain that Revolver features – and it sounds phenomenal, despite the low cost. that the real question becomes how to add back some
no bypass of any sort, and no output metering (meters show The first job for the WA-47 (tube not FET) was for a
.c excitement to a perfect signal. Software is great, but Warm
gain reduction only), but I didn’t really miss either of these. All personal project – my spoken voice over music, which was can provide that natural analog saturation going in; tones
mixing was done via my Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console louder music than typical VO projects. With my own voice I that we associate with big-budget hardware but at realistic
[Tape Op #73], and the handy “ST Insert” button allowed me to don’t want it overly bright, though my voice needs to cut prices. The WA-47 can add a little excitement (or a lot!) to
continually A/B compressed and uncompressed mixes. through the music. I also don’t want to emasculate the your recordings from the point of capture, and your bank
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There’s something unreal about this device; everything I ran performance by chopping out all the bottom end, even account won’t regret it.
into it came out sounding better. It’s euphonic all the time, though many of the same frequencies naturally step on the (WA-47 $899, WA-47jr $299 street; www.warmaudio.com)
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and that is something I rarely find these days. I don’t music. The WA-47 beat out my favorite VO combo so far – a -Alan Tubbs <www.bnoir-film.com>
understand how, but mixing through it, and using it as a
limiter on unmastered/uncompressed mixes, I always felt the
transformerless Microtech Gefell M930 [Tape Op #45] through
the very “transformered” RND Portico II Channel [Tape Op
Save Your Stuff!
phantom center of the stereo image become tighter. For weeks #82]; full, yet clear, with an extended range that doesn’t (booklet)
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I kept assuming I was wrong, but I kept hearing this effect. suppress the music’s low end. But there was something about Subtitled, “Beginner’s Archiving for Musicians”, this
wonderful little ‘zine-like pamphlet presents some easy to
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Mixing albums through it was a treat, and even though I the WA-47’s performance that said, “This sounds like what I
printed simultaneous “uncompressed” mixes, every client was expect a recording to sound like.” My theory is that it isn’t understand concepts to help musicians (as well as engineers
happy with the mixes done through the Revolver. so much about the frequency chart as much as it’s how the and producers) “organize, describe, and back up” their music.
I wouldn’t use Revolver on mixing sessions only; that’d be a mic responds as it starts to saturate at certain frequencies. A Author Jessica Thompson (see her re-mastering article this
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waste. Acoustic guitar benefitted from the 250 Hz sidechain, little saturation brings up the highs a bit and adds a certain issue) specializes in mastering, restoration, and archiving, as
where I could control rhythmic strumming yet keep a solid low presence to the lower midrange. Warm writes about trying well as contributing to occasional Tape Op reviews, so she
end in a mix. Vocals always sounded great through Revolver, out various tubes, and their ears seem to have got it right. knows this world well. Her friend, Kelley Vaughn-Kauffman,
though I couldn’t go as crazy on gain reduction as I do with I used both mics to record a small band, sans drums, contributes excellent and charming illustrations and design to
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lead vocals on my Retro 176. For one session I decided to use featuring guitar, bass, trombone, and a singer. At first I had this 12-page booklet. Subjects include: setting up spreadsheets,
Revolver as a compressor on the drum submix bus. It was similar the WA-47 on the guitar amp and the WA-47jr on a bass amp. backing up data, folder hierarchy and naming, and also tips on
to the effects I’d found on the main mix, bringing an increased Later, I switched the mics, which was instructive. The WA-47jr maintaining an archive. As the audio archivist for Elliott Smith’s
indie label work, I know that helping spread this kind of useful
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clarity to everything and making drums sit well in the mix. was great on the bass – better than the tube for the first
When I received this unit I purposefully did not look up its song. It was a tighter, more focused tone. Both mics worked information, especially as technology continues to rapidly
price. Retro gear is built with tubes, lots of thick, grey metal, fine on the guitar amp, although the tube was smoother, if change, is more important now than ever. Every studio should
and sturdy parts. After using it for a few weeks I decided it must not as smooth as my usual ribbon mic. I found an oomph have a stack of this insightful work available for clients at every
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cost over $4000; I was shocked to find out it was about a grand factor during the singer’s overdubs. The WA-47 (like all 47- session! (4$; www.jessicathompsonaudio.com) -LC
less. The basic concept of compression and limiting – reducing style mics) is great on most vocals, and she wasn’t an
the volume peaks and then bringing the average volume back
up – is a walk in the park for Revolver, and it does so with style.
exception. The tone matched her voice like a glove. But when
she opened up her volume, the WA-47 bloomed. It was all
www.tapeop.com
It has worked its way into my mixing, my studio, and my heart. from the mic, since I was going straight into a clean, yet not Bonus content online!!!
($2,995 street; www.retroinstruments.com) -LC sterile, interface pre. When she let loose the mic went right
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 58)/Tape Op#125/57
a monstrous effect on spreading out drum kit room mics, and
Sonnox the Depth control added some cool “chorusey” effects.
