There’s something particularly rewarding about working with an artist who can do all of it. David Bennett, from the YouTube channel David Bennett’s Piano, isn’t just a superb educator with a deep understanding of songwriting and concord, he’s additionally a genuinely gifted pianist, producer, and songwriter. So after we began working collectively on his new album, Underneath an Empty Sky, it was an actual pleasure to assist deliver these songs to life.
Though I combined your entire document at Spitfire London, a part of the story started earlier after we tracked drums for 4 of the songs at Brighton Electrical, a studio each of us know properly. After the session, I introduced all the things again to London and commenced the method of blending the album, sending David mixes, making recollects, and regularly honing in on the precise character he was after.
Take heed to the total album right here: https://davidbennettpiano.bandcamp.com/album/under-an-empty-sky
Obtain the multitracks for Pastor’s Son right here: https://producelikeapro.lpages.co/david-bennet-pastors-son-form/
A Clear Sonic Imaginative and prescient
What made the undertaking work so easily was that David had a really clear imaginative and prescient for the sound of the document. He was not in search of large trendy drums or enormous reverbs. As an alternative, he needed one thing impressed by traditional Seventies singer songwriter and delicate rock data. Assume heat, managed drums that help the track slightly than dominate it.
A contemporary reference level we mentioned was Father John Misty, whose productions typically draw from that very same classic palette. The objective was to create a drum sound that felt natural, intimate, and musical with out changing into overly dry or overly polished.
That instantly formed how we approached the session.
Recording the Drums at Brighton Electrical
We tracked 4 songs in a single day, which meant the setup needed to be dependable and musical slightly than experimental. Whereas there are countless inventive microphone strategies out there, this was not the second to reinvent the wheel. The precedence was capturing nice performances with a sound that will combine simply later.
To maintain the equipment managed, we used baffles across the drums, tightening the quick atmosphere so the shut microphones remained centered whereas nonetheless permitting the room mics to offer a way of area.
The objective was easy. The shut mics ought to sound shut. The room ought to sound pure. And the general equipment ought to really feel cohesive slightly than outsized.
Cymbal Management
One of many first changes we made was to the experience cymbal. It sounded lovely, and we had positioned a Royer 121 on it as a result of it was more likely to be a featured a part of the association. Nevertheless, when accented it had a barely aggressive excessive midrange.
Somewhat than altering cymbals or asking the drummer to play in another way, we used a easy resolution, a small piece of tape beneath the cymbal to barely dampen the maintain. It softened the decay and prevented the cymbal from changing into overly dominant as soon as compression was utilized later within the combine.
Small changes like this could make an enormous distinction.
Snare, Hello Hats and Overheads
The snare was miked with SM57s prime and backside, which stays one of the vital dependable combos in recording historical past. The drum had a nice observe to it, nonetheless we utilized a small quantity of MoonGel to manage extra ring whereas maintaining the character intact.
The hello hat setup mixed a small diaphragm condenser with a 57, a method impressed by my outdated good friend, the dearly departed Dave Jerden. Dave confirmed me this years in the past, and it’s a type of deceptively easy concepts that works extremely properly in apply. The small diaphragm mic captures the glint and air of the hat, whereas the 57 offers the midrange physique that usually helps the instrument sit extra naturally within the combine. Very often I discover myself favouring the 57 monitor greater than the condenser. Personally, I’ve by no means been an enormous fan of the extremely skinny, overly shiny hello hat sound that grew to become well-liked within the Eighties. I a lot choose listening to the instrument as a part of the drum equipment slightly than a pointy splash of excessive frequencies.
Overheads had been a pair of Neumann U87s, rigorously measured from the centre of the snare to maintain the stereo picture balanced and part coherent. We mentioned making an attempt a extra experimental method, nonetheless with 4 songs to trace in a single day it made extra sense to depend on a technique that constantly delivers musical outcomes.
Kick Drum Choices
To provide us flexibility later within the combine, we recorded three totally different kick drum microphones.
Contained in the kick was a D112, positioned barely off axis from the beater head. Years in the past I found that pointing a kick mic straight into the blast of air from the beater may cause the low finish to vanish. Angling the microphone barely avoids that downside and produces a extra constant sound.
Exterior the kick we positioned two traditional microphones.
An AKG D12 offered the acquainted Seventies knock and character, whereas a FET 47 gave us a deeper low finish choice that would act virtually like a subkick if wanted.
