00:00:27 - And we'll also do the vocal
at that point.
00:00:29 We just need to do one thing
to get the guitar set up,
so I just thought in the meantime...
00:00:33 You won't sing while we're tracking,
but let's just go ahead
and get the vocal chain going.
00:00:38 Do you mind sitting while we do this?
Ultimately I know that you
will stand to sing, but...
00:00:42 - It's fine.
- Okay, cool.
00:00:45 All right.
00:00:55 - Is that in a pretty good spot?
- Yeah, I think so.
00:00:57 - Kolton, would you see if they have...
00:01:00 - ...a different pop filter?
- Sure, yeah.
00:01:03 - A little windscreen instead of this.
00:01:05 I'm going to go in the control room
and get the level together.
00:01:08 Rich is a phenomenal singer
but kind of the sound
we're going for and his...
00:01:13 A way that he has also
sort of made his demos
is he sings through Auto-Tune.
00:01:19 Now, because we're on an HD rig
there's a little bit of latency
that's involved in this,
so what we're doing is
we have a signal path
that's going directly to a Record track.
00:01:32 And then that same Input into Pro Tools
is running through an Auto-Tune Bus,
and then we print that
on a separate track.
00:01:39 We record what we call the "clean,"
and then the Auto-Tune
is a little bit delayed.
00:01:45 And the clean track is a reference for us
to move the Auto-Tune track forward
in time to correct for the latency,
but then, also, if there's
sort of an artifact with Auto-Tune
while we're recording and we get
a good take that we want to keep,
we have the clean track to then go back
and either use it untuned
or to re-run it through Auto-Tune
to kind of maintain the sound.
00:02:08 We're using Auto-Tune more
as a stylistic sound tool
than we are necessarily
for pitch correction.
00:02:16 I mean, it is correcting the pitch,
but it's kind of a stylistic
choice as well.
00:02:22 Rich, can I play the track back to you?
That way you don't have to sing
a cappella, and then we will
just sort of get this vocal set up.
00:02:30 - Yeah.
- Okay.
00:02:56 We have to get rid of...
00:02:58 - Mute all the existing vocals.
- Yeah.
00:03:02 - Yeah, great.
00:03:05 And then...
00:03:07 And there's way too much
reverb right now,
- just turn that down.
- Cool, yeah.
00:03:11 - Let's make it pretty dry for us.
- Cool.
00:03:14 - Does he have a separate control
for his reverb?
- Yes, he should.
- Okay.
00:03:17 - On 11-12.
00:03:18 - Rich, do you have your reverb
balanced how you want it?
- I do.
- Okay, cool. All right.
00:03:22 Yeah, let's just turn it off in here
for the moment, just to get the sound.
00:03:28 We'll just go from the intro of the song
so you know where you're at.
00:03:30 - Cool.
00:04:12 - I can't sing to that, sorry.
00:04:15 That's super-loud.
00:04:17 It's very echoey now, sorry.
00:04:19 - Okay.
- But now it's balanced.
00:04:20 - You know, until I turn the gain up,
that will change your reverb.
00:04:24 - Right.
- So, maybe turn your reverb way down.
00:04:27 - I think I'm good now, it seems better.
- Okay.
00:04:30 - Can we put the band tracks back in?
- Sure.
00:04:34 - So what you heard right there
was some of the programming
that we've prepared for the song,
and I'm just asking Danny to put
the demo band tracks back in
so it feels a little bit more
like the song to sing to.
00:04:47 Because the programming is there to...
00:04:49 I mean, it plays some parts
that maybe the band isn't playing,
but primarily it's there to support
the sound of the band.
00:04:57 - They should be back in.
- Okay.
00:05:00 - Let's try this again, buddy.
- Okay.
00:05:02 - Let's hit it.
00:06:37 - How were the headphones?
- Good.
00:06:39 - Okay, I think we've got
a good starting spot.
00:06:42 Now we're going to record
again from the verse
and just have a little bit of playback
- and get our level set in here.
- Right on.
00:06:49 - It seems like the tuner is set
to the right stuff, isn't it?
