Studio Sessions - Take an insight

Hi everyone,

Here I am with another insight into our work. The last time, I talked about the microphone set-up on my brother's drums. With this post, we want to give you a little impression on how we work. Because the drums aren't fully recorded yet, I intend to give you a little impression on how we work. 

But before I start, I want to give my deepest symapathy to all aggrieved parties of Chester Bennington's death! 

Now, coming back to a little bit more cheerful issue. Take a look into the recording session from past Monday.

As usual, before continuing with recording, we check out if everything still sounds as it should. Then we test the monitoring / In-Ear-System. This is always one of the most important checks we recommend because it is so necessary to hear the sound perfectly clear and without distractions. That's the only way to achieve precise and flowing recordings.

Screening for drum issues

Checking out the Monitoringsystems

Controll the all settings and mixings for the AW1600 and the monitor mix.

 

As you know, we process the recording step by step. For this record we start with drum recordings. Then we overdub all the rest like guitars, keys, voices and further stuff. But coming back to the drum recording phase. Gilles does not record every song solely and by heart. Sometimes, we accompany him with accoustic guitars for examples (you see me playing there on the left). The attendance brings the huge advantage to provoke a flow while playing. That brings out more the dynamique and emotion of a certain song.

Rehearsal time

One point that marks professionalism is reflecting and rehearsing stuff. That was something we had to learn the hard way. But for the procedure of our new record we have to rehears and discuss every take, to give you the best music we produce. 

Though this post hasn't been a review nor gives it some new information, it still gives you a deeper insight into our work. And who knows, maybe the description of your work makes you considering your way of recording.  

However, I hope you enjoyed it reading again. Hopefully, in the next post I can give you another insight of a different phase of recording. Besides, I'll give you a little review about my latest purchase, especially for this record; The MXR Smart Gagte!

Don't miss out on this post. Now, I do a little pause and be back again in September. 

Still have a great summer and keep on rocking!

Enjoy Seasplash!

Studio Sessions - Take an insight

Set Up Drums

Hey guys. Let’s continue with our studio session for our new album. As I have given you a little review about the Shure SM27 microphons, as well fort he JBL LSR 308 active monitors. In this section, I want to give you an insight to how we set-up the drums.

First, my brother Gilles uses for this recording session a different set up of his drum. Besides the usual stuff like Snare, Kick, High-Hat, Ride, he plays with only one Mid-Tom and one Floor-Tom. On top, he uses two Crashes, one China, and one Splash. Let’s consider the microphone set up.
 

Of course it makes sense to use the Shure SM27 as Overheads. I put them on the right and on the left side of the drum (A/B). It is important to have a space of 0.5 meters between the top of the Crashes and the Overheads. I pointed the Overheads in direction of the Snare though it should slightly catch its sound. Overheads need to catch the sound of the whole drum, but specially the sound of the Crashes. I don’t put a solely microphone for the Ride, but for the High-Hat. This so, because the one Overhead sucks the sound of the Ride directly into it. Therefore, I only need to put a little PG 81 on top of the High-Hat. Actually, I can’t give you the right advice to set up the microphone for a High-Hat. I only recommend to experiment and vary with the position of the microphone. Find out what works for you the best.

For the Kick, I place a Beta 52 in the middle of the Bass-Drum. This so, because I want to have the aggressive Kick a little bit more directly into the microphone and still catch the boom and sound of the Bass-Drum. Of course, I could use a Beta 91A (uniform half-cardioid polar pattern) for the kick and put the Beta 52 on the outside of the Bass-Drum. But I prefer only to use one microphone. 

For the Mid-Tom, I use a PG 56 and for the Floor-Tom a Shure PG 52. 

For the Snare, I put on top a Shure Beta 98DS, and the bottom I put a PG 56 as well. In my opinion, it is necessary to put two microphones for the Snare not only for the heavier bam, but also for the sound. The Beta 98 gives your Snare the perfect snatchy crunchy sound which is sustained by a deeper bam of the PG 56. So you see, it is impossible to get out of one microphone a precise mid-high-end sound and at the same time, you need a precise low-mid sound to adjust delicately.
And here we are. The set up for the drum is done. We started recording a few weeks back. Let’s see when the other instruments will be recorded. If that’s the case, I will give you another insight on the set up.

