There are some conversations that really feel much less like an interview and extra like being invited into the management room with two outdated associates who’ve made a lifetime of data collectively. That’s precisely what occurs when producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician Bob Marlette sits down with the nice John 5 for this free guitar recording course.
John 5 is without doubt one of the most distinctive and technically sensible guitarists of the trendy period, recognized for his work with Mötley Crüe, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, David Lee Roth, and his personal solo work with John 5 and The Creatures. His enjoying combines precision, velocity, musicality, humour, and a deep love of guitar historical past.
Bob Marlette’s credit span a long time of rock, steel, pop, and heavy music. As a producer, mixer, engineer, songwriter, and musician, he has labored with artists together with Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie, Rob Halford, Alice Cooper, Shinedown, Seether, Saliva, Lynyrd Skynyrd, David Lee Roth, and plenty of extra. He’s a type of uncommon producers who can discuss concerning the technical aspect of constructing data in immense element, whereas all the time bringing it again to the tune, the participant, and the emotional affect.
Collectively, John and Bob have a friendship and artistic relationship that goes again roughly 30 years. On this dialog, they discuss concerning the data they made, the teachings they realized, the evolution of dwelling studios, the significance of readability in heavy guitar tones, and why the most effective guitar sound nonetheless begins with the individual holding the instrument.
That is greater than a nostalgic catch-up. It’s a free guitar recording course with John 5 and Bob Marlette, filled with sensible classes for guitarists, producers, engineers, and anybody attempting to make heavier, clearer, wider, extra thrilling guitar recordings.
“Did We Simply Grow to be Finest Mates?”
Bob and John first met via Rudy Sarzo, the legendary bassist recognized for his work with Quiet Riot and Whitesnake. Nearly instantly, they related.
John jokes that it was just like the well-known scene in Step Brothers: “Did we simply turn into greatest associates?”
The reply, clearly, was sure.
They shared the identical sense of humour, the identical love of music, and the identical willingness to dive absolutely into the inventive course of. John remembers Bob taking him underneath his wing, serving to him perceive not simply what to play, however the right way to work within the studio, the right way to hear, the right way to carry out stay, and the right way to channel all of that youthful power into one thing recordable.
John says that he nonetheless makes use of these classes on daily basis.
That is without doubt one of the recurring themes of this dialogue. Nice manufacturing isn’t just gear. It’s mentorship. It’s belief. It’s expertise. It’s the willingness to hear, take up, and develop.
Bob says John was an open e-book, desperate to be taught, and that made the connection enjoyable for him as a producer. Some artists are available satisfied they already know the whole lot. John got here in like a sponge.
That openness grew to become the inspiration for many years of labor collectively.
You may get Mixing Fashionable Rock with Bob Marlette now for under $27 right here:
https://promixacademy.com/course/mixing-modern-rock-with-bob-marlette/
Bob Marlette’s Studio: A Residence Base Earlier than Residence Studios Had been Regular
Probably the most fascinating components of the dialog is John’s reflection on Bob’s dwelling studio. In the present day, the thought of a severe dwelling studio is totally regular. In reality, many trendy data are inbuilt personal writing rooms, challenge studios, and hybrid dwelling setups.
Nevertheless, Bob had been doing it because the mid-Eighties.
John factors out how uncommon that was. Again then, everybody went to industrial studios. Huge rooms, huge consoles, huge budgets, huge schedules. Bob selected to construct his personal atmosphere as an alternative.
Bob laughs and says a few of it was just because he didn’t wish to drive throughout city. Nevertheless, the deeper cause was management.
Having his personal studio allowed him to regulate the funds, the room, the workflow, the monitoring, and the inventive ambiance. He knew what the audio system appeared like. He knew the place the candy spot was. He knew how a lot low finish was proper in that room. He knew how vivid issues wanted to be.
That may be a big benefit.