- Yeah, I think so.
- Cool, all right.
00:06:53 We'll talk about that in a second.
00:07:40 - So, while I was getting the sound
I was adjusting a few different things.
00:07:45 I was changing the Input level
on the Neve.
00:07:48 I like the sound of a Neve module
when you're kind of pushing it
just a little bit,
and so that's why I turned
the Output down
just a bit to get...
00:07:59 to be able to open the preamp
a little bit more
and get a lot of level through it.
00:08:04 And then, that way, not send
too much gain to the LA-2A compressor.
00:08:10 And then I was going back and forth
between the amount of compression
and the Output level
so I could see...
00:08:16 The record level was affected
by how much I was changing
the Input level,
and then setting the Threshold accordingly
to give myself the desired level
of compression.
00:08:28 And as I was figuring out
that gain structure from
sort of beginning to end,
I had to go back and forth
and adjust the compression
level quite a bit,
because as...
00:08:40 as I was adding more Input Gain
on the Neve,
I was getting more compression,
more output,
so I went back and forth
to get that all balanced
to get a good amount
of level into the Neve
and pass it on to the compressor.
00:08:54 The sound of the Neve
and sort of pushing the mic pre
to a place where it goes up
in the headroom
and the tone becomes
a little bit fuller and saturated,
and that's the most important part
of this particular signal chain.
00:09:09 Obviously the LA-2A
has a wonderful sound to it.
00:09:13 It's a compressor, it's managing
the tone that I'm putting into it,
it has an effect on the tone,
but the Neve module and the way
I set it up is even more critical.
00:09:21 So, when I lower the Output,
it allows me to turn the Input Gain up.
00:09:26 It's just like on an amplifier
that has a Master Volume.
00:09:30 You turn the Input up to get more drive,
more distortion and tone out of it,
and then you turn the Output
to the appropriate level
that you want to hear it at.
00:09:40 So if you had the Master Volume
on an amp all the way open,
you wouldn't be able to get
the Input stage or the preamp very loud
to get that distortion.
00:09:47 So it's a similar type of thing in the way
I'm setting up the gain structure
of the Neve,
and then you kind of have to
go back and forth
with how the LA-2A is set up.
00:09:58 I need to make sure I'm getting
the right amount of compression,
and then, once I've set the amount
of compression that I want,
that's when you...
00:10:07 my Gain here is actually my Output stage
to the recorder,
so I'm just getting that dialed in
so that I have a healthy sound,
the desired level of compression,
and a good record level.
00:10:20 Typically, Rich's set up
is this Victory amp.
00:10:24 - I don't even know what this is.
- It's a V40 Duchess.
00:10:26 - And what's this cabinet?
- It's just a random cabinet but it's got
Tone Tubby speakers, which I really like.
00:10:33 - So this setup is part
of his normal setup
during the record,
and his other amp is a JC-120.
00:10:40 We kind of... we don't really want
the JC-120 sound on this song,
we kind of use it mostly for, like,
a clean chorus sound.
00:10:47 And we don't need that on this tune, so,
Rich spotted this Vox here at Flux,
AC-30, so we've put it in
and we're just going to kind of
familiarize ourselves with it
and get a tone on it,
and see what we think.
00:11:00 - Great.
- Can you just play for me, man?
- It sounds pretty rocking to me.
00:12:01 - Umm...
- I love it.
00:12:06 - I'm just making sure it has
a good balance and volume.
00:12:09 And the reason I'm kind of
turning the amps just
a little bit from the wall
is because when it's flat
against the wall
there's kind of a bit of bass build-up.
00:12:18 And it sounds nice standing in the room
but I just know from experience
that when we put a mic right there
we're going to get
a little bit of frequencies
kind of building up and canceling out,
so it will sound more open and natural
with the amp just turned
a little bit away from the wall
so that the speakers
are not parallel with the wall.
00:12:38 We've got a sound set up on the AC-30
that we like, and this is Rich's amp.
00:12:42 We want to run this a little bit cleaner
than he would normally run it
because we're getting so much volume
and grit out of the AC-30.
