Analog Obsession: 100% UA Part 5 With Suzanne Brewer
By Will Shanks
Part 5 of this ongoing 100% UA series brings me to a track I recorded not long ago with singer/songwriter Suzanne Brewer for her album Dreams of an Insomniac, and focuses on use of the Neve 88RS Channel Strip and the LA-3A Audio Leveler plug-ins new for 4.7. I am very pleased with these two new plugs, and I was excited to try them out on this track. The LA-3A has been my favorite compressor for some time, and having a virtual version was nothing short of thrilling. The 88RS is also a wonderful tool that I am still learning, but have already found many creative uses for it.
The song used here is entitled “Dream Within a Dream,” and originated from some experiments I was doing with the G Force M-Tron virtual instrument when I first got it. She liked the sounds so much we decided to write a song together, based on the little-known loops of the Mellotron. I worked all the tracks up, and she came in later with a melody and lyric. Suzanne Brewer is the most talented songwriter and performer that I’ve had the pleasure to work with, and making Dreams of an Insomniac was pure joy. Although this song was recorded and released about a year ago, I thought it would be a fun candidate for further exploration and a minor remix with the new tools in my arsenal.
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RECORDING
This song is highly sample-based, with only two original tracks actually recorded. Most of the sounds come from the Mellotron by way of the G Force M-Tron virtual instrument. In fact, the working title of the song was “The Mellotron Song.” Needless to say, it is on the extreme side of "lo-fi," but that was exactly what I wanted here. The vocal was done in the storage area at Universal Audio. More on that later.
Dirge
This track is the basis for the whole song, and stems from the aforementioned loops from the Mellotron. As a key is pressed, a prerecorded ensemble of players grooves on a single chord for two or more measures, and then cuts out. The various keys provide different chords, some major some minor, some dominant some diminished, et cetera, but are in no way exhaustive. A precursor to the rhythm tracks in today’s all-in-one workstations, there are seven "grooves" to choose from: bossa, waltz, ballad, et cetera. To actually create a song from these variously timed, tuned and timbered loops was a real challenge and a very abstract way of working for me, as I am a much more band-oriented musician and recordist. I chose the waltz for this song, in a minor key. It features drums, upright bass and piano.
To actually create a song from these variously timed, tuned and timbered loops was a real challenge . . .
Saxes
The Mellotron has some vaguely convincing saxes, but stacking up voices in the right context I was able to work up a fat, funky and dissonant Franks Wild Years horn sound that I was very pleased with.
Vibes
I absolutely love the vibes found on the Mellotron. I worked up a preliminary melody with the vibes samples. There is something highly creepy and dark about all the Mellotron samples, but the vibes samples are out-of-this-world bizarre.
Mono Whip
In measuring analog hardware reverbs, or a room, or whatever, impulses are often used to capture the size, density, onset of said room or device. When UA went to The Plant Studios in Sausalito to measure their EMT 140s, we sent many test signals through their plates. The track entitled "mono whip" is the sound of a single sample returning from what I believe was plate A. The onset of plate reverb is very quick and whip-like to me, so I used it here as a funky, sloppy, sampled percussion bit.
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Suzanne at the piano |
Vocal
Suzanne came in after working with a rough mix, ready to try out a vocal. She ended up spring-boarding from the melody I worked out from the vibes samples. The dreamlike lyrics and jazz-oriented vocal melody blended perfectly with the mood of the original tracks. I wanted the vocal to come from the same dark place as the rest of the tracks, so the tone of the vocal recording was critical—I wanted it to sound like she was channeling Billie Holiday circa 1938. I bet after hearing the track you’ll wonder, “What piece of vintage UA gear did he use to get that sound?” Sorry to disappoint, it was no magic setting on any piece of UA gear, I’m afraid. I used a ¼" tape-recorder mic I found in a box of junk as I was cleaning out the loft at my studio. I have no idea who makes it, or where it came from. I am assuming it was a crystal element mic. I should note it distinctly smelled like a box of band-aids for some reason! OK, yes of course I used UA gear to amplify the signal. And I’m sure it contributed to the sound—in this case I used the high-impedance input of the Solo/610, with extreme gain. I think I taped it to a mic stand for Suzanne. I set her up in the storage room. I’m still blown away by how authentically OLD this track sounds.