Below, you'll find some pictures to see, how we set up the mics on the drums.

Have a nice summer and take care.

Enjoy Seasplash!

Studio Sessions - Take an insight

Entry 1

Hey everybody, I’m back after a short break. We did some preperations for the upcoming studio sessions. I’ve already told you about the production of a new record which has now started. We want to take you on the road with our studio sessions, and present you different contributions according the project. Besides the blog part, we’ll shoot also short videos, and do some picture stuff on Facebook or Twitter. We hope you enjoy the insight into our new project. Stay tuned for more posts!

Like the past posts, I like to make in this post short reviews about our latest studio additions. For the occasion of the new record, we bought two Shure SM27 and two JBL LSR 308 active monitors. Let’s see how they perform. 

Shure SM27

Before I start, I have to mention that I didn’t try the beta-version of the 27. But as I can imagine, they perform just a little bit more precise than the SM-version does. Now, the great thing about the SM27 is that you can use it for different operating conditions, like for vocal recording, as overheads, or a cab-mic, and so on. It’s specialty to me, is the freedom you have with this mic to do everything. You even can use the mic to produce self-made reverb. As a condenser mic, it absorbs noise linear though you can adjust a three different kinds of low-pass-filters (linear / steep slope on 80Hz / moderate slope (rolloff). In addition you can pad the for -15dB.

For our project, we use the mic as overheads, as a cab-mic, for acoustic guitars, and also for vocals with pilot-tracks. For the live-use, we intend to apply the mics for Gilles’ drum as overheads. In sum, this mic is an all-rounder you shouldn’t miss out to have in your equipment.

JBL LSR 308

As I remember correctly myself, I once posted a list for future studio acquisitions for the band. On this list, I put Yamaha MSP Series as studio monitors. We decided to purchase the JBL LSR 308. But why?

Actually, there is no particular reason we decided to work with JBL. There are so many great monitors out there that in the end, it only matters what kind of sound you are used to, and further, what kind of sound does your monitor produce. I started to work in another studio with the JBL LSR 303 models. Their sound convinced me totally. It is a solid processed monitor, which guarantees a great adaption to the room’s acoustic you’re in. With two switches you are able to adapt high- and low-frequencies in a range of +/- 2 dB each. Same for the LSR 308. The monitor itself has a 56W D class amp for high tones and deep tones with a 1” tweeter and a 8” woofer. Besides the fact, that I’m already used to its sound, for our heavy metal sounds it is important to have wide range of frequencies also for high-frequencies as well for low-frequencies. Because I like to work a lot with 40Hz frequencies, it was important to have a gear which generates that without having losses there.

Of course, we can only evaluate validly the monitors after the recording sessions are done. If there were some terrible issues with the monitors, we would review again this post.

For the upcoming entry, I intend to give you an insight into our mic-set up for the recording session.

Keep on rocking.

Enjoy Seasplash!

 

Review on Yamaha APX700II 12-String

Hey guys, it's me again.

In this post I'm going to make a short review about the acoustic 12-string Westernguitar of Yamaha out of the APX line. It's my latest addition to my guitar rig, and I'm crazy about it! Check it out!

Since the beginning of Seasplash, I've always played 12-string accoustic guitars. Not surpising, that my first accoustic guitar was a Yamaha. As you may remember, on tour we play Takamines EF341 SC (6-string version) and EF381 C (12-string) though the latter I once gave away. I regret that! But now I have again a fantastic 12-string guitar - this Yamaha. As you remember, Yamaha is one of my favourit brands for music stuff. More or less everything coming out by this brand is solid, made of good quality, and has a fair price. Let's start with the review.

The very first time, I unpacked the guitar I was shocked. The bodysize of the guitar was much smaller and thinner than a commom 6-string guitar has. Even in lenght with the 12-string head. I mean, normally 12-string heads are twice as long than 6-string heads. But this guitar was shorter and smaller. Besides, I searched for some flaws over the guitar but couldn't find anything. The wood was prepared solidly. After putting in the batteries, I tuned all strings by the assimilated tuner. The tuning pegs work great as well. The strings do not detune a lot. Then I started to play. 

