When I started planning for the recording, I realised how long I had been away from music. It wasn’t just the two years I had spent in the US. Teaching music, at the comprehensive, had meant that the job had taken up all my time. So much so that I hadn’t updated anything in the studio for years. As a result, much of the outboard equipment was practically obsolete. I needed to find a workaround that could affect the songs I was planning to record, something I could use to colour the sound.
I had, in the past, often talked to painters and other artists about the media with which they worked. One of the most memorable conversations was with Adrian Cabedo, who always spoke of using lead white in his oil paintings. As far as I remember, this helped him with the type of brilliance and light balance he achieved in some of his works. However, I am sure I didn’t catch all he said! So I could have got it wrong.
Musically, some of the greats worked with producers who chose specific engineers and studios known for their sound type. We couldn’t afford to go to Abbey Rd, nor hire out a Neve or SSL desk. Instead, I tried to find my version of ‘lead white’ and invested in a stereo valve compressor. I hoped to colour every instrument I recorded to create a grainy, organic, warm sound in the cold digital setup.
Raw signal — Drawmer 1960 (St Valve (Comp)) — Apogee Ensemble — Logic Pro
The latter signal chain worked well for the first few tracks we recorded. Unfortunately, shortly after we started recording, the Mac Pro decided it was time to have a catastrophic failure. The graphics card went as well as the logic board. Replacing the old Mac Pro (with another later model) worked for a short while. But soon it was apparent that we needed a new replacement for the computer.
Thankfully we sourced a new iMac (the pro range were way outside our budget). Unfortunately, the new iMac rendered the Apogee Ensemble redundant (Apple no longer supported firewire). This meant we were unable to record for some time until a sponsor came to the rescue. JJ and B Cortés donated an Apollo 8p and Universal Audio (UA) Satellite to the studio (which was amazing!). Now, with UA software and hardware at our disposal, the recording process became a breeze.
Perhaps the best thing I found about UA (and this is not an advertisement, they do not sponsor me — although that would be nice!) was that the warm analogue sound it gave was in line with the original recordings done exclusively through the Drawmer. For those gifted listeners reading this: yes, there is a subtle yet noticeable difference between the original recordings given the older tech (the Apogee converters do sound different — and I do miss using the Ensemble). However, UA opened the road to changing my signal chain substantially. The new signal chain included the following:
1) Recorded signal — Struder A800 tape — UA 610A or B (depending on the use) — Fairchild 670 and or UA/Teletronix compressors — Reverb sends to Space Designer and other Logic FX
2) Raw signal — Unison plugin + — Logic Pro
The Mackie Universal Pro Controller made mixing very comfortable. Basement Studios once had an old Spirit Studio 16:8:2 mixer (we still do actually!). I loved its warmth, but not the noise it ended up developing. Mackie helped bring the mix to life by providing the interface I needed to get hands on with pan and signal levels. I cannot recommend this controller enough. It is brilliant and it works seamlessly with Logic Pro. I ended up getting the extra 8 channels and am seriously tempted to send for another 8 and move up to 24 faders!
The Unison plugin that I loved to use was the SSL Channel Strip. Most of what we recorded towards the end of the project went through this plugin. Other go-to plugins were the Marshal Plexi (Guitars), Ampeg SVTVR (Bass), Studer A800 Tape (everything!), Ampex ATR 102 (Vocals and things), SSL Bus Compressor, UA610 A and B. The list is quite extensive. Moreso, if I added the Logic plugins we used. I committed most of the effects straight to the HD. However, I also had the flexibility of having the UA Satellite Octo, which made plugin piling easy.
Looking back at the project, I must say that it helped to have a balance of live musicians alongside the software instruments. Access to Jamis’ and Richard’s guitar collections meant that we had a different range of colours to use. These worked well with our choice of drums, bass, and keyboard/piano samples (Toontrack, Logic and Native Instruments). The mix of vocalists also added an extra dimension to the songs (and helped bring out the prayerful meaning behind the words). However, I believe the homogeneity we achieved between tracks was down to the sound we created through UA’s ‘valves’ and sounds. You could say I found my lead white after all!
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NB: I am grateful to all the friends and family that helped donate equipment, or helped fund parts of it. Victor and Liz helped generously. As did my wonderful wife, Socorro de María. Thanks to them, and mum and dad, and all the artists that gave so generously of their time and talent, Listen to Him was recorded. CJC.