Niandra la des - John Frusciante

[neier]

Does anyone know anything about the recording of this? Gear used? It's one of those albums that makes me feel you don't need more than a little tape machine to make a great record. Seems like there's some 1176ish flavour to some of it though. Dince much of it was done while recording BSSM I'm sure he could have taken bits of vintage outboard into his room and used those with the 4 track. [/code]

[leigh]

I haven't listened to that album in years, I'll have to pull it out and see how it's sounding to my ears nowadays. I remember reading an interview about it years ago, maybe in Guitar Player?

Also, it may help to get folks to chime in if you put the artist's name in the title of the thread.

[neier]

Cheers. It seems to sound better than most low-end tape stuff, which is probably a lot to do with the fact that it's John Frusciante playing it, but still, there seems to be something about the sonics. It's low-fi but sounds unlike a home demo to me for some reason!

Yes, the artist name would help wouldn't it? That's what I get for posting while I'm at work!

[Zoltar]

Does anyone know anything about the recording of this? Gear used? It's one of those albums that makes me feel you don't need more than a little tape machine to make a great record. Seems like there's some 1176ish flavour to some of it though. Dince much of it was done while recording BSSM I'm sure he could have taken bits of vintage outboard into his room and used those with the 4 track. [/code]

There was an article in guitar player. I will try to find it but I think I just read it in the book store 17 years ago, so I might have to remember.

I think it was just a 4 track in his house with his guitar and amp. He insisted that the backwards guitar solos were very deliberate and not just noodling, and that he would need to work with people who understood why Ringo was the right drummer for the Beatles.

I can't remember if there was talk about mastering. There must have been, that recording was all over the place and really well held together.

[Mikey V]

i'm pretty sure i heard it was a tascam 424 mkiii but not sure where i got that info from (sorry for the lack of credibility).

[fossiltooth]

It's really not that hard to record an album that sounds like Niandra Lades. Just track pretty hot to a cheap tape machine with whatever handheld mic you happen to have around. In another sense, it also is kind of hard to make an album that sounds like Niandra Lades. You'd kind of have to be John Frusciante.

I'm not sure if the gear is super-relevant. That said, it definitely sounds like a cassette 4-track, and it definitely sounds like there's a lot of direct electric guitar on the record, as well as a lot of acoustic guitar recorded with a cheap dynamic mic like an sm57.

Any compression you're hearing is probably coming from the tape and the portastudio circuitry itself, as well as whatever mastering it might have gone through before release. By his own accounts, Frusciante was "stoned for every note (he) played on that record." Coke and heroin in addition to pot. I hope no one here tries to emulate that part of it.

IMHO To Record Only Water For Ten Days is a much better - and much cooler sounding - record. I mean c'mon: "Murderers"??? How cool of track is that!!!?????

It's no surprise, really. He wasn't a total junkie while making "To Record Only Water." It's still charmingly lo-fi, but it's badass, and listening to it makes me feel okay about life. And I don't feel like I'm exploiting anyone's misfortune in the process.

[Tragabigzanda]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but has anyone ever listened to Pat Smear's solo record So You Fell In Love With a Musician? Worth tracking down, charming in a similar way...