 |
|
|
|
|
|
Blue: Does your overall approach to miking and recording change from genre to genre, and perhaps even from artist to artist? Linus of Hollywood: Absolutely. My recording technique certainly changes for different genres of music. If I'm recording a singer/songwriter or soft pop record, we will start from the "core" instrument, or the instrument that the song was written on. Let's say it's the piano...we would track the piano first, to a click or drum machine, and then a scratch vocal, and then we would build the arrangement around that, oftentimes recording the drums LAST. Some people are surprised at this, but I find that you can come up with more tasteful drum parts when the track has already been built. There's been many times when we have tracked "faraway" drum sounds, or had the drummer use brushes or fingers instead of sticks, and we probably wouldn't have done that if we had recorded drums first. Having said all of that, if I am recording a rock band, I generally try and get the "band" portion of the recording done FIRST...the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar. For rock, it's important to have the energy and the groove of a band playing together. Once the basics are recorded, the vocals are a good thing to record next because then you can build the rest of the arrangement -- auxiliary guitars, strings, keys, etc. -- around the vocal. No matter what kind of music I'm recording, I try not to lose focus of the SONG...if I come up with a cool part but it steps on the vocal, then it's out the window. Regarding miking, I always do a pretty extensive mic test at the beginning
of each session to make sure I'm using the best mic for that particular singer.
If the singer
Linus: I generally don't use a whole lot of EQ going in. I'd rather get the instrument sounding the way I want it, or move the mic until it sounds right. If I do use any EQ, it's very sparse going in...I'd rather do drastic EQing in the mix phase, when I can really hear the instrument in the mix and hear how it's interacting with other instruments. Sometimes you'll EQ a horn or strings in the mix so that it really has a nice edge and warmth to it, but then you'll solo it up and it sounds terrible. You never really know how extreme you're going to go with the EQ later, and I'd rather just make it sound good going in. I have the same philosophy about compression. The first few records I did,
I don't think I used any compression at all except on the bass guitar. It was
all added in the mix My audio chain at home for this is usually my Avalons, an AD 2022 mic pre and
AD 2044 compressor. They're very smooth. When I first started recording I used
a PreSonus Blue Tube mic pre and a DBX 163x overeasy compressor/limiter, and
those worked fine.
Linus: Well, I definitely have my favorite mics for certain purposes, but I will definitely take the time to try different things. Every drummer is different; every drum set is different, so a different mic or method may capture their sound better. I think most of my experimentation with miking happens during the tracking of drums or the tracking of vocals. Obviously the vocals are the center of the recording, and a bad drum sound can ruin the quality of the overall sound. The process of selecting mics is always exciting to me, because I generally record in different studios for every session, and if the studio I'm at has a mic I haven't tried yet, I will put it up and see how it sounds. Sometimes you can have several mics of the same brand and model, and even they will sound different from each other...so you never know until you put them up. It doesn't take long to test out a mic; it's definitely worth the time. And I can't count how many times I've had a singer do a mic test and found that they sounded much better on a cheaper mic, like an AT4033a or even a Beta 57, than a nicer mic like a Neumann U87. Most people would go straight for the Neumann.
Linus: On my first solo album, "Your Favorite Record," I was just
learning to record and was trying lots of different things. I had a song called
"Let's Take A Bath," so I figured my small apartment bathroom would
be the best place to record it. Back then all I had was a Roland VS-880 8-track
recorder and a Shure Beta 57 microphone, so it was quite easy just to take everything
into the bathroom and engineer myself. I was sitting on the On my next record, "Let Yourself Be Happy", I had a song called "Thank You For Making Me Feel...Better," which I wrote about my love for beer. Lyrically I didn't mention anything about beer -- it sounded like a song to a friend -- so I wanted the music to hint about the beer part. So instead of playing any instruments, I only used beer bottles! I had one 12 oz. bottle -- of Budweiser, of course -- and one 40 oz. bottle. I wrote out the parts and tuned the bottles to each note in the song. One at a time, I overdubbed all the notes and by the end, it sounded like a carnival organ. It was pretty tight and in tune, so some people thought I had sampled this, but it took me several days of intense overdubbing! As for accidental sounds, we were in the mix phase of a song and I wanted to put a ring modulator plug-in on one of the guitar tracks...the engineer accidentally put it on the snare track, and the resulting sound was pretty crazy, so we ended up using it.
Linus: Wow, I'm having a hard time thinking of one particular instance like that. Things move so fast in the studio that you don't really remember how they happened...but aside from the aforementioned experiments, I've definitely tried the usual odd combinations of things: acoustic guitars through distortion pedals, a singer singing through a paper towel roll with a mic at the other end, or just putting mics in a weird place…the next room, hanging from the ceiling, etc. Oftentimes I will have a mic in the room that is intended for talkback, but sometimes I record on it and that gets used in the final mix. But I'm not sure that any of these things are that unconventional!
Linus: When I first started recording not so long ago, I only had one microphone: a Shure Beta 57. I used it on EVERYTHING, and we're talking horns, strings, vocals, etc., and it always sounded good. Even though I have access to a lot of different mics now, I still pull out the Beta 57 almost every day for something. I mentioned it before: as inexpensive mic pre’s go, the PreSonus Blue Tube is really great. I'm not even sure if they make them anymore, but you can find them used. And for compressors, you can't beat the DBX 163x. It works great on everything, including bass guitar, and it's really easy to use even if you don't know much about compression -- there's only one knob! So these would be the three things I would recommend if you don't have a lot to spend. I recorded most of my early records using nothing but these three pieces of gear. Again, use your ears!
Linus: Well, in general, I'm always looking for an authentic-sounding organic
vibe. You can't go wrong with organic instruments and sounds. They will always
sound good. I try and stay away from drastic keyboard sounds or effects, because
they generally don't age well. Think of all the '80s records that are practically
unlistenable now because of bad keyboard sounds or awful reverbs. People are
always trying to get the ‘60s vibe because it was pure and simple. I'm
always asking myself, "Will this sound good 20 years from now?" So
during the recording process, I'm not too concerned about experimenting with
weird sounds -- with technology the way it is, you can do all of that after
the part is recorded. I'd rather concentrate on getting a great sound going
in, getting a great performance, and making sure the arrangement is tight and
works around the vocal. Then if we need a weird "ear candy" element,
we can add it last or alter the sound of one of the Linus: I would have to think back when I was doing my first few records on
my 8-track, in the bedroom of my one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood. I had garbage
trucks driving through my alley, my downstairs neighbor blasting ‘80s
metal, construction work next door, and somehow despite all of that I managed
to make some really good recordings...it was pretty hilarious recording full
horn sections and string quartets in my bedroom! At the time, I was thinking,
"Man, I wish I had better mics, better equipment…” But the
best part of having limited resources is that I had to concentrate on the music
and the sounds I was getting. No matter what equipment I use today, I still
take that with me. It's all about having great songs, good arrangements, and
making everything sound good on the way in. Use your ears! -------- Shortly after his run with the Zoo Records band Size 14 ended, some expert
networking landed LINUS OF HOLLYWOOD a gig remixing Puff Daddy’s “All
About the Benjamins.” More remix assignments ensued for the likes of Lil’
Kim, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Jennifer Lopez, which eventually allowed for
Linus to start his own label, Franklin Castle. He now splits his time between
major studio projects and FC acts like Kim Fox, Wisely, and yes, Linus of Hollywood.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
© 2008 Vintage Microphones (a Galaris LLC company). All rights reserved. Compare Pro Audio Prices! |
||||||
