Have fun with this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtp7iv3bRDo
Song: Jambi
Artist: Tool
Engineer & Mix: Joe Barresi (PM5K - Transform, Chevelle- Hats off to the Bull, Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow)
Master: Bob Ludwig (Everything.......literally.)
Bear with me for the song time codes because this thing is over 7 minutes long and was incredibly complicated to record (we'll go over that later). Here goes...
0:00-0:05 Electric Guitar
0:05-0:15 Drums, Distorted Bass
(:19) Kick comes in
(:24) Vox, Drum sample
(:44) Bass, B. Vox (slow reverb panned L and R)
(1:03) Bass (delay, verb, flange ?), Drum Sample, Elec Guitar
(1:13) Vox (distorted, very wide pan if not two separate tracks)
(1:15) Elec Guitar, Vox, Kick, Snare [Hat at 1:33?]
(1:53) Elec Guitar (full dist), Full Drum kit (his kit is massive and difficult to pinpoint)
(2:03) Bass (delay, verb, flange ?)
(2:14) Bass (distorted), Elec. Guitar, Vox, Drum Kit
(2:33) Vox, Vox verb alternates fading to L and R
(2:44) Elec Guitar (full dist), Vox, Bass, Drum Kit
(3:24) Vox, B. Vox swell (distorted and reberb)
(3:44) Vox w/long verb
(3:48) Drum Kit, Elec Guitar (dist), Bass (distorted)
(4:10) Elec Guitar (talkbox)
At least 3 different tracks
-L pan - Pipe Bomb Mic (explained below)
-C pan- Amp no FX
- R pan- Heil PR-30 (recording talkbox)
(5:17) Elec Guitar, Bass (distorted)
(5:27) Elec Guitar (panned hard L), Bass (w/delay, verb, flange....panned hard R), [drums drop]
(5:37) Vox (Megaphone + Pipe Bomb Mic. Phasing?), [drums return]
(5:57) Elec Guitar, Vox, Bass, Cymbals (reverb)
(6:23) Elec Guitar (multiple tracks, wide spread - Wah on L, Dist and Verb on R)
(6:37) Normal Elec Guitar
(6:42) Bass (delay fx), Drum sample
(6:47) Vox (loud whisper), Kick, Toms
(6:57) Reverse Vox swells, Heavy verb
Instrument Vol Pan
Elec Guitar 9 (basically everywhere at some point)
Bass (clean, dly) 9 0
Bass (dist) 7 0
Elec Guitar (T. box) 10 -3,0,3 (3 separate tracks)
Vox 10 0
Vox (megaphone) 7 0 (fx return -5, 5)
Drum Sample 6 -1
Kick 7 0
Snare 6 -1
Toms 4 0
Hat 5 -1
Cymbals 4 -5,5
Now for the process:
The Guitars, bass, and Vox were recorded at Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, the same place they recorded their debut album "Undertow". They used a 24-track Neve 8028, and recorded everything to 2" 30ips tape via the Studer tape machine.
According to Joe Baressis interview in Mix magazine (2006), the guitars were a complete animal. Adam Jones, the guitarist used between three and five amps at once. These amps were a Diezel VH$, Marshall Bass head, Bogner Uberschall, Rivera Kucklehead, and Mesa Boogie Dual Rec....and all run into Mesa 4x12 cabs. Each cab had AT LEAST two mics (57 and 421) and the talkbox cab had a Heil PR-30 (large diaphragm dynamic). Which brings me to the "pipe bomb mic" I mentioned earlier. From what I've found out it was a sealed, mostly hollow copper tube with a guitar pickup in it. But I don't see how that can be correct because guitar pickups work on a principle of electromagnetic disturbance. So it would have to be some sort of capsule and coil. This mic was then mounted in front of one of the cabinets and fed directly into its own channel on the board, along with all of the other mics. This allowed for an incredible amount of versatility with the guitar tracks but think about this for a second: Five cabinets; three mics each; that's 15 tracks....JUST FOR ONE GUITAR!
The bass was actually pretty simple, Justin Chancellor used a combination of a Neumann U47 FET (tube condenser) on the bass cab, and a Demeter DI right into the Neve.
The vocals weren't too crazy, but there were a few tricks up Joe's sleeve. He ran everything through a Helios channel strip, and at times, used a blend of a heavily distorted 57 and Mr. Keenan's favorite mic..referred to only as a Soundelux tube condenser. He also records some vocals through a megaphone and apparently they stuffed the "pipe bomb mic" into the megaphone and that's how they captured it.
The drums were another monster, kind of like the guitar. They were recorded at O' Henry Studios in Burbank, where Tool had recorded almost all of their previous albums. Danny Carey chose this facility specifically because of its 88 channel API console.....that was nearly 16 feet long! Because of the size of his drum kit ( http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drumpics14/dannycareycymbal.jpg ), a lot of close mic'ing was used, combined with three OH mics - one left, one center, and one right. The cymbals were spot mic'd, the toms were mic'd both top and bottom, the kick and snare were single mics. There were also three different distances of room mic - close, mid, and distant. Apparently the rooms sounded fantastic so there wasn't much phasing.
Everything was mixed at Bay 7 in Hollywood CA.
On to Mastering:
This was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Oregon. The software used was Pyramix Virtual Studio and Sound Performance Laboratory analogue board. He used George Massenburg and Manly EQs and the final master was 96k -24bit, but downsampled to 44.1/16.
The most interesting piece of equipment to me: the Eggleston Works Ivy speakers that weigh 800lbs each. They are situated on their own isolated concrete platforms that are not attached to the foundation of the building. Oh....they are $100,000 a pair.....and still require an amp....
Let's end on a quote:
"We don't care if we're the loudest thing on the radio, we just want to maintain our dynamics."
~ Danny Carey ~
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