MIXDOWN
Although I did use a lot of effects on this one, not much tonal sculpting was needed, and no automation was used. The original album mix did not have the benefit of the 88RS or LA-3A plug-ins. I substituted the 88RS for other Neve plugs I originally used, and I substituted the LA-3A for the LA-2A originally on the vocal.
Dirge
I used the 88RS’s EQ module to shelve in a little bottom at 250 Hz, and to boost some midrange presence at 3.5 kHz to the main rhythm track, while shelving out a bit of the heavy white noise with the HF band. Essentially, I was recreating what I had originally done with a 1073 EQ. Although not present on the original mix, I also added in the G/E gate module with less-than-natural settings to increase the disjointed, stutter-y feel of the loops. I like the flexibility of this gate!
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The Neve 88RS Channel Strip on the loops |
Saxes
The saxes were heavily effected with my favorite plug-in, the RE-201 Space Echo. I used it as a MISO (mono in, stereo out) insert. The original track is panned left, while the echo return is panned hard right for a severe slapback. Tape set to "old" for maximum wow and flutter.
Vibes
This is being sent to another Space Echo, which was set up as a buss (the vibes are the only track being sent to this buss, by the way). It is similar in nature to the echo on the saxes, except now this one is panned hard right, with the echo return coming back hard left. One of the coolest things about the Space Echo is the ability to overdrive the Input Volume knob, whether hardware or plug-in. The distortion it achieves is distinctive, and very cool. The plug-in models this distortion, along with all the filtering qualities of the hardware. I set it to maximum, which meant it was constantly clipping. In addition, I used the tone controls of the plug-in to roll out all the bass and maximize the treble. In my mind, this effect made the vibes twice as cool as they were before, and added to the decayed quality of the song. Not much else was needed here, except that the Mellotron vibes samples have tons of low-end rumble. I used the 88RS’s 12 dB per octave low-cut filter set at around 250 Hz.
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Use the Space Echo’s Input Vol for some fantastic sounding distortion! |
Mono Whip
First I used the 88RS’s hi-cut filter to take a little edge off. This is an extremely gentle filter. You may wonder if it is even on with certain program material; however, just right for my use here. The signal was then sent to yet another Space Echo--again--with tons of input. This time I used mode 5, which brings in the spring reverb emulation. I also used a little of the tone controls. This gave me the dirtied up sound I was looking for.
Vocal
I used the LA-3A to add a bit of grab to the somewhat erratic response of the lo-fi tape recorder mic. As an aside, I must say the LA-3A is the miracle compressor. It is the perfect compressor for those who love the sound of clean, controlled vocal performances and would rather not use automation, as it is rarely necessary especially when you track with it. However in this case, I just thought it sounded cool. That said, if you have the money, I cannot recommend the LA-3A highly enough, it is the perfect tracking compressor. If you can’t afford it, at least pick up the plug-in!
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The LA-3A-there is no better compressor. |
BUSSES
The only track sent to a buss was the vibes, see above.
MASTER FADER
I used the Fairchild 670 to give the track a little more character. Hey, why not? I used the default preset, with tweaks to the input gain and threshold to achieve 1 to 2 dB of gain reduction on the meters.
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As usual, I used the Precision Limiter for the final signal processor. OK, you’ve probably seen the waveform of this one, and you’re most likely saying, “That’s not like Will, he DESTROYED it!” Yes, this mix is extremely hot. I actually liked the sound of slamming the P Lim on this one, so I used it less as the usual safety net, but more as an effect! I used Mode B for a different flavor too, and in slamming the P Lim so hard you could more distinctly hear the difference between Modes A and B.
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Please check out Suzanne’s latest album Dreams of an Insomiac. |
Download an MP3 mix-down of the song, “Dream Within A Dream”.
Download a zipped folder containing all the unmixed audio files of the session in MP3 format. The files are bounced as contiguous data, allowing them to be dropped into any DAW. The VST presets are also included, which can be loaded in VST or AU format via the UAD’s VST preset loader within each plug-in.
Also please check a sample of Will’s portfolio at http://eartotheground.com/