With the track's foundation laid down, Vance works on some individual punches with the band before setting up the congas and clavinet for overdubs.
Watch as Vance:
Punches a cymbal grab with the drummer
Tries out different takes on the bill leading into the bridge
Punches spots on the sub-bass
Set up the congas and clavinet
This is your chance to join Nashville legend Vance Powell and The Weird Sisters at the world-famous Blackbird Studio and watch them craft "Live And I Learn" from Start To Finish.
00:00:23 While everybody is kind of doing stuff
and doing other things
I thought I'd come over here
and maybe just
clean up a couple of the little breaks
at the guitar
because he's got a pedal
with a bunch of gain on it.
00:00:36 So, like, right here,
these little guitar parts.
00:00:52 I thought I'd just
clean this up a little bit.
00:00:54 and then here at the end,
where the punches are.
00:01:07 At the end.
So I just cleaned up a little guitar.
00:01:10 That's really it.
00:01:11 I've got an overdub I wanna do
and I'm going to do sort of
a little bit of
test to see if that will work.
00:01:20 And that is,
I'll get young Jeff
to play a little
cymbal grab.
00:01:41 That would be kind of like that.
00:01:44 But a little more
sounding like it was actually
played by a real person
instead of somebody editing.
00:01:51 Like what I just did.
00:01:53 So, what I want you to do here,
you're gonna play along and right
where this break is,
I just want the last beat to be a grab.
00:02:01 Yeah.
00:02:02 But you gotta play along
to get it right.
00:02:05 Cool?
Because everything else
has to kind of ring along with it.
00:02:10 Here we go. Ready?
That was like one beat late.
00:02:45 Do you want me to do
it on four or on one?
Give me one second.
00:03:08 Cool.
00:03:10 Except for that other
cymbal still ringing.
00:03:13 Alright.
00:03:14 So, don't play the ride.
00:03:18 OK?
That's gonna work, so hang on.
00:03:55 That's a frighteningly good punch Vance.
00:04:03 You know, for Pro Tools.
00:04:08 Cool.
00:04:35 OK. Now the next thing I wanna do
is I wanna get a
couple takes of this fill.
00:04:42 I kind of want you to
just beat the shit out of it.
00:04:46 Because I may do
something weird with it.
00:04:49 I'm not sure yet.
00:04:50 So you know...
00:04:53 You know what I mean?
Rock it!
I think the click is off.
00:05:23 Oh, not in time. No.
00:05:26 Because we're editing.
00:05:29 OK.
00:05:30 OK, cool.
00:05:31 So, hold on.
00:05:32 It's on us here.
00:05:33 OK, let's do this.
I'm just gonna play this.
00:05:35 You got the click, right?
And you just play the fill.
00:05:39 We'll just do it out in the space.
Just do it a couple times.
00:05:50 Alright, cool.
00:05:52 One more time, do something weirder.
00:05:58 Weirder.
00:06:05 Not that weird.
00:06:12 Alright.
00:06:13 The first one.
00:06:21 Keep going.
00:06:36 You're one the right path
with the snare roll.
00:06:44 OK, not so weird.
00:06:46 A little more focused on the snare roll.
00:07:13 There is no... None of
those kick drum flams.
00:07:16 Just the snare.
00:07:18 You know what I mean?
You know.
00:07:22 So, just the bass on the downbeat
or not at all?
Keep it on the downbeat.
00:07:37 You know what I mean?
Alright, cool. Give me a second.
00:08:47 -Alright. I dig that. You dig that?
-That's good to me.
00:08:50 Awesome. Gabby.
00:08:53 Here in the solo,
and no legato,
no slide.
00:09:00 -You don't want it?
-No, not in the solo.
00:09:02 And you just come in
right on the one here.
00:09:05 So...
00:09:14 I like the...
00:09:17 You know what I mean?
Just hold the one note.
00:09:21 You want it like on the down...
00:09:23 Right on the downbeat.
00:09:25 Cool.
00:09:27 And we'll just do that.
00:09:28 -Cool?
- OK.
00:09:29 Let's do it.
00:09:31 Could I hear it once before I do it.
00:09:48 -You got it?
-I think so.
00:10:15 Yeah. Cool.
00:10:16 Old habits die hard.
00:10:18 Yeah, that little move is weird
because it still feels like
it's pulling it out of tune.
00:10:24 But
you should just tune it.
00:10:28 Which move do you mean exactly?
-When you hold the low...
-Going down the octave?
Is that what it is?
You mean this...
00:10:39 -Right?
-Yeah.
00:10:40 But it's OK, I see what it is.
00:10:42 It's the 42 that's doing it.
00:10:44 So, it's not the sliding,
it's the echo that I have on.
00:10:47 Which is cool. So...
00:10:48 Alright, cool, one more time.
00:10:50 Just keep it all the way through,
we'll do the whole thing up to the chorus.
00:10:53 Do you want me to do the octave thing,
like I was doing before?
-Yeah.
-OK.
00:11:31 Yeah. And you could do the...
00:11:34 One more time.
00:12:12 Alright, cool.
00:12:14 Cool, he says.
00:12:16 And we'll listen real quick.
00:12:43 Cool. Awesome.
00:12:44 Thank you.
00:12:46 You got seat?
Well, that was easy.
00:12:51 I wanna try to get,
while we're here, two things.
00:12:55 The clav, alright?
Which is cool because it could
be a cool conglomeration
of her playing the clav,
you playing the wah-wah.
00:13:05 For me.
00:13:06 Yeah, I know, I got you.
00:13:08 And then the other thing is the
'bongo theory'.
00:13:12 So, 'conga theory' or 'bongo theory'.
00:13:16 So,
if we can get a couple 57s.
00:13:19 Somewhere in the drum-booth
on those congas.
00:13:23 Or something.
00:13:26 You know what I mean?
So, cool, so let's get the clav set up.
00:13:30 Alright? Out here.
00:13:32 And we'll go from there.
00:13:49 They're so small.
00:13:52 It sounds pretty good.
00:13:54 They sound like real congas.
00:14:11 I don't know if the plan is for you to go
down at the same time they're going down.
00:14:15 I don't know.
00:14:17 What's going on?
This is also a music stand, that's fancy.
00:14:20 How intense is your
bongo session gonna be?
I don't know where they want it
or what they want me to
play honestly so it's all...
00:14:30 Alright.
00:14:31 I'm just going with the flow,
trying to do what they ask.
00:14:34 Alright.
00:14:55 We're gonna swap amps here real quick.
00:14:58 There was a Deluxe
I saw... Right there, there it is.
00:15:04 Cool, so. Clav...
00:15:07 And here's the Deluxe. So...
00:15:12 You got it?
I got it.
00:15:17 Nothing like a Deluxe Reverb
to play Clav through.
00:15:30 OK.
00:16:01 Cool.
00:16:13 Lots of buzzing.
00:16:20 If we could just put the wah...
Maybe we could just steal your wah.
00:16:23 Yeah, I've got this other wah pedal.
00:16:27 It's a Vox.
00:16:29 It's kind of little clacky.
00:16:34 Pretty noisy.
00:16:49 That's better.
00:16:52 I changed the power.
00:16:56 Yeap.
00:17:05 Cool.
00:17:10 You need another guitar cord?
So, did you say this was sustain?
That's a damper.
00:17:18 Oh, a damper. OK.
00:17:19 Yes, that's really a sustain.
00:17:21 It kind of is.
00:17:31 How do that part go?
I think we could just jam
a little bit and see where we land.
00:17:46 OK.
00:17:49 Yeah...
00:17:56 I'll have to kind of play with the
thing and kind of groove.
00:18:00 Yeap.
00:18:07 Do you have a Boss tuner pedal
I could put in front of the wah?
The one right there?
To buffer it before the wah.
00:18:17 Sure.
00:18:20 You could bypass that DI,
I can tell you that.
00:18:22 Just go around that DI.
00:18:29 You know what I'm saying?
You don't want the DI?
Your output.
00:18:37 Output is here? Cool.
That goes to the tuner pedal?
Just before the wah.
00:18:52 Is that what you had going on?
I don't know.
00:18:55 Where are you trying to put the wah?
This goes between here and there.
00:19:00 OK. Cool. Let me do that.
00:19:06 Buffered output. You got a short cable?
A patch cable.
00:19:11 You brought a bunch.
00:19:13 Yeah, I brought a bunch.
00:19:21 Wow, look how great...
00:19:24 Better.
00:19:26 Cool, alright.
00:19:28 I gotta go in here
and see if we can come
up with something cool.
00:19:32 Cool.
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Vance studied electrical engineering in Missouri and started his career in live sound as a front-of-house engineer. In 2002, he moved to Nashville in order to become studio manager and chief engineer at the legendary Black Bird studios in Nashville. In 2006, he co-founded Sputnik studios along with Grammy-winning engineer Mitch Dane, still in Nashville.
Vance Powell has won 6 Grammy awards working with rock artists such as The Raconteurs, Kings of Leon, Jack White, Pearl Jam, The White Stripes, The Dead Weather and more.
Powell's domain of expertise is definitely mixing and producing rock music. As shown in his pureMix videos, Vance likes to experiment and create new fuller and exciting sounds using all kinds of pedals, echos, analog outboards and plug-ins. Vance was used to recording to tape and definitely has an analog approach that makes him commit to fewer good sounding tracks rather than piling up takes in Pro Tools.
His goal is to make something new and warm that fits the band's vision with upfront snare drums and powerful guitars. Rocking.
I can sense the fatigue from here... long day for everyone. I'd love to know start time and current time at this point.
capnkirk13
2022 Feb 18
I second that emotion! The congas sound great. Make and model of instruments would be a definite plus at least for studio supplied gear. Great video series as usual. Please keep up the great work. Also kudos to the band for allowing us to see them "hit the wall". This is common in the studio and Vance is very supportive and positive. As musicians we rarely play the same song twice in a show (except maybe the half dozen times playing "Born to be Wild" at your local biker rally).
Ross Martin
2022 Feb 16
Go Truckers Go!
Ross Martin
2022 Feb 16
Go Trucker Go!
richard.carr
2022 Jan 24
What make and model are those bongos? I like how they sound...
tim.i
2022 Jan 12
Really enjoying these videos! Vance is so personable and I love how unpretentious the band are. I'm getting heaps of cool ideas for when I get into the studio later this year.
jasonkohls
2021 Dec 26
MOAR
MarcoPolo
2021 Dec 20
Love watching Vance work, and he's great at keeping the viewer informed as he goes. A masterclass!
