SECRET WEAPONS VOL. 1: THE BEHRINGER TUBE COMPOSER
aka: “Dynamic Processing for Beginners”
So the first piece of equipment I made the Debutantes buy when I came on board was a compressor. Besides decent mics and decent mic preamps, the next most important component to tracking decent sounds is a decent compressor. For the money, you can’t beat the features of the Behringer T1952 Tube Composer (http://www.behringer.com/T1952/index.cfm?lang=ENG). Sure it’s not the best sounding compressor out there, but for home recording it will certainly do the trick. We’ve had one for a few years now and haven’t had a single problem with it. And between the compression, limiting and gating…….it’s a regular swiss army knife.
Basically, compressors change the ratio of low level signals to high level signals. I’m no expert in this field, so I have no idea how it works. But if you have a singer who varies from soft to loud, you need a compressor. Throw a bit of compression in your signal chain and all of a sudden you’ll be able to hear those quiet parts that you couldn’t make out before.
Now if you have a singer who screams all of a sudden and blows up your speakers, you need a limiter. I used to think that compressors and limiters were the same thing, but there’s a difference. Limiters don’t change the dynamic of the sound levels. Instead, when a signal gets to a certain level, a limiter will stop it right there and sort of soak up the extra volume. Often times compressors and limiters are packaged together, since they are both dynamic processors and serve similar purposes.
A gate is sort of like a reverse limiter. It turns the signal off until it reaches a certain volume. So if you have a particularly noisy guitar amp or something like that, a gate can help you out by essentially turning the noise off until Stevie Ray Whatshisname starts shredding.
- Feel
12/8/08
SECRET WEAPONS VOL. 2: THE NADY RIBBON MICROPHONE
aka: “Warm Trash”
So the second piece of equipment I made the Debutantes buy me was a ribbon mic. For our price range, we went with the Nady RSM-5 (http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-RSM5-Ribbon-Studio-Microphone?sku=277401).
Why a ribbon mic? Well, ribbons are the oldest and most basic type of microphone. Back in the day, they were your only option. And that’s why those old recordings sound the way they do (well……that and the fact that they’re old). So if the Debs wanted to sound old-timey, that’s what they’d need.
Most ribbon mics are side address, which means that instead of pointing them at what you want to record, you sort of point them up and angle one side towards what you want to record. The benefit of this is that the design often lends itself to picking up evenly from either side. That makes this mic great for getting room sounds.
Seriously…..mic your drums the usual way: kick, snare, two overheads. Then add the RSM-5 (or whatever similar cheap ribbon mic you can find). If you’re recording in a small room, put the mic about 3′ off the ground about halfway between the kit and the wall it’s facing. Turn the mic sideways so it picks up left and right evenly. If you’re recording in a big room or a long basement, have the mic facing the kit about halfway between the front of the kit and the wall it’s facing. After you’ve done some recording, mix the drums without the ribbon mic. Sounds good, right? Now start adding some ribbon and you’ll see what I mean. You’ll get a sort of warmth and ambience to the sound. The snare will sound sort of trashy, but in a good way. Cymbals will balance out a bit and not sound so harsh. It’s a cool way to get just the right amount of character from the kit and the room.
Ribbon mics are great for vocals too. I usually use a nice bright mic for lead vocals, but then use the ribbon for backing vocals. It helps to differentiate the backing vocal tones from the lead and set them back a bit in the mix. Be careful though: ribbon mics can be delicate. Too much breath will corrode the ribbon, so use a filter to cut down on some of that. Also, if a singer is too close to the mic, you might get some extra boomy bass on certain syllables, so set the filter back a few inches to keep the singer at bay.
Another cool trick is to mic the back of a singer’s head. If you want an old timey, intimate room sound, use a good mic for the front vocal and put the RSM-5 (or something similarly shitty) around the back of the singer’s head about a foot away. Again, mix the front mic first, then add a bit of the ribbon to taste. If you’re using a bright condenser up front, you’ll notice a nice warm low end start to develop as you add the ribbon mic. And everyone loves a nice warm low end, right?
