John Peel recoding techniques

[scuba]

I am doing a informal paper on the John Peel session.
I am writing about how they started the concept behind them etc.

I would like to talk about the techniques they used to record the bands, for example:
did they record live and leave it, did they do a mix down for the radio, what kind of space they did they do the recordings in,
what kind of micing techniques they used etc...

I have been having a little bit of trouble finding some of that more technical stuff.
Can anyone help me out?

[jrsgodfrey]

We did ours at Maida Vale, a large BBC studio in London, and we did one at "Peel Acres," his home in Suffolk. The one at Peel Acres was live, real time over the air.

At Maida Vale we played live w/ a little separation (vocal booth, if I remember) in a medium sized studio. They let us have another go if we screwed up, and I think they let us have one punch in on the vox, but generally, the engineers moved it along -- they wanted it more as a performance not necessarily a pristine recording. There was a "mix" but it was mostly a faders up, touch of reverb on the vox deal -- almost real time.

The had u87s for vox and fiddle, some 421s, and AKG 451s for the acoustic guitars and kit overheads. They recorded to DASH machines, which I thought was odd, but they explained that the classical guys still liked to cut tape for edits. The desk was an SSL, and they used its pres.

BTW, the BBC engineers were among the most generous and friendly I've ever worked with.

http://www.bbcradioresources.com/locati ... index.html

[jakerock]

Sebadoh got to do a handful of Peel Sessions too...
All at the Maida Vale complex, different studio / engineers each time.
Its all run / maintained by the BBC and the gear and rooms are world class.
Just for time's sake and the general asthetic of the Pell Sessions, they try get as much basic tracking done live as possible, but there are certain things we did in there that we did a few overdubs for. Its not against the rules or anything...

Great gear and seemingly highly trained engineers... Was always a battle when mixing though, as the engineers liked to gate / reverb the drums and vocal alot, and it was hard to convince them not to!

-Jason L.

[Fieryjack]

I'm sure the era has to do with what equipment they were using/where they recorded...(ther've been Peel sessions since '70/earlier?)

Some recordings were at the Paris Theater too.

Check out JOhn Peels's autobiogrpahy

[scuba]

Thanks for your imput.
I have not been able to gather enough info to write the paper so I am changing my topic.

[syrupcore]

did you get enough info to write a tape op article? I'd love to read it.

[evilaudio]

Oh man!!! Anyone got any input on the Carcass and/or Napalm Death sessions done there?!?! Some of my most favorite releases by those bands! The sound is just fukkin' RAW and awesome!!! I love it!! I know it's retroactive, but that is THE sound I'd love to recreate!! ...and, I'd love to read your article, too!!

[Johnny B]

Oh man!!! Anyone got any input on the Carcass and/or Napalm Death sessions done there?!?! Some of my most favorite releases by those bands! The sound is just fukkin' RAW and awesome!!! I love it!! I know it's retroactive, but that is THE sound I'd love to recreate!! ...and, I'd love to read your article, too!!

I don't know much about those, but what I do know is that the Extreme Noise Terror Peel Sessions disc sounds so much better than any of the actual releases they did around the same time period. I don't know where they recorded those records (someone's garage?) but they should have paid the BBC producers to record them live in a room instead. The ND sessions are cool, too. I like the covers medley they did on the second one. Haven't heard the Carcass...