Mix Analysis 3 (For Presentation)

Song: Sail Away

Artist: Randy Newman

Album: Sail Away

Year: 1972

Genre: “Pop/Rock/Orchestra”

Mixing Engineers: Lee Herschberg and Bruce Botnick, among others not named

Two other artists who have worked with Herschberg: The Crickets and Frank Sinatra

Producer: Lenny Waronker of Warner Bros. Records

Studio: United and Western Studio

Orcherstra Studio: Amigo Studios

Levels

Vocals                        8

Violins                        5 to 7

Piano                        7

Violas                        5

Celli                        5

Pan

Vocals                        0

Violin                        -4 and 4

Piano                        0

Violas                        4

Celli                        0

Time Code

0:03 Violin, Vocals

0:32 Piano

1:10-1:28 Violas come in

1:30 Violins stop, just piano

1:35 Cello and Vocals

1:49 Violin

2:04 More violins

2:12-2:30 Violas

2:30 Violins fade out, vocals end; just piano plays until end

12 Violins

4 Violas

4 Celli

The thing I like most of ‘Sail Away’ is that the vocals weren’t processed as much as most vocals are.  The song is well mixed together with the vocals and pianos blending into the orchestra.  The vocals and piano were first recorded in the United and Western Studio, then those tracks were sent to Amigo Studios where an orchestra was recorded.  The orchestra would listen to the piano and vocals and would add parts as the song played.  It sounds like a very simple song, lyrically and musically.  During this time, pop records were being made and Randy Newman was making social commentary style songs. 

While recording Newman, Herschberg would place two U87s, about six inches apart from each other because Newman would rock his head back and forth and that was the only way to pick up his vocals without going in and out.  During the mixing process, Herschberg would keep the vocals the way they were recorded, keeping the live sound; he rarely overdubbed them.  The grand piano was miked with a pair of U87s as well.  Herschberg considered the recordings as “piano and vocal demos” and that became the core of the records.  The orchestra consisted of 12 violins, 4 violas and 4 celli who would play to the music to make up their parts. 

The sessions were recorded on a custom made console in the United and Western studio onto a 3M 16-track deck running 3M tape.  Herschberg would add only “a little bit on the top end and a little more than that on the mids and roll off a little on the bottom.  But that was about it.”  The orchestra was tracked on six and eight tracks altogether, which was more than twice the amount of vocal and piano tracks.

This is a genre that I usually don’t listen to unless I am watching Toy Story or Monsters Inc.

Source: http://mixonline.com/recording/projects/audio_randy_newmans_sail/index.html