Mixing, Recording, and Producing Techniques of the Pros, Second Edition Rick Clark Course Technology PTR A part of Cengage Learning Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States Mixing, Recording, and Producing © 2011 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning. Techniques of the Pros, Second Edition Rick Clark ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in Publisher and General Manager, any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, includ- Course Technology PTR: ing but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, Stacy L. Hiquet digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Associate Director of Marketing: Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without Sarah Panella the prior written permission of the publisher. Manager of Editorial Services: For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Heather Talbot Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706 For permission to use material from this text or product, Marketing Manager: submit all requests online at cengage.com/permissions. Mark Hughes Further permissions questions can be emailed to [email protected] Executive Editor: Mark Garvey All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Project Editor/Copy Editor: All images © Cengage Learning unless otherwise noted. Cathleen D. Small Library of Congress Control Number: 2008932486 Interior Layout: Jill Flores ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-840-0 Cover Designer: ISBN-10: 1-59863-840-8 Luke Fletcher eISBN-10: 1-59863-915-3 Indexer: Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning Broccoli Information Management 20 Channel Center Street Boston, MA 02210 Proofreader: USA Heather Urschel Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at: international.cengage.com/region Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com Visit our corporate website at cengage.com Front cover images: Top row (left to right): Emmylou Harris, Cookie Marenco and Jean-Claude Reynaud, Calexico’s John Convertino. Bottom row (left to right): Calexico’s Paul Niehaus, Osaka Pearl’s Danielle Tibedo, producer Jim Scott (photo by Jimmy Stratton). Back cover images: Top to bottom: Producer Jim Dickinson (photo by Tom Lonardo), producer Charlie Sexton and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, producer Brian Ahern. (All photos by Rick Clark unless Printed in the United States of America otherwise noted.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 About the Author Rick Clark grew up immersed in music in his home- town of Memphis, Tennessee, a place where rock, R&B, and blues were everywhere. His first records were Sun Records 45s by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Charlie Rich, as well as New Orleans Dixieland jazz by Sweet Emma and Her Preservation Hall Jazz Band and raw British Invasion albums by the Yardbirds and the Kinks. Clark regards his first concert, James Brown and the Famous Flames in 1966, as a life-changing event that inspired him to pursue a life in music. By high school, Clark was working in Memphis’s main record shop, Poplar Tunes—a place where local artists such as Isaac Hayes and Al Green would sometimes hang, as well as every self-respecting band from England who made a pilgrimage there. During the ’70s and onward, Clark played live and in sessions, including projects with members of Big Star, Memphis Horns, and the seminal Memphis Power Pop scene. Early on, Clark DJed his own radio show at WLYX-FM Memphis, and his enthusiasm for creating great road music mix cassettes earned him a reputation as a go-to guy for new and great sounds. He eventually started a successful business programming music for every genre in venues throughout the South and other parts of the country. Eventually, he wrote for numerous national publications, including Billboard, Mix, Rolling Stone, Guitar Player, the All Music Guide, Goldmine, and others. Over time, Clark began producing and compiling numerous major- and indie-label album releases, as well as writing liner notes for artists ranging from Ricky Nelson, Dave Edmunds, and Lynyrd Skynyrd to Leo Kottke, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Big Star. Clark also began working as a curator, music consultant, and independent A&R rep with clients ranging from museums, to magazines, to films and major label projects. Clark’s production work includes working with Death Cab for Cutie (music for the Band tribute album Lost Highwayand the hit TV show Weeds), the Killjoys, Osaka Pearl, and Los Super Seven—an amalgam that included Calexico, Lyle Lovett, Delbert McClinton, John Hiatt, Raul Malo, Freddy Fender, Rodney Crowell, and others. Clark also produced 26 shows of Marty Stuart’s American Odysseyfor XM radio, directed two videos on Emmylou Harris for Warner DVD-Audio, composed and produced music for IBM’s International Global Net, and had his photography featured in gallery shows, on record albums, and in ad campaigns. Beginning in 1997, through a recommendation by the legendary producer Jim Dickinson, Clark began work producing, co-compiling, and doing all the legal clearance work for what would be the first seven volumes of the award-winning Oxford American magazine music CDs, featuring music ranging from legendary artists such as Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, and B.B. King to obscure blues, jazz, and Cajun music recordings. As a film music supervisor, Clark’s credits include work on Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air. Jim Dickinson November 21, 1941–August 15, 2009 Jim Dickinson was a great producer and musician, a selfless mentor, and a devoted family man to his wife, Mary Lindsay, and his boys, Luther and Cody. I watched him grow his own family band with his gifted sons, who went on to become the North Mississippi Allstars. Jim and I grew up in Memphis and, though a number of years apart, we went to the same public school and had some of the same teachers. That said, one of my finest teachers was Dickinson himself. He was a fiercely passionate communicator and one of the greatest and funniest storytellers I’ve known. When there was something troubling you deep down, Dickinson was the cosmic "sin eater" who helped you get clarity. He loved Memphis and the Mississippi Delta and deeply knew how the culture and its tumultuous highs and lows were the lifeblood of the greatest music and art. The day he passed away was one of the hardest I can remember. I miss our long talks, his laughter, his thoughtfulness, and his generosity of spirit. He was one of the most important people who taught me to value where I came from and the importance of being true to your inner voice. As a result, I can attribute some of the best things that have happened to me in the last 20 years to Dickinson’s support. This book is rooted in the spirit of mentoring, and Dickinson was one of the best. It’s my hope that this collection offers you some of the enduring blessings Dickinson provided me. Thanks, Jim! Left column top to bottom: Jim Dickinson (photo by Tom Lonardo) / Jim Dickinson, Studio B, Ardent, early 1970s (photo courtesy of Ardent Recording and John Fry), Jim Dickinson (photo courtesy of Steve Roberts) / Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson, Jim Dickinson (photo courtesy of Steve Roberts). Right column top to bottom: Ardent founder, John Fry, and Jim Dickinson at the studio’s first commercial location on National Avenue in Memphis (photo courtesy of Ardent Recording and John Fry) / Jim Dickinson, John Eddy, John Hampton (photo courtesy of Ardent Recording and John Fry) / Jim Dickinson (photo courtesy of Mary Lindsay Dickinson). Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi 1 Acoustic Ensemble Recording 3 Chuck Ainlay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Jerry Douglas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Mark O’Connor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bil VornDick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Brent Truitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 Analog versus Digital 11 Tony Visconti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Nick Launay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Jacquire King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3 Bass 19 Norbert Putnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Jacquire King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Leland Sklar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Jim Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Dylan Dresdow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 David Z (David Rivkin). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sam Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Eddy Offord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Jim Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 Brass 29 Ken Kessie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Greg Adams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Jeff Powell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Wayne Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Ralph Sutton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Shelly Yakus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 vii CONTENTS 5 Creative Production and Recording 37 Roy Thomas Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Eddie Delena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Joe Hardy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Jacquire King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Mark Freegard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Paul Grupp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 John Agnello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Bob Kruzen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 John Hampton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Jeff Powell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Dylan Dresdow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Jim Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 6 Cue Mixes 51 Brian Ahern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 John Guess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Jeff Powell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Clif Norrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Terry Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 David Briggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 7 Drum Teching 61 Steve Ebe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Pat Foley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Don Gehman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Robert Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Craig Krampf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Ronan Chris Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 8 Drums 69 Nick Launay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Nile Rodgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Elliot Scheiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Jim Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Ken Scott. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Ralph Sutton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Dave Bianco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 viii CONTENTS Dylan Dresdow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Jacquire King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Russ Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Skidd Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 David Thoener. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Kenny Aronoff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Roger Hawkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Peter Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 John Hampton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 9 Dynamic Signal Processing 97 Richard Dodd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Jim Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Michael Wagener. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Michael Brauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Joe Hardy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Bruce Swedien. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Ken Kessie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 John Hampton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 10 Evolution, Where We Are, Looking Forward, Giving Back, and Life Stuff 107 Wayne Kramer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Nathaniel Kunkel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Tony Shepperd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Tech Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Music Industry and Reinvention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 David Kershenbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Richard Gibbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Rick Clark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 11 Field Recording and Film Sound 125 Christopher Boyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Ben Cheah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Dennis Hysom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Rodger Pardee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 ix CONTENTS 12 Game Audio 135 Greg Allen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Jerry Berlongieri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Mentoring: General Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 13 Guitar: Electric and Acoustic 147 Jim Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Stephen Barncard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Russ Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Nick Launay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Dylan Dresdow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Ronan Chris Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Michael Wagener. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Skidd Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 David Z. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Adrian Belew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 John Jennings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 14 Keyboards 161 Tony Visconti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Cookie Marenco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Leanne Ungar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Christopher Greenleaf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 15 Live Engineering and Recording 173 Dave Morgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 16 Mastering 181 Bob Ludwig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 What to Supply to a Mastering Engineer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 The Evolution of Mastering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Andrew Mendelson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Greg Calbi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Twenty-First-Century Vinyl Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Cutting from Digital Masters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Cutting from Analog Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Gavin Lurssen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Jim DeMain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191