Finally THE ANSWER to Neko Case's vocals!

[jmpace]

First I want to say how amazing this community is. It could be an industry/culture that keeps secrets, for fear that they will lose some perceived 'edge' they have over other engineers. You all amaze me with how intelligent you are and how sharing everyone is here.

So from time I time I get REALLY curious about a particular feature of an album I really admire, and low and behold, all you have to do is write the engineer! This is the third time (maybe 2nd) I've posted something like this.

Getting on with it... I've always admired how pristine Neko Case's voice sounds. Especially on Blacklisted. I knew she's done some recording at Wavelab in Tuscon, AZ, so I decided to write the studio and ask how they do Neko's voice. This is the response I received less than 24 hours later:

"We use an AT 4050 in omni and she sings in the big room. We make her comfortable by setting up a headphone mixer that allows her to control her level relative to the stereo mix and also give her a control over a reverb return for monitoring. Then we spend a lot of time making sure it's right and she is very focused on her own performances. Her talent and vision is the reason she sounds so good. You'd need to ask Daryl Neudorf about the final mix reverb and compression as he is her mix engineer. The few mixes I did on Blacklisted (running out of fools, I'll be around) I used my Roland 501 Space Echo for the fx. She also likes or Roland SRV reverb preset called empty club and that is what we use for her tracking reverb in the cue mix."

Unfortunately, it was not signed so I can't give due credit. But to YOU, thank you. And, thank you to this community for fostering the growth of engineers at all levels.

[KennyLusk]

Neko Case totally represents "Cool" in every way and just simply has a classic voice.

[lyle76]

great post - thanks for sharing!

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[ott0bot]

Awesome post. Wavelab is a really cool studio, I've had a few friend who have recording there and loved it.

I've always been a big fan of omni mics and large rooms. Add some wood floors and a nice amount of reverb and you have an amazing sound. Very classic. I really love recording in tiles bathrooms too, but thats just natural reverb and you can't control it in the mix. Her vox sound great and very warm on most of her recordings. Her mix engineer does a nice job with minimal compression too. good stuff.

[cgarges]

Unfortunately, it was not signed so I can't give due credit. But to YOU, thank you. And, thank you to this community for fostering the growth of engineers at all levels.

It was most likely Craig. I believe he's done the bulk of the Neko Case sessions at Wavelab, but I could be wrong about that. He and Daryl Neudorf are both incredibly nice guys.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Aquaman]

Neko Case! *sigh*

[link to photos removed]

[capnreverb]

Looking at those pics of the very lovely Miss Case got me thinking, what is she selling there? Can you see John Coltrane or Laurie Anderson or (insert your favorite artist) doing that? Is it a case of if you got it flaunt it?

[Meriphew]

Craig engineered a record for one of my bands at Wavelab. Lots of fun.

[chris harris]

Looking at those pics of the very lovely Miss Case got me thinking, what is she selling there? Can you see John Coltrane or Laurie Anderson or (insert your favorite artist) doing that? Is it a case of if you got it flaunt it?

I've seen pics where she looks like worn out truckstop trash. But, I realize that lots of people find her attractive and lots of people like her music. To be honest, I've never listened to her music because of some ridiculous diva shit she pulled at a show in Oklahoma City about a year and a half ago. She arrived late. She instantly started complaining about the stage setup and P.A. It was actually a very nice P.A. system for the smallish room she was playing. I know the guys who were working the show, and they all said that the P.A. met the specs of the contract and that the touring engineer didn't seem to have a problem with it. BUT, she did. So, they bent over backwards trying to accommodate her. I don't remember all of the details, but it was something to do with tambourine mics and her needing 2 or 3 wedges, rather than one. Again, I'm too far away from it to remember the details..... but, long story short, they busted their asses to get her a P.A. rig that would make her happy. Then, she realized that she didn't have time to go back to the hotel and shower before the show, so she claimed to be "sick" and canceled, leaving a few hundred fans standing out in the rain, literally crying and begging her to go on, as she hurried by to get back to her cushy hotel room.

I felt like it was a really shitty thing to do. And, the way that she treated the staff who were trying their hardest to make her happy, was just shameful.

It's awesome that the guys at Wavelab went to such great lengths to get her a monitor situation that could allow her to relax and sing. But, reading about it did remind me of this situation in OKC.

[riantide]

One of the best engineers I know spends at least an hour per song getting a perfect headphone mix before cutting any vocals. I always get impatient but singers just love working with this guy because the mixes are actually fun to sing to. Smart dude.

[ImaginaryCat]

I heard her sing into a SM58 through a marginal house PA in a club in Seattle in 2000, and it sounded amazing, I think the real secret here is her amazing voice and she could sing through anything into anything.

[0xeneye]

While i admire her voice and her talent, the reverb-drenched vocals just make her stuff unlistenable... just not my cup of tea I suppose.

[trodden]

Neko Case! *sigh*

[link to photos removed]

why remove links???

LINKS PLEASE!!!!

[chris harris]

I saw this one with the caption, "Hot Cougar on Cougar action!"



I know that everyone takes a bad picture now and then... but....



eek!