Electrical Audio Session w/ Steve Albini, Studio A (photos/info)

[silvad0ugh]

Hey TalkBass,

I wanted to share pictures, info and music from my band's recording session @ Electrical Audio w/ Steve Albini. We spent 3 days with Steve cutting a 9 song record in July. The record was done live, with no overdubs except vocals.

Day one we tracked all guitar, bass and drums live.
Day two we tracked vocals and began mixing
Day three we finished vocals and mixed.
Day four, we spent half a day finishing the mixes.

The record is available for free download @ Grandfather - Why I'd Try (320kbps mp3)

or you can go to Grandfather on Bandcamp for FLAC, AAC, and other higher quality audio formats.

Session Photos are up on our facebook page, which have detailed pictures of mic placement: Grandfather on Facebook (Like/Friend/Share Us on Facebook to keep updated w/ shows, news, etc.)


Input List:
All mics through Neotek desk preamp except as noted

Drums (Kentucky)
Bass Drum Front: Beyer M380 -> 1176 Limiter Slow Release, 20:1
Bass Drum Batter: Shure SM98
Snare: Sony C37e -> NTI EQ
Rack Tom: Josephson E22s Top and Bottom
Floor Tom: Josephson E22s Top and Bottom
Overheads: Royer 122 (L&R) -> 1178 Limiter -> GML EQ + 678k + 3726k
M-S Stereo: AKG C24 M.S (0 + ∞) -> Electrical M-S Matrix
Room Ambience: Neumann CMV563 + N55k Capsules (L&R) -> 20ms Stereo Delay
Rimshot: Shure SM98 -> GML Limiter

Bass Guitar (Alcatraz)
Low: Beyer M380 -> Urei LA12 Limiter “Auto” – 3dB
High: Josephson E22s -> John Hardy M2 Preamp -> HPF 280Hz

Electric Guitar (Center Field)
Low: RCA74 (“Junior Velocity”) -> GML Preamp
High: Audio Technica Pro37 -> GML Preamp
Room Ambience: Crown PCC

Vocal (Kentucky facing Center Field)
Main: Neumann U48 -> John Hardy M2 Preamp -> 1176 Fast Release 20:1
Vocal Ambience: Crown PCC -> Expander Keyed to Vocal Mic



The record was completed and brought to Chicago Mastering Service the day after to have mastered to vinyl, digital and CD by Bob Weston. There are also photos of the mastering session on our facebook page.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about the recording. Steve and Bob were both amazing to work with, and we couldn't be happier with the end result


As for the bass, pictures of my rig are on the facebook page:

Vintage 1976 Fender P-Bass into a vintage 1966 Blackface Fender Bassman Amp. The amp was going through 2 1x15 cabinets (Electrical Audio Custom Made) that had EVM-15L speakers in them.

As for pedals I use a Boss TU-3 > Crowther Prunes and Custard > Pigtronix Attack/Sustain.

for guitar and drum gear: Grandfather's Equipment List

[Hoover]

Nice job taking notes on the session set-up; I've worked with assistant engineers who weren't that thorough!

[silvad0ugh]

thanks. i studied studio engineering @ NYU and our guitar player is a freelance mix engineer/producer so we pay attention to those sort of details.

[svtb15]

Im gonna put money on it that those bass cabs sound great

[silvad0ugh]

they sound so great. at home i use a single ampeg 1x15 cabinet but 3 days before the session, we were transporting the cabinet and a 25lb dumbell fell on it...RIPPP...

after using Electrical's cabinet, I am going to save for an EVM-15L and install it. its a great sounding speaker.

[rulyøngo]

Downloading...Nice P-bass by the way!

[silvad0ugh]

another great thing about electrical is that they do not use DI for bass, and really strive to capture the actual sound of the cabinet. this is achieved by using 2 mics, one that is focused on the low end, and one that is focused on the high end. the low end mic is compressed, whereas the high end isn't to allow the "overdrive or distortion" used by a bass player to cut through, while keeping the bottom in check. very effective technique.

[Deluge Of Sound]

I'm happy you posted the Drum mic setup, because that was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the thread title.

Steve Albini's drum sound is always stellar.