London Calling & 10,000 Days: πώς ηχογραφήθηκαν δυο κλασσικά άλμπουμ

[bloody_sunday]

Αφιερώστε 15 λεπτά από το χρόνο σας για να διαβάσετε προσεκτικά αυτά τα δυο αφιερώματα για το πώς ηχογραφήθηκαν, πώς έγινε η παραγωγή και πώς το mastering του "London Calling" των Clash...

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_london_calling_clash/

και του "10000 Days" των Tool.

http://mixonline.com/recording/projects/audio_making_tools_days/

Aξίζει πραγματικά τον κόπο! Πέρα από το μουσικό ενδιαφέρον, παρέχουν και μια μικρή ματιά στις περίπλοκες τεχνικές πίσω από την επαγγελματική ηχοληψία. Εφιστώ και την προσοχή σας (μετά την ανάγνωση του 2ου λινκ) στον απλησίαστο Joe Barresi, έναν ηχολήπτη/παραγωγό του οποίου τη καταπληκτική δουλειά παρακολουθώ προσεκτικά εδώ και 15-16 χρόνια (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Barresi).

 

[bloody_sunday]

Ας σταχυολογήσω μερικά πολύ ενδιαφέροντα αποσπάσματα:

Για την ηχογράφηση του London Calling:

Using a tube condenser to mike a kick drum was, at one time, unheard of and would definitely have been frowned on at Decca Studios, where Price first began his engineering career. "The older guys at Decca, the people that I learned from, used to laugh at me for putting a mic on the bass drum at all," recalls Price. "They used to say to me, `the object of the bass drum is to keep the band in time - it's not meant to be heard.' They did teach me a lot, but that was one of the things they told me that I didn't believe."

Strummer's original guitar track on track 12, which he played while singing a guide vocal, was not replaced. "Joe's more of an intuitive guitar player," says Price. "He used to bash the living daylights out of his guitar when the song demanded it. He also had a sort of unconscious way of damping the chord with his right hand, which used to produce this incredibly urgent, clanging and clashing sound, which I've never heard any other guitarist ever produce. Joe always played a Fender (;D ;D ;D ;D), unless it was broken, and then he'd play anything. Joe's strumming was so intrinsic to him that we used to do his vocals with him strumming an unplugged Fender, because it was the only way he could get into it. And if he didn't have a guitar there for some reason, Joe would beat his chest with his right fist."

For the mix of the track "London Calling," Strummer described an image of the London fog swirling off the river Thames, with seagulls circling overhead. "Joe wanted the track to `sound like London,'" says Price. "This suggested the echoes for the mix, particularly the slow repeats in the instrumental." To capture the "foggy London Town" atmosphere, Price set up a slow, multiple repeat on Strummer's seagull imitations in the instrumental break. "As this was before good delay lines, we used a Studer A80 on varispeed," he explains.

 

[bloody_sunday]

Για την ηχογράφηση του "10000 Days":

The signal chain for tracking guitar was a bit complex. “Adam would play into whatever pedals he needed,” Barresi says. “That signal then went into a Systematic Systems Splitter. Then it would go to between three and five heads. The signal from the heads went to their own individual cabinets. Each cabinet had two or three microphones on it. Then all the microphones came back to the console, and they were blended down as separated for each amp. The Diezel amp went to its own track. The Marshall amp went to its own track. The third track was a blend of the Bogner and the Rivera, or whatever I liked for the song. And that would be one take — three tracks of guitar.”

Singer Maynard James Keenan has the ability to go from soft whispers to lung-busting screams. Keenan's favorite microphone is a Soundelux tube condenser that's no longer manufactured. “His main vocal mic was that Soundelux,” Barresi says. “Then there was some extra double-miking, and we'd use some other things for that. If I was gonna distort Maynard's vocal, I would have him sing into his main mic and a highly distorted SM57 at the same time — a tape-them-together kind of deal — and then run them in a parallel chain so I could separate them and track them to two tracks. Then I could add any kind of gain that I wanted by bringing up the 57.”

Barresi used minimal processing when recording. “I tried to get by with as little as possible,” he says. “There was no EQ on guitar. There was really no EQ on the bass either. I EQ'd a little bit on the vocal. But if there was an effect on the vocal, then it would be drastic EQ'ing. I used a slight bit of EQ on drums, but I mainly got the drum sound by changing mics out: Like if I needed a little top end, I'd find a brighter mic. If I needed more bottom, I'd try a bigger diaphragm mic.”

