Devotchka String Session

Back in early April I got a call to do a string date at Immersive Studios with Devotchka (yeah yeah, I know I’m behind on the blog). I’m a big fan of this band and was stoked for the opportunity  to do even a little bit of work on their upcoming record.

Producer Craig Schumacher gave me the reins to do my thing sonically with the string sounds so he could focus on producing the session. Knowing the band and the unmistakeable sound of Tom Hagerman’s string arrangements, I didn’t want anything too clean, yet wanted to give Craig some options and flexibility come mix time.

Below are a few pics of the setup. I wanted what I call an “80% stereo pair” where you can throw up the faders on pair and get at least 80% of what you want in the mix. Then you can add spot mics to taste.

First I went for the AKG C24 stereo mic. It’s a classic mic that gave me a very coherent if even somewhat narrow stereo image. On some of the songs where the strings are more supportive, I tend to find coincident stereo pairs to blend most easily without taking up too much room. And it’s very mono-friendly.

To give another option with a bigger, more lush and wider sound, I setup a spaced pair of DPA 4006 omni’s. I didn’t set these up to be outriggers to the C24, but rather to be an either/or pair. The sound of spaced omni’s on any kind of an ensemble–especially strings–is amazing. It’s super lush, wide and 3D. This can work better for songs with thinner arrangements where the strings are more focal. Also, they just have a totally different vibe which may or may not work on some of these songs.

Then, I included four spot mics. There were two of each player/part (two 1st violins, two 2nd violins, two violas and two cellos). To get a warmer, thicker sound than I’d go for on a classical session I chose ribbon mics for all but the cellos. Royer R122′s were used on the violins, a Blue Woodpecker on the violas and then a Soundelux iFet7 on cellos down low.

The great part about using ribbons in this context is that you can aim them such that the null of the polar pattern (figure-8 in this case since they’re ribbons) is aimed at the other sections. It’s hard to see in the picture of the setup, but an example is that the 1st violin mic was pointed down and to the left towards, and the side of the mic is therefore aimed down towards the cellos, maximizing separation. Gotta love those ribbons!

To give Craig the widest palette of sounds, I put the 2 stereo pairs (C24 and 4006′s) through Grace preamps which are totally uncolored and work in any mix. I put all of the spot mics through Vintech x73 preamps (Neve 1073 design) so that the blend could get really clean or really colored depending on how things were balanced.

Check out the record “100 Lovers” when it comes out!

Currently Mixing: Gary Johnson

Wow, time flies…

In November I had songwriter/guitarist Gary Johnson out from New York to record bass tracks with Jimmy Stofer. Gary then came back out for a week stint in December to track guitars for his upcoming full-length entitled “Tracing Starlines WIth Empty Hands”.

Now, come January/February 2010, it’s time to mix! I’m thrilled to be working on this project. The songs are fantastic and really have something for everyone. There are moments of pure guitar-driven pop, and moments of an honest singer-songwriter, all wrapped up in a really neat way. The record features Jimmy Stofer on bass and Kevin Soffera (formerly Breaking Benjamin and Seether) on drums. Rocking.

Mixing is nearly complete, with 6 tunes in the can and four more to go… Look Gary up on MySpace or Facebook and check out this record when it comes out late February!

Saints Session Photos

Hey everyone-

Check out some photos from the Saints sessions here at The Hook Factory!

More to come later!

-Dave

Piano Ballad Challenge With Saints

Lewi (drummer for the band Saints) sure knew how to catch me off guard in this video.  I did pretty well coming up with Total Eclipse of the Heart (or at least I thought), but totally bombed the Meat Loaf tune. Check it out!

Things are really coming along with the Saints project – look for the release sometime next month!

-Dave

Saints: Ringtones

Hey guys-

Check out Saints lead singer Rob Gault showcasing his own custom ringtones. He is on the cusp of dominating the “sounds from the barnyard” ringtone market…so be on the lookout!

More videos from the Saints sessions coming soon!

-Dave

Saints: November Rain

Hey everyone-

Here’s a quick video of Lewi from Saints playing November Rain on the piano. Keep an eye out for Jimmy Stofer joining in on vocals! We had an absolute blast working with these guys…

More videos from the sessions with Saints to come!

-Dave

More Tracking With Saints

Hey music fans-

We’re wrapping up the new EP with Saints right now, and everything looks to be on schedule for a release here shortly! We are currently getting ready to start the mix sometime this week, and are confident that this will be one of the best and most exciting projects that we’ve done to date.

Once again we’d like to give a shout out to our good friend and bass extraordinaire, Jimmy Stofer. We got exactly what we needed from him as always, and are excited to have him play on more projects in the future.

We’ll keep you posted once the project is finished and how you can get your hands on a copy. In the mean time – check out Saints myspace page for more info on upcoming shows in the Denver/Boulder area.

Until next time-

-Dave

Studio Blog: The Autumn Film

The Autumn Film: In The Studio

A few months ago, I got a link in my email box from Justin showcasing a band that he found called The Autumn Film. I instantly loved their sound, and thought they would be a great fit with us producing them in the studio.  

After checking out an amazing show at the Oriental Theatre - we brought them in to work on a tune that will be given away as a free track sometime early in the new year.  It’s a cool 6/8 tune with many layers and lush soundscapes, highlighted by Tifah’s hauntingly beautiful vocal performance. Tracking a full tune in one day is quite a feat, but we pulled it off with the amazing musicianship of Tifah, Reid and Dann.

We had an absolute blast working with these guys, and hope to work with them more in the near future! The track will be mixed and mastered shortly, so stay tuned…

-Dave

PS from Justin:

Pay attention here, folks. This is the future. Music business 2.0.

You can download, for free, two EPs that the Autumn Film has released over the past couple of years. Download the So Loved EP and The Grey EP. It’s great stuff.

Looking At The Finish Line…

The Kyle Galanaugh project is almost complete! Justin, Kyle and I spent the past few weeks tweaking the overall mixes, and I must say we are very pleased with the end result.  

We are currently in the process of lining up a mastering engineer.  There are a few people who could potentially be in the pipeline – hopefully we’ll be able to get who we want to make this project really rock! Needless to say, we’ll be making quite a few phone calls in the near future.

The buzz on this EP is really exciting! We’re getting amazing feedback from people both inside and out of the business, and have the support of local radio and indie retailers.  Once the project is finished in its entirety, Kyle will be playing a ton of shows around town – so check it out!

Well, that’s it for now…we’ll keep you posted!

-D

Somebody Call Clive!

Friday we had Kyle Galanaugh up to cut BGV’s for his single “Wait.” The track is killing and we’re almost ready to mix. There’s a huge buzz around town about this EP and we’re so excited to finish it up.

The weekend was spent mostly working on maintenence, miscellaneous projects around the studio and filming for our new reality TV show entitled “Somebody Call Clive!”. Samples and out-takes will be up and available soon. Or, as soon as Dave gets them edited.

In other good news, the new firmware/software update for the Euphonix MC Mix controller was just released and it rocks so far. Seems like most of the major problems were fixed with Pro Tools. We’re also demoing an Orange Tiny Terror amp in the quest to expand guitar world.

Oh, and lastly, we just found out that our friend Yaffa is scheduled to be back in town from Italy this coming week. We will be embarking on uncharted territory, producing an opera/pop track for her record! Stay tuned…

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