VoxDoubler Thicken & Widen plug-ins Both plug-ins are painless to use, and results are
Unless you’re recording a singer on par with Michael Jackson immediately impactful in thickening or widening a mono
in his prime, competently capturing doubled lead vocals will vocal within the context of the mix. The more I use them, the
require acute attention to detail, an enormous amount of more uses I discover. Sonnox scores again with simple tools
patience, and a lot of work. The act itself is boring, it’s tough that do a specific job really well – and it’s affordable.
on the performer, and often equally grating for everyone in the (£69 direct; sonnox.com) -SM
control room. To me, the classic production intent of
“doubling” is to thicken and widen the lead vocal. Not by
Sonnet Technologies
coincidence, Thicken and Widen are the names of the two XMAC-MS-A xMac mini Server
separate plug-ins that comprise the VoxDoubler suite; Sonnox’s In my 15 years as a studio owner (Sharkbite Studios,
first addition to their new, budget-priced Toolbox Range. Oakland, CA), there is nothing I’ve dreaded more than
Toolbox plug-ins promise to offer “a single focus that deliver a operating system and Pro Tools software upgrades. This has
simple GUI, with only a few controls, which in turn makes the become even truer over time, as both macOS and Pro Tools
plug-in quick and easy to work with.” Price points for these have become mature platforms with newer software versions
new tools come in considerably lower than Sonnox’s Oxford that aren’t offering as many technological leaps forward.
line of plug-ins. Sonically (and functionally) I could have happily remained
When the song is right, I really like an upfront mono vocal on Pro Tools 10 for years to come, though admittedly I’d be
performance that oozes with character. That said, not every missing out on some snazzy new editing features. What
singer is Johnny Cash, and sometimes a little extra voodoo is started really nagging at me were the limitations of an aging
just the thing needed when a busy mix crowds the vocal. In operating system, in terms of compatibility in the audio
the past I’ve had good results with SoundToys’ MicroShift plug- realm (the latest plug-ins) and issues with basic computing
in, but, always interested in more tricks I was game to give tasks, like outdated internet browsers being unable to use
the VoxDoubler suite a try. file transfer sites. With more Pro Tools 12 sessions coming
Upon using Thicken or Widen for the first time, a quick guide into the studio from our clients, dealing with an upgrade
expanded within the plug-in window, detailing parameter use seemed to be unavoidable.
and adjustment. In most scenarios, I’m that super annoying The Sonnet xMac mini Server is a 1U rack mount enclosure
guy who intentionally misplaces the operation manual in favor that houses a Thunderbolt equipped Apple Mac mini, plus
of the “figure-it-out-as-we-go” approach. But the quick guide two PCIe 2.0 cards. I had been running Pro Tools 10 natively
was so brief, informative, well thought out, and implemented on a Mac mini in my old mix room for the last few years, and
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that I was simply tricked into reading the instructions before had always marveled at what a little powerhouse that thing
I knew what was happening – you’ll need this too because was. When I’d heard about the xMac mini Server, I really
there are no plug-in presets! How refreshing. For those that wanted to give it a shot. Being able to use a Mac I already
feel compelled to read the manual, it can be accessed by
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clicking the “i” in the lower left-hand corner of the GUI, and
had on hand lowered the price point to enter Pro Tools’
“HDX-land.” I also loved the idea of having the computer
then “Need More Help.” and PCIe expansion chassis mounted in one slick-looking
The plug-ins (AAX Native, AU, VST, and VST3 formats) can be rack-mounted unit, replacing the big Mac Pro that was
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inserted individually on mono or stereo tracks, but Widen will lurking next to the rack.
change your mono track to stereo. VoxDoubler comes with two The xMac mini Server arrived well-packed. It’s a big, solid
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license activations, one of which can be machine authorized. hunk of metal, and at 17.72 inches was deeper than I had
Both plug-ins have uncomplicated, straightforward GUIs with imagined. Those of you with shallow racks will want to
mirroring parameters for Mix percentage, Timing (or delay), confirm your dimensions before purchasing. With the top
Pitch, Depth, and Tone. Additionally, the Aux Mode switches popped off, it was clearly laid out and every needed cable
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lock Mix percentage to 100% for placement on an aux return was thoughtfully included, and neatly arranged, to interface
the Mac mini with the Server’s front and rear panels. After
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by a Width knob. rack. I powered up the Mac mini, and as its set of fans
My favorite feature of the VoxDoubler suite is its ease of use. started up my heart sank. This fan noise was going to be too
Widen and Thicken are subtle tools individually, but can create loud for placement in our control room. I started poking
transformative effects when used in tandem on the same track. around on the web and it turns out Sonnet sells an “extra
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Ambience effects provide a sense of depth within the mix, like quiet fan module.” After consulting with the nice folks at
adding more reverb on background vocals and less on the Sonnet, they sent the quieter version of the fans my way,
main, for instance. It was interesting to experiment in this and installing was a cinch.
We mounted the xMac mini chassis into our rack, integrating
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the part, making the two vocals sound more like a larger There were at least 50 tracks in the session with many native
ensemble. In addition to vocals, I found that Thicken and UAD plug-ins. The system didn’t flinch when I armed 32
accentuated desirable amplifier harmonics on electric guitar tracks. Sweet! Some fan noise still prevailed, but I decided to
tracks without the use of compression, and that the Timing hold off final judgment until our other studio regulars had a
and Depth controls made for a really cool slap delay. Widen had chance to use the xMac mini Server rig.
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tracking and dense editing, the enclosure and its little Mac room, acoustic treatments are the best option.
mini counterpart never let me down. With the mini’s SD Two key things need to be mentioned regarding evaluation of
system drive, and the upgrade from Pro Tools HD 10 to HD .c low frequency treatments. The first deals with sound velocity
12, I felt the performance improved versus our older Mac Pro versus pressure. When most people talk about bass traps, they
tower setup – and newer versions of Pro Tools (starting with refer to foam or fiber units. Foam and fiber, however, respond
v11) offer Avid’s 64-bit floating point mixer, which is all the to velocity only. Conversely membrane absorbers, like the
difference in the world to my ears. We have one HDX card at CornerSorber, respond to sound pressure. Relying on velocity
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Sharkbite. I’m stoked that there’s an option to add another treatments alone will not address some of a room’s major low-
HDX card later, or maybe a UAD-2 Accelerator card. A cool frequency acoustic issues.
