For the last couple years i have been on a never ending quest to achieve that famous fuzz tone of the 60s garage bands such as the sonics, early stones, the kinks, the chesterfield kings. I guess the best representation of the sound would be a new band called the urges. I know that they cut their new album in an entirely vintage studio so I'm not expecting garage fuzz perfection but i wanna get in the ballpark. [url]http://www.myspace…] my current setup includes a firepod, 5 sm57s, BETA 52 and a AKG perception200. i have around $600 to spend so I'm wondering what i would get the most mileage out of and get that analog sound, a new pre such as the ART MPA or a new mic or any other suggestions anyone has. I got the actual instruments covered(: so I'm all set with the vox and rickenbacker sound, i just can't capture it the way i want.
Thanks for the help, Alex
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well the idea i had was that by replacing with something analog
well the idea i had was that by replacing with something analog id be closer to the tape thing. or maybe thats just foolish. what about if i got my hands on a decent tape deck and used that and dumped the tracks to logic or something? i heard the white stripes did that for their first couple albums.
Vintage everything including the room. Get yourself a good tape
Vintage everything including the room.
Get yourself a good tape recorder. Tube if possible (Ampex 350, 351) use old non high bias tape and let er rip. The reason the older stuff sounds like it did was because of what it was recorded on and what the equipment sounded like. A good Fender twin reverb http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Vintage-Reissue-65-Twin-Reverb-Guitar-Amp?sku=480505&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26039695, a set a Gretsch drums http://www.gretschdrums.com/, a Fender stratocaster http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Strat57PJLTD some vintage microphones and some vintage tube mic preamps and you can get yourself to sound just like the bands of old. It is going to cost you a bundle but if that is the sound you are after....I guess you have to pay the piper.
All the plug-ins and vintage warmers are NOT going to give you that sound.
YMMV and Best of Luck!
Emulations are simply....errr...emulations. NOT to be confused
Emulations are simply....errr...emulations. NOT to be confused with reproductions.
On thing you might try is recording in a large open space. An old warehouse with lots of natural echo. Close mic everything like you do and then use a number of room mics. Hunt for the optimum placements on these by walking about the area whilst listening to the sound as its being played.
Mix these room mics in at your discretion. It will NOT be that garage sound simply because of the vast difference of the gear but it will give you something similar in ambience.
well i think i've got the guitar sound covered, im able to coax
well i think i've got the guitar sound covered, im able to coax a pretty vintage sound out of my my twin, vox and les paul. I think if someone could enlighten me on exactly how the studios tracked drums back then? was it just a room large condenser mic? and maybe some tips for getting a warmer vocal sound and if a tube pre might help. Im talking the vocal sound from the stones englands newest hitmakers or the animals or the sonics version of have love will travel where the mics sound like they are being slightly clipped.
A simple mic set up will do it a good LDC and the 57's then the
A simple mic set up will do it
a good LDC and the 57's
then the method as Dave has suggested
to do the single LDC will require a sweet room and the sweet spot
and this doesn't lend itself to edits and changes in the mixing later
do what Dave says and get some good material on seperate tracks so you can work it later
Beware
as with the guitar tones
( simple small tubed amp with a 60's EQ and 60's guitar style )
USE drum heads and drum techniques ala the 60s
then use anything that will give a gentle overdriven sound
here be careful
LESS is MORE
gentle driven sounds through the Tube Mics and Tube preamps
Transistor preamps like the Neve
and EMG can give nice driven tones ... or is that TG ?
and the gain block units like the API can be nice but probably are little more open than the others
what you don't have is the TAPE SATURATION (see Bob's comments)
so you need to work around that and find the limiting and driven sounds with what you do have
less is more
and start with the tones and techniques of the 60's
Unless you can find (and maintain) a good old tape machine at a
Unless you can find (and maintain) a good old tape machine at a great price, I don't see you using the recording chain to contribute much to this vibe in the price range you are talking about. There may be emulation plugins that would help, but I don't have any experience with that.
I'd concentrate on getting the vibe you want live and making an accurate recording of that. If you are getting what you want live but not getting it on tape, I don't think you are going to improve the transfer by adding dirt to the signal chain.