00:12:48 So let's just hear this guy.
00:13:29 - Can you flip the polarity with this?
- Yeah.
00:13:32 - Go ahead and keep playing.
00:14:20 I'm trying to figure out how this...
00:14:30 I was just making sure that the amps
were working together
in the same polarity, that the speakers
were doing the same thing.
00:14:35 There's a 180° Polarity switch
on this box we're using
to flip the signal, and they are correct
because when I flip one of them
the sound in the room here
gets a little bit hollow.
00:14:47 And the sound doesn't sound
like it's coming from the amp,
it sounds like it's coming
from everywhere.
00:14:51 So I'm just making sure
that they're in agreement
because that will be really important
when we put mics in front of them.
00:14:56 You can fix that in the control room,
obviously you can do it
by flipping the polarity of the
microphones that are in front of the amp.
00:15:04 But it's affecting the sound of the room,
so we would rather do it at the amps
than in the control room
because it will make
the overall sound better,
because the source is correct
in the space.
00:15:18 I kind of feel like...
00:15:21 because of the way we set these amps up,
this guy is running a little bit cleaner.
00:15:24 We should probably put the 414 here
and the 57 here.
00:15:27 - My thoughts, exactly.
- Okay, cool.
00:15:30 All right, well, I will do that.
00:15:34 We just kind of need to figure out
if this noise and RF
is going to be an issue.
00:15:41 - Yeah, for sure.
00:15:42 That sounds... You need a flashlight?
- Yes, please.
00:15:49 - Come on, buddy.
- Oh, Fab, you took the little...
00:15:52 ...stops out of this.
00:15:55 - The little bars.
- Yes.
00:15:58 - It sounds better.
- Yeah!
- I can't really see.
- Most people don't do that.
00:16:03 - Oh, we do.
- Yeah, okay,
there's the cone.
00:16:07 - That's a thick cloth.
- Yeah, it's right about...
00:16:12 - Yes, it's that edge.
00:16:15 - Of the paper cone?
- Okay.
00:16:17 - What's that?
- What year is that Vox?
- I don't know.
Fab, what year is the Vox?
- Late '70s, early '80s.
- Hell yeah.
00:16:24 - It sounds awesome.
- Dope.
00:16:29 - So, typically,
what they did with Vox amps is
on the front of it, on the grill,
there's a...
00:16:36 I mean, the face of this is wood,
except where there's the openings
behind the cloth for the speaker,
they're the same size as the speaker.
00:16:44 All the amps originally came with a wood
that's about an inch wide,
a wood slat
that went right across the middle
and the front of the cone,
and it helped make the sound
a little more diffuse.
00:16:57 Diffuse and a little bit warmer,
but also, putting microphones
next to it or in front of it,
it kind of had a weird, phasey
sound sometimes
which is kind of the character
of the amp.
00:17:08 But here at Flux, those wood slats
have been removed.
00:17:12 And I think it's kind of a cooler
and preferable sound.
00:17:20 - Hey, Rich.
- Here's the flashlight.
00:17:23 - Are the Tone Tubbies
the same speaker in both?
- No, only on the top.
- Only on the top.
00:17:29 - The top speakers are better.
- Okay, cool.
00:17:32 Good to know.
00:17:43 - Oh, interesting.
- Hey! There we go.
00:17:47 - All right. You didn't change
anything in there, did you, Rich?
- No.
- Okay.
00:17:53 - That's...
- Remarkably clean.
00:17:56 - Yeah, almost too clean to be trusted.
00:18:01 - Would you play quietly for a second?
- Yeah.
00:18:06 - Not full-tilt.
00:18:17 - Interesting.
00:18:20 Are they both...?
- Yeah?
- All right.
00:18:26 - It's weird.
- Yeah.
00:18:28 - We'll just have to keep an eye on that.
00:18:31 - It's very quiet now.
00:18:33 - I don't know what's causing it.
00:18:40 - It's touching one of those lines?
The power.
00:18:47 Yeah, it could be that light.
00:18:52 - This? Is that the...?
- Okay. Thank you, sir.
- Thanks, Rich!
