Recording Sam Smith Live with Record Plant Remote

For the better part of January I was recording the east coast concerts for Capitol Records recording artist Sam Smith. I went on the road with Record Plant Remote and owner/ engineer Kooster Mcallister. Expect a live Sam Smith album in the near future.

We had the chance to take a pit stop at Ryan Hewitt’s mix room in Nashville.

A shot of Opryland in Nashville.

My X48 rig on the mobile recording truck. 96 tracks redundant. 

Recording scratch vocals with Genifer Robin at The Buddy Project Recording Studio

I have spent the better part of this spring and summer producing a new full length album for Genifer Robin at The Buddy Project Recording Studio in New York City.

Recording The George Gee Swing Orchestra

I tend to record rock bands that love drinking beer and turning amps up to an unhealthy level. A few weeks ago I had to privilege to work with The George Gee Swing Orchestra. These guys are serious business in an old school way. We cut 25 songs in a single day. This may be a record for me in terms of the number of songs recorded to (tracking) completion in one day. 6 horns, piano, upright bass, drums, two vocals. No messing around to be had. It was a good time.  

 

Recording Anacrotes at Seaside Lounge Recording Studio

For five days I suffered the slings and arrows of no cell phone service with Shane Chapman (the other Shane) and his band Anacortes at Seaside Lounge Recording Studio to produce their upcoming full length album. We mixed the album at The Buddy Project Recording Studio

 

This record was done in a quick and efficient manner, with minimal overdubs and a large emphasis on the sound, feel, and vibe of the room. The beauty of the process was how easy and painless it became as we gave in to the idea that punching, editing, over mixing and over thinking the process would only create more problem. The result was a record that sound smooth, punchy and dynamic with the mix and “production” as an element that hopefully disappears to the listener. 

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Dear Comrade at Studio G Brooklyn

Last week Dear Comrade completed basics for their upcoming full length album with me at Studio G Brooklyn in Williamsburg.

 

“Second Youth” by The Teen Age

Here is the debut of the second single from The Teen Age entitled Second Youth. I mixed this song at The Audio Parlour in Brooklyn NY. You can read the whole article HERE.

Fabricoh Magazine | Indie Music Magazine | Reviews : Xylofaux – Circuitry

 

Here is a review of a record I produced with Xylofaux earlier this year.

Fabricoh Magazine | Indie Music Magazine | Reviews : Xylofaux – Circuitry.

The Craft Of Recording Electric Guitars

Here is an article I wrote for The Deli Magazine.

You can find the original article HERE.

10 ideas for recording amazing electric guitars – by Shane O’Connor 

Recording guitars, although easy at first can be a challenge when you really want to achieve a great sound. Here are some helpful tips to improve your guitar recording chops.

1. Set Up Your Guitar 
Amazing guitar tones start with the player. Recording a great song with a good player is always key. Beyond the player, the instrument must be in top shape as well. Sending your guitar to be professionally set up is a great way to ensure your guitar tracks are properly in tune and there are no buzzes, squeaks or hums coming from the instrument. A professional set up will also allow the guitar to play easier and feel better, which will help to create a better performance.

2. Isolate The Amp From The Floor 
When recording guitars in small spaces, such as a bedroom or a project studio, the physical connection between the amp and the floor can cause the amp to sympathetically vibrate with the floor. This creates an artificial sense of low end that is often hard to eq out and can make your recording sound muddy. By isolating the amp from the floor with dense insulation or a product such as the Auralex Gamma Pad, the amp can accurately reproduce the low end without vibrating with the room. This can be very useful with dense guitar arrangements where layered guitars can stack up to create a muddy mess in the mix.

3. Understand The Room 
The sound of the amp is largely impacted by the room that is exists in. Standing waves are created when a loud guitar amp is played in a small space. To minimize the impact of standing waves, angle the guitar amp at 45 degrees to parallel walls. This will help to keep prominent frequencies from building up in the room.
For more control of the room sound, try draping a heavy blanket over the speaker cabinet. This will eliminate the room sound for microphones close to the cabinet. A second room mic can then be added for control of the room sound in the mix. This creates the possibility for all types of sonic experimentation when it comes time for mix. For example, the room mic can be panned opposite of the close mic. A delay can be added to the room mic for even more spatial distinction.

