RECORDING August 2022 - 64

Readers'
TRACKS
BY MARTY PETERS
Readers' Tracks is where respected engineer
and producer Marty Peters listens to your
recordings and critiques them, pointing out
where and how you can make them better.
Listen to the songs, read the reviews and
submit your own materials online.
" Thinking About You " / Walter Gabbard / Rubendale
Equipment: Logic Pro X, MacBook Pro, Apogee Duet 2, Shure
SM57, AKG C414 XLII, Neumann U87 Ai, Genelec 8030C
monitors, Audio-Technica ATH-M70x headphones (mixing) and
AKG K240 (recording), Logic Pro X plugins, Waves SSL Channel
Strips and CLA-2A (vocals), and Logic Pro virtual drummers
and virtual instruments (virtual horns were augmented with real
saxophone).
Music: " Thinking About You " is a modern Country track composed
by Walter Gabbard and produced by Walter and Ruben
Fernandez. Performance credits were not supplied.
Recording: Walter and Ruben submitted a track with many
moving parts. The description of the song is the first thing that
caught our attention. For several years now, I have been involved
quite heavily in what we consider modern country music,
both as a live sound and as a recording engineer.
While genres certainly have large tents, we can honestly say
that " Thinking About You " bears faint resemblance to the formula-based
efforts heard in today's commercial Country genre.
The " Bro-Country " movement dominates today's Country airwaves
with a similarity that often renders individual artists'
personalities meaningless. Composed by a core of Nashville
writers, often up to four to finish a three-minute tune, there is
a cut and paste sound that is incredibly obvious if one spends
any time with it.
So how does this affect our duo's effort here, you ask? In a
technical sense, the sound sources, the arrangement, and
particularly the mix and mastering are quite different from the
description of the material. Is that a bad thing? Well, that depends
on the end product and its intentions. In other words, like any other
product, if the description fails to match the actual item, confusion
may arise. With that said, Walter and Ruben's submission is
64 RECORDING August 2022
distinctly more old-school country with some rock (minor key)
overtones. This includes honkytonk-style piano, Willie-inspired
vocals, the horns (Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash, anyone?),
plus the tremolo " Spaghetti Western " lead guitar.
With that at our baseline, let's dive in and see what's what.
The intro is a stripped-down affair, piano/bass and vocal, setting
up the strong visual presented in the lyrics. The track expands
considerably at the half-minute mark when the drums,
electric guitar and backing vocals join in.
Tone-wise, things are a bit uneven through our monitors. The
lead vocal is very well recorded and presented in the mix. The
Neumann U 87 Ai microphone employed here did not become
an industry standard by happenstance, and the guys did a
great job capturing the sandpaper quality of the vocals.
As for the additional sound sources, unfortunately, they didn't
fair quite well. While the lead vocal is presented with outstanding
clarity and presence, the rhythm section was considerably
darker, almost muffled in comparison, and the drum fills (roto
toms?) seemed out of place. Simultaneously, the electric rhythm
guitar was incredibly bright, creating a mishmash of frequencies
in the mix. The track switches to a major 7 chord dominated
B section at the 1:05 mark, and with it, the horns arrive,
a mixed horn section panned left, and a baritone sax panned
to the right. In his production notes, Walter tells us that the
horns were software-based, augmented by actual instruments,
although we don't have any info as to which was which, and
at this point in the track, things are becoming a tad bit crowded
in the mix for our taste.
We love the tremolo electric guitar solo. It's one of the highlights
of the recording. Unfortunately, it is immediately followed
by an abrupt breakdown that feels somewhat disjointed rhythmically.
This section continues until the 3:51 mark, where a further
breakdown occurs. Walter and Ruben then end the song
by essentially repeating the intro form.
Suggestions: Regarding advice, we'd suggest starting with
the basics on the technical side. Getting the rhythm section,
guitars and vocals blended tonally before adding in any other
sound sources is critical. At this point, we suggest that the guys
focus on the transition sections of their arrangement, smoothing
things out between the verse, chorus and breakdowns. Once
that is accomplished, begin adding in the remaining instrumentation
cautiously, focusing on avoiding overcrowding the mix.
As for the genre description, the artist is entitled to describe
his/her work however they choose. That said, genres often
have considerable technical and musical markers that identify
them, and misinterpretation is always possible.
Summary: Plenty of opportunity with this material!
Listen online at RECORDINGMAG.COM
https://recordingmag.com/readers-tracks/ https://recordingmag.com/readers-tracks/
RECORDING August 2022

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