@StylesBitchley Bob, was this tracked in a commercial facility? If so do you happen to have a link to the site? If there isn’t one, can you tell us anything about the room or the signal chain on that room mic?
I’m actually doing a lot of experimenting right now with natural ambience opposed to synthetic or modeled room processing. But I don’t have a ton of usable drum room stuff to play with. The amazing rooms I record church choirs and orchestras in almost never have drum sets believe it or not. And half the time they’re live performances, and audience mics in theaters type rooms don’t give you shit for to blend with a drum set. Wrong context.
Aaron, the drummer would be able to answer that. I’m pretty sure he got it tracked at a commercial facility. Which one & where, I’m not sure. @StylesBitchley might know.
Small commercial studio, probably 3 hours of work. Aaron is very meticulous about having his part ready before he goes in, so my guess would be that half of the three hours is setup. They do get a great natural sound, but Andrew cooks it from there.
Aaron messaged me, it’s a converted house called Elm Street Studios in Lansing, MI. It was recorded in a living room with 10 foot ceilings. Two room mics. And another mic in the stairwell which apparently faces the living room. Modified Bonham method.
Andrew, for me, reading this, is so stimulating like coming across the classified CIA files on who killed Kennedy… or the secret formula about turning dirt to gold… or a step by step guide on how to get… I don’t know… Kate Upton and Rihanna together in bed with me!
I’m grateful beyond words for what you did here!
Andrew, I just stumbled in here out of the blue, and wanted to thank you again for all the work you put in here. Reading it again brought back fond memories of tracking this stuff, and the detail that you go into about your process is way beyond the call of duty. Kind of amazing to hear all the snippets, I only hear it as a finished song now, but they bring me back to the hours and hours of figuring out the individual parts and learning how to play them properly. I can always hear a simple version of the song in my head, but when you get around to piecing it together it can be a project, so I am always glad at that point to turn it over to your very capable ears and be done with it. Thanks again.
Wow, what a breakdown @ColdRoomStudio. My head hurts just thinking about delving so deeply into a song. Really interesting stuff though, not to mention a cool tune. Hats off.
What an awesome thread Coldroom! Well done. I really like your gating trick. If I need to really gate I tend to do a bunch of hand fiddling. This will save me some time!
I listened to this on my studio monitors today. I know this is a super old thread but thought I’d comment anyway. This is a stellar mix. The snare is insanely good. It is a great tune and you’ve done right by them as you always do. The tones sit together really nice and there is a great amount of space between them which is totally appropriate for a mix of this genre. Lots of “ear candy” that is well placed. I can see why you were asked to dissect this mix. Quite simply…You rock!
Paul, just wanted to let you know that in addition to a very high level of skill, Andrew is one of those rare guys that knows where you are trying to go instinctively, so he is a big part of the production side of things too. I usually bounce ideas off him before giving him the final tracks, and the whole process is great from start to finish. He translates my generic descriptions of how things should sound flawlessly.
I am very happy to see testimonials for Andrew. I’ve watched Andrews work for about a decade now. I feel like we “grew up together” as engineers back in the RR days. Andrew has dug in and “outworked” everyone, developed his ear and built a career in an impossible industry. I love seeing people succeed.
Way later, I just finished to read and listen to that thread. As usual, everything is very spot on and well written, many thanks to Andrew and everyone in that topic for sharing all that knowledge!
What I don’t get is what is the initial plan to get those stunning results?! I mean what are the very steps (in your head) that lead you to this “pro” sound I don’t get.
Technically I understand tape saturation, 2 dB of GR and stuff but I’m guessing what I’m doing 90% of the time while it seems that you’re pretty confident from the start and every mix/song you did are qualified for this radio-label that distinguish men from boys…
Again, great stuff here, it reminds me what you did back in the old RR days!
Yeah, it’s time for me to re-read this write-up and soak up even more great information. I figure if I re-read it enough times, maybe I’ll eventually remember more than I am forgetting!