4. Eq With Mic Placement 
There are tone knobs on a guitar, and often eq and tone knobs on a guitar amp. Although these knobs are easy to use and tempting to play with, drastic eqing on an amp can sound harsh or push the amp to distortion in unpleasant ways. A less conventional, but equally as effective method of eq can be accomplished through microphone placement at the speaker cone.
The closer the microphone is to the center of the speaker, the more low end and high end will be picked up. As the microphone is moved to the outside of the cone, the midrange becomes clearer in comparison. In conjunction with this, the angle of the microphone in relation to the cone can also change the tone of the guitar sound. Angling the microphone 45 degrees outward will reduce the upper midrange frequencies. Angling the microphone 45 degrees inward will increase low midrange frequencies.
Also, different mics will capture different tonal colors from your amp.  Sometimes just switching to a different mic will make a track sound better or sit better in your mix.  Also, using two mics at once gives you the option of choosing between or blending the two tracks later.  Favorites for guitar amps are dynamic mics both for their tone and their ability to handle high volume.  Although ribbon mics are less able to handle loud signals, they are handy for capturing a rich and accurate tone.

5. Pick A Pick 
Although you probably have a favorite guitar pick that works well with your playing style, there are guitar pick options that can drastically alter the tone of your guitar. For more attack on leads and solos, a metal pick can brighten up the guitar tone without having to resort to eq at the amp. In contrast, a felt pick can be the perfect choice for soft rhythm guitar that needs to sit well with keyboards and piano. Before spending lots of money on a new amp or effects pedal, a trip to the music store for a new guitar pick might be all you need. Strings can have an impact on your tone too.  Experiment with different brands, different materials, different gauges and different windings.  Steel strings tend to be bright, loud and have good sustain.  Whereas, nickel-plated or pure nickel strings can be a little softer and the tone is more subdued.  Thicker strings will give you more volume and a bit more sustain, but the thicker the gauge the harder they are to play.  Try to find the right gauge for your desired tone and don’t use such heavy strings that it disrupts your performance.  And finally, check out different windings for your strings.  Most people use round wound strings, but if you’re looking to dull your sound for a real vintagey-vibe try flat wound or tape wound strings.  This is particularly apparent on bass.  Flat or tape wound strings give the notes you play a thumpier attack and limit your sustain significantly.

6. Types Of Guitar Doubles 
A straight double of rhythm guitar might be all a song needs to thicken up the guitars, but often doubling guitars in a dense arrangement leads to trouble when it comes time to mix. Doubling just the root note of a chord progression is a great way to thicken a guitar track without adding too much information. A second double an octave above the root can also work well if it is panned in opposition to the original root note double.
For a lift in the chorus of a song, whole note doubles work well to emphasize the chord changes. On a heavy rock song, whole note doubles with less distortion often work really well to add clarity and harmonic distinction to the chord progression. On less heavy pop or country songs, whole note doubles with different chord voicings can add a sense of spaciousness and fullness to a chorus without adding another part to distract from the vocal.

7. To Eq At The Amp Or In The Mix 
It is often a studio rule of thumb that great sounds should be achieved at the source as opposed to fixing things in the mix. As true as this is, there are always exceptions to the rule. One exception is when to eq a guitar amp. If eq is added on the amp itself, the resulting guitar sound usually changes the way the guitar part relates to the rest of the mix. Eqing at the amp can be thought of as adding an effect and changing the purpose of the guitar part. Eqing in mix can be much more subtle. I often save eqing the low end of guitars for mix, but add boosts to the high end of guitars at the amp while tracking. This ensures that I don’t over eq the low end and muddy up the track before mixing, but still allows me to subtly distort the top end at the amp while tracking.

8. Easy On The Reverb 
Generally, less reverb on guitars is a smart choice while tracking. Unless you are striving for a Dick Dale drenched guitar sound, most reverb can be added in mix. The reverb might sound great on the first rhythm guitar while tracking, but once three or four guitars are stacked on top of the initial rhythm guitar, that reverb sounds distracting and amateur.