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‘geeky’ feature is Sonnet’s ThunderLok retainer clip for the The second issue regards reliance on specifications provided
mini’s Thunderbolt cable, which prevents unintentionally by the manufacturer. For instance, if we have a problem at 80
unplugging the cable while rooting around near the back of Hz, and we buy a product that claims to work that low, how do
we know it works? Well, we check the spec sheet from the
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from a machine room, or closet, outside the control room. have small reverberant chambers, with the larger ones typically
Sonnet also offers smaller desktop Thunderbolt/PCIe being about 300 cubic meters in volume. This is too small to
enclosures that may be more appropriate for editing suites test absorption at the lowest frequencies. A 300-cubic meter
and project studios.” room can only accurately measure down to about 160 Hz. In
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Functionally, the xMac mini Server enclosure has been darn Elma, Washington, NWAA Labs has the largest test room in
solid. No one has been bothered by the fan noise, and sessions North America, measuring 738 cubic meters and accurate down
have been flawless. There is a known issue with wi-fi reception to 40 Hz. From now on I’m going to ask the manufacturers: a)
(due to the Sonnet’s formidable chassis), but this can be how they tested their low frequency response and b) what
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addressed by running an Ethernet cable from your router direct laboratory they used. I know several makers who will provide
to the chassis. All in all, I have been very pleased with my first independent lab results, validated by a third party. Even then,
foray into the world of external chassis, and how seamlessly the it’s important to know if the lab is large enough to support
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xMac mini Server has integrated into my studio. accurate low frequency testing, or if they did theory-based
($999 street, Quiet Fan Kit $79 direct; sonnettech.com) interpolation calculations. There exists statistical assumptions
-Ryan Massey <sharkbitestudios.com> that support the legitimacy of interpolation calculations, but
not everyone agrees. According to Acoustic Geometry, they had
Tape Op is made
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there is much more to this thing.
For inputs, the ADI-2 DAC has USB 2/3, coaxial S/PDIF, and once again it’s a tremendous value.
optical ADAT/ S/PDIF. Both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA So where does a little black box that does so much signal
audio outputs are also on the rear panel. The front panel includes processing as well as digital-to-analog conversion fit into a
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three multi-function pushbutton/rotary controls, four modern studio? Jeff Petersen, Product Specialist at RME’s global
pushbuttons to access to menu-driven options and controls, a distribution partner Synthax, told me that the ADI-2 DAC was
power on/off button, and two headphone jacks. The full-sized developed as a follow-up to the ADI-2 Pro ADC/DAC/DSP box,
1/4-inch TRS headphone output can operate in either high- or which became popular with the audiophile headphone crowd.
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low-power modes, depending on the impedance of the According to Petersen, while the ADI-2 DAC is aimed at home audio
headphones and the user’s desired output level. The 1/8-inch enthusiasts, “it’s also a fantastic way to upgrade the monitoring
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jack, labeled “IEM” (in-ear monitor) operates in the low-power path in a working studio, where the audio interface connects to
mode only, but will feed any type of headphone/IEM/earbud the ADI-2 DAC via S/PDIF optical or coax.”
plugged into it. The color display screen, about 2 inches wide Petersen also described a somewhat hidden feature of the ADI-2
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and 1.5 inches high, has many menu-selectable modes. There is DAC – it can grab a DSD stream from your hard drive. I’ve read some
a “blackout” option to have all front panel illumination shut off SACD players, I think an older OPPO model and perhaps a model of
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a few seconds after the last use of the controls, lighting up again Sony PlayStation, can send out a data stream out of the S/PDIF
the next time the controls are used. connector. According to Petersen, “If you send DSD over PCM (DoP)
A small remote-control handles power on/off, volume, input to the S/PDIF input, the ADI-2 DAC can read the header to recognize
selection, mute, and four programmable “setup” keys (for this format and automatically reassemble the DSD bit stream inside
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instance, one could be programmed to deal with sound-shaping and pass this DSD stream to software (such as Pyramix, which
DSP and a reference volume level, one could be programmed with supports DSD) through USB.” Now, this is pretty obscure, but it
room-correction EQ for a set of studio monitors, one could be seems a simpler way to grab DSD to hard drive than some of the
programmed for mono mode, etc.). methods I’ve seen described, using a PlayStation and various open-
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As far as the built-in DAC, it’s capable of playing back PCM up source programs. But then again, Pyramix software ain’t cheap.
to 768 kHz/32-bit and DSD up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz). It can The ADI-2 DAC makes a very nice monitoring front end in a mostly
handle DSD-direct playback, but with no built-in digital signal digital studio, and its powerful DSP EQ could be used to tame some
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processing (DSP), including the all-digital volume control (some of the problems of a typical project studio’s acoustic environment.
competing professional DACs use hybrid analog-digital volume The phase-reverse/polarity-reverse, mono/stereo, and mid-side
control systems). It can also trans-code DSD to PCM, thus processing tools are useful in mixing and mastering. With enough
allowing access to the onboard DSP functionality. To be honest, power to drive any headphones out there, it’s a good companion to
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I couldn’t hear any difference between “straight” and trans-coded your computer, laptop, iOS device, etc. Its abundance of features
DSD when the EQ/spatial-image adjustments were flat and the makes it useful in many professional settings and the price is
volume level was matched to the -3.5 dBfs DSD-Direct level. For aggressively inviting for the quality of DAC and headphone amp in
convenience’s sake, I listened to most of my small collection of this little black box. ($999 street; www.rme-audio.de)
DSD files with on-the-fly PCM conversion. -Tom Fine <tom.fine@gmail.com>
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me post-session one night to help me review the ISO-Pucks.