As Bob factors out, whenever you stroll into an unfamiliar studio, one of many largest questions is, “What am I listening to?” Each room is totally different. Each set of audio system is totally different. Even the listening place adjustments your notion of the combination.
In his personal studio, Bob is aware of the atmosphere. That lets him transfer quicker, make choices with confidence, and create a extra relaxed ambiance for the artists.
John agrees. A house studio can really feel extra comfy, extra laid again, and extra conducive to actual creativity. He jokes about Bob’s sofa being so comfy that Tony Iommi as soon as fell asleep on it.
That picture says lots. This can be a severe working studio, nonetheless it is usually a spot the place musicians can loosen up, chortle, hang around, and make music.
The Producer as Trainer, Therapist, and Security Internet
Bob describes manufacturing as rather more than technical work.
Sure, a producer wants musicality. They should perceive songwriting, engineering, mixing, enjoying, association, and sound. Nevertheless, Bob says that’s solely the talent set.
The actual job is understanding the artist.
A producer has to know the right way to pull the most effective efficiency out of somebody. Generally which means instructing. Generally which means being a therapist. Generally which means being a security internet.
That concept is very highly effective within the context of his relationship with John 5. Bob helped John perceive what labored within the studio, what didn’t, the right way to refine concepts, and the right way to focus his immense power into nice data.
Ultimately, Bob says, John simply ran with it.
There’s a beautiful second the place Bob describes watching John develop creatively, nearly like watching his “little boy” develop up. It’s humorous, affectionate, and really telling. Their relationship was not simply transactional. It was musical, private, and constructed on belief.
The Information They Made Collectively
The dialog turns into a exceptional stroll via rock historical past.
John and Bob bear in mind engaged on classes and data involving John Wetton, Robin Zander, Rick Springfield, Wilson Phillips, Purple Sq. Black, Rob Halford, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rob Zombie, Loser, Lita Ford, Union, Tony Iommi, and plenty of extra.
Bob jokes that he has made so many data that interviewers will generally ask him a couple of snare sound from a file and he has to cease and assume, “Did I do this file?”
For Bob, one of many pivotal data in his relationship with John was Purple Sq. Black. It was a departure, darker, extra industrial, extra visible, extra aggressive, and creatively liberating. John remembers Bob as nearly a fifth member of the band, concerned not solely within the sound, but additionally within the visuals and the general idea.
That type of collaboration is uncommon. It isn’t simply producing a band. It’s serving to form a world across the music.
In addition they discuss concerning the Rob Halford file, and the well-known cut up between Bob’s authentic combine and Trent Reznor’s later model. Bob is respectful of Trent, nonetheless he makes it clear that he and John had a really robust imaginative and prescient for what that file was imagined to be. They wished it to be heavy, brutal, ingenious, and new for Rob Halford.
Bob remembers speaking with Rob about the truth that he had already been Judas Priest, already been the Metallic God, already executed Battle, and already proved himself in that world. So why not discover? Why not push into new territory?
Rob was open to it, and that openness allowed them to create one thing that individuals nonetheless argue about, have a good time, and rediscover.
That’s normally the signal of one thing attention-grabbing.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Gifted Fingers,” and Musical Shock
Bob additionally thanks John for introducing him to Lynyrd Skynyrd, which led to Bob producing a few Skynyrd data.
One of many funniest moments comes when Bob talks about his spouse enjoying “Gifted Fingers” on her playlist, loving the tune with out initially realising that Bob had labored on it and that John was enjoying guitar on it.
It’s a small second, nonetheless it says one thing beautiful about music. Generally a tune merely connects with individuals, indifferent from credit, historical past, style, or expectation.
Bob says he was stunned how properly he clicked with the Skynyrd camp, nonetheless the classes turned out to be magical. Nice individuals, nice songs, nice chemistry.
Writing with Rob Zombie within the Room
The Rob Zombie story is a superb lesson in being keen to desert the plan.
