Hi kids,
So after 22 years away from the producers chair I am back in the studio with a very talented young singer song writer. In the ensuing period I have done lots of remixes and recorded backing tracks for some acts that wanted a traditional studio experience, but have stayed away from taking a project through from beginning to end. Time from the day job (mixing films) just did not allow. This project takes me back to being responsible for the whole deal from demo to masters. I am excited. As I type this entry I have completed backing tracks for 4 songs with a band that included live acoustic piano (the artist plays superb), Kuma Harada on bass, Jack Greenwood from the Pretty Things on drums and Nina Gromniak and Elliott Frisby on guitars. What a trip to do a take and have it be all there. We have done a day of Guitar overdubs and are about to start on lead vocals. But I am guessing the guides will likely be the body of the lead vocals as she nailed them during the tracking sessions.
"Traditional" would be how we have approached the recordings with lots of vintage amps for the guitars, a very snazzy Singlerland kit from the 70's and some pretty exotic mic placements. The 1176's and DBX 150's got a good look in. Our one concession to the 21st century is we tracked to Protools. HD3, 192's v8. I would have preferred to use the Radar that was available as I like the converters, but this is the road we decided to follow. The desk is a Neve VR72. Nina has a custom tele with Seymour Duncans that has delivered some great textures and the 1956 gibson tremelo amp has been amazing. We have also used a twin that I took down to 60 watts and a 100 watt marshall. The bass was DI with a small Ampeg 1x15 to give some dirt.
I am looking to make a pop record that oozes being honest in performance and sound. I wonder how it will turn out?
Thanks