Rightaway, I was shocked again. I would never have thought that this guitar brings out such a sound. It sounded more transparent and lovely than the Takamine EF381 did. It's like playing a 6-string guitar that sounds like a harp. What a gear! I kept on playing. And the funny thing is, it is easier to play than a normal 6-string guitar. So you are able to make every chord that exists without leaving out strings. Your hand does not even start to cramp after playing a while. Of course this has something to do with the neck size which is smaller as well as common 12-strings are, but still have a good size. Though I wouldn't recommend the guitar for fellows with huge hands, this guitar is basically made to be played by everyone. The bridge and the nut accord with each other perfectly, so the strings lay optimally over the neck. Same for the frets. There is no fret that distorts the vibration of the strings, not even slightly.

One big plus in addition is the Piezzo pickup. Usually, they are not always convincing in sound transmition. But this time, they are very solid. They sound warm, transparent, and bright. Because of the small bodyshape, the guitar doesn't generate much of deep frequenzies which is an advantage for mixing because you don't have deep bad frequenzies to cut out. In our mix, I put the Piezzo straight (cut out a bit of high-mids by point) and it works perfect.The highs are coming out straight with now addition necessary. And like I mentioned above, the tuner is also assimilated into the pickup board and works precisely. Because of the reasons that the sound hole is not in a round shape, Yamaha gives a tailored feedback buster already included in the package. 

In sum, this guitar is another evidence for Yamaha's work and quality. Everything is made precise and solid, from the preparation of the body over the frets to the tuner pegs. But remember, this guitar is made for being played live. That's the reason of the whole set up of the gear. For recording, in case you work with condenser microphonees, I wouldn't recommend the guitar because the deep mellow sound of a normal sized acoustic guitar does not come out of this bodyshape. Still, try it and you love it. And all of it for 650.- Swissfrancs. What do you want more?!

Stay tuned for more posts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND-ZjV77kRo

Enjoy Seasplash!

Review on my new Bogner XTC Blue Pedal

Hey guys,

While last month I had to finish our video "The making of heroin" which you may watch on Youtube (click here), I'm now back doing some review stuff. This time, I want to give you a little review about my latest addition to my pedalboard - The Bogner XTC Blue Pedal.

Honestly, I have to say that Youtube videos about the Blue Pedal are probably more interesting and informative for you than my post is. But it might interest you, how it works with my set up. While in the recommended videos below both players use the pedal with a lightly distorted amp, I put the pedal in front of a 100% clean channel. As you may remember, I use a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 50/100W Amp with a Marshall 1960A Cab. In the signal chain of my pedalboard, the Blue Pedal found its place at the very end before getting directly plugged into the amp. I use this Blue Pedal exclusively with a clean signal. And that's what it makes fantastic about it. The Bogner really works perfect through a clean channel amp. The pedal is equipped with a normal channel or a boost channel. With the latter you can adjust gain and volume level independently. That's amazing! The normal channel sounds through my amp like a Fender Twin Reverb. It clearly adds some warmth to the signal and compresses it like I would have put on my MXR Red Comp. That blew my mind, the first time I played it! Further, with the boost channel I push the gain on maximum and leave the volume knob on the normal level. This boost gives me more or less the same distortion sound as if I have switched the channel mode on my Mesa Boogie amp from "clean" to “push”. And that's why the pedal is so important to me. It literally gives me a fourth channel on my Amp. Even better, the pedal functions like an amp as well. When I turn down the volume knob on my guitar, the pedal calms down as well though all dynamics are still out there. That's where you get the typical Steve Lukather sound which I personally like a lot. Here you probably wonder, why I added the pedal instead of just turning down the volume on my guitar using channel two (vintage / distortion on 90%) on my amp. The thing is, I didn't want a distortion level that is too pushed down by my guitar on channel two because with this way I lose all characteristics and dynamics of the channel itself. It shatters down. This does not happen with the Blue Pedal and that’s why it is such a beneficial addition to my system. I can only recommend it to every heavy metal guitarist who works with a clean channel.

 

Below you find two links for reviews online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAfGiRqjA0U (german)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacASksOtEk (english)

Stay tuned for more posts within the next month.

Enjoy Seasplash!