Made on a 488MKii and pressed to vinyl

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

Moderator: cgarges

mikey_grapes
ass engineer
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:29 am
Location: Cleveland, OH
Contact:

Made on a 488MKii and pressed to vinyl

Post by mikey_grapes » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:22 am

Mike Uva & the Bad Eyes
'LADY, TELL ME STRAIGHT'


http://mikeuva.bandcamp.com

We made this record on a Tascam 488mkii, using an Aphex 107 preamp and these mics: RE-20, AT4033, SM81, SM58. Vinyl pressed here in Cleveland by Gotta Groove!

Thanks for listening.
Mike

User avatar
banana brains
gettin' sounds
Posts: 122
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:39 pm
Contact:

Post by banana brains » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:56 am

Thanks for posting this. It sounds GREAT! I'd like to purchase the vinyl album. Yep, I think I will.

How did you mix it? Master it?

Care to share anything about the process of getting it recorded with such limited equipment? What was most difficult, most satisfying, etc?

Thanks again, hats off to you sir!

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:50 pm

Wow.

Awesome.


I.

Love.

It!

Gives me hope for the future of music, no lie.

GJ

User avatar
ott0bot
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2023
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:54 pm
Location: Downtown Phoenix

Post by ott0bot » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:47 pm

great stuff. nice job on keeping the noise under control. I have one of those units and the stock pre's are so noisy and have no headroom...so you end up recording too hot the hiss gets out of control. did you use the noise reduction?

I bookmarked your page and I'll definately listen more later.

mikey_grapes
ass engineer
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:29 am
Location: Cleveland, OH
Contact:

Post by mikey_grapes » Mon Nov 05, 2012 6:35 am

ott0bot wrote:great stuff. nice job on keeping the noise under control. I have one of those units and the stock pre's are so noisy and have no headroom...so you end up recording too hot the hiss gets out of control. did you use the noise reduction?
Thanks! Yes, I've always used the noise reduction on this unit. Also, the gentleman who did mastering (Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio) did take out a bit of noise in the quieter parts.

mikey_grapes
ass engineer
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:29 am
Location: Cleveland, OH
Contact:

Post by mikey_grapes » Mon Nov 05, 2012 7:02 am

tdrop wrote:Thanks for posting this. It sounds GREAT! I'd like to purchase the vinyl album. Yep, I think I will.

How did you mix it? Master it?

Care to share anything about the process of getting it recorded with such limited equipment? What was most difficult, most satisfying, etc?
Thanks! It was recorded entirely on the Tascam and mixed down directly to a Alesis Masterlink (which kept crashing, but that's another story). Used an ART effects unit for some reverb.

Since my budget was, like, nonexistent, I went into this with fairly low expectations with regard to fidelity; it was just important for me to get some songs recorded and I figured I might as well embrace the limitations of my ol' cassette 8-track and see how far I could get just trusting my ears. Just use what you have! You can surprise yourself.

Much of it was tracked live, with the RE-20 on the (upright) bass, one mic a few feet out from the drumkit (SM-81 usually), and then I sang and played guitar in front of the 4033. There was a lot of bleed, we recorded in small rooms.

On a few songs I recorded guitar and vocals and then had the fellas overdub drums/keys/bass. "California" was just me and a nylon-string. I finished overdubs in my basement (over the course of a year) sometimes carting the unit around town to meet up with the pedal steel, guitar, and trumpet players. It was a really laid back experience, the "guest musicians" had a lot of insight and generally knocked out great performances in one or two takes.

I really didn't use compression at all, I have a cheapo Alesis 3630 but don't really know how to use it and didn't enjoy what it was doing so I let it be.

I did however spend $$ on mastering and I am glad I did. (Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio)

I would say mixing was the most difficult and in general just finding time to work on finishing the whole thing, as I am a busy family man. I think the next project I will just do a couple songs at a time, have other people involved in recording and mixing, instead of having 10-12 songs in various states of completion worrying my head.

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:08 pm

Wow, it definiely sounds like guys in one room, so kudos again.

I was going to say I really dig the acoustic bass sound. Just an RE-20, aye?

GJ

User avatar
banana brains
gettin' sounds
Posts: 122
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:39 pm
Contact:

Post by banana brains » Mon Nov 05, 2012 6:39 pm

thanks for the inspiration

I order the vinyl on Sunday! Can't wait for it to arrive.

zorf
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 7:25 am
Location: us

Post by zorf » Tue Nov 06, 2012 5:56 am

these recordings sound very good especially for a cassette based recording.
dont turn around

User avatar
banana brains
gettin' sounds
Posts: 122
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:39 pm
Contact:

Post by banana brains » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:52 pm

Mike,

Just got my album yesterday. Just got the kids to bed, sitting here enjoying your tunes. Just great stuff all the way.

Is the squeaking on "Where do you want me" bleed from your acoustic guitar into your vocal mic?

Not criticizing, just curious. I feel like I can learn a lot about the recording process from this record.

Regardless, it really is great. The songs are fantastic!

Take care,
Seth

User avatar
austin
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 167
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:47 pm
Location: Baltimore
Contact:

Post by austin » Sun Nov 11, 2012 1:20 pm

Man, this sounds cool. You can really feel the vibe of the room.

I have a 488 MKII too. I love that thing!

mikey_grapes
ass engineer
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:29 am
Location: Cleveland, OH
Contact:

Post by mikey_grapes » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:09 am

tdrop wrote:Mike,

Is the squeaking on "Where do you want me" bleed from your acoustic guitar into your vocal mic?
Yes it's just the string squeak (nylon string guitar) in the guitar mic. I think I did have a separate mic set up for vox but yes there would definitely have been some bleed. Glad you dig the record!

User avatar
abograpes
audio school
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:57 am
Location: Philadelphia PA USA
Contact:

Post by abograpes » Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:25 am

I had to check out a guy called Mikey Grapes...

yeah, everybody else pretty much said it already but this sounds great!

not 'great for something recorded dirt cheap' (which is bonus) just great!

User avatar
ott0bot
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2023
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:54 pm
Location: Downtown Phoenix

Post by ott0bot » Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:30 pm

another question mikey...
how much did the vinyl pressing cost?

I'm considering putting out an EP on vinyl and I know I won't be selling a lot, mostly digital downloads. just trying to spec out a few things and have got a several varied answers.

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Thu Nov 22, 2012 6:42 pm

Hey, so far (thanks to "mikey grapes" post) the best price I've found is at Gotta Groove, and they seem to do pretty short runs. And they got back to me via e-mail within one day. So right now, I'm leaning in that direction...

GJ

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests