https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13184331/Graphite.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13184331/Graphite_Master_Test_6_3_4.mp3

GEEKSTUFF:

Lots of hardware compression going on here. We used an old RCA BA-6B on the bass. It is made of victory, more-or-less. Dirtguitars went through a pair of old UA L3-A3s, not because my square wave digital fuzz tones need compression as such, but they add a nice girth to heavy guitars. Chris Lord-Alge seems to think they're alright (by which I mean runs guitars through them as a matter of course) and who am I to argue? Rändölph's kick and snare were run through Distressors, or, at least, the inside mic and top mic were. We used the gigantic compressor from a tank on the outside kick mic. Alan Smart compressor set to Nuke on the room mics on the drums. Re: the rest, lots of 1176 (or clones thereof) action going on here. If I'm remembering right, the vocals went through Retro 176s, which are like 1176s, But With Tubes. Mix bus compression was from the SSL desk itself (never a bad choice) with Mercury Pultec clones for shelving EQ on the top and bottom. Some Crane Song shizzle (HEDD and Phoenix) for pseudo-mastering porpoises.

EQ was all, or almost all (save for the Mercurys) console EQ on the 4040G. We gated the inside kick mic pretty hard; that and the gate on the rhythm guitars was... either the dynamics section on the desk or the Drawmers in the one rack; I don't recall.

The megaphone effect on Chris's vocal we created with Sansamp and Line 6 delay plugins. I did the original with Line 6 Pod Farm- basically the same thing- but for some dumbass reason it didn't print when I bounced down the tracks (and yes, I had the Pod plugged in. :-P) so we recreated it and tweaked the delays a bit. The robot voice bit in the bridge is Buffer Override, which is awesome for destroying things. The effect at the end... Ken's idea. loops and a pitchshifter. Chris can now be added to the list of "things we've used as a synth".

Nothing was re-tracked from the original. Drums are Pearl custom shop and Zildjian A-series. Bass is Musicman/GK, guitars are Tele and Strat through various pedals and an AC30. Synths are DSI Prophet, Novation and Absynth. The bass was miced up with a modded Nady ribbon and a Shure condenser; we took a DI but only used it to reamp through an OCD and Eventide. Room mics on the bass during the bridge. Same mic combo but close in on the guitars. Tele for rhythms, Strat for the bridge. Geiger Counter, Synth Wah and OCD for dirt, Eventide filter sweep delay and Soundtoys Echoboy in the bridge.

There's some EMT plate reverb action here and Lexicon PCM42 and a big old AMS unit on various things. I think we threw a little Eventide H3000 on the synthy-sounding guitar layer (a DI off the Strat through Echoboy; I used the Glassoleen preset and tweaked from there) in the bridge.

Sounds rad! So many toys!

Interesting choice on the kick EQ. I am thinking maybe i just don't prefer the sound of his kit, but you are right: it works just fine for the music and the mix.

And yeah, a pretty swell sounding mix for how much shit is going on at all times throughout it.

But really, the toys!

Also, IIRC, the 176 is the precursor to the 1176 in a way, but they are not that similar(tube vs SS aside) so much as "related". The studio that recorded all of the Big Star stuff(Ardent) apparently had(still has) some that they used all over those records. I noted the fantastic compression that was often quite heavily applied by them on those records, but didn't know where it came from until a couple weeks ago i went looking to learn about how they recorded the drums there. Apparently John Fry liked the 176s on a bit of everything.

A big part of the kick sound is the relationship between the two mics- the inside mic is a D112 and all beater impact. The outside mic is my Shure condenser back a bit and sounds like a marching drum or something. No muffling in the kick either. It's a big 24", and I don't recall what wood- might be mahogany? He wants the kit to sound like an '80s drum machine, and... it does that. Whether you like it or not is pretty subjective. Judging by most of the reactions from what I've posted, studio and live, the answer is "no", but it's his thing and who am I to argue until I run into a situation when it's not working on a recording? At least it's got some character. He plays the fuck out of the thing- that's all one take, straight through.

Tanks! It's a bit of a bitch to balance everything- the EQing was, in a lot of cases, to make things smaller so they'd fit. Except the track of ribbon mic on the bass guitar. The Prophet especially got some pretty severe treatment. The EQ on the drums was less radical than my original mix, where I did a lot to brighten the snare. We went for a lot more room on the drums here and the whumpier snare sound captured on the raw tracks.

Re: the 176s- I was unaware! I'd never run across one until we used 'em. I asked and was told they were a relative. I hadn't even looked into the Retro versions; seen ads for 'em in Tape Op and that's it. Interesting to know. Again, thanks!

Goddamn, this is super slick. I actually dig the drummer's sounds... I wouldn't use them, but I like them.

Well, if that just don't professional as fuck.
Damn, this is teh badassness.

Sounds great, man.
It is pretty miraculously clear considering how dense this mix is.

Could you sample that snare?


That'd be awesome to blend with a crackier snare for my metal shit. I've always thought my snares lacked girth, and that snare has teh girth.

Thanks, guys. I've been fooling with taking some mastering tools to this, and there's more to be had still out of this mix.

Re: the snare, I have access to that snare. So yes. It is gigantic- it's physically a very large drum, and has been noted in the past, pretty well just sounds like that.

WOW

Damn fine job on that. I love the drumnoises on this. My type of goo here. There's a lot going on but I can distinguish everything very well. I need to listen properly on my home stuff since I am at teh works, but I will say awesome.

Now with a mastered version: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13184331/Graphite_Master_Test_6_3_4.mp3

Admittedly, this is my halfassed mastering, and I am not a mastering engineer. There's mid-side bullshit and parallel compression going on here. My drummer thought the mix was too dark, and from a mix balance standpoint I could see where he's coming from- I usually mix the overheads up quite high, and at the end of the night I found myself in front of the SSL pushing the faders for the OHs up. So I... er, mixed in a stem of HP-filtered and EQed overheads and an inside kick mic that I whomped on with some EQ and compression too.

I am afear'd I mastered this too hot?

I am listening fairly loud and it sounds decent?

Can't listen loud enough until tomorrow. Will DL now tho.

Awesomeness. I think it mostly holds up. The more I've tampered with this mastering thing the more I realize how subtle it actually is and how much small changes over a whole mix make a pretty substantial difference!

I will listen in cans tonight and with monitors tomorrow.

Awesome. I think it compares favorably, all things considered, but my ears are too fatigued at this point to figure out if that's really the case. I have a buttload of other masters I bounced down and even more I didn't bother; most sound too bright to me? Which makes me think I still have high frequency hearing left.

Tasty, tasty, tasty.

It just keeps getting slicker. Are the bandmates pleased?

It may be the power of albini compelling me, but i feel like the vocal is a bit too forward in this mix?

Otherwise, the EQ of the mix is much glossier/detailed. Drums, guitars, synths, all sound better, clearer, etc.

In a way, i suppose that this is also what has happened to the vocal, but IMO, it brings it out, a little too clearly in parts, which to my ears makes it sound too separated from, or laid on top of, the rest of the band. Mostly early in the song though, by the end it seems to me to be at a more receded (real or psychoacoustic, idk) level.

Otherwise, very slick mix here.