Vlayman: *C-19 III*

1. Coercion 03:19
2. Prunes & Onion 03:23
3. The Whiskey Isn’t 03:27
4. Steve Earle Said 03:15
5. Worse to Me 03:14

Just lookin’ to underline my social distance.

released April 26, 2020

It’s all yo in the month of April, 2020, here at Feta Central Recording DDL, except drums is massaged nettage.

bandcamp; vlayman;
THD; Geronimo Cowboys;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

Re mixing:

I was asked:

Do you think If I apply compression to each individual track as i’m recording them that I still need to apply mastering compression at the end?  I’m so confused!!!

I answered:

So:

I typically record real drums with compression taking about 4dB off the top of each drum (not cymbal) track to a two mix, and then a different compressor on either the entire two mix, or sometimes just on the tom submix, and then on the two mix, again about -4dB. If the drums come mixed down, I’ll typically limit them, and I might us a pass filter to EQ/isolate out a duplicate kick, which I gate and bring back in under to get boef as necessary – I’ll do that with the snare, also, and smash it to trigger a reverb at 100% and bring in under the two-mix.

Bass I record with a compressor on my bass board into the amp (10% of the time I DI), mic’d thru a The Brick into a dbx160XT and split in parallel with a VC3Q, the compressors on each track – pretty light, -2db or so. Then I like to visually hard-limit until the spikes are off, which depends on the FX and how I’m playing (e.g, finger vs. pick vs. slap-n-pop). Sometimes I’ll use a compressor instead of the hard limiter, but usually not.

Vocals get one or two compressors (usually fast into slow) on the way in, and then manual gain rides and limiting in the box.

I don’t compress guitars unless I’m using one on the guitar board.

I don’t compress keys at all.

I will smash and limit the fuck out of tambos and shakers, or not, as necessary.

The way my DAW works, I get a good rough mix, and then I use a global compressor/reverb 50-50 parallel patch to mixdown, setting it so a drum two mix might get 12% (of the 50-50 patch), a kick and bass 4%, guitars 20-25%, etc. with the vocals having their own in-box effects (typically a plate reverb or delay into plate on the lead, a plate on the BV’s, done with a compressor in front of each in parallel) and then usually about 10% on the lead and 20-25% on the BV’s. Keys and percussion can have anything, often 50%, and pads might go up to 90%

That global compressor at the end is kind of a glue on the mixdown (that my DAW allows me to add the glue global reverb in parallel at the same time). Onna simpler DAW, I’d do the compression first, then the reverb, but I’d do it New York style – in parallel. (The idear is, say onna vocal, you have a compressed track, and a reverb’d duplicate, and then you mix those down to get 1 vocal track – it gives more control and while a bigger PITA to set-up can be faster in workflow.)

My theory is, the more work I’ve done on the mix right along, the less I’m doing at the end. I usually start out having the drums and bass, and then add and vocals and get those 3 items all done and balanced pretty well (in ye olden daze, mixing was called, “balancing”). Then I do guitars and get a decent mix, then add whatever else – keys, percussion, etc., balancing the whole time.

Then I have a cocktail, sometimes wait a while, and get a better rough mix.

I usually do a final mix on another day; my pattern is 5 song E.P.’s, altho’ I did hang a 10’er a cuppla weeks ago.

Then I do a final session of mixxing all the songs, fine-tuning, like, usually on the same day.

When I have that set of mixdowns the way I like, then I master.

Lately, I have been doing a global EQ (both pass and notch filters) and a slight amount of compression into a hard limiter to master, right up to -.3dB (that fraction to keep over-peaks from occurring when converting *.wav to *.mp3).

I’m no mastering engineer and don’t have golden ears, so my mastering (I callit, “masturding”) is really pretty basic. Pass at say 50Hz, cut some 350-400 (1.3Q), mebbe notch some 750, mebbe boost between 3.2 and 4K (1-1.3Q), lift the top starting between 10 and 20K (shelf boost a cuppla dB, sometimes). I mean, I have my go-to’s, and them is those.

I do find it good to listen to my alleged final mixes onna different sound system.  I record listening to Sony cans and Rat Shack Optimus speakers, and rough mix thru Auratones, and final mix thru Tannoys. But then I’ll listen in ear buds, and on my Klipsch Synergys with Yamaha subs; I usually end up remixing about 1/3 to 1/2 of what I considered done.

