Recording - June 2015 - 64

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Jim Bethke
Equipment: Dual 1.25 GHz G4 Mac with 2 GB of RAM, with
MOTU 2408 and 8pre audio interfaces and MIDI Timepiece
AV MIDI interface, running MOTU Digital Performer 5.13
and Waves Gold Bundle plug-ins. Mics: Shure SM57 and
SM58 (high and floor toms), Audio-Technica 4047/SV
(vocals), two Oktava MK012 (overheads), Shure Beta 57
(snare), AKG D-112 (kick), two Audix D2 (rack toms). Yamaha
01V mixer, Event 20/20 Biamplified Monitors, Samson SPhone headphone amp, AKG K55 headphones, Tama
Rockstar 6-piece drum kit with multiple Zildjian cymbals,
Yamaha SY99 synthesizer.

Music: "Bourbon Street" is a male vocal "blues" tune.
Jim did it all, with the exception of the guitars, which
were played by Dan Goldsmith.
Recording: Quite an adventurous submission here, with
plenty of sound sources and a fairly busy arrangement to
boot. Let's see how Jim did managing it all.
While we are not sure which is his primary instrument,
overall Jim seems to have a pretty good feel for the role
of each in his mix. That said, there's a lot of stuff happening throughout the song... a bit too much, in our humble opinion. Starting with the rhythm section, we found
the bass guitar to be the loudest thing in the mix
through our monitors, out in front of the drums, and considerably more present than the vocals.
This presence differential also applied to the panned
faux horns, as well as the keyboards that come in and out
during the track. Jim and Dan both did a good job with
the guitars, although the right-panned, busy keyboard
part during the guitar solo really pulled our attention
away from Dan's fine performance. We also have to question the necessity of the breakdown at 2:50 into the
track. To us it was an energy killer and did little to benefit the overall song.
64

RECORDING June 2015

Suggestions: While we applaud Jim for the obvious skill
and effort that went into "Bourbon Street", we have two
suggestions that we would like to offer. The lopsided mix
balance that we are hearing here makes us question the
room acoustics at Jim's mix position. Did he hear the bass
and the other "presence heavy" sounds as forward as we
do? Hard to say, but checking it on multiple speaker systems would likely have pointed it out.
We would also urge Jim to spend a bit more time under
his producer/arranger hat. Back in the day, record companies often assigned these crucial individuals to projects in
order to free the artist/player from having to make every
decision regarding a track. These days, most of us wear all of
the hats simultaneously. Giving equal time and importance
to each of the "hats" requires patience and honesty, but in
our mind, "producer" Jim would have likely urged "musician/composer" Jim to remove the competitive keyboard
during Dan's solo, as well as nixing that breakdown section.
Summary: Rearrange, remix, renew!
Contact: Jim Bethke, contact@sncerecording.com,
www.sncerecording.com

Tom Gresso
Equipment: Avid Mbox2 and Pro Tools LE, IK Multimedia
Amplitube 2, FXpansion BFD Lite, Shure SM57, Jackson DKMG
guitar, Mesa Boogie DC2, MXR Phase 90 (Modded), Squier Bass.

Music: "2 Phazy Nights" is a slow blues/rock instrumental. Tom did it all at his home studio.
Recording: Tom tells us that this is his first recording, and
asks, in our opinion, if he is on the right track. Well, Tom,
for the most part we would have to say yes, indeed you are.
Given the number of guitar parts in the track, we would
have to assume that guitar is Tom's primary instrument,
and overall he does a good job managing the different
styles incorporated here. We really dug the soulful Gary
Moore style clean/phase shifted playing, while the transition between the clean and heavy distorted parts was handled carefully, without much energy loss. Tom also did well
keeping his rhythm section basic, with good tones all
around, thereby allowing plenty of space for his excellent
chops to shine.
Suggestions: We give Tom high marks for his first effort. He
has fashioned a concise, economical recording with a minimum of gear and tracks. In his production notes he asks for
our opinion on "how to get rid of the pick noise on the bass".
Well, in our experience, (short of abandoning the pick in
favor of finger playing), switching to flatwound or tapewound strings can often greatly reduce this artifact. We
might also suggest trying a felt pick, rather than the standard plastic variety; we have had good results over the years
with them once you get used to the feel and thickness.
In the meantime, we would suggest that Tom reconsider
leaving his bass as exposed in the arrangement as it currently stands during the outro. Surrounding the bass with
some other sound source would seem to be an effective
workaround until a new, less "picky" bass part can replace
the old.
Summary: Off to a great start!
Contact: Tom Gresso, tom.gresso@apcc.com

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Recording - June 2015

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