Finally THE ANSWER to Neko Case's vocals!
- jmpace
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Finally THE ANSWER to Neko Case's vocals!
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.
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.
Last edited by jmpace on Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- ott0bot
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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.
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.
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Re: Finally THE ANSWER to Neko Case's vocals!
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.jmpace wrote: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.
Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
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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?
My new band..... www.myspace.com/prestigeatlanticimpulse
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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.capnreverb wrote: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 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.
- ImaginaryCat
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Nico Case
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.
Please don't take out your rage on me. I have no patience for angry people.
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