9. Linking Effects 
The pedal board you use for live shows might be efficient and stocked with cool noise makers, but that doesn’t make it the best idea for recording. Generally using the least amount of effects to achieve the desired guitar tone is the best plan. If there are effects pedals in the signal chain that aren’t being used, they may be degrading the signal and causing excess noise. Take any pedal out of the chain that is not being used. It is common sense, but try to use the highest quality and shortest cables between guitar pedals.     Think critically and creatively about which pedals you use and in what order. Although a heavy distortion pedal might sound fun on its own, it might not be the best choice for the song. Using a gain boost pedal to push the amp harder might be the most natural and best distortion sound for the song. A more creative use for that wild distortion pedal might be after your delay and reverb pedal. Crazy spaced out sounds from delay and reverb can become even more psychedelic with a distortion and an eq pedal after them.

10. Take A DI 
When recording guitars, I always record a DI signal directly from the guitar before it hits any effects or an amp. I do this for two reasons. If the performance was perfect, but I want to change the guitar sound in the mix, I can use the DI signal to re record through different amps later. This is a good practice, but can also lead to creative uses of amplifiers that would not be possible while tracking the original guitar. One example is swinging a microphone around a vertically placed speaker as the prerecorded signal plays through the amp. This creates a swirling phaser sound that is unlike any phaser pedal.
Secondly, the DI signal can occasionally be used in the mix as a way to beef up the low end of a guitar take without doubling the part. This is specifically useful with heavy detuned guitars. The DI adds clarity to the low end, but does not alter the rhythmic tightness of the original performance.

Shane O’Connor is a producer and recording engineer from New York City. Shane has worked with artists such as Madi Diaz, Tab The Band, and Blackbutton. Currently, he worked out of Skyline Recording Studio. You can find more information on Shane O’Connor as well as more recording tips atwww.shaneoconnorrecording.com.

Preparing A Song For A Professional Mix

 

It is an exciting experience having your songs mixed by a professional mix engineer. As an artist you have spent countless hours crafting your songs and recordings to be an accurate representation of your vision. A great mix engineer will take your vision to a new inspiring level. There are simple steps to make sure that the tracks that you provide your mix engineer can be used quickly and simply with any mix system.

Clearly label all audio files. A label such as “Johnny heavyg 56L” is not as easy to understand as “rtm gtr 1”. If there are many tracks of the same type such as synths, make sure that they are labeled in a uniform manner that tells the mix engineer what their purpose is. A track that is labeled “chorus bass synth” makes a lot of sense. If you are preparing your recording in Pro Tools (what your mix engineer will probably be using) it is a great idea to include comments on each track about how the track is to be used.

Consolidate each track so that everything starts together at the zero point of the session. If you don’t know how to do this in your Digital Audio Workstation, ask your mix engineer for instructions. This is often overlooked when delivering audio files to a mix engineer and it can take hours to rectify if it is not done correctly.

Compile your takes and only include your best performances. Your mix engineer is working to create a fantastic mix of the whole song. They don’t need to spend hours listening through less than ideal performances to choose the best take. Compiling takes saves the mix engineer time, and saves you money in the end by focusing your mix time on what matters, a great sounding mix.

If you are recording with guitar amp simulations, include a clean direct version of each track. Your mix engineer may be able to run your direct signal through a real amplifier in the studio that is far superior to what an amp simulator can provide. Even if you are happy with your guitar sounds, a clean direct signal can allow for your amplifier sounds to me modified and augmented in the mix in a creative manner that would not have been obvious in the initial recording process.

If you are recording at home, which is the reality for many musicians today, use caution in regard to distortion and levels. Within digital audio it is better to have less level than to be distorted. A clean digital signal can be boosted by a significant amount without artifacts, but distortion can not be cleaned up. Likewise, if you are compressing at home, do not over compress. If you are unsure of how much gain reduction to apply to a source, always record a dry uncompressed signal simultaneously.

Include sample frequency and bit depth with your production notes for the project. This is a courtesy that a mix engineer will appreciate when they receive your project. If possible, try to keep the sample frequency and bit depth the same throughout the entirety of your recording project. This allows for each song to operate in a similar manner with digital equipment.

Pictures from the recording of Circuitry

Gearing up for the October 2nd release of the sophomore album by Xylofaux (Circuitry) here are some photos of the recording process. You can listen to the first single off of Circuitry and pre order there recordHERE.

The record release show will be at Rock Shop in Park Slope Brooklyn September 23rd.