Well, we don’t call them ‘recording artists’ for nothing. Afterall, knowing how to get the perfect sound for a musical recording project is as much of an art as it is a science. Every musical recording is different and unique because of what goes into creating the recording: from the music itself to the musicians playing the music; from the techniques the sound engineers employee right down to the instruments themeselves.
You have already met the members of the Band, Coppersonic and learned about their individual styles, so you know what motivates them. And, it is doubtless, you have visted the Sound Samples page to hear samples of the music on “"Coppersonic".
But how was this CD created? What instruments, what kind of equipment, and what techniques did the band decide would best capture the sounds you hear on “"Coppersonic"”?
We have built this page to answer those questions (in a tech friendly way). So, if you are wondering about that guitar solo or the sonorous bass tone, please read on.
The Guitar
Let’s face it, “Coppersonic” is rocknroll and great rock music usually has a guitar hero standing front and center. John Carini is a complex player, moving from virtuosic precision of his classical mentors to viseral rawness of Hendrix and Stevie Ray. To create the different moods for each track on “Coppersonic” he uses a variety of guitars, amps and effects to forge his sound.
Guitars
Fender “Jeff Beck” Stratocaster. The flagship of Carini’s sound.
(photo)
Fender Telecaster featured on “Memories of Hollywood”
DanElectro Shorthorn was used on “love lies” and was played through Leslie 47 rotating speaker
Peavey Wolfgang Model used for the overdriven sound on lead
Lap Steel Slide Guitar
Custom hand constructed Kenny Hill Munich classical nylon guitar on “Reno”
Gibson L00 Acoustic guitar was used to add a big Beatles acoustic sound to tracks like “Stars” and “Love Lies Bleeding”
Amps
Fender personal amp hotrod deville 410 and Fender Deluxe 112 which is also used in Carini’s live shows. Studio Amps deluxe reverb
Ampeg J12 Jetamp
Effects Pedals
Whirlwind ab box. Routed Boss tu12 tuner or carl martin effects router.
Demiter computlator compressor
Fulltone fatboost
Maxon 0d808 overdrive
Voodoolab sparkle drive
Greenmachine overdrive
Voodoo lab analog chorus for clean
Maxon ad80 analog delay
Powered by voodoo lab pedal power 2
The signal is then split stereo into amps
The Bass Guitar
Often called the ‘Unsung Hero’ of the band, the bass has the unique ability to move between the spotlight and the sidelines in clever ways that sometimes go unnoticed. If you find yourself grooving to the Stones, Zepplin or the Beatles you might be surprised to know it’s the bassline from Bill Wyman, John Paul Jones or Paul Mcartney that’s making your soul stir.
Using these classic bassist as a model, John Truelove maintains a purist approach to the instrument. That means, one bass and one amp. Afterall, the basslines speak for themselves.
Bass
G and L SB1. Purchased new when Truelove was just a lad of 17, this bass has been providing the low end to 100’s of gigs and recordings. The bass has been modified with a Badass bass bridge, Alembic P-style active pickup, and HipShot Dtuner to achieve that low low sound heard on “Love Lies Bleeding” and “Highway Blues”.
Amp
SWR 350 bass head
Ampeg SVT 410
Special Recording Notes
To achieve the punchy low end on “Coppersonic” the bass was recorded two different channels on the master tape. The first channel was a direct line from the SWR amp and the second came from a microphone in front of the Ampeg SVT cabinet which grabbed the live bass sound.
Truelove currently uses a Madison MAB153 bass enclosure for live situations.
The Drums
A band is only as good as it’s drummer. With the advent of computer based recording, bands have found loops and machines to be adequate for the ryhthm section. But if you have ever compared the thunder from John Bonham or the intricacies of Mitch Mitchell to a computer sample you would immediately understand why a human being is behind the kit on “Coppersonic”.
The house kit at Retromedia Studios is a 1970's vintage 4-piece Ludwig set. It has been perfectly tuned and equalized for the recording space so very little, other than the drummers cymbols, was needed to garner the full percusive sound. Click here to see John Cina's current drum setup.
Keyboard
Think about the rich, mournful and wailing cries you hear from the organ on Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and Tom Petty’s “Refuge”. That same technique was used on “Coppersonic.
It’s no secret. The Hammond M3 organ created the earthy underpinnings to several classics and when it is amplified through the revolutionary (no pun intended) rotating speaker of the Leslie 47 that seminal organ sound can levitate objects in the same room.
The fully adjustable sliders on the Hammond organ combined with the ability to set the rotation speed of the Leslie speaker provide a myriad of sounds.
Microphones
You can’t underestimate the importance of a great microphone. You have spent years achieving the perfect sound on your guitar amp or practicing your vocal chops, why use a cheap microphone to capture the sound onto tape?
Think of a mic as you would a camera lense; it is the the conduit between the live subject and the device that does the records the subject.
Lens - subject - camera - film is the same as microphone - subject - console - tape. If your lense is cheap it will only capture a limited amount of light, if the microphone is cheap it will only capture a limited amount of sound.
“Coppersonic” was recorded using a variety of different microphones like the Neumann U87 and Neumann KM84. Each device was auditioned to capture a a specific sound source.
Noteably was the microphone used for recording John Truelove’s vocals. Since his voice is a specific harmonic range we found the Sony C38B to be a perfect match.
Recording Equipment
The end result of a great recording lies heavily on the shoulders of the recording engineer. The tools of their trade are as important as a muscian’s main instrument.
In order for “Coppersonic” to find that vintage sound the band needed to find a studio outfitted with the right equipment. Instead of recording to a computer hard drive and using software plugins that only simulate tape hiss and warm tube prescence, the music on “Coppersonic” was recorded, mixed and mastered with classic, vintage gear.
The first line in the recording chain was Retromedia’s mixing console. An Amek/TAC Magnum 52 input inline console with MegaMix fader-controlled inboard automation.
The master tracks on the CD were recorded to an Analog 24-track MCI JH-24 two-inch analogwith AutoLocator III which runs @ 15 or 30 ips.
After recording was finalized these tracks were mixed down to a Studer B67
1/4" tape machine which runs @ 7 1/2, 15 and 30 ips.
Go to http://www.retromedia.net to see more of the cool outboard effects we used like Neve 33609 compressor
Mastering - we used computerized digital mastering with Digidesign and Waves. And levels of the overall mix were adjusted before creating the Red Book audio master CD which was used at Oasis to press all the replications.