- All right, let's go to the control room
and get this sound going.
00:19:06 Rich, are you back on the 335?
- Yep.
- Excellent.
00:19:11 If you would regale us
with the song, please.
00:19:12 - Got it.
00:19:26 - I'll check the DI, I'll make sure
it doesn't sound...
00:19:31 ...terrible. And I'll listen to it again.
00:19:38 - That's just...
00:19:40 It's only going through
the channel, right?
- Right, yeah.
- Cool.
00:19:44 - Just the desk.
- Let's see.
00:19:56 I took the EQ circuit out
just so it's as clean as it can be.
00:20:00 - Killer.
00:20:01 - I mean, obviously...
well, maybe it's not obvious,
but the DI is post-pedals,
so it's the same as the sound
that's being sent to the amps.
00:20:12 Because if we were to...
00:20:14 if we were to reamp the sound,
I would want
any delay, reverb, overdrive that he had
on his pedalboard
as part of the direct sound.
00:20:26 - This is the Vox.
00:20:56 - Beauty.
00:20:57 All right, so, let's get this guy.
00:21:01 Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
00:21:15 Right here I'm just taking out
a little bit of
390 Hz, just scooping
a little bit of that.
00:21:22 That sort of close...
00:21:24 that sort of radio-y sound out.
00:21:26 I'm going to open
the top end up a little bit.
00:21:32 And I'm rolling off
some of that super-subby stuff
at, like, 27 Hz.
00:21:39 I'll take it up to 47 Hz because
right now it doesn't hurt my feelings.
00:21:44 And this here is...
00:21:46 it's the 414.
00:21:52 That sounded pretty good
kind of on its own.
00:21:58 I'll sweeten a little bit of the top.
00:22:02 And maybe take out a little bit
of this 200 Hz area.
00:22:16 Now I'm just going to find
a nice balance between the two.
00:22:22 I would rely on the Victory
a little bit more.
00:22:40 - I agree.
- Cool.
00:22:41 - As a little reminder,
the 57 is on the Vox
and the 414 is on the Victory.
00:22:47 We turned up the 57, the Vox,
just one more click on the pre
just to get it to drive
a little bit harder,
the same way I explained
on the vocal.
00:22:55 And then Kolton was saying how
he liked leaning on the 414
a little bit more,
which is the cleaner amp.
Because the 414
has a higher fidelity,
just a little more open sound,
and then we're blending in
a little bit of the 57.
00:23:07 He talked about the EQ setting
that he did individually,
and now it's coming over to
the Chandler.
00:23:15 Now that we've established
the individual EQs and the blend,
Kolton is going to just EQ the overall
sound just a little bit more.
00:23:45 - I'm just kind of looking for some
of those muddier frequencies
that are getting in the way
of that nice, big,
beautiful-sounding guitar.
00:23:58 I'll open up the top end a little bit,
not too much.
00:24:07 Maybe a tiny bit at 110.
00:24:16 Subtle differences
that help sculpt the overall...
00:24:20 ...sound.
00:24:21 I might need to just back
the Bus off a tiny bit.
00:24:25 - Yeah, I was going to...
00:24:28 - Is there a Master?
- Beautiful.
- Oh, I was just going to ask. Okay.
00:24:36 - I guess it will be... this guy?
Beautiful.
00:24:44 This is pretty solid.
00:24:47 - The level here...
- Cool.
00:24:49 Quick question for Tom.
00:24:51 - The EQ for the group, is it
on an Insert, or is it post- this?
- It's post.
- I heard the tone changed quite a bit
when we pulled this down, we have a little
bit too much level into the computer.
00:25:01 While Kolton was over here EQ'ing
I kept the relationship of the faders,
but I backed it down a little bit
because I could tell
that we had too much level going on.
00:25:10 Once we got the EQ set...
00:25:11 I don't really want to turn
my individual faders down anymore,
we sort of see that we need to
turn the level down.
00:25:18 When this was turned down,
which is the Bus Master,
I noticed that the tone changed.
It wasn't as pleasing.
