Recording

The Melvins

Sylvia Massy

Duration:2h36 Subtitles: English, Italian, Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese

Description

Join us at The Village studios for a masterclass in creative recording techniques with engineer Sylvia Massy! Hosted at Studio A with rock band The Melvins, this in-depth series takes you on the journey from equipment choice and microphone placement to tracking, production, and the rough mix. Using a Neve 8048 console and outboard compression, Massy explains her signal flow and session setup, discusses the source material, and crafts her sound for drums, bass, guitar, strings, and vocals. She records live performances of the band, adds overdubs, and implements a few unconventional ideas of her own to culminate in an exciting rough mix of the song!

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20 min

Part 1

Console features, signal flow, drum microphone setup, bass, guitar, phase, summing, EQ, compression
24 min

Part 2

Kit description, microphone angles, M/S, inserts, guitar & bass rigs, contraptions, scratch vocal setup
19 min

Part 3

Drum sounds – midrange EQ, clarifying attack, panning, phase analysis, compression, distortion, gain
16 min

Part 4

Bass & guitar sounds – pedals, pick-ups, compression, phase, signal splitting & combination, drill track
17 min

Part 5

Live takes – kick EQ, microphone replacement & positioning, console buss issue, playback, discussion
24 min

Part 6

Guitar overdubs – rhythm part doubling, octaves, feedback, passing signal through pickles & lightbulb
15 min

Part 7

Vocals – multiple microphones, lead doubling, harmonies, ad libs, production ideas
18 min

Part 8

String part discussion, tracking, doubling, harmonies, buss compression, rough mix, next steps
Trailer

Comments

(11)

Tanner Crace November 8, 2024 at 4:08 AM

Only two pickles were harmed in the making of this song! Love it
Joanne January 21, 2024 at 6:10 AM

Wow! The most comprehensive lesson I have seen on signal flow and console features! She really takes the time to explain every detail! Great presentation!
Alex Magor January 20, 2024 at 7:35 PM

Its a little scary looking at that c12a so close to his sticks.
Luis December 25, 2023 at 1:32 AM

This was incredible!!
Orlando Regidor February 15, 2022 at 10:09 PM

Beautiful sylvia masterclass. I loved it. She has a lot of knowledge and experience, and has many very creative ideas. I loved the work she does with the snare microphone, hose and phone. Great Sylvia!!
Hellot Mathieu July 7, 2021 at 11:43 PM

This is so great ! Thanks so much. So good ideas and nice person
Jason Kohls February 15, 2021 at 1:02 AM

The drums sound bad to me, like why is there a crunchy kick in the far right of the stereo image? Sounds like a gate opening.
Chris Frankhauser July 30, 2020 at 8:32 PM

OK- so I'm really curious how the guitars sound stereo. Every time I've recorded multiple cabs on a single take, even with a nearly identical mic setup, it doesn't matter how they're panned, it's still mono. In the initial track setup, I perceive some distinct stereo separation. and it sounds natural, not like the usual tricks like a stereo widener or anything like that. How is this being accomplished? Very Mild pitch shift or something? All in all super cool. Tracking one of my favorite bands on the pro level isn't much different than tracking most of the bands I work with, which is nice to know, and it's cool to see Sylvia work
Danny Ke August 26, 2020 at 1:19 AM

Your splitter may be causing phase issues. While it will produce sound from both amps in the room, the sound may be suffering from comb filtering. Alternatively, the mics may not be isolated enough on either cab.

Aaron Kessler November 26, 2020 at 5:30 AM

Have you tried using different sounding mic setups? I think trying to use an identical mic setup is likely the problem here, width always seems to come from contrast for me. If you want even more separation double track different guitars playing through different amps ( and maybe even use different octaves). Let me know if this helps!
Denise Mangiardi October 11, 2018 at 1:23 AM

ALAS, A WOMAN I CAN LOOK UP TO. THANK YOU SO MUCH SYLVIA. YOUR AWESOME AND I LOVE ALL OF YOUR CLEAR FOCUSED DETAILS AND FORESIGHT. DENISE

About Sylvia Massy

Sylvia Massy is an American entrepreneur, music producer, mixer and engineer, writer and artist based in the United States. Massy is perhaps best recognized for her work on 1993’s Undertow, the full-length double platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles rock band Tool and her works with System of a Down, Johnny Cash and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. While working at Larrabee Sound in West Hollywood, Sylvia connected with producer Rick Rubin and would work with him on several projects including Tom...

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20 min

Part 1

Console features, signal flow, drum microphone setup, bass, guitar, phase, summing, EQ, compression
24 min

Part 2

Kit description, microphone angles, M/S, inserts, guitar & bass rigs, contraptions, scratch vocal setup
19 min

Part 3

Drum sounds – midrange EQ, clarifying attack, panning, phase analysis, compression, distortion, gain
16 min

Part 4

Bass & guitar sounds – pedals, pick-ups, compression, phase, signal splitting & combination, drill track
17 min

Part 5

Live takes – kick EQ, microphone replacement & positioning, console buss issue, playback, discussion
24 min

Part 6

Guitar overdubs – rhythm part doubling, octaves, feedback, passing signal through pickles & lightbulb
15 min

Part 7

Vocals – multiple microphones, lead doubling, harmonies, ad libs, production ideas
18 min

Part 8

String part discussion, tracking, doubling, harmonies, buss compression, rough mix, next steps
Trailer