- Feel
12/17/08
GLORIOUS & VICTORIOUS INDEED!
We’re currently working on Glorious & Victorious. It’s a total Queen tribute that’s been plagued by our lack of finesse for a while. Kevin killed the drums on it months ago, followed by Glen’s excellent string section, but everything else just wasn’t quite coming together. The bass sort of carries the song, so we tracked it again using a beefier sound. The vocals were a solid effort at a Freddie falsetto, but there’s a reason that man was and still is a legend. So the lead and backing vocals were tracked again using our new vocal mic and better outboard gear. The results were much cleaner, leaner and punchier than the original. Then I went all Fucking Champs on the thing and added my poor man’s Brian May to it. That kicked it up a notch.
So the song pretty much went from sounding like Queen’s first record to sounding more like Sheer Heart Attack: stripped down for Queen, but flamboyant and indulgent by the standards of the rest of the music world. And does it really sound like Queen? No. But it certainly feels like one hell of a rockin’ tribute. Sometimes, to pull off Queen, you just have to go your own route and let your triumphant spirit soar! You’ve got to break free, you know? If you want it all and you want it now, then the show must go on. Sometimes, another one just has to bite a “dah-tay”.
- Feel
1/15/09
WHAT IS PHASE? I MEAN REALLY.
Phase. What is it? Scientists have been asking themselves this question since the invention of sound back in early 1800’s. Thomas Edison referred to phase as “Man’s Last Great Conundrum”. Often times, one will see audio electronics products such as “phase reverse switches” and “phaser pedals”. Rest assured that these devices serve no function whatsoever and are merely the products of the modern day musical equivalent of snake oil salesmen. Also, if you record a guitar amp with more than one mic, good luck getting it to sound like anything other than crispy doo doo.
- Feel
7/15/09
THE DEBUTANTES MADE ME BUY A HOUSE.
I once led the simple life of an audio recording engineer. That is until the day a well known band called the Debutantes waked into my studio. Their request seemed easy enough. They needed help polishing up a few demos they had recorded. Seeing potential in their as-of-then-unheard-of blend of jazz, funk, tuvan throat singing and scat (not the music kind), I decided to forego my usual studio fees and take them under my wing. This turned out to be the worst mistake of my life.
Their ridiculous demands and studio antics led not only to the failure of my recording business, but to the deterioration of all of my relationships and the loss of my home and nearly everything I owned. Having been forced out into the streets, I decided “Well, that’s the end of that gruesome chapter of my life” and found a cheap little shack just big enough for me and my cats. I thought the nightmare was over until one fateful day when the Debs showed up at my door, arms crossed, black suits and black sunglasses…. I knew these guys meant business. They had some sort of enforcer with them (”Kezzy or Kendry or some such name. I can’t remember.) who pulled out a gun and demanded that “the record” must be finished. Shaking uncontrollably and having soiled myself, I agreed to his demands.
I bought a masive new home well beyond my means and converted it into the studio of their liking. It’s so full of recording equipment that it’s almost impossible to move. Even the toilets has been rigged with some sort of sub woofer, which makes the going experience quite frightening and painful. Every square inch of every floor has been mic’d. The constant buzz of all of the phantom power makes it nearly impossible for me to sleep at night and I think I’m getting cancer.
To date, they’ve made me record hundreds and hundreds of songs for what seems like a record that they’ll never be satisfied with and will never be produced. This must be how Prince’s engineer feels. Still, life or something similar goes on. Will they ever let me go free? Will “the record” ever be finished? Only time and college basketball season will tell.
- Feel
12/7/09
THE DEBUTANTES MADE ME QUIT MY JOB
In order to make ends meet and to help pay for the ridiculous costs of recording Centennial, I worked for the last year as a contractor for a large corporation. Though the pay was astronomical, the Debs have told me that I need to quit in order to “get my head in the game” and “pay more attention to the studio”. I hate having to make such a decision, but with increasing threats of physical harm and what amounts to psychological trauma coming from the band, I feel I have no choice.
- Feel
2/13/10