Bob and John had ready 10 to fifteen concepts earlier than working with Rob. They had been enthusiastic about them. They had been having enjoyable. Then Rob arrived, listened, and primarily pointed them in a completely totally different route.
Not a type of ready concepts was used.
As an alternative, they wrote the file within the room, on the spot.
John says he’s glad they did, as a result of it grew to become a killer file. Bob agrees. It labored as a result of the three of them had been collectively, reacting in actual time, listening to what Rob wished, and permitting the route to disclose itself.
That may be a essential manufacturing lesson. Preparation is effective, nonetheless the artist’s imaginative and prescient issues extra. If the power within the room tells you to go some place else, go there.
The Evolution of Recording Know-how
As a result of Bob has had such an extended profession, he has lived via monumental technological change.
He began on four-track machines. Then got here eight-track, then sixteen-track, then ADATs, then trendy DAWs with seemingly limitless observe counts.
John remembers when Bob acquired ADATs and everybody thought it was unbelievable know-how. Purple Sq. Black was the primary file Bob made fully on ADATs, utilizing a number of machines that might take ages to sync.
In the present day, Bob routinely works on classes with 150 tracks or extra.
That change has remodeled how data are made. Within the outdated days, you may need to place hi-hat, tambourine, and a background vocal on the identical observe in several sections of a tune. Now, each half can have its personal lane, its personal processing, its personal enhancing, and its personal place within the association.
Nevertheless, Bob doesn’t current know-how as a alternative for musical judgement. Know-how provides you choices. It provides you management. It enables you to work in a house atmosphere in ways in which would as soon as have been inconceivable.
The objective continues to be the identical: serve the tune.
Click on Tracks, Purple Lights, and Enjoying with the World’s Finest Percussionist
The press observe tales are a number of the funniest and most academic components of the dialogue.
John remembers a significant drummer taking off his headphones, shaking them, placing them again on, then taking them off once more, earlier than telling Bob there was a clicking noise in his headphones that was throwing him off.
That was the press.
Bob says that, at the moment, many gamers had merely by no means labored with clicks. In the present day, clicks are a part of on a regular basis recording, particularly as a result of enhancing and association work typically depend on a secure tempo grid. Nevertheless, for a lot of old-school gamers, it was a overseas idea.
Bob tells one other nice story about working with Black Stone Cherry. The band had been nervous as a result of they’d heard Bob favored utilizing clicks. As an alternative of forcing a harsh metronome into the drummer’s headphones, Bob created a musical information with shaker and aspect stick. Then he defined it as enjoying with the world’s greatest percussionist, somebody so good he would by no means drift.
That’s sensible manufacturing psychology.
He didn’t make the press really feel like a machine. He made it really feel like a musician.
John additionally remembers utilizing a visible click on throughout Purple Sq. Black stay exhibits, earlier than in-ears had been frequent. As an alternative of listening to an audio click on, he had a field with a crimson mild pulsing to the tempo.
That’s dedication. It additionally exhibits how far forward of the curve they had been, operating programmed lights and tapes at a time when that was not frequent in rock efficiency.
Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi, and the Invention of Heavy
The dialog takes an attractive flip when Bob and John focus on Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath.
Bob labored with Tony Iommi on his solo materials and was later requested to work on the Black Sabbath reunion challenge. He remembers being within the management room with Dave Grohl whereas Tony was out within the stay room enjoying via his Laney amps. Dave seemed over and mentioned, “Dude, we’re working with Tony Iommi.”
It’s a fantastic reminder that even legends have their very own legends.
John talks about Tony as somebody who reinvented the wheel. He got here up with riffs and an entire type of music that modified the whole lot.
Bob additionally shares a improbable story about gathering the members of Black Sabbath in a room at Henson. The room was full of assistants, everybody attempting to handle the second. Bob lastly stopped the whole lot and mentioned that anybody who was not in Black Sabbath wanted to go away.