00:25:23 So, what that means
in the gain structure
is the console
is sending from the Output of this fader
into that EQ,
and reducing the level here
is not running that EQ as hot,
which changes the tone.
00:25:36 So that's why I was asking Tom,
"Is it on the Insert or on the Output?"
Because if it's on the Insert,
that means it's before this Output stage
and it wouldn't affect it.
00:25:44 So I just want to make sure
that what I'm hearing
is what I think it is,
and so I'm going to put this back
all the way up
and we're going to go
over here to this EQ.
00:25:53 I believe it has an Output right here,
and we're going to turn this down
to give ourselves
an appropriate record level.
00:26:05 I feel good about that.
00:26:08 - Maybe a little hot.
- It's still a little hot.
00:26:10 - That's looking nice.
- Okay.
00:26:14 - Lookin' good.
- You know, this is probably...
00:26:17 This is a discussion
that has been had a lot,
but, level. You do not
record everything
super-hot into the computer,
especially things that have, like,
a lot of low frequency content,
that don't have a lot of really
sharp, present transients.
00:26:34 You know, something in the -6 to -12
is a completely appropriate level
to record into the computer.
00:26:42 Now, that also depends on what kind
of metering you're using,
but I believe...
00:26:47 yeah, we are using sort of
the classic Pro Tools metering,
so that's what I'm talking about.
00:26:52 But you definitely do not want to
record everything
all the way up to 0, peaking.
00:26:58 Obviously things like kick, snare,
drums that have a lot of transients,
they're going to get up there
and it's even okay
if they clip a little bit.
00:27:04 But we're just kind of making sure
that we're getting a healthy
recording level, but not too much,
because what will end up happening is,
if we record everything really hot,
all our faders will be way down
when we mix,
and that's just the wrong way to do it
for the sound and the gain structure,
and the fidelity in the computer,
and the way that the mixing architecture
and the way the math is done.
00:27:27 It's better to give
a healthy proper signal
to the converter on the way in
instead of having to turn it way, way down
once you've recorded it.
00:27:38 Hey, Rich, it sounds
super-awesome in here.
00:27:41 Are you happy with the sound
in your headphones?
- It sounds great.
- Awesome, okay.
00:27:47 So you're good for the moment,
we will get Chris's setup going.
00:27:49 - Thanks.
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Award-winning Producer, Engineer, and Mixer, Jacquire King, has worked with some of the world’s most influential artists in every role you can imagine in a recording studio. From being an acclaimed recordist to mixing and producing multi-platinum records (9X in the case of Kings Of Leon) by superstars like Kaleo, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, Norah Jones, Buddy Guy, Cold War Kids, MuteMath, Melissa Etheridge, and James Bay.
To date, Jacquire has received several awards for his meticulous attention to detail and unique approach to creating records that withstand the test of time.
His discography is well-known for the variety of music encompassed from the past 20 years. When you see Jacquire’s tutorials on pureMix, you will have the chance to sit next to a true master at work, who strives to enhance the artist's vision and serve the songs he helps deliver to the masses.
Oddly I couldn't care less what the camera focus is doing, the true value of this is on what is being said, I edit as much VT in any given week as I do audio but this doesn't bother me in the slightest
Gabor
2020 Nov 21
Jacquire as usual explains every important moves and tweaks he makes and they whys.
Great video. Thank you Puremix!
nelders
2020 Nov 16
Love these series, great insights.
Agree with Mat below, please set cameras to deeper depth of field (f4 or higher) with more lights or go manual focus. I know, the cool kids go for the shallow depth of field look... but the out-of-focus shots are pretty distracting from otherwise great content! We're good with seeing Jacquire AND all the awesome rack gear in focus at the same time ;)
Thanks Jacquire, band & puremix team. Keep 'em comin'.
Mat Lucas
2020 Nov 15
But please set the cameras on manual (with a real cameraman behind , that helps) to not have that constant change in focus that's very hard to watch. In editing, like in mixing, often times less is more. No need to cut to a new shot every 5 seconds when Mr King is explaining something important . It takes away the point of his teachings.
Of course this is only my opinion...
