rock-a-billy techniques

[Roboburger]

Pick up a Latin Persussion drum clip, and find a nice place on the bass where you can attach the clip using the outer edge of the bass and the inner edge of an F-Hole. THis will hold a mic consistently in front of the F-Hole even as the bass player moves a bit. Mix that with a condenser placed near the point where fretboard meets bass body, and you got a consistent body sound with a free-er sounding air mic that gets the slap of strings and finger movements and even a few grunts from the bass player.

As for drums, the fewer mics the better. since you are on a computer, play with copying the tracks and doing different things to each one.- right off the bat, I would try a clean compressed track mixed with a uncompressed distorted track, but that's just a guess.

play with delay times that reinforce the beat- don't just pick a random one. you can really make a track swing.

[AGCurry]

With respect...

Adding stuff (tricks, effects, etc.) to the process in order to make it sound like a 1960s recording is like adding spices to oatmeal to make it taste plainer.

What you want to do is think about recording these guys with the most minimal equipment you can (and keep in mind, minimal doesn't mean bad or cheap). Listen to Norman Petty's recordings of Buddy Holly, as well as some early Sun recordings. That stuff is from the 50s, and it's NOT low-fi. I prefer to think of it as relatively organic. Everything is recorded LIVE in the studio, and minor mistakes are made, and that's okay. The gear might have become more sophisticated from the 50s to the 60s, but the basic techniques - and track counts - didn't change much.

Use a minimum number of mics/tracks. Record the bass without amplification (I'd put him in isolation, though). Some nice ribbon mics will help a lot. Let the guitarist apply his own effects - which really should include only reverb, echo, and tremolo.

Good luck!

[AGCurry]

Oh, and another thing:

If you really want a little grunge a la 1964, use tape! You don't have to record to tape (although it would be best), but you can print the mix to tape and record it back into digital.

[I'm Painting Again]

thx Ag and Roto..

I will be hitting tape in mixdown..

Ag : if i just record it plain and hi-fi and minimal it just wont sound like what they want..my system just doesnt sound like that..so i will have to add the circutry i have that makes the trashy rock sound they want..

[NewAndImprov]

A while ago..some of you TOGeezerz might remember I had started a thread on rockabilly..well today..a year or two later..they booked a date with me..

instrumentation is

Gretsch electric hollowbody/fender tube amp 65 reissue
upright bass (he plays through some crappy amp live)
drums
vocals

they want a trashy 60's sound..like rough garage surf rock..

You might consider running the bass through his crappy live amp. Definitely mic the bass, but run a mic on the amp as well, or re-amp the bass through his amp later if you don't want the bleed. It seems like for the sound they're after, the compression and grunge you'd get from the amp would be what they want to hear.

[standup]

if i just record it plain and hi-fi and minimal it just wont sound like what they want..my system just doesnt sound like that.

Um, if they have the sound in their instrumentation and playing, your system will record it. They have to sound right in the first place.

I'd try an omni mic between the feet of the bridge of the bass, rolled up in foam. Also mic the amp, maybe in an iso room. I wouldn't bother with a DI unless you have tons of tracks and might want to re-amp. But you reallly, really need the mic'd sound of the bass, without it having to pass through a piezo pickup.

What about taking a DI off the guitar before the amp so you can re-amp the guitar track? Let him get the reverb from his amp for the mic'd track.

Drums with lots of room sound, put the bass player in the same room and let it bleed.

Later on you can run vocals back through a fender champ or something. Have the option of re-amping instruments. But try to get the band sounding loud trashy and good in the first place, then hit record?

Listen to some of their favorite records. Rockabilly with a 60s garage flair is an odd combination, see if you can hear some of the things they like.

[Garthplinko]

Try using a speaker as a mic in front of the drum kit. A friend did it on a recording and I thought it was sick. You can hear a sample of it by going to
1.) www.borntolosemusic.com
2.) then click on media
3.) then scroll down and click on the Jumpin' Jack Flash text.
(I'd put a link to send directly, but it looks like they did it all in flash)

The way I understand it is that they just took a 15 inch speaker set it away from the set and plugged it into their mic pre - that sound might be what you're looking for (or a blend of).

By the way, what do you guys consider the "perfect" amount of delay in milliseconds to get that old school slapback?

[I'm Painting Again]

if i just record it plain and hi-fi and minimal it just wont sound like what they want..my system just doesnt sound like that.

Um, if they have the sound in their instrumentation and playing, your system will record it. They have to sound right in the first place.

like.

thanks standup..the omni thig sounds especially cool..

when i say my system doesnt sound like that..im talkin' purely distortion, harmonic and otherwise..i have a very "what you hear in the room is what you get" thing going on mostly..of course the band will have a big effect on the sound..but i have to figure out a way to "grunge" or get the right kinds of distortion and amplification to get the 60's carhole sound they want..otherwise i think it will be too reference style for a band that you want to hear kind of fuzzed out..you know..

[spankenstein]

Izotope Vinyl is good at dirtying things up in an old sounding way. I've never used it for anythign other than pure over the top effect though.

When I think of the sound of rock-a-billy I think of guys playing in a smokey room. Very roomy, very spacious. Not purposely distorted. I say use your regular setup and put ups some room mics and compress the snot of them and then you have the freedom of both or a mix.

[I'm Painting Again]

They want to sound more like the cramps than sun studios..

[spankenstein]

Do they sound like the Cramps already? Have you thought about delay

I just put on a Cramps album and it doesn't sound lo-fi at all. There's a lot of room/delay on everything, especially the vocals but overall every thing is actually well recorded.

[I'm Painting Again]

I'm not worried about the band..they take care of their sound and there is not much i can do about that..

im talking the right flavours of amplification and distortion..for a "vintage" tone and feel..this is important to me..i dont think many modern computer setups and gain stages are conducive to the sound of what these guys want..maybe cramps was a bad example..