As soon as it was simply the band, the power modified. After a number of awkward moments, Ozzy leaned over to Tony and mentioned, “Do not forget that time you set Invoice on hearth?” What adopted was an hour of outrageous, hilarious tales.
Past the humour, Bob additionally talks about Tony’s enjoying intimately. As a result of Tony misplaced the guidelines of two fingers, fifths grew to become an enormous a part of his guitar type. Nevertheless, Bob factors out that Tony typically different these fifths, giving the riffs width and dimension, particularly as a result of there was no second guitarist.
That’s the actual genius. Limitation grew to become invention. Invention grew to become type. Fashion grew to become a style.
Tone Is within the Fingers
After the tales, Bob brings the dialog again to the center of the free guitar recording course: tone.
Probably the most essential concepts he shares is that the guitar participant creates the tone as a lot because the tools does.
Bob tells a narrative about working with Carlos Santana and Neal Schon. Neal arrived with an enormous rig, stacks, pedals, gear, and a crew. Carlos had a a lot easier setup. At one level, Carlos picked up Neal’s guitar and performed via Neal’s complete rig.
It nonetheless appeared like Carlos Santana.
That’s the lesson.
The guitar issues. The amp issues. The pedals matter. The mic issues. Nevertheless, the participant’s contact, selecting, phrasing, timing, vibrato, and character are what actually outline the sound.
Bob says that when he’s constructing tones for John, he’s attempting to facilitate John’s factor. He desires it heavy, nonetheless he additionally desires sufficient readability that everybody can hear what John is enjoying.
John instantly agrees and says that readability is without doubt one of the most essential classes Bob taught him. Even stay with Mötley Crüe, John desires his guitar to be clear. He says that when individuals inform him his sound is “too clear,” he takes it as a praise.
That may be a big level.
Heavy doesn’t imply blurry. Heavy doesn’t imply unusable quantities of acquire. Heavy doesn’t imply dropping the notes.
Among the largest guitar sounds ever recorded are surprisingly clear.
Why AC/DC and Van Halen Nonetheless Sound Large
John and Bob use AC/DC as the proper instance.
These guitar tones should not over-saturated. They’re clear, loud, clear, punchy, and utterly highly effective. You may hear the notes. You may hear the choose. You may hear the groove.
Bob says that when an AC/DC tune performs in a stadium, it nonetheless cuts via as a result of it’s clear and highly effective. That’s the objective.
In addition they speak about early Van Halen tones. Eddie Van Halen didn’t want a distortion pedal. The sound got here from the amp, the voltage, the contact, the guitar, the texture, and the participant. It was natural and amp-driven, not buried in acquire.
The lesson for guitarists is straightforward, nonetheless extremely essential: an excessive amount of acquire could make your guitar sound smaller.
It might really feel thrilling when you’re standing proper subsequent to the amp, nonetheless in a full band, in a combination, or in a big venue, extreme acquire can turn into mush. The notes disappear. The assault disappears. The riff disappears.
If the listener can not distinguish the notes, Bob asks, what’s the level?
Constructing Heavy Guitar Tone in Zones
Bob then walks John via his strategy to constructing heavy guitar tones utilizing totally different amps as tonal elements.
For the session, he makes use of 4 amps:
A Bogner for chunk and midrange character.
A Diezel for thickness and physique.
A Mesa Twin Rectifier for heavier acquire and aggression.
An old-school Marshall that’s nearly clear, including readability and articulation.
The thought is that no single amp has to do the whole lot. Every one handles a special a part of the tone. Bob can mix them shortly, shifting the sound in seconds with out interrupting the inventive course of.
This is without doubt one of the core classes of the free guitar recording course.
Don’t simply consider guitar tone as one sound. Consider it as a mix of elements. One factor can present chunk. One other can present physique. One other can present aggression. One other can present readability.
Collectively, they create an enormous sound that also has definition.
