Mastering/Mixing Question

[And I]

I'd hear tales of "unnamed" studio guys coming in to fix "known" or "emerging" musician's work after hours. This (which I've also heard of in the modern age) is really interesting because I've actually hear this song.

The unnamed engineer is Jim Bonnefond. He went on to co-write and produce several hits with Kool and the Gang in the 80s, including Joanna.

 

[3Liter]

The unnamed engineer is Jim Bonnefond. He went on to co-write and produce several hits with Kool and the Gang in the 80s, including Joanna.

I didn't type out what I meant with any clarity. I'd heard tales of guitar type bands where they just couldn't play. So they'd do a track and go to party or dinner and a studio musician would come in and play the part on time or whatever the engineer needed. Then the band would think they actually played it. I've also heard of live musicians under the the stage actually playing the parts while the band is miming it above in real time. I don't know what's real anymore!

 

[And I]

I didn't type out what I meant with any clarity. I'd heard tales of guitar type bands where they just couldn't play. So they'd do a track and go to party or dinner and a studio musician would come in and play the part on time or whatever the engineer needed. Then the band would think they actually played it. I've also heard of live musicians under the the stage actually playing the parts while the band is miming it above in real time. I don't know what's real anymore!

Wow!!

 

[vvvmmm]

A famous example, I believe, is Aerosmith's version of "Train Kept a-Rollin" where I recall Buxton and Wagner of Alice Cooper's band played the guitars.

For years it was said Page played on "You Really Got Me", but I think that was discredited.

And guys like Glen Campbell - I think The Wrecking Crew? - played on The Monkees stuff, and similar.

As for drum editing to grid, there's a ton of stories about, say, Metallica ...

I read where producer Bill Ham played a lot of drums - and did heavy editing - on ZZ Top's 80's stuff.

Ethan Johns is said to do a lot of overdubs himself.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

The all hands on mixdown was peak fun. I remember our guy taping a pencil to several faders to “group” them.

that was the last performance for a song. When you were done you couldn’t go back and rethink the mix into musical porridge.

if you did a good take that needed a small fix a live punch in could be done, you might f that too and need to redo the part.

 

[LowendG]

I’ve been in on a couple of manual mixdowns. If there are a ton of tracks to ride, it’s not uncommon for the engineer to enlist whoever is around to help.

Even the studio janitor can bring a solo section up and down if you tell him “now!” and mark the positions on the fader with tape.

Right? It was the one time you were actually glad somebody's girlfriend or slacker buddy was there hanging out on the couch all day.

 

[LowendG]

The all hands on mixdown was peak fun. I remember our guy taping a pencil to several faders to “group” them.

that was the last performance for a song. When you were done you couldn’t go back and rethink the mix into musical porridge..

And then there were those times taking a razor blade to your tape to edit it......

 

[Nephilymbass]

I have been watching on Prime some of those Classic Album shows. They run through an older album with the artists and talk about how it was made. Often have the master on the console and bring up tracks that weren't used, or isolate others to highlight something.

I don't have any real studio experience, but have messed with Tascam recorders and a DAW program.

I have seen many music videos where the engineer presses a button and the sliders snap to or from a position. I assume this is some preset the engineer likes.

When a song is actually being mixed, assume the guitar comes in a little hotter than expected for the first 10 seconds and they want to keep the take, but just even it out a bit. In the old days, when they create the final mix, do they do it manually? Or is is bounced to another track the way they want it and it's now "fixed"? What about with with the modern studios, can the board remember to pot it down for a bit and bring it back up? This is one track, what about multiple tracks, correcting/adjusting for various things? And then, running it over and over again through all the tracks. How was/is this done? Like I said, my experience is mostly with the portastudio, and I would do it manually in the moment, but I was only making demo recordings, not Classic Albums.

thanks

Basically in the old days everything was recorded to tape. Mixing is what it sounds like, they would mix the tracks then send it to someone else for mastering. Mastering is taking the full mix and adding additional processing and recording the master to another tape machine. These days with digital music we use automation. As in you can program in say a 2db volume boost right when the chorus comes as an additional way to boost dynamics. Back in the day the mastering gurus would literally stand at anmixer and move the faders and and knobs by hand. Often times moving faders on some tracks all the way down trying to reduce the noise floor of tape (which is much higher than the noise floor for digital. I had a little boombox when I was a kid with dual cassette players. And I could play tape one and use the boomboxes eq to change the sound of that tape being recorded to tape two. That’s essentially what mastering is.

 

[3Liter]

Basically in the old days everything was recorded to tape. Mixing is what it sounds like, they would mix the tracks then send it to someone else for mastering. Mastering is taking the full mix and adding additional processing and recording the master to another tape machine. These days with digital music we use automation. As in you can program in say a 2db volume boost right when the chorus comes as an additional way to boost dynamics. Back in the day the mastering gurus would literally stand at anmixer and move the faders and and knobs by hand. Often times moving faders on some tracks all the way down trying to reduce the noise floor of tape (which is much higher than the noise floor for digital. I had a little boombox when I was a kid with dual cassette players. And I could play tape one and use the boomboxes eq to change the sound of that tape being recorded to tape two. That’s essentially what mastering is.

So, say a 16 track tape original is mixed....is it then mastered as a 16 track tape or as a two track tape master? I thought once you got to the "master" you couldn't really mess with the individual elements any longer. BUT, my experience is DIY equipment.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

16 (24 whatever) are mixed down to a stereo track. If all tape to a 1/4” of 1/2”. The stereo track is mastered.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

By the mid nineties lots of mixdowns were done to DAT (Digital Audio Tape) an accursed cassette format that has no good shelf life. By then most mastering houses I went to sessions at had digital audio converters and would handle the I/o digitally.