Recording a number of views like this offers you decisions later. Somewhat than committing too early, you’ll be able to resolve in the course of the combine which mixture most accurately fits the monitor.
Mono and Room Mics
One among my favorite elements of the setup was a Coles ribbon microphone positioned low in entrance of the equipment. Positioned rigorously, it captured the kick and snare evenly slightly than merely changing into one other kick drum mic.
This method, which I first realized in Nashville, creates a fantastically balanced image of the drum equipment and might add weight and cohesion to the general sound.
A pair of AKG 414s acted as room microphones, offering a refined sense of area. As a result of David needed the document to really feel comparatively dry, these had been used sparingly within the combine.
Mixing the Drums
When it got here time to combine the album, the kick drum microphones performed very particular roles.
The D112 grew to become the fashionable assault component, with EQ boosting the low finish round 60 Hz, slicing boxiness round 350 Hz, and including definition round 2.5 kHz.
The D12 carried the traditional 70s tone, so it required little or no processing.
The FET 47 grew to become a sub component, filtered and formed to offer further low finish weight.
Blended collectively, the outcome was a kick drum that felt each classic and highly effective with out sounding overly trendy.
The snare required little or no processing. A small quantity of EQ added low finish and presence, whereas a brief 0.75 second room reverb helped it sit naturally within the monitor. I’ve all the time preferred that size as a result of it jogs my memory of the pure atmosphere in my outdated studio, Swing Home.
Room microphones had been flippantly compressed and excessive handed to keep away from low finish conflicts with the kick. I additionally added a small quantity of the identical brief room reverb to assist all the things glue collectively.
The important thing thought was restraint. Much less processing, extra musical stability.
Discovering the Proper Path
The primary combine I despatched David leaned barely too far into pop territory. The drums had been a bit brighter, the atmosphere barely larger, and all the things felt extra ahead.
His suggestions was clear. It sounded nice, nonetheless it was too pop.
That’s an extremely useful second within the mixing course of as a result of it tells you precisely the place the road is. The answer was to not add extra processing, it was to take away it. Much less compression, much less room, and a barely extra relaxed total really feel.
As soon as we made these changes, the document instantly began to take a seat on the earth David had imagined.
Mixing the Remainder of the File
Past the drums, a lot of the combo was about preserving the character of the recordings David had already created.
The double bass sounded implausible from the beginning. David had provided each the person parts and his personal printed mix, and his model really labored greatest. My job was merely to assist it sit alongside the piano and kick drum, controlling the low finish utilizing instruments like Soothe to maintain all the things even.
The piano was naturally darkish and intimate, so I added a mild presence enhance round 2 to three kHz and left its pure room atmosphere intact.
The acoustic guitars had been already compressed throughout recording, nonetheless I used refined limiting to manage occasional peaks and emphasised the midrange round 1 kHz slightly than pushing the highs too aggressively.
Vocals diverse from track to track. Every one wanted a barely totally different method, nonetheless the place to begin was all the time de-essing adopted by compression and mild EQ.
Ambiance and Musical Texture
One of the pleasurable elements of David’s manufacturing fashion is the quantity of refined environment inside the preparations. Small ambient parts, delays, Leslie results, and background textures create a mattress of sound that provides depth with out changing into apparent.
In a contemporary digital recording world the place all the things can simply turn out to be overly clear and medical, these layers add heat and humanity.
Last Combine and Mastering
As soon as the combo was full, it was despatched to Adam Ayan for mastering. The combination already included light bus compression and limiting, one thing mastering engineers are completely snug with so long as the combo will not be clipped.
The vital factor is that the mastering engineer hears the combo the way in which the artist and producer accredited it.
A Really Collaborative File
Engaged on Underneath an Empty Sky was a implausible expertise. David introduced nice songs, considerate preparations, and a transparent imaginative and prescient for the sonic world he needed to create.
My position as mixer was to form these parts right into a cohesive document whereas preserving the intimacy and musicality on the coronary heart of the undertaking.
The drums could have been recorded in a single day at Brighton Electrical, nonetheless they grew to become one of many key foundations for your entire album as soon as all the things got here collectively within the combine.
It’s all the time thrilling to collaborate with somebody who approaches music with each curiosity and craftsmanship, and David Bennett definitely embodies each.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
Take heed to the total album right here: https://davidbennettpiano.bandcamp.com/album/under-an-empty-sky
Obtain the multitracks for Pastor’s Son right here: https://producelikeapro.lpages.co/david-bennet-pastors-son-form/