The SM57 Nonetheless Works
Bob is refreshingly direct about guitar microphones.
After greater than 50 years of constructing data and attempting every kind of mics, the Shure SM57 stays his go-to on guitar cupboards.
He additionally makes use of ribbon mics, together with Royers, and generally different selections like a 609, nonetheless the 57 continues to be the inspiration. It really works. It captures the midrange, assault, and aggression of a guitar cupboard in a manner that sits superbly in a combination.
That’s one other nice lesson. You don’t all the time want unique gear to make an important guitar file. You want the precise device, positioned properly, in part, in a room that isn’t preventing you.
Part, Isolation, and Avoiding Boxy Reflections
Bob’s studio setup is constructed in order that amp heads could be managed from the principle room whereas the cupboards are remoted in a separate sealed space. Every cupboard is miked, phase-aligned, and handled in order that the microphone captures the speaker quite than the room bouncing again into it.
That is particularly essential for anybody recording guitars at dwelling.
If a reflective floor is just too near the speaker, the sound comes out of the cupboard, hits the floor, and bounces again into the mic. That may create a boxy, phasey, “coney” sound that’s arduous to repair later.
Bob’s answer is heavy absorption across the cupboards, so the microphone hears the direct power from the speaker.
That may sound like a small technical element, nonetheless it may be the distinction between a guitar tone that sounds skilled and one which sounds prefer it was recorded in a field.
Working Quick When Creativity Occurs
Bob hates losing time when the inventive power is flowing.
If John performs one thing nice, Bob desires to seize it instantly. He doesn’t wish to cease the session for half an hour to rebuild the tone. That’s the reason his setup is designed round flexibility.
By mixing amps, utilizing DI, having plugin choices prepared, and understanding his room, Bob can shortly recolour the sound to suit the half.
That’s the distinction between engineering as a technical train and engineering as a part of the inventive course of.
The know-how ought to assist the thought. It ought to by no means get in the best way of the efficiency.
Amp Modelling, Plugins, and Not Being a Purist
Probably the most attention-grabbing components of the dialog is Bob’s honesty about amp modelling.
He says his view on amp modelling plugins has modified dramatically as a result of they’ve turn into so good. In reality, when Warren known as him about doing this session, Bob realised he needed to flip his amps on as a result of he had been utilizing plugins a lot.
John is stunned by that, nonetheless Bob explains that trendy amp plugins give him glorious tones, flexibility, and management. He can run DI via an Avalon, then discover totally different plugin sounds shortly.
Bob just isn’t a purist. He has by no means been a purist. His angle is straightforward: if it sounds good, it’s good.
On the similar time, he nonetheless loves actual amps. There’s something visceral a couple of speaker transferring air. There may be an power that occurs whenever you really feel the cupboard within the room.
Nevertheless, Bob desires the liberty to decide on. Actual amp, plugin, modeller, pedal, DI, {hardware}, within the field, out of the field, all of it is dependent upon the tune and the second.
That may be a very trendy, very helpful mindset.
Making Guitars Vast
Bob has all the time liked broad guitar sounds.
He explains that one of many causes traditional data typically sounded so broad was that they’d two totally different guitar gamers. Completely different palms, totally different guitars, totally different amps, totally different tones. The left and proper sides naturally had distinction.
In trendy productions, the place one guitarist could also be enjoying all of the components, Bob creates that distinction intentionally.
One aspect could be a Telecaster. The opposite could be a Les Paul. One aspect could be actual amps. The opposite could be a plugin, such because the Neural DSP Gojira. One aspect may need extra midrange chunk. The opposite may need extra physique.
The bottom line is that the left and proper sides shouldn’t be an identical. Distinction creates width.
Bob then exhibits how he shapes the tones with EQ. He typically filters out low lows round 80Hz or increased, listening rigorously to take away mud with out scaling down the guitar. He likes helpful low-end punch round 180Hz, physique round 240Hz, chunk round 2kHz to 2.5kHz, and presence round 5kHz to 6kHz.
