Premier Rock Forum

How do you reach a lo-fi, "distant" sounding rec?
Kinda like "Initium" by Samhain, or the Mars stuff, or black metal stuff.
I can't kill the lows because it's a bass/drums only stuff.

Probably the Samhain one Is the best example of what I need to reach.

hmmm, kind of an odd thing to shoot for intentionally, but I would attempt this with a cassette 4 track. Not fully blown out/distorted, try to keep it more 'in the green' vs red. Maybe do a generation of bouncing (record 4 tracks, mix to stereo, free up 2 more tracks, final mix). That should give it a weird veil without resorting to gimmicky plugins.

(kind of had Burzum in mind when writing this, though those vocals are probably fully distorted with a stompbox)

That record sound like it was recorded with 2 SM57's from the back of a small club during sound check. Maybe start with that.

That record sounds like the drums were all close miked with no room sound at all. And the guitar and bass were recorded with only room mics with the mids scooped out a bit. Mixing wise, the drums and vocals dominate with the guitar and bass mixed pretty low. Don't forget to add a shitload of plate reverb on the vocal.

I've actually come across interviews where some of the members of Samhain talked about recording that record.

From the sound of it, Reel Platinum Studio was there in Lodi. Had a house kit built into what sounded like some sort of a baffle situation. What they've said made it sound like the studio was mostly recording dance music before them. Also seem like they talked about going direct, but I'm not so sure about that.

So, yeah. Maybe throw most of what you would do out the window?

Put the toms highest in the mix for Samhain. I hear a lot of bands try for this murky sound, and I think it can only sound authentic with tape and analog reverb.

Years ago a friend of mine said that some of the Samhain guitars were recorded using Gorilla practice amps. I have no idea if that's true.

I don’t understand recording but maybe you could experiment with reamping a few bass riffs to dry run a bunch of experimental options.

penningtron wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:05 am hmmm, kind of an odd thing to shoot for intentionally, but I would attempt this with a cassette 4 track. Not fully blown out/distorted, try to keep it more 'in the green' vs red. Maybe do a generation of bouncing (record 4 tracks, mix to stereo, free up 2 more tracks, final mix). That should give it a weird veil without resorting to gimmicky plugins.

(kind of had Burzum in mind when writing this, though those vocals are probably fully distorted with a stompbox)

Pretty much this. Every 4 track recording I ever made sounded like black metal…or mud….

Band pass filters?