Misha / Periphery - guitar recording tips video

[kloppsta]

Well, cant always believe what u read on the net. In any case, i have seen sound city, and while it was a cool doco, imho the new foos album sounds like any of their previous albums played thru a normal home stereo, car stereo and ipod (i.e. the way MOST people listen to music)

If playing and recording through all that vintage gear gets grohls socks off, great! Doesn't change the fact they still just sound like the foo fighters from years gone by.

Back in black would still be a "classic" album if it had been recorded on modern gear. Its the musicians and the song writing that makes a classic song or album. Not what mic pre it was recorded through. You are obviously involved in that industry so i understand your defence of all the equipment that you love but the simple truth is that you don't NEED that gear to write and record great music.

Your first post was bagging misha for his efforts and his gear. Cool, thats your opinion and you entitled to it. But the proof is in the pudding so to speak. Despite your opinion, he is still writing and recording, putting out helpful videos, playing some fucking cool guitars, having fun and making a living. If the first periphery album had been recorded thru a neve, would it have sold more albums or made more of an impact? No.

 

[gibson5413]

I don't know what you consider classic albums. So maybe that's where we are having a disconnect. But Back In Black is what I consider a classic album. Recorded on tape, thru killer mic pres, compressors and outboard gear that is still to this day the benchmark of excellence.

Same thing with Led Zeppelin 4. Dark side of the moon, and the list goes on...and on.
None of the records "I" am thinking about sound like dogshit.

You should check out a movie that I worked on, it's called Sound City, it speaks a lot to the fact that the right analog gear can heavily influence the sound and quality of a recording.
Here is a link: http://buy.soundcitymovie.com

Being in the studio for weeks with Butch Vig and Dave Grohl , and seeing the workflow and equipment used, to get the results that are obviously amazing is all the info I need.

You can make a song with a shitty interface all day long (trust me that's what I do at home)
But there is nothing like the real shit.
Here are a few shots of the board and gear used on some of he MOST classic albums around.

There is a reason those records sound that good, a huge part of it is the preamps in this neve board.
There is no substitution for the real thing.

I've watched that documentary three times. It is so compelling. I would like to own that as I could watch it often.

 

[kloppsta]

All fair points. Couldn't agree more

 

[155]

soundcity is an amazing movie, nice ...but your coming off like a dick...

 

[polaris20]

How'd we go from a Youtube video aimed at beginners (Misha's own words) to discussing Sound City? I mean, yeah, stuff made on all that vintage stuff is generally amazing. But Bulbster is just trying to help out the little guy, not someone who's in the market for a vintage Studer/Neve/API etc.

 

[Badronald]

I don't know what you consider classic albums. So maybe that's where we are having a disconnect. But Back In Black is what I consider a classic album. Recorded on tape, thru killer mic pres, compressors and outboard gear that is still to this day the benchmark of excellence.

Same thing with Led Zeppelin 4. Dark side of the moon, and the list goes on...and on.
None of the records "I" am thinking about sound like dogshit.

You should check out a movie that I worked on, it's called Sound City, it speaks a lot to the fact that the right analog gear can heavily influence the sound and quality of a recording.
Here is a link: http://buy.soundcitymovie.com

Being in the studio for weeks with Butch Vig and Dave Grohl , and seeing the workflow and equipment used, to get the results that are obviously amazing is all the info I need.

You can make a song with a shitty interface all day long (trust me that's what I do at home)
But there is nothing like the real shit.
Here are a few shots of the board and gear used on some of he MOST classic albums around.

There is a reason those records sound that good, a huge part of it is the preamps in this neve board.
There is no substitution for the real thing.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with most everything you've said.
I was commenting on your original post. That FR is more than adequate for making home demo's. That was the discussion. I used that exact same pre this last Tuesday evening to record some guitar for friends. Sounded great.
If I were to record a real album, or course I wouldn't use it. I would prefer the vintage pre's and tape for most everything then dump to Pro Tools (or whatever you prefer).
Reality in 2014 is that there is fantastic digital equipment as well, and the vintage stuff is harder to come by.

 

[polaris20]

Don't get me wrong, I agree with most everything you've said.
I was commenting on your original post. That FR is more than adequate for making home demo's. That was the discussion. I used that exact same pre this last Tuesday evening to record some guitar for friends. Sounded great.
If I were to record a real album, or course I wouldn't use it. I would prefer the vintage pre's and tape for most everything then dump to Pro Tools (or whatever you prefer).
Reality in 2014 is that there is fantastic digital equipment as well, and the vintage stuff is harder to come by.

to that point, there are plenty of rad Mic pres and great current gear that don't have to be Vintage for getting great home studio tones.

check out : http://vintageking.com/vkla

There are also a lot of little companies making clones of vintage gear too, at cheap prices, which is cool. Avantone makes some cool stuff.

 

[maddnotez]

I'm no recording guru so my opinion means shit but in regards to the argument I agree with Reza. I have read numerous times, again and again. Analog, tape, high end pre's.

There must be a reason behind it all.

I feel cheaper gear is great, I'm a broke ass mofo but I'm willing to bet the reason we see a lot of cheap gear is because of the times.

Faster and cheaper is the way of the world.

Convenience. Who wants to cut tape when you can highlight and cut on a PC? Even if you sacrifice some quality people don't care these days.

They don't make them like they used to is the phrase that comes to mind in this situation.

 

[timeroo]

For those talking about those "classic albums" while they did / do sound incredible. How about a look see at the price tag of recording those albums.

 

[jsp]

For those talking about those "classic albums" while they did / do sound incredible. How about a look see at the price tag of recording those albums.

Care to elaborate? I'm genuinely curious...

 

[TIBrent]

End of the day, video is for rookies. Misha can record a demo through cheap gear & still obtain a final product better than ANY & ALL of us could through the most expensive gear in the world. Yes the classic mic pres, & rack comps play a huge part in getting that sweet, warm, gels right into a mix sound...but knowing your gear, & how to obtain your own sweet spot can get you there as well. Bottom line, know your gear, know how to play & you will get a better sounding recording (even with cheap gear) 9/10 than someone who has access to all the best stuff but can't play a riff that emotes any feel.

 

[jlbaxe]

They record with vintage pre's and everything......to be played through every digital device and format out there....

The old vintage stuff will be a thing of the past with new technology and each younger generation. Soon all you will need is a Mac computer, iPhone, iPad and Axe fx device and be able to record easier and better.

The Fractal and Kemper have changed the amp world.....

All in time

 

[timeroo]

For those talking about those "classic albums" while they did / do sound incredible. How about a look see at the price tag of recording those albums.

Care to elaborate? I'm genuinely curious...

A great sounding record back in the 70s, 80s, 90s would cost an absolute fortune. The black album for example, that cost Metallica a million dollars to record 20+ years ago, which is about 1,800,000 now. A great sounding record can be recorded for less 10% of that these days. Why? because of the advances in technology. Sure the Kemper and Axefx don't fully replace a wall of amazing amps and a computer doesn't replace a neve and tape recordings. However for a price difference of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars....

 

[TIBrent]

Yeah I don't know about that. Your really into Misha apparently.

hmm...that is what you took from all that huh...okay then lets move forward

I think it sounds pretty good for that kind of money and the timeframe we were in.
Here is a vid with music from the album:

Mmhmm, well then with no offense to be taken, listen to the sound of your bands recording compared to Misha's (all at home recording, with little to no budget, no expensive out-board gear)

I don't think the jury will be out too long on this one.
(this isn't an apples to apples comparison by any means but the point is still made)

 

[C1-ocaster]

I'm always a little surprised when I hear a full song, then hear the guitar track alone - how low gain it is. Fluff does this on a lot of tracks. The full tune sound thick and metal, the guitar alone is almost ZZ Top level gain.

Mastering can really change the recording, and compression used in mastering can make small, narrow, tinny tones sound big and full.
And with digital so much more is possible than the analog days.

I think I heard him say that he doesn't mind cutting and pasting a riff he's already played to fill in into the song.
NO way would I do that. Yeah, of course it's easy to do with digital, just play a measure or two of the riff and then just cut and past it where needed. That's BS imo. Play the music, ALL of it. Cut and paste is for the weak when it comes to recording a a musical performance.

 

[C1-ocaster]

I'm no recording guru so my opinion means shit but in regards to the argument I agree with Reza. I have read numerous times, again and again. Analog, tape, high end pre's.

There must be a reason behind it all.

I feel cheaper gear is great, I'm a broke ass mofo but I'm willing to bet the reason we see a lot of cheap gear is because of the times.

Faster and cheaper is the way of the world.

Convenience. Who wants to cut tape when you can highlight and cut on a PC? Even if you sacrifice some quality people don't care these days.

They don't make them like they used to is the phrase that comes to mind in this situation.

You don't even have to "cut tape".
Analog gear can be used as an acquisition medium, to get the recording.
For editing and then mastering, the acquisition medium can be transferred to digital and all the editing takes place there.
In the modern world output is in the digital format unless on actually buys an analog source like vinyl or analog tape.

The analog vs digital argument had it's origins years and years ago when CD's were made available to the general public.
And one has to consider the DA's used in the early days. Since then digital and resolution has come a long way.
Early CD's have been remastered and rereleased even though they were originally digital because there have been different sonic levels of digital over the decades.

 

[Anonymous]

Its true they have changed the game. But they don't sound as good as the real thing mang!

Recorded, the Kemper sounds just as good as a real amp with a great profile and it's WAY more convenient. Live, real amps are the only way to go. IMHO, of course, YMMV...

Steve

 

[Mizati20]

Damn Rez... someone shit in your corn flakes brother?

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for posting this...im just starting to get into recording my own stuff at home through a computer, and bought a tascam iUR2 for throwing guitar ideas into the computer and whatnot. this video was informative for me, as a TRUE beginner with this stuff....which, im sure, someday i'll look back on and go "man, i was such a noob". but you gotta start somewhere, and, my shitty 40$ interface into cool edit sure beats my phone recordings...though, those do serve their purposes too.

 

[ejecta]

This reminds me if the whole celluloid film cameras vs digital cameras debate over the last few years in the film industry.