known Michael, I’ve always understood him to be an exacting
After measuring for the proper equilateral triangle listening
person. As an Empirical Engineer for David Blackmer (founder
spot, we marked the floor with blue masking tape to keep
of dbx and Earthworks), Michael tweaked circuits to the nth
our listening chair in the proper place (check our Instagram
degree. As the founder of OktavaMod, Michael developed
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optimizations for every component in the mics he serviced.
for a photo). We also measured the monitors’ distances
from the walls so we could match their placement in the
Meanwhile, his passion for making music became clouded by
room when we changed out decouplers. We picked two
what he calls the “incessant naggings” associated with the
classic rock songs and listened intently at 85 dB; swapping
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pursuit of perfection. Realizing this, Michael and his partner
out being in the chair a few times. Then we set up a pair
Alene Sibley, an intuition counselor, created N.O.W. by solu
of Earthworks TC30 mics (through Grace 501 preamps and
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the detail of the low end with the ISO-Pucks, even though
frequencies, which are the auditory equivalent of moiré
there was less low end overall. Astute readers will know
patterns) that are unique to each experience are generated.
what we heard; the previous decouplers were not doing
The premise is that setting aside 3 minutes, twice a day, to
the best job. They were reinforcing various frequencies of
listen to these tones without distraction will bring you to a
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the low end, and it’s possible that in interacting with the
higher state of self-awareness. I can attest to the
metal plate of the decoupler that some other low
legitimacy of this premise, and I would recommend N.O.W.
resonance was added to the room. The ISO-Pucks, on the
to everyone, especially fellow audioworkers. And with that,
other hand, seemed to be solving more of the decoupling
I say goodbye to you as Gear Reviews Editor, and hello
issue, even if there was now slightly less low end in the
as Gear Geek At Large. –AH
control room. Looking at the recordings of the room in
62/Tape Op#125/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 64)
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($59.99 street; www.isoacoustics.com) I liked the way this unit sounded on acoustic and electric close to each other as possible in addition to bass drum and
-LC, with Gus Berry <www.gusberry.com> guitars, lead vocals, Wurlitzer keyboards, and percussion snare drum mics. I had the Advanced Audio mics’ polar
Chandler Limited tracks. It’s got nice tone, as opposed to being invisible, and
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would be a welcome addition to any 500 Series rack. It’s so
pattern set to what I’d call wide cardioid – one click past the
standard cardioid marking on the PSU. I played my house
TG Opto 500 Series compressor simple to use, and I was able to get a great sound out of it Gretsch drum set with Zildjian (mostly vintage) cymbals for
An optical compressor that has four knobs, one meter, one immediately, which is always a bonus when integrating a new this test. I just hit record and played for a while at various
switch, and a single button shouldn’t take too many words piece of gear. I felt there was zero risk in making a tempos, dynamic levels, and styles. This was another example
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to review... TG Opto is the latest offering from Chandler regrettable mistake with the TG Opto, and it integrated of how different these mics are. The high-end rise of the
Limited in the 500-series format. It’s a mono unit, takes up seamlessly into my workflow. CM251 did lovely things to cymbal articulation. I can see how
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two spaces in the rack, and has a fully discrete transistor The longer I make records, the more I prefer simple tools a pair would also be lovely. The snare spoke nicely, and the
circuit. With the exception of how you set the threshold, it that do their job and bring something to the party in terms attack of the toms was great. The slightly soft midrange of
is the same compressor section as the TG Microphone of their character. The Chandler TG Opto Compressor gets full the mic didn’t bring out a lot of the tom’s tone, however. I
Cassette [Tape Op #117] I reviewed last year. It is a close
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marks! I recommend it highly as a multipurpose compressor. don’t think that is an issue if you were using tom mics in a
relative of both the EMI TG1 Limiter [#37] and EMI TG12413 ($1995 street; www.chandler.com) -GS rock, pop, soul, or R&B project. I also assume that higher
Zener Limiter [#59], and traces its lineage to the historic EMI
Advanced Audio
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various sources. With tasteful application, and use of your diaphragm tube condenser mics. They come with nine polar sounded very pleasing. The snare was present and had a lot
ears, it’s a snap to get very musical compression. I use these pattern power supplies, shock mounts, multi-pin XLR cables, of smack. Toms sounded much fuller and present due to the
types of units typically on vocals, bass, and sometimes foam windscreens, and a nice case to hold each mic system. low mid bump in the mic. Again, I believe a pair over a drum
acoustic guitars. What’s cool about the TG Opto is that I On the case handle hardware there is a small label letting you set or in a Glyn Johns setup [Tape Op #109] would sound
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found several other uses right away, and didn’t get around to know which mic is inside. I immediately thought this was a great on a number of projects.
even hearing it on a vocal until after a mix was completed, very nice touch and showed forethought. Next up were some client sessions where I tried to utilize both
because I felt it was my duty as a reviewer to do so. If you are not familiar with what Advanced Audio does, mics whenever possible. I had started a single with Sara Quah
With its familiar TG-style chicken head knobs (one red, two their mics are not meant to be exact clones but meant to be
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amount of resistance induced precision increases and For reference, the CM251 is based on the sonics and amp’s 12-inch speaker, about an inch from the center dust cap
reductions. The little switch for selecting Sharp or Rounded design of the classic Telefunken ELA M 251 whereas the and maybe two inches off the grill cloth. Both mics handled pick
knee (and it is little) felt good and precise as well. The CM67se is based around the Neumann U 67. These mics attack and tonal variations nicely. I was playing in the control
lettering on the device is quite small, and I needed extra command a fairly high price on the vintage market, and are room while listening through my studio monitors and was able
light to read it, but so it goes with packing so much into a often out of reach to most of us working in the trenches of to adjust my playing to slightly drive the amp on certain sections
500-series faceplate. The unit is fully encased in metal, and the audio world. or back off during the lighter verses. Making adjustments by ear,
64/Tape Op#125/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 66)
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consonants of the language sounded on each of the mics that brought him to that
decision. I used both mics, panned hard and effected for the chorus vocal.