He not often makes use of compression on heavy guitars within the combine as a result of distorted guitars are already compressed by the amp and saturation. As an alternative, he makes use of EQ and generally a limiter like an L2 to regulate peaks and produce the tone ahead.
That is extremely sensible info for anybody recording guitars at dwelling. Width isn’t just panning. Width comes from efficiency, tone, distinction, and cautious EQ.
The Yellow Overdrive Pedal
John and Bob additionally speak about John’s well-known yellow overdrive pedal.
Bob remembers it from the earliest classes with John. John nonetheless makes use of it right now.
That may be a beautiful reminder that nice gear doesn’t must be sophisticated. John 5 has entry to something, nonetheless one small pedal has remained a part of his sound as a result of it really works. It provides him that additional push, that managed chaos, with out overwhelming the tone.
The lesson is straightforward: whenever you discover one thing that responds to your enjoying, preserve it.
The Actual Lesson: Discover Your Personal Sound
Close to the top of the course, Bob brings the whole lot again to individuality.
Experiment. Flip knobs. Push buttons. Attempt unusual settings. Sweep the EQ. Pay attention. Discover the candy spot. Pull it again. Be taught what works on your palms, your guitar, your tune, and your style.
Bob began in a time when there have been no engineering faculties instructing these items. He realized by being within the studio, asking what buttons did, making errors, and listening.
That spirit continues to be the easiest way to be taught.
The purpose of this free guitar recording course with John 5 and Bob Marlette is to not copy one setting or one amp chain. It’s to know the pondering behind the sound.
Heavy guitar tone is about readability.
It’s concerning the participant.
It’s concerning the tune.
It’s about understanding how a lot acquire is sufficient.
It’s about constructing tones in layers.
It’s about getting width via distinction.
It’s about utilizing actual amps, plugins, pedals, mics, and EQ as instruments, not guidelines.
Most of all, it’s about discovering your individual factor.
Watch the Free Guitar Recording Course with John 5 and Bob Marlette
This free guitar recording course is a uncommon probability to sit down in with John 5 and Bob Marlette as they focus on tone, manufacturing, recording, efficiency, and a long time of shared musical historical past.
You’ll hear how Bob builds large guitar tones, how John thinks about readability and stay efficiency, why an excessive amount of acquire can spoil a heavy sound, the right way to use totally different amps and plugins collectively, and why the participant’s palms will all the time matter most.
For guitarists, producers, engineers, and residential studio house owners, that is an extremely worthwhile lesson in making heavy guitars sound highly effective, broad, clear, and musical.
Go Deeper with Bob Marlette
In the event you loved listening to how Bob Marlette thinks about guitar tone, manufacturing, readability, width, and affect, you may go even deeper together with his Mixing Fashionable Rock course at Professional Combine Academy.
In Mixing Fashionable Rock with Bob Marlette, Bob breaks down how he approaches a full trendy rock combine, balancing drums, bass, guitars, vocals, power, width, and energy with the identical sensible, musical pondering you hear on this dialogue.
You may get Mixing Fashionable Rock with Bob Marlette now for under $27 right here:
https://promixacademy.com/course/mixing-modern-rock-with-bob-marlette/
Ultimate Ideas
What makes this dialog so particular is the stability of knowledge and friendship.
Sure, there’s a big quantity of technical info right here. Amps, mics, part, EQ, plugins, DI, modelling, compression, panning, width, and acquire are all coated in actual element.
Nevertheless, beneath all of it is one thing extra essential: a 30-year inventive relationship between two individuals who genuinely love making music.
John 5 nonetheless carries the teachings Bob taught him. Bob nonetheless speaks about John with pleasure, affection, and admiration. Collectively, they remind us that nice data are made via belief, listening, humour, experimentation, and a lifelong love of sound.
That’s the actual course.
And, in fact, have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
