Hi everyone!
This is a song I recorded in Auria in the late summer of 2014. It's 100% recorded and mastered in Auria on an iPad Air 2. (No vox, yet.)
While no recording or mix is perfect, this is pretty exactly damn close to what I was trying to achieve: a big, full wall of sound--while keeping good individual track clarity.
I went DI through my rig for most of the dozen or so guitar tracks. For others (plus 3 of the 6 solo tracks) I live mic'ed through the vintage Gibson practice amp.
Bass: it had been awhile since I'd played bass, so my calluses were gone...but I didn't have 2 weeks to build them up again. So (hot tip!): I played them wearing very thin Gorilla Grip gloves (about $10 at Home Depot). They're actually so thin and form-fitting that I can play guitar, cleanly, with them on. I have spoken.
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
The drums were a crappy old Alesis SR-16 that I didn't feel like re-programming. A lot of compression and limiting (plus some Drumagog-ing) made the drums sound powerful and fantastic.
Fun notes:
--The claps are me--4 tracks. I found they lacked snap alone and that smacking my leg with a ruler added the needed "thwack"!
--Guitar Solo: The solo consists of two main parts; it starts and ends in unison, with the mid section being harmony. It's 6 live takes/tracks. The trick was to get it to cut through the already full mix (without sounding 'stark'), while also having good dimension and pan placement. Only having two tracks placed it too centrally in the mix, and too much fuzz made it lose punch and definition. I tried Bias Amp, Ampkit and Fab Filter Saturn, and ended up going with 3 takes of THM, panned around at different levels. It had good tone and distortion, but it needed a little something more. So I layered in another three takes (quieter/panned harder) mic'ed through the 4 watt tube Gibson (with its only knob--Volume--on 10, which equals "tube crunch"). It provided some more beef and dimension in the mix but without adding over-distorted sizzling.
Plug-ins:
A whole bunch (!). Mainstays:
Comps/Gates: Fab Filter Pro-C, Pro-Q, Pro-G, Pro-L; FXpansion DCAM BusComp & ChanComp; PSP Channel Strips,
MicroWarmer & oldTimer (both of those kick *total* ass)
Reverb & Delay: ClassicVerb Pro, Altispace, PSP Echo, Fab Filter Timeless2
Distortion: Ampkit+ for bass processing; built a LOT of amps in BIAS to get the exact amount of clarity (along with dist) for the guitar tracks; the *mighty* Fab Filter Saturn (most flexible dist I've ever used); tubes!
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Instruments & Equipment:
Gretsch G5120 semi-hollow body
Ibanez EX-360
Extremely cheap and awesome P-bass clone (!)
Neotek dual-racked channel strips (preamp & EQ)
RNC Really Nice Compressor
Focusrite iTrack Dock
Blue Baby Bottle mic
Early 90'S Alesis SR-16 drum machine (heavily, heavily processed!)
1961 Gibson GA-5 Skylark amp (tube, 4W. This amp made me a believer in low-wattage tube practice amps. Power amp saturation is where it's at!)
Monitoring & Mixing:
Sony MDR-7505 headphones
AKG K240S headphones
Yamaha NS-10M speakers
Yamaha NS-1000M speakers (circa 1978, 70lbs each--flat down to 20Hz)
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Sometime soon I hope to post an in-depth "In the Mix" breakdown of how I recorded it.
I hope y'all enjoy this, and I'd love to hear your comments!
--Nick/millionVALVE