Posts Tagged ‘mixing’
Here are previews of two songs off The Downer Party’s upcoming EP “Cities”. The record was recorded in the band’s practice space by band member August Churchill. It was mixed by John at SQ and mastered by Mike Wells:
Country Kids:
Hollywood:
Our good friend George Cochrane just finished his remix of Le Vice’s “2 O’clock”. The track was mixed by John (SQ) and mastered by Jeremy (SQ):
2 O’clock (George Cochrane Remix):
Right Click Here to Download (Save Link As)
Over the last week I’ve been mixing a new record by Warbler (this project was tracked and is now being mixed at SQ). I’ve finished the first round of mixes for 6 songs and wanted to share a couple of them with our blog followers. Both have not been mastered and are not final mixes.
- John
Worry:
Skism:
Here is a preview of three songs off the new OJO record “Ocean View Estate” which is releasing tomorrow (July 13, 2010). The record was mixed by John (SQ) and mastered by Jeremy (SQ).
La Bolsa Blanca:
Three Rooms/Bubble Wrap:
Facing West:
The following are three tracks from Lazertag’s August 10, 2020 release “A Minor Loss of Fidelity”. Jeremy (SQ) co-produced, tracked, mixed, and mastered this great record.
Strange Glow:
Buildings Of A Former Century:
The Cold And The Silence:
Yesterday we got our masters back for the debut self titled Le Vice record (releasing February 16, 2010). As this marks the first project that I have both engineered and co-produced here at Studio SQ, I thought I’d take a little time to share some things about the band and the process of this record.
As our good friend Mike Wells put it, “how can you not like this music”. While many people would define the Le Vice sound as pop, r&b, or hip hop, I view them as first 80′s electro, disco, and funk – which is supported by a backing theme of pop, r&b, and hip hop. In simpler words, this is shake your ass music:
- SHY GUY:
- UH HUH:
- WHY FIGHT:
So far I’ve found that this record is appealing to just about everyone I’ve played it for. While it is being highly regarded by the local hip hop and r&b community, it is finding even greater success with the SF hipster scene and alt. pop enthusiasts. As cheesy as it is to say, I do think that there is something for everybody on this record.
The Band:
Le Vice is made up of four extremely talented musicians:
- Alex Lee (Vocals)
- Sean “Stilly” Stillenger (Bass & Keys)
- Renzo Staiano (Guitar)
- Darrin Thomas (Drums)
Alex (A.Lee) has been a successful hip hop artist for a number of years. In her new role as front woman for Le Vice she has broken free of the traditional “hip hop” role. Now a seasoned vocalist, she is delivering soulful melodies that are reminiscent of the disco age and early 80′s. Combine that with her powerful pop sound and rootsy hip hop swagger, and you’ve got A.Lee of Le Vice.
I first started working with “Stilly” back in 2007 on the debut Drone Hooligan record (indie folk/rock). He is a precise yet expressive session bass player (electric & upright). Originally schooled in jazz, r&b, and classic composition (romantic and post romantic) he eventually found his way into the punk/post punk scene. As one of the main songwriters for Le Vice, this diversity is ever present throughout the record.
Renzo simply rips on guitar. He is a Berkeley school of music graduate with a masters in ethnomusicology from UC Santa Cruz. As a professional touring musician in both Boston and California, he is well versed in many styles including affro peruvian, classical, son, jazz, funk, rock, metal, and more. In Le Vice, he brings that essential Quincy Jones guitar sound that makes even the most self conscious individual want to get down.
Darren is a solid, heavy handed, good old fashioned hip hop and soul drummer. He came from a musical family (both his father and uncle were musicians) and therefore first started playing drums at the age of 7. As teenager he found his way into gospel music and played regularly at his church. Later he attended the University of Nevada on a music scholarship and was the center snare of the drum line in the school’s marching band.
There are also a number of other talented musicians that made truly significant contributions to the record:
- Will Bates (drums)
- Travis Carter a.k.a. “Dj Traps” (turntables)
- John Bomarito (keys)
The Process
The band was formed in early 2009 and we first started working on this record back in May. As a newly formed band, a lot of their attention was focused on adding “live” instruments to a handful of A.Lee’s original hip hop works. But with such influential members the band quickly found its own unique sound. Therefore in October we took a fresh new approach to the recordings and began adding all new original Le Vice music. This record marks the success of that effort.
From a production point of view, I am proud to say that this record is 100% Studio SQ. Every instrument used came from our collection of in house gear. Some notable sounds that you will find on the record include Mini Moog, Prophet 08 Synthesizer (big part of their sound), Juno 106, custom Gretsch rosewood drum kit, 1976 Fender Precision Bass, 1981 Rickenbacker Bass, modified Fender Showman bass amp, custom Tweed Delux amp, Jeremy’s custom guitar amps, a handful of classic guitars and amps, and more.
My partner in crime for tracking this record is my business partner and good buddy Jeremy Rosenblum. Jeremy knows something about everything it seems, but in my opinion his most significant contribution to this project was with the key selection and guitar tonality. Jeremy knows our synth collection inside and out and was easily able to translate the needs of the band into the essential synthesized sound that you hear all throughout the record. In fact, many times he would simply ask “what are you looking for”, think about it, pull out a synth, and tweak a patch – to which everybody’s wide eyed response would be a unanimous “YES”. Its also important to recognize that one of Jeremy’s custom guitar amps is featured all over this record (as well as a few others modified by him).
As for my role, I focused on tracking, all mixing, editing, production advice, production direction and some structural composition. From a mix perspective, I relied on a balance between vocal presence and vocal layering. There is also a bit of vocal delay throughout the record – it turns out that both Alex and I have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to delays. Also this is a synth heavy record so the keys take center stage in the mix on many occasion. The guitars tend to sit in the pocket but do break out here and there. The bass is forward and midrangy. The drums are punchy when they need to be and subtle when they don’t. All in all it is pretty straight forward.
On another note I’d like to thank Stilly for being my mixing cohort. All of the band contributed to the mix process, but Stilly tended to be the one who was there everyday and worked with me into the wee hours… long live Glasses!
Again, this debut record by Le Vice is releasing on February 16, 2010. Feel free to visit the Le Vice website at www.levicemusic.com for links and future news on the band/record.
- John