 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ross Hogarth’s ability to “do it all” as a producer, engineer and mixer over his 20-plus-year career has served him well. He began as a musician, and being particularly skilled at guitar setup, hit the road as a tech in the late-Seventies (“Back then we actually were called ‘roadies,’” laughs Ross). His live experiences led to a job as studio guitar guru for the likes of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Fleetwood Mac, a gig that made Ross realize he belonged in the studio full-time. He got his first engineering job at Rumbo Recorders, the Captain & Tennille’s studio in Los Angeles that would soon become known as the place for high-profile heavy metal projects in the Eighties.
Ross’s young career would take a big step forward when John Mellencamp visited the studio to work on a track with the Blasters; Mellencamp fell in love with Studio B at Rumbo and instructed his producing partner Don Gehman to begin work on precisely reconstructing the room, from the wiring to the woodwork, back in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Ross was hired to help construct Mellencamp’s Belmont Mall studio and went on to engineer the huge Scarecrow album. Then it was frequent flyer time: he aligned with producer (and disco progenitor) Giorgio Moroder back in L.A. to work on projects like the Top Gun soundtrack, flew back to Indiana for R.E.M.’s first big album, Life’s Rich Pageant, returned to Rumbo for Motley Crue’s Girls Girls Girls…and all this after just a few years behind the board.
In addition to continually adding high-profile engineering credits to his resume
like Jewel’s Spirit and the Grammy-winning Keb’ Mo’ disc Slow
Down, Ross is now a sought-after producer, helming the latest from Ziggy Marley,
Melissa Etheridge and the Doobie Brothers. His mantra is “Whatever works,”
and although he believes there’s no one way to do things in the studio,
Ross was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to discuss a few
of the things he does do to get world-class results capturing vocals.
Ross: Well, a few elements come into play, the first of which being that you understand the result intended. As an engineer/producer I have to know the sound I’m going for, and I must also assess the type of singer I’m recording. This will dictate my choice of microphone, pre-amp and compressor. In most cases a traditional large diaphragm microphone will be the choice, but not always. In general, tube mics will give a wonderful 3D quality over a normal FET, although sometimes they can’t take extremely loud vocal level. So in some cases I’ve found that a cheap dynamic works well for the louder singers. The acoustic space in which you’re tracking a vocal will come into play once a vocal chain has been picked. I tend to stay away from small vocal booths – they very often have a boxy sound that will not compliment the overall sound of the vocals.
Ross: I look for realism, and maybe even a sense of a sound that is larger than life. A mic needs to flatter the vocalist, “flatter” meaning embellish. Sometimes I want just a flat sound, but most often I want the mic to do some of the work for me…a warm, bright, sensitive, 3-dimensional sound is a great start.
Ross: I’ve used three mics all placed together and recorded at once to get three different sounds. I had an AKG C24 tube mic for a wide, warm stereo signal, a Shure SM7 for the crunchy rock vocal sound, and an old World War II radio/broadcast mic for a really distressed radio signal sound. This gave me options and created a very cool sound when all blended together.
Ross: I will almost always record with some amount of compression on a vocal, not only for the technical side of level management but also because I love the sound of well-used compression – especially on vocals. I find that the more I build my sonic vision every step of the way in the recording process, the easier it is to realize that vision in the mix.
My vocal chain on a normal vocal will be a tube mic of some sort into a Neve or a Neve-like mic pre into a compressor. As far as mic pre's, I love the Neve 1084, the Telefunken V72 tube pre is huge, and Chandler LTD has a great new EMI channel from the old Abbey Road design. Compressors range from an LA3a or LA2a to an 1176, a Manley ELOP and sometimes an Empirical Labs Distressor.
Ross: I am working these days quite exclusively in ProTools. I was always a big analog guy, but now with better converters and the awesome software they have now, it’s so much easier to exist in the digital domain. It helps in the record-making process.
Ross: Background vocals are just that, background vocals. They need to fit with the lead vocal and the track. I find myself looking at making microphone and sonic changes when it comes to background vocals. I’ll switch out mics and compressors, and maybe look at EQ changes.
Ross: There have been many! On one record, the singer was having a rough time
getting his tracks and felt isolated in the booth, so he took my dog in the
booth with him to sing to. He enjoyed singing to Buddah so much that after that
he couldn’t sing another vocal unless Buddah was in there with him. On
another record we ended up tracking the vocals in the lounge with the singer
laying down on the couch, singing up into the mic since that was where he was
most comfortable. Whatever works.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
© 2008 Vintage Microphones (a Galaris LLC company). All rights reserved. Compare Pro Audio Prices! |
||||||