Barresi recorded all tracks onto the Studer A827 tape machines at both O'Henry and Grandmaster. He used 2-inch Ampex GP9 tape at 30 ips. When he was happy with the tracks, he would transfer them into Pro Tools. “I call it the ‘holding pen’ 'cause all the tracks are in there,” he says. “Everything went to tape and then it got dumped into Pro Tools to preserve it.”

Even though Ludwig has mastered countless projects, he gets excited about Tool albums. “They're a great combination of heaviness and yet huge dynamic range,” he says. “They're one band that came in, and I think Danny said, ‘We don't care if we're the loudest thing on the radio. We just want you to maintain our dynamics.’ You have to really respect that in a band.”

The final format was a 96k sampling rate, 24-bit-resolution master, which they downsampled to 44.1k, 16-bit. “If any record deserves to be heard in surround sound, it's this one,” Ludwig says. “There's so much tone painting and so much color. It would just be a thrill to hear it in surround sound. And with 96k, 24-bit masters, we're ready for any kind of high-resolution digital projects.”

 

[Superfunk]

The electric guitars of Mick Jones and Joe Strummer were both miked with an Electro-Voice RE20 mixed with a Neumann U87

For lead vocals, Price would normally have used a tube Neumann U47 but decided not to in this case. "Joe has a very bassy voice and at that time was also undergoing a lot of dental work," explains Price. "This meant if I used the 47, I had to put so much high-frequency EQ on that Joe's sibilance turned almost into a distorted lisp. The answer was an SM58, which gave punch and clarity without needing too much EQ."

;D

αυτα τα..βρεττανικα δοντια ρε παιδι μου!! ;D

γενικα ο Price ηταν μεγας τρελλαρας,σε μερικα κομματι πεταγε...καρεκλες στον Strummer για να τον εκνευρισει και να τραγουδαει με φουλ ...τσαμπουκα!!!

 

[haryy]

Αυτοί ωραία τα λένε. Εμείς μακάρι να τα κάναμε!

Ούτε την ίδια μουσική παιδεία έχουμε, ούτε την ίδια τεχνική παιδεία έχουμε. Μόνο κάνα μπουζουκάκι ξέρουμε να γράφουμε και να κουνάμε το λωκαράκι μας.

Άντε βραδιάτικα, συγχύστηκα!  :

 

[darshan]

πριν διαβασω τα αρθρα να πω πως οι tool ειναι θεοι. Θεοι. Και πως ο Barresi εκανε τον ηχο του Jones απο θεικο θεικοτερο, αλλα ο ηχος των drums στο lateralus ειναι αξεπεραστος, οπως αξεπεραστη ειναι και η συνολικη παραγωγη στο Aenima απο τον David Bottrill. Βεβαια, ειναι και οι tool θεοι... Για οποιον Tooliban εκει εξω, το περιοδικο Revolver εχει ολο το τελευταιο τευχος του αφιερωμενο στους Tool. Αξιζει.

 

[bloody_sunday]

Το ανασταίνω λίγο το θρεντ για να ρωτήσω κάτι που ήθελα εδώ και μέρες.

The electric guitars of Mick Jones and Joe Strummer were both miked with an Electro-Voice RE20 mixed with a Neumann U87

Προς τι η έκπληξη SF; Δεν το ξέρω καν το μικρόφωνο... για πες! 

 

[Superfunk]

Ε,απλα το εχω συνηθισει σαν το στανταρντ ραδιοφωνικο μικροφωνο (δεν νομιζω να υπαρχει εστω και ενας ραδιοφωνικος σταθμος που να μην το χρησιμοποιει) οπως και σαν κλασσικο μικροφωνο για bass drum & bass.

Ειναι γενικα εξαιρετικο μικροφωνο με μηδενικη σχεδον παραμορφωση & proximity effect οσο κοντα και να το βαλεις στην πηγη του ηχου (και οσο δυνατη και να ειναι αυτη)

Για κιθαρες μπορει φυσικα να χρησιμοποιηθει (dynamic cardioid ειναι) αλλα σπανια το εχω δει μπροστα απο ενισχυτη κιθαρας.

το μικροφωνο αυτο το εχεις δει παρα πολλες φορες

http://www.electrovoice.com/products/91.html