Yes - finally.
I know updates have been non-existent the last weeks or so, but I actually have a pretty good excuse and that is that I was hospitalized for 4 days (and went back & forth to the hospital preceeding days). Got home two weeks ago but have been feeling so-so, so last week was when I first felt I could get some work done.
I don't know how interesting going into nerd detail on the mixing process is to read about. Something tells me very few will find "added 5.4dB @ 80Hz with a Q of 1.4 to the U47FET kick" interesting, so I'll write as if talking to ones grandma.
Started off as usual with the drums. The kit utilized for this recording was a Ludwig Superclassic with 26" bass drum, 14" rack and 16" floor tom. Most people go "26" bass drum! Fuckin' a!" but few realise that in a dense thick mix where EVERYTHING is supposed to be fat, heavy and rich in low end, getting a 26" bass drum to cut through - and sound good, mind you - is not easy.
When we recorded "Through The Eyes Of Heathens" I had brought both my 22" and 26" bass drums with me and the 22" actually sounded bigger than the 26". Go figure.
If you're making a drumsolo album, or one where the bass & guitars don't occupy so much room in the mix, then it's definetely easier to get a 26" to actually sound like a 26". The bigger the drum - the less attack/impact you get (if it's not tuned waaay down but then all you get is a clicky bass drum).
But it looks cool, and we all know that's all that matters.
Next up was bass and I found a good sound pretty fast. Being meticulous when placing mics pays off. Same with the guitars. Ended up using only the Revox 3500 and Fat-Head ribbon mic for 90% of the guitars and the API preamp provided perfect punch/bite. I had a SM57 up as well "just because" and I seriously cannot fathom how it gets so much use on electric guitars. It sounds like a complete and utter turd.
Vocals is definetely what's taking the longest as there's a lot of harmonies going on. Way more than ever before.
There's also less dubbed vocals since it gives the vocals kind of a robotic feel. It can sound cool here n' there (and there
are dubs), but dubbing everything as a rule (which we did a lot in the past) is gone. I guess harmonies has taken that role until we get tired of that and go back to just dubbing everything again, mwoaha.
And I'm (again) happy we got a hold of a Neumann U87 to use for the vocals - not a sign of sibilance/harshness even when adding distortion. Just all around aural sweetness. Yay!
Neil Fallon, metal pup, Tommi, Fredrik, Beef cake.Yes, that is indeed Neil Fallon of Clutch fame. He graces the album with 2 vocal performances, and I'm telling you, it's goosebumps galore. He re-eeeally hits the spot.
I was amazed how incredibly tight his performance was. The dubs are just insanely tight in both pitch and timing. It really makes the vocals cut through like a hot knife through butter. And this was like on the third take (with the first two being mainly for me to set mic pre gain), mind you. I don't mean to sound like Mr. Fan-boy Deluxé, but seriously, he just totally slayed. All of us were smiling from ear to ear. You just wait - creaming of pants is guaranteed.