Concerts

Answering a question at emptywheel:

First concert you attended: M&R Rush
Stadium:
Arena:
Club: well, a town festival, actually, S. Suburb, Chicago
When: 1972?

First FORMAL concert you attended: Superbowl of Rock; .38 Special, Journey, REO Shitewagon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent
Stadium: Soldier Field
Arena:
Club:
When: 1976

Favorite Concert: every single one
Stadium: yes, but Police, Bad Co., Cougar, Little Feat in Champaign in 80’s; SRV, Petty/Dylan-Poplar Creek, Clapton-Rosemont, Springsteen (5 shows, various) in the 80’s, Neil Young/Soundgarden -Tinley in ’90’s, George Strait-Soldier Field ’98, Pretenders/Stones-Sox Park vs. Plant/Who -Tinley Park circa early ’00’s stand out
Arena: yes, but Brecker Bros/Jaco, Scorps, T-Heads, U2, Pretenders, Ministry, Joe Jackson, Psych Furs, Willie Dixon, REM, Dream Syndicate ‘Mats in 80’s – heard the ‘Mats last show while handcuffed under arrest nearby at The Taste (I now have it on CD) – Plant in the 90’s – Steely Dan ’10-ish stand out
Club: yes, but Motorhead, Joan Jett, David Jo, Alvin Lee in the 80’s; Billy Joe Shaver, Morphine, Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction, RHCP, Iggy, Soundgarden, Furs, Living Color, Cowboy Junkies, Dino, Jr. in the ’90’s, in the ’90’s, David Lindley, Dick Dale, Al DiMeola ’17, Ronnie Baker Brooks/Source One ’20 stand out
When: as listed

Last concert you attended pre quarantine: SuperFrye and the Valiant 72’s
Stadium:
Arena:
Club: Montrose Saloon, Chicago
When: January 20, 2020

Bonus Question!
Concert/Artist you most want to see once quarantine is lifted: any band I’m in – and I mean it, man!

Vlayman: *C-19 II (a e.p.)*

1. Dyin’ Alone 04:02
2. Sick as yer Secrets 05:19
3. My Favorite Part 03:34
4. Hell Is Empty 04:16
5. Too Much to Ask 04:04

If those don’ cause me some social distancing, I ain’ know what could.

All noise by yo ‘cept drums is edited nettage.
Prodooshed, sequenced, mixt, recorded, playt, writ at FetaCentralDDL in March-April 2020.

Fartwerk by Jose Jones.

all rights reserved

P, J, PJ

I have a ’73 P (replacement neck).

I have an 80’s J.

I have an Aerodyne.

I have a JP90.

They all sound different, but the latter two can get the P-sound, and half the J sound, and combination.

My T-40 can do all of that and more.

I love the PJ concept, but I also love pedals – is there a correlation? ;-D (I also love using different amps.)

VlaymanTo fight the horde and sing, and cry
Valhalla, I am <censored>

Audioslave, compression

So I came across the first Cornell solo record as I was organizing, and listened, and what a voice. Pretty fair guitarist, also.

So I put on the first Audioslave record, and lo and like, behold: the smashing no longer bothers me.

I reckon this many years later, I’m used to it …

Great record, in that heavy-metal Zep-influenced, Sound-Garden with a noisier-lead sound what they had.

bandcamp; vlayman;
THD; Geronimo Cowboys;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

Vlayman: *The C-19 Blues*

1. Askin’ Too Much 04:24
2. Pretty Little Kitty 04:02
3. COVID-19 Blues 03:21
4. Payback for the Senorita 03:26
5. Know Myself 03:58
6. Prologue (The Past Is) 04:09
7. Smoke Chokin’ 04:02
8. Antithetical to Me 03:21
9. Alone (Never Leave You) 04:16
10. Hard to Hurt 04:15

What else we got to do?

released April 1, 2020

All yo except as listed.
Drums # 2: Sliversmith
All other drums is edited nettage.
Everything done at FetaCentralRecordingDDL.
Made January-March, 2020
Fartwerk by Jose Jones.
Note: the last 3 songs coulda been cut.
license
all rights reserved

bandcamp; vlayman;
THD; Geronimo Cowboys;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.