On a session where two different singers (Jeff Walker and Aaron Hinkle) sang the same
song, there was a clear case of one mic sounding great and the other sounding totally
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wrong, and when the singers switched, so did the mic. The singer with a nasal upper
midrange buildup sounded great on the CM251 and not so great on the CM67se while the
other singer, with more of a classic rock high tenor sound, was perfect with the CM67se
but harsh and piercing on the CM251. On a different session a female singer (Stevi Z)
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sounded wonderful through each of these mics and would have been ridiculously happy
with either. She liked the CM67se because of the way it complemented the lower register
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of her voice. For background vocals on that same song (sung by Sara Quah) I used the
CM67se on the low parts and the CM251 on the high harmonies.
Cutting percussion for the above Stevi Z song, “Best Friends Don’t Drink Alone,” I set up
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both mics in omni in the live room. I was also playing the parts, so I just tracked each
instrument: an egg shaker, a caxixi, and a tambourine to two tracks each. For the mix, the
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egg shaker and caxixi (a Brazilian basket shaker with a hard leather bottom) both sounded
better with the CM251, but the tambourine was perfect with the CM67se.
I really like both of these microphones and am sad that I need to pack them up and send
them back to Canada. I do feel like I should point out a couple of minor negatives. The
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included shock mounts, though quite sturdy, have the tightening screws in awkward spots
and are a bit of a hassle to adjust. New shock mounts from Advanced Audio will include a
wing-nut screw, which should address some of the problem. I had to re-glue the felt on one
of mounts, but they do hold the mics quite securely and I didn’t have a single issue with
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mechanical noise. The mic bodies are heavy and robust, and I would like to see that carried
through to the power supplies – there is a bit of flex in the XLR panel which makes latching
the cable a bit of a fight, but newer units will include an updated 7-pin connector for better
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fitting. These are minor issues that are being addressed in future production runs, so they
shouldn’t dissuade anyone from using these fantastic sounding microphones.
(CM251 $995 direct, CM67se $965 direct; aamicrophones.com)
-Tony SanFilippo <Record@OxideLounge.com>
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tapeop.com
Bonus & archived
66/Tape Op#125/Gear Reviews/
reviews online!
do I appreciate the foresight and thought that went into this
UnderTone Audio flexible design (and I regret not getting a chance to track
UnFairchild 670M II compressor sources like electric guitar in feedforward mode). To further the
Oh, my. Boutique pro audio builders/mad scientists at UnFairchild’s bag of tonal tricks, each channel has an
UnderTone Audio sent us their recreation of the revered, classic independent DC threshold control, which adjusts the range of
variable mu compressor/limiter, the Fairchild 670, and it does volume that the threshold control is sensitive to and also
not disappoint. The UnFairchild 670MII recreates the dual- changes the ratio or knee of the compression. The DC threshold
channel 670, which was originally developed in the 1950s. The controls essentially seem to increase the compression ratio, and
original units initially found service primarily as broadcast I tended to favor a moderate balance between a softer knee and
limiters and level controllers for the then-new technology of higher ratio, so this hovered around 12 o’clock in most of my
stereo record lacquer cutting, but engineers started to push the applications. If I’m honest, I was having too much fun with the
unit into more creative territories by the ‘60s. Famously, EMI damn gain knobs. Speaking of…
Studios’ (Abbey Road) engineers used Fairchilds on almost In my first real tests, I caved into my initial urge to crush
every Beatles record, and unique applications emerged in those the living bejeebus out of a drum stem and was pleasantly
recordings that highlighted the Fairchild’s depth and range as surprised with how incredibly smooth the compression
a tone shaper. Listen to Ringo Starr’s drums on “A Day in the sounded even when using the traditional “stun” settings (time
Life,” or virtually any Beatles lead vocal sound from 1964 on – constants at 1 or 2 and a boatload of gain). The original six
the Fairchild is all over those recordings. Fairchild presets, while broad, give you a nice “home base” to
Over the years, the Fairchild has grown in legend and stature return to, and I’ve become somewhat acclimated to the attack
to become one of the most revered and iconic audio processors and release characteristics of each through regular abuse of
of all time. If you can find an original hardware unit out there software emulations. In terms of modern mixing flexibility
in anything approaching working order, it’ll set you back though, the UnFairchild sets itself apart with its addition of
upwards of $40,000, with restored and serviced units variable attack and release times. In addition to the time
commanding more. It would seem that real Fairchilds are constant presets 1 through 6 (which all have fixed attack and
unicorns not meant for life around mere mortals, or for people release values, and are identical to the original Fairchild), the
that build studios in their garages. UnFairchild has four variable settings, labeled VAR1 through
Enter the UnFairchild 670M II. Software emulations of the VAR4. Each of these presets use independent capacitance and
Fairchild” are plentiful, and many are great, but after are tied resistively to the attack/release knobs on the lower
experiencing the UnFairchild, I can safely say that no emulation panel, which use independent resistors to tweak the “preset”
could ever be as purely magical as a 65-pound, seven rack- VAR times further. VAR1 has the fastest, most aggressive attack
space beast radiating 300 Volts of DC wonder with 20 tubes and and release characteristics (starting from .1ms and 30ms
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14 transformers. Serial number 0092 arrived in a massive, respectively), and you use the knobs on the lower panel to
overpacked box, and I had to enlist an assistant to unpackage make the attack and/or release times longer (up to 4.5 ms and
and rack it safely. All the I/O is XLR, with L/R in and out pairs 1.2 seconds respectively in VAR1). Each subsequent VAR preset
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aligned vertically along the rear left. Additionally, the introduces a slightly slower attack and release dimension, with
UnFairchild has stereo XLR sidechain sends and receives in the VAR4 topping out at a 36 ms attack time and a 9.6 second
same location, and a small switch for ground lift (if needed). release! All in all, this allows for far more flexibility when
For testing, I wired things up initially as an external hardware shaping your compression “envelopes,” including the ability to
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insert in my DAW, with Mogami cabling between an Apollo 8p get that aggressive, slower attack/faster release drum
and the UnFairchild. This patching would allow me to monitor compression sound – not to mention better match the specific
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externally processed audio with zero latency, and optionally tempo of your music. You still have to tweak the attack/release
print that processed audio back into the box. Power controls by ear, naturally, but now at least you aren’t
requirements and setup are outlined efficiently in the excellent constrained to the six preset values.
