Recording the Rock Band

Record Production & Phonology

Developed for RMIT Media Arts

GUITARS - RECORDING A LIVE SET-UP

By contemporary standards, the 'sound' of a band - ie. the complex sonic phenomenon resulting from the identity, technology and performance of a group of individual instruments - is treated as a microcosm which can be (i) amplified in large-scale live settings; and (ii) analytically broken down in the studio recording process. However this was not always the case.

The Beatles first American concerts in the 1964 so-called British Invasion was the first instance of throwing a band that had previously played in small clubs into large scale venues like the Hollywood Bowl. Footage from those concerts show the Beatles with their small single amps miced to project their sound to a large gathering. By the 70s it was almost as if such a small-scale visual presence was somehow out-of-sync with the large-scale volume to be projected in the auditorium.

Hard Rock at the start of the 70s marked the transformation from folk/combo groups into the stadium mega-stars. It was a time when volume was deemed the sign of scale, size and scope of a band - and hence their identity. In other words, the 'band sound' was not a microcosm able to be amplified to a larger scale, but a macrocosm unable to be treated in any smaller type of unit. Deep Purple, for example, were often billed during the early 70s as "The Loudest Rock Band In The World". Volume was deemed the key energy element for rock music. Bands gradually moved from single amplifier set-ups for each guitar to the hysterical 'wall of Marshall stacks" parodied in THIS IS SPINAL TAP.

EXAMPLES

Black Sabbath - BLACK SABBATH (1971)
A live recording based on organizing the instruments in a one-space/real-time configuration. An early example of Hard Rock and/or Heavy Metal, Black Sabbath (along with British bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple & others) based their sound on the presence of volume. Hence, the aim in the studio environment would have been to record a loud sound playing in that environment. Thus the recording of guitars in this context hinges on recording the loud sound coming from amplifier speakers. Amps and speakers could then be viewed as the actual instruments reproducing the guitar sound. Note how this recording uses the [close/dry mic + distant/space mic] to have the guitar amp presence occupy a space. Note also how the drums do likewise, but with panning reversed. Bass & vocals remain centre.

Led Zeppelin - ROCK & ROLL (1971)
Under the direction and production on Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin's sound was based on a highly fractured and deconstructed approach to shaping sonic components within the studio environment. In this track, for example, the overall effect is of a driving, churning band, playing full chords, etc. - but the main riff of the song is two guitars double-tracked L+R playing single notes. The 'wall of fuzz' feel comes predominantly from the mono hi-hats played open continually. Note then the 2nd guitar on the left which plays a light tinny fuzz chord harmonizing with the dual guitar riff. Note also the cut-up process employed for structuring the solo. All these elements were both composed and recorded as fragments, but with a knowledge of the full, thick sound which would be the end result.

ACDC - It's A Long Way To The Top (1976)
Produced by Vanda & Young (ex-Easy Beats) who were - along with Page in the Yardbirds & Pete Townsend of the Who - took some of the 60s 'beat' guitar experiments and developed it into streams of hard rock throughout the 70s. ACDC are an archetypal hard rock sound based on severely regimented approaches t recording dual guitars. Note the two guitarists - panned one left, the other right - who play discrete blocks which fuse as call-and-response in the verse, then are combined in full chords in the chorus. Note also how the stereo space changes.

BUZZCOCKS - Why Can't I Touch It? (1978)
Taking the ACDC approach to simplistic delineation between dual guitar space/locations in the studio and improvizing within those parameters. Note the shift between cal-and-response and fused chords. Typical of the punk era, Buzzcocks exploit this simplicity to generate a distilled ACDC-style sound.

VAN HALEN - Why Can't This Be Love? (1986)
A good example of how the Led Zeppelin legacy - fragmented blocks of guitar sound collaged together to give the semblance of a 'band sound' - has been developed in post-70s hard rock and heavy metal. Note how the basic dual guitar L+R approach has been grotesquely and in a baroque fashion stylized. The left side contains a guitar synth; the right, a heavy metal guitar. Note how the performance by Eddie Van Halen is based on subtle tonal inflections which change the stereo networking between the dual guitars. Note the chords overdubbed in the chorus.

THE CULT - Lil' Devil (1987)
Prime instigators of a stylized retro-sound, The Cult, took the legacies of Page and ACDC and combined them. In fact the left speaker contains an archetypal Page riff; the