I've used a pair of these for the last ~20 odd years as drum overheads and they have never let me down.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
I've used a pair of these for the last ~20 odd years as drum overheads and they have never let me down.
we went to a pretty well known home studio. the guy had recorded a lot of "legendary" local bands. everything was recorded live off the floor except for the guitar overdubs and leads.
we released it digitally on Bandcamp which was almost unkown at the time. i don't know why or how we decided to press vinyl a few months later.
Anyways I'd love to hear also from all the other people here who released something! There are many TBers here who play in bands who are close to my genres so I'd find it useful to hear from you your experience in recording a demo and/or finding a indie label... Tell your "first record" stories, people!
Our first ep/demo that we did we actually recorded at a pretty well regarded home studio in our area. We had gotten recommended to this guy from several local bands. It was all rushed because it was flat rate. Me and him got into it over the drum sounds because he basically sample replaced and quantized everything to where it sounded like a drum machine playing not our drummer. I got kicked out like twice and our guitarist had to talk him into letting me come back and record vocals and bass. In the end we ended up with an OK quality recording that really didnt sound anything like us. It was a pretty terrible experience and a big part of the reason we decided to do it ourselves this time.
This is my biggest fear... I have a friend that is a sound guy as a job and he would make a VERY good price, but he doesn't have any knowledge of the genre we play and he doesn't share our music taste. I'm afraid we would not be happier of the result than if we recorded ourselves with my crappy 8 tracks recorder. Worse quality for sure but at least true to out intention
Awesome looking setup. Completely agree with your process. We're looking to do the same as you and what @bassboysam did when we get back in the studio.
If you're looking for more ideas/techniques, check out Sylvia Massy's book. I picked up a copy, haven't read the whole thing. Been to a few "clinics" she's done and there were some great ideas. One I remember was taping a mic at the end of a garden hose and laying the hose all around the floor under the drumset.
Not Doom, but that indescribable energy nails my Truckfighters experiences. Effing love their shows.
I hate that crap, for some music that can/may work, but sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Same thing happened to us when we used a top tier studio here in Canton. We were doing discount sessions with the apprentice engineer at the helm. Once I saw what he was doing, beyond pushing us to do scratch tracks and completely wreck the feel of the songs, we canceled the rest of the schedule and left with what we had.
Last edited:
Seems a really interesting book, I'll buy a copy too
I'm also looking for any resource (internet or book) to learn the basics for recording, especially for beginners (and very basic equipment)
Last edited:
Yeah ive watches a bunch of sylvia massys interviews and stuff. Ive been doing lots of research for the past several months to a year. I think ive watched almost all of kurt ballou and steve albinis interviews as well. Ive been paying alot of attention to the punk and grunge engineers as they get that really raw sound i love.
The local guy that we used kind of specialized in death metal and it really showed on the recordings we got. Extremely dry and we ended up speeding all our songs up by several bpm. I wanted to stop after we got the drum tracks from him but my guitarist just wanted to put something out so we ended up just rolling with it. I still regret going that way. Im sure there are tons of small time engineers that know how to do this genre but he definately was not one of them.
Checkout Creativesoundlab, URM Academy, and creativelive on youtube. Tons of great free resources to worm your way into a beginner to intermediate level knowledge of recording processes. That being said no amount of youtube watching will really teach you how to record or mix things. You really got to get out there and experiment to really know it. Ive learned a ton about drum recording in the last few weeks weve been working on drums and dialing in sounds, stuff i thought i knew but realized didnt really work in actual application.Seems a really interesting book, I'll buy a Copy too
I'm also looking for any resource (internet or book) to learn the basics for recording, especially for beginners (and very basic equipment)
For mixing i think the nail the mix service that urm is selling is actually amazing. Its not cheap but you get to work with real stems of actual songs and then watch the actual mix engineer show how they did it. Ive definately learned alot from it.
Yeah great stuff Jolagh! I've been slowly working my way into the realm. Took a huge hiatus a few years ago, still haven't come back to it. A friend and I were talking about starting a splits only label then, I love that idea. Way too much on the plate now, maybe one day.
I don't know a ton about it, but your point sounds right on target. Something Massy said a lot was really about just being open and finding what works. Don't just stick with a formula.
Albini's ideas on an engineer's goal should be the gold standard IMO. He talks about how his #1 goal is to just record what the artist does as close to how they hear it in their head. Then you can move on from there.
Personally I like that idea a lot. I've always wondered if there were any non "basement" studios that excel in the genre.
Btw, I was pissed about our big studio experience...not a bad rate, but just aa poopy experience. I was optimistic too, Filter, Ted Nugent, Soundgarden, and and others recorded there. But they didn't give a poopie about us and just wanted to loop us in to 10+ days of recording and mix work. None of us were gonna let that fly with how they operated.
Got to see the master tapes for Fred Bear and Hey man nice shot though, if that's worth anything.
I don't know a ton about it, but your point sounds right on target. Something Massy said a lot was really about just being open and finding what works. Don't just stick with a formula.
Albini's ideas on an engineer's goal should be the gold standard IMO. He talks about how his #1 goal is to just record what the artist does as close to how they hear it in their head. Then you can move on from there.
Personally I like that idea a lot. I've always wondered if there were any non "basement" studios that excel in the genre.
Btw, I was pissed about our big studio experience...not a bad rate, but just aa poopy experience. I was optimistic too, Filter, Ted Nugent, Soundgarden, and and others recorded there. But they didn't give a poopie about us and just wanted to loop us in to 10+ days of recording and mix work. None of us were gonna let that fly with how they operated.
Got to see the master tapes for Fred Bear and Hey man nice shot though, if that's worth anything.
Yeah i think that steve albinis studio electrical audo and kurt balou at god city studios are the only two bigger studios i can think of off the top of my head putting out good doom records regularly.
Granted I haven't looked for it, but I had no idea either of them had. Right on, not surprised one bit. I feel like both those guys would do a solid job with any music.
I mean i guess it depends on your definition of doom. Albinis done several neurosis records, russian circles, weedeater, om, sunn o)))) And probably others im not remembering, so id say hes been pretty prolific in doom. Kurt Ballous done a couple high on fire records, old man gloom, torche, oathbreaker, russian circles, sumac, chelsea wolf and more. The two of them have released a good portion of my favorite albums over like the last 20 years lol.
Any of you stoner/doom bassists in the Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins area also motorcycle enthusiasts? I want to ride from Denver to Taos for the Monolith on the Mesa fest but cant find a soul to ride with me. I ride a vintage chopper so Id rather not go it alone. I know its a long shot but thought it couldn't hurt to ask.
Blessed Black Wings
Sanford Parker has a good ear for the doom. The last two Spirit Adrift albums sounded pretty good.
Flatline Audio in Denver has a decent track record with Khemmis, Primitive Man, Un, In The Company of Serpents and a bunch of other more extreme metal bands.
I don't know if he's done much doom stuff, but I think Colin Marston does top-notch work.
The latest Sunn 0))) [Life Metal] which was recorded by Albini sounds amazing. Didn't think it would make that big a difference sonically but it certainly does.
Speaking of, I'm sitting at a bar 2 blocks away from where I'm seeing Sunn 0))) in a few hours.