manual, and after the unit is warmed up, meter calibration is
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discovered that my unit needed only the tiniest of tweaks to sidechain signal, setting up a high-pass filter to shave off some
the gain trim to calibrate the VU meters to 0 dB. Bonus nerdery: of the bottom end, which let more of the kick drum sub-
Reading through the manual I discovered that the gain trim frequencies through the mix. The manual has some suggestions
pots also adjust the bias current of the 6386 tubes, which gives and helpful tips on creative ways to use the sidechain feature,
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you additional control over the tonal character of the and this (again) expands the scope of what a 70-year old circuit
compression. Under- or over-bias to taste for a cleaner or more can do. The sidechain can serve a practical purpose with just
saturated sound. Cool! about any source – for instance, I found it useful on bass parts
On to the fun part. One preface to my testing: The to help reduce unwanted string or fret noise. Boost the sidechain
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UnFairchild, like the original Fairchild, is a “feedback”-style EQ send at the offending frequencies and the compression hits
compressor, which results in that inherently smooth, low- it harder at that range but lets the right funk through the door.
distortion sound. It uses the signal from the final output to Add to these features a true bypass, or multiple M/S processing
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trigger the compression, which means that the more it modes, including an “M/S LINK” mode, which allows you to
compresses, the quieter the trigger signal gets. Thus, the circuit narrow or broaden the stereo image of your input signal, and you
gently eases off on the compression if it starts to clamp down have a Fairchild for the modern recording studio.
(the manual does a much more thorough job of explaining how Tracking vocals through the UnFairchild is indeed a treat, and
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it works). Interestingly, the sidechain insert (along with the I felt spoiled beyond belief after a few sessions. It just has that
included splitter cable) allows you to turn the UnFairchild into magic coloration that tames the high end without any
a “Feedforward”-style compressor, with an ever more aggressive reduction in clarity, even when driven hard. It’s the closest
VCA-style of compression (more on the sidechain in a bit). I left thing I’ve ever used to an instant “make-sound-good” box.
the UnFairchild in its default feedback configuration during There is something magical about this processor, even when it’s
testing, as I cherish that classically smooth Fairchild sound, but hardly compressing at all.
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 68)/Tape Op#125/67
After floating on a divine cloud of tube compression nirvana for a few weeks, it was time to
come back to earth and face the, ahem, grounded reality of the UnFairchild’s price. At nearly
$10,000, I found myself irrationally debating difficult life decisions: “Do I need these all these
vintage guitars and amps? Or this house?” or, “Does my kid really need a college education
right away?” Sadly, the UnFairchild is out of my reach, and is not a justifiable expense for now,
but it is truly a mysterious and enchanting box, and one of a tiny selection of new pro audio
builds honestly worthy of that overused honorific, “Instant classic.”
($9,995 MSRP/street; www.undertoneaudio.com) -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com>
Revive Audio
ART Pro VLA modification
Revive Audio is a small company based in Boise, Idaho, that makes boutique audio gear
under the Vintage Audio name [MSL VCA Bus Compressor, Tape Op #102] and also modifies a
wide range of moderately priced gear. I first learned about the Revive mods when I was looking
at some high-end, and rather pricey, optical compressors. I love my Universal Audio LA-2A
[Tape Op #26], and was intrigued by the idea of an opto compressor with a bit more control
over the attack, release, threshold, and ratio, but I was less excited about spending $2000 or
more for a single channel unit. Then I stumbled across the Revive mod for the ART Pro VLA
opto compressor and thought, “Hmm, I already have a Pro VLA, and for about $500 I can get
it modded and have a stereo boutique opto compressor!” We have reviewed the Pro VLA comps
before [#37, #74] and I think they are the best compressors you can buy for under $500. I
first heard about them at one of the TapeOpCons we used to hold, when Dave Fridmann [#17]
and Craig Schumacher [#10] were both waxing about how they liked these and used them all
the time. I bought a Pro VLA, and have used it on quite a few mixes over the years. I’ve seen
plenty of “cool guy” engineers poo-poo the Pro VLA because it’s not vintage enough or
expensive enough, but if you use your ears, you’ll find plenty of uses for it. Sure, it’s not going
to sound quite as hi-fi as a $2000 to 3000 boutique compressor, but it really does come close.
There are several aspects in the design and construction of any piece of audio gear. First you
have the design of the audio circuit. Then you have the build, and this encompasses the quality
of the housing, the ergonomics of the gear, and of course the individual components chosen
and used to implement the electrical design. There’s no way a big company like ART can build
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a compressor that retails for around $300 and put in NOS tubes, high-end capacitors and
resistors, and USA- or UK-made audio transformers. That the stock Pro VLA sounds so good is
a testament to how smart the electrical design is – even though the components are not that
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great, it still sounds pretty damn good! But I wondered what it might sound like with better
components. Well, that’s exactly what Revive Audio does! All of the Revive mods follow a
similar path, so while I’m outlining the Pro VLA mod here, most of their other mods are similar.
