cutting freqs from the top and bottom

[cleantone]

Hey folks. I'm working on an album right now. The band wants an old school vibe. It's afrobeat with a touch of funk sort of. So Fela Kuti albums were suggested as a reference before tracking. Of course there was not budget so we did six tunes in one day all live tracking in one big room. 9 piece band (8 sans singer). We over dubbed vocals (lead and bg) and some extra percussion. The singer plays percussion live.

Anyway I started taking more top off of the tracks than probably ever before. I was hoping to have that help me build something a little more old school sounding without being able to track it the way Fela would have. The band seems to think he used one "vintage" mic live to tape. Obviously not the case but whatever helps them sleep. We did not go that route of course. Anyway, it really seems to be working. I've only started on the single.

I am making this post because I noticed how much it helped me avoid harshness in the highs. I rolled off more frequencies than ever before and it works surprisingly well.

I am still learning and getting chops when it comes to mixing. Who isn't right? I was hoping folks might share some stories or tips about trimming away stuff from tracks to keep the mix solid and avoid cloudiness or harshness, etc...

[okcrecording]

agreed cleantone,

acoustic guitars, my main use of this, especially in dense mixes.

Ribbon Mics!! this pretty much does the same thing, from the source. which is cleaner than the possible smearing you might get with eq.

Looking around on google for Fela Kuti, most albums are from the 70's and were on MCA, which could mean, 2" tape machine, large expensive console, mic locker to die for, and amazing rooms for ambient tracks. and more possibly ribbon mics, especially on sax.

[bentonevolution]

I think the key may be compressing the highs with a multi-band compressor instead of a straight up roll off.

[Recycled_Brains]

i like to do this with overheads. i hate bright overheads. i did a jazz record last year where i put a hi-shelving EQ at around 5kHz, and just boosted like 1 or 3 dB, and then put a low-pass filter at like 12kHz with a pretty gentle slope. probably 6-8dB/octave or so. still had that sparkle, but not harsh at all.

it's nice for pushing stuff farther back in the mix too.

-ryan

[cleantone]

I think the key may be compressing the highs with a multi-band compressor instead of a straight up roll off.

That would really add up on the processor in a lot of cases. I hear you though.

[logancircle]

Try a, *gasp*, De-Esser. I've done this to overheads and lots of other stuff instead of a MBC. This would be easier on your processer if it is slow. You'd want to mess around with the settings a lot so it's not too violent and you don't feel like you have cotton in your ears or brain.

[standup]

I was just reading Geoff Emerick's book on the Beatles. He said when they recorded Wings in Nigeria the EMI studio there wasn't in the habit of doing overdubs. The engineers apparently didn't know what that was.

If 70s afrobeat LPs were recorded in Africa and not in Europe or the US it's possible they went live to 8 track then mixed without any overdubs, from what Emerick says.

At EMI Lagos he said there was a box of mics, one or two Neumanns and some miscellaneous mics he didn't detail. Dynamics?

[cleantone]

Well we tracked it weeks ago. All in one big room. drumkit, bass, gtr, gtr, rhodes and motif, tenor, trumpet, alto. We overdubbed in the same room but made a faux iso booth. That was vox, vox vox, bg vox, bg vox vox, clava, dumbek, shakere, and balafon. Not all of those were used for every tune of course. So were are working with what is layed down and will not be doing retakes. Although I am always up for it if the need is there.

The Fela stuff that I have heard was probably done live to tape. But not one microphone by any means. You can hear a lot of mistakes musically and engineering wise as well. It has a great raw sound though for sure. I just know they were not recording to an Alesis for any of those. You dig

[qball]

I was just reading Geoff Emerick's book on the Beatles.

Holy crap! I was just finished that book and really opened my eyes to a different approach to recording & mixing. I suggest that anyone who wants that old school sound to read that book and listen to the old Beatles recordings.

[kinger]

+1 on using ribbons to get a vintage vibe, they have that nice smooth, non-brittle high-end.