where can i find a run down on the equipment used to play and record this album. i got the album last year (with much anticipation) and i simply love it. the songs, the production all fucking top-notch. i'm a drummer and i'm obsessed with the sound on "little fury" i want to know what ALL was used to get that sound. the only thing i could come across was that jose uses DW drums. also the guitars and vocals are delicious. ab fab!

bravo.

thanks.

53buick wrote:where can i find a run down on the equipment used to play and record this album. i got the album last year (with much anticipation) and i simply love it. the songs, the production all fucking top-notch. i'm a drummer and i'm obsessed with the sound on "little fury" i want to know what ALL was used to get that sound. the only thing i could come across was that jose uses DW drums. also the guitars and vocals are delicious. ab fab!

I don't necessarily need to know ALL that, but I do have a couple specific questions regarding the song "Off You." This song features a really interesting upright bass sound, and I wondered if Steve or any participatory Electrical staff could describe the microphone technique used to achieve such a sound (I'm guessing it's a ribbon mic, maybe a 44 or birdcage). I record a fair amount of acoustic jazz, and I would be jazzed to receive any tips on recording this instrument.

The more puzzling question is, what's up with the distortion on this song? It only seems present on the vocal (?), and it almost sounds like an under-biased tape machine, or maybe it's just an overloaded mic pre or compressor. Just curious whether this was an intended effect (maybe she wanted some fuzz on her voice) or what. I thought something was wrong with my record player when I first heard it.

Thanks in advance.

-greasygoose

greasygoose wrote:I don't necessarily need to know ALL that, but I do have a couple specific questions regarding the song "Off You." This song features a really interesting upright bass sound, and I wondered if Steve or any participatory Electrical staff could describe the microphone technique used to achieve such a sound (I'm guessing it's a ribbon mic, maybe a 44 or birdcage). I record a fair amount of acoustic jazz, and I would be jazzed to receive any tips on recording this instrument.

Yes, it was a 44DX through a GML mic amp. Approximately 18" away from the picking hand.

The more puzzling question is, what's up with the distortion on this song? It only seems present on the vocal (?), and it almost sounds like an under-biased tape machine, or maybe it's just an overloaded mic pre or compressor. Just curious whether this was an intended effect (maybe she wanted some fuzz on her voice) or what. I thought something was wrong with my record player when I first heard it.

Thanks in advance.

-greasygoose

Kim had a cassette dub of the song that she really liked the sound quality of. The cassette dub had some distortion, but a lot of background hiss and some popping, and a dropout, which she didn't like. I made a 1/4-inch mix of the song with the tape saturating slightly, and Kim liked that sound quality. That 1/4-inch was copied to 1/2-inch for the master.

best,
-steve