They have a huge list of gear they have developed mods for, so I strongly suggest you check
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out their website, because you probably already have some of the gear they work on. For the
Pro VLA, their mod addresses several sections of the unit. First, the attack and release times
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are increased, so you have options for faster times. The input, output, and buffer stages are
upgraded with Burr Brown op-amps, which are a big sonic upgrade. Next, Panasonic capacitors
are added in coupling and de-coupling functions that results in better frequency response,
lower noise, and will help the unit last longer. The Vactrol (the opto component) is upgraded,
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and the tube plate voltages are increased. Finally, NOS Vintage American tubes replace the OEM
offshore tubes that the Pro VLA ships with. All of this for only $350! For an extra $200 you
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can add output transformers to the originally transformerless circuit design. There is an option
for Carnhill transformers (classic UK transformer used in a lot of the original Neve designs) or
CineMag transformers (the classic American-made transformer used in a lot of Universal Audio
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gear). I went with the CineMag transformers, figuring the LA-2A was an American design, so
why not keep it local? I also ended up sending my dbx 166 and Chameleon Labs 7602 (SSL
bus compressor clone [#51]) to Revive for modding last year. The total cost for all three was
just under $1000. On the Chameleon, I opted not to add transformers to the output, although
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that is an option. I figured the original design of the SSL was transformerless, so I’d stay true
to that design.
When the units got back, the dbx and Chameleon went back into the racks at Panoramic.
We’ve been pretty busy, so I haven’t had a chance to really put my ears on them. But the
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modded Pro VLA went over to Coyote Hearing in Oakland, CA, a studio run by Jeremy Black
that I’ve been working out of over the past year or so. I recently met up with Jeremy there
and we pulled up a mix of a track by Forrest Day, an artist that Jeremy’s been working with,
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and ran various elements of the mix through the modded Pro VLA. It was impossible to A/B it
against the un-modded Pro VLA, of course, but in every instance, we were both very impressed
with the sonics of the Pro VLA. In no way did it sound cheap, and I wouldn’t hesitate to put
it on a track next to a high-end boutique compressor. In all cases it sounded like a piece of
gear you could run critical tracks through – lead vocal, drums, etc. In fact, on the drum bus
with some really heavy compression the Pro VLA sounded awesome. It added a nice bottom-
58/Tape Op#125/Gear
68 Op#122/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 70)
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Arturia
3 Filters & 3 Preamps You’ll Actually Use plug-ins
True to their rather clever names, these two plug-in bundles feature easy-to-use and
accurate emulations of 3 sought-after preamps and 3 classic synth filter sections, each with
some creative modulation and modern signal processing options that not only are dead
simple to apply, but sound stellar – and have a low CPU footprint to boot! All of these
plug-ins are 64-bit, Windows and/or Mac compatible, with VST 2 & 3, AU, and AAX
installers available.
Filters first: The 3 Filters You’ll Actually Use bundle includes the Mini-Filter (a 24 dB per
octave low-pass ladder filter emulation based on the Moog Minimoog Model D), SEM-Filter
(12 dB per octave multi-mode filter from the amazing Oberheim SEM), and M12-Filter (dual
multi-mode filter with 15 different filter modes, modeled after the Oberheim Matrix-12). Each
is essentially the filter section from the corresponding Arturia soft-synth models, each with
extra features not found in the standalone synth emulations. For instance, the Mini-Filter has
a new sequencer, while the M12-Filter has a crazy deep modulation matrix. Even though I
own the latest iterations of each of the Arturia soft synths, these filter plug-ins are definitely
their own monsters with creative feature sets (and sound design possibilities) not available
with the standalone synths. After using them in a few sessions and across different mixes,
it’s clear that these filters are NOT redundant cousins to their related synths – Arturia didn’t
just rip the filter sections out of the V Collection synths, slap a price tag on them and call it
a day – they made some very shrewd and musical enhancements to each, with the goal of
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accessibility and usability at the fore.
The Mini-Filter is an inspired permutation of the classic Minimoog filter section, with an
added Drive circuit in front of the low-pass filter, and an 8-step sequencer that can control
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the cutoff frequency, the resonance and/or the rate of the LFO for some really cool tempo-
sync’d effects. Paired with the envelope follower, things can get crazy quickly (in a good
way). Used on stale drum loops or even rhythm guitars, I found this filter to be a quick
(and often dirty) way to inject new life into mixes or ideas that I had previously given up
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on – for me, discretely added to a touchstone element of a mix like a bass or drum part,
the Mini-Filter was a great tool for quickly finding a unique and expressive “3rd verse”
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variant within a composition. Also, a bonus featured here (and on the M12-Filter) is the
ability to limit the resonance, which restricts the filter from self-oscillation – handy if you
get a little loony with the Emphasis knob.
The SEM-Filter has that smooth (some would say “thin,” but I’d disagree) Oberheim
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sound, and all of the original modes including low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and band-
reject. Like the original, the SEM-Filter is a “state variable” circuit, meaning the filter type
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is effectively sweepable from low-pass through notch and high-pass, which gives you very
specific control over your source sounds. The filter type, amazingly, can be modulated,
varying from low- to high-pass, for instance. The notch filter in particular is stellar,
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particularly when applied to harmonically complex sounds. I’m all about the notch filter
(applying the Soft Clip circuit and a fair amount of resonance, with subtle modulation) over
lead keyboard or guitar parts. Although the SEM-Filter doesn’t venture near self-oscillation,
it still gets downright nasty, especially when driving the input gain and noise circuit. The
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16-step gate sequencer is also a cool addition, triggering the modulation envelopes or
even the LFO – when used in tandem with the 2x8 modulation grid, you can quickly build
some fascinating rhythmic chaos into your drum parts.
All three filters in the bundle are spectacular, but if I had to pick a favorite of the trio, it
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would be the M12-Filter. The filter section of the Oberheim Matrix-12 is legendary – well, at
least among synth nerds like myself, and this spot-on circuit modeled emulation does not
disappoint. The M12-Filter effectively doubles the Matrix-12 filter with two independent, pan-
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able filter channels (each with the original 15 Oberheim filter modes available), routable to a
master filter cutoff section in parallel or in series (or independent of each other). All of that
can be fed to the modulation section… Which. Is. Insane. Three assignable mod envelopes,
which can be looped or threshold-triggered, tempo locked, or free, each with their own tempo
multipliers – you can draw your own envelopes freely or to a grid, with up to 16 breakpoints
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described in the manual as “a novelty introduced by Arturia to give the users some sound
variation, based on another famous piece of vintage equipment.” So, that’s a mystery,
apparently? Hard to say what the second transformer is emulating, but it does offer some .c
additional (if subtle) flexibility to this emulation.
The EQ of the TridA-Pre is (like the original) full of expressive possibilities, with a gritty
and aggressive midrange that I can’t help but want to boost to extremes, especially on
electric guitars. You’ve got 15 dB of boost or cut available, independently on the left and
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right channels, or stereo-linked. Of the three, I found the TridA-Pre EQ section to be the
most compelling, with the original push-button style hi- and low-pass filters (you can even
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charmingly primitive, with only two shelf bands at fixed high and low frequencies. The high
shelf is somewhere around 5 kHz and the low is around 100 Hz, and the curves are, ahem,
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generously broad – I love how the combination of the amplifier and EQ softens harsh
transients, or adds a little warmth, but don’t think think of the EQ as surgical. That just isn’t
the point here – the V76 is all about that soft, saturated, germanium transistor-ish sound.
Kudos to Arturia for the inclusion of a mid-side mode on all three preamps – it’s a great
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MSRP/street; arturia.com)
-Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com>
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Mistakes
by Larry Crane
It was 1992. The band I’d been in, Vomit Launch, had called it
quits less than six months prior. I’d decided to take a road trip to the
Northwest, with the faint concept of finding a new place to live in an The room went
effort to get out of Chico, California, where I’d been living since 1981. silent, and no one even
turned around to look at
Around four days into the trip, I found myself in Seattle, Washington,
me sitting on the couch.
having breakfast with my old friends Carla Torgerson and Chris
I quickly realized that I’d
Eckman, of the group The Walkabouts. For years prior, we’d been overstepped my
trading off, getting each other’s bands gigs in our respective areas, boundaries.
and though our music was fairly different, all of our band members
got on great and enjoyed doing gigs together. Near the end of our
meal I asked what they’d be doing that day. It turned out they had a
session booked at Avast! Recording Co., and would be doing overdubs.
Being that I loved working in the studio – note that this is a few years
before I ever engineered a “pro” session – I asked if I could tag along.
I remember Carla looking at Chris and saying, “We’ve got a special
guest coming in today, so if you can be cool it’d probably be alright
to hang for a little bit.”
“Who’s the guest?”
“Peter Buck, of R.E.M.,” Carla replied.
“Oh shit,” I thought. Hey Larry, we’re
We traipsed over to Avast!, which was just up the hill. I said hello working on a new
to Kevin Suggs, the engineer and co-producer on the session, as we’d Walkabouts record.
met before when he’d been on tour with The Walkabouts doing their live Do you want to come
sound. Peter Buck showed up after a few, carrying a mandolin, an up to Seattle and
electric bouzouki, and a mountain dulcimer. R.E.M.’s last record, engineer it for us?
Automatic for the People, had featured a lot of acoustic instruments,
and the previous album, Out of Time, had a huge hit with “Losing My
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Religion” – a song with a prominent mandolin line. Of course Peter was
an absolute gentleman, and even claimed to have seen Vomit Launch
play before, causing me to blush. .c
The Walkabouts were working on their album, Satisfied Mind, a
collection of cover songs. Peter began playing an arpeggiated mandolin
part on “Loom of the Land”, a haunting Nick Cave song. After a pass, I
blurted out, “Sounded great, but I think there was a clam [mistake] in
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the second verse.”
The room went silent, and no one even turned around to look at me
The credit, and the honor to work with my friends, felt like a testament to how
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sitting on the couch. Chris got on the talkback and told Peter the track
much I had learned about the real process of making records, as well as studio
sounded great. I quickly realized that I’d overstepped my boundaries. I
etiquette, over the previous eight years, and it was a real dream come true.
never made another comment; rather I soon said my goodbyes and
We all make mistakes along the road to becoming professionals, but we should
slipped out of the studio while they carried on cutting overdubs with
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take time to learn from these same mistakes. What shapes us is how we deal with
Peter. I’d learned an important lesson: it wasn’t my session. There were
every situation, and how we move forward. r
plenty of (much better) musicians in the room who had far more invested
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in this album than I did. It was not my place to speak up, <www.thewalkabouts.com>
and I’m grateful my friends did not make a big deal
of my gaffe and let me sort it out quickly on my own.
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carried on with overdubs after the initial studio sessions, and the
immensely talented Phill Brown [Tape Op #12] mixed and co-produced
the album, released as Ended Up a Stranger in 2001. And on the
credits, to my surprise, was my name as co-producer.