Van Halen Recording technique question??

  • Thread starter Thread starter reverymike
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reverymike

reverymike

Active member
Okay, so I was tracking guitars tonight, and doing the regular double tracking, etc.

It occurred to me that most of the VH stuff sure as hell doesn't sound doubled to me. Is he doubling his rhythm tracks??

Like, for example, on Panama, Unchained, or House Of Pain? Are those rhythms double tracked??? Or is he sending a Eventide 949 or 910 to one side and the dry tone to the other, and leaving it at that?
 
Some links:
http://www.uberproaudio.com/who-plays-w ... -equipment
http://www.google.com/search?q=eddie+va ... 41&bih=674
http://www.amptone.com/eddievanhalenrig.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ri2/bob2/evh.html


vanhalen_eddie_1997.gif
 
Double post - don't know where that came from.
 
Those replies are mainly for his live rig. The live set up is very well documented. I'm trying to determine if he's doubletracking his rhythms on record.
 
reverymike":2t2aqxcg said:
Those replies are mainly for his live rig. The live set up is very well documented. I'm trying to determine if he's doubletracking his rhythms on record.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, it was single mic single track all the way up until Carnal Knowledge except for when parts were layered. The main guitar track is usually panned some degree to the left and the echo is hard panned right. There is a reverb there as well, and it may be panned L or R, that I am not sure about. I'm not a VH expert.
 
reverymike":2u0bi4o7 said:
Okay, so I was tracking guitars tonight, and doing the regular double tracking, etc.

It occurred to me that most of the VH stuff sure as hell doesn't sound doubled to me. Is he doubling his rhythm tracks??

Like, for example, on Panama, Unchained, or House Of Pain? Are those rhythms double tracked??? Or is he sending a Eventide 949 or 910 to one side and the dry tone to the other, and leaving it at that?
Click to expand...
Eddie really didn't like double tracking, and rarely did. Just a feel (spur of the moment) type player which makes it really hard to track the same thing twice.
I respect him for that, his playing and tone was so good that it hung on it's own.
 
No echo.

Hard right is full reverb. Plate reverb. Take a Boss GE-10 and horseshoe that bitch, then record full blast.

Ask Rockstah

He has it down!

Also...no significant info on console mic pres have been known to come out. Which I think is the studio magic.
 
I think that what you might be hearing on VH2 and up is a micro-pitch shift delay...listen to the intro of "Women in Love". It was W/D in the early days and more subtle. 1984 seems to be a bit less subtle; "House of Pain" is a good example of where it really stands out..to my ears at least. I think around 5150 he went to W/D/W and it became even more noticeable. It does almost sound like double tracking in a way as it gives kind of a "layered" effect.
 
I just find it interesting that some producers INSIST that you HAVE to at the very least doubletrack your rhythms. I knew that all these years that Eddie wasn't doing that, and obviously, he was getting some killer BIG tones on tape.

I was just looking for some reinforcement! Thanks guys.
 
jack butler":35mosy4r said:
While researching the Universal Audio 6176, I found this http://www.cathedralstone.net/Pages/VanHalen.htm . It implies that many early VH recordings where recorded on the Putnum 610 console. Also states the the UREI 1176 had a significant impact on the guitar sound. I've only done limited tests with the 1176 but even in a ratio of 1 to 1(not compressing) it does color the sound.
Click to expand...
Yes, if you listen to other Don Landee recordings from back then like The Doobie Brothers, it has a very similar sound to it overall. Don (and the gear he used) was a big part of the magic on the old VH recordings.
 
Randy Van Sykes":3z23gcj3 said:
jack butler":3z23gcj3 said:
While researching the Universal Audio 6176, I found this http://www.cathedralstone.net/Pages/VanHalen.htm . It implies that many early VH recordings where recorded on the Putnum 610 console. Also states the the UREI 1176 had a significant impact on the guitar sound. I've only done limited tests with the 1176 but even in a ratio of 1 to 1(not compressing) it does color the sound.
Click to expand...
Yes, if you listen to other Don Landee recordings from back then like The Doobie Brothers, it has a very similar sound to it overall. Don (and the gear he used) was a big part of the magic on the old VH recordings.
Click to expand...


wow I did not know this
I love the doobie brothers and I love early VH
and they've both given me similar feelings production wise, I get the same overall vibe from van halen 2 as I do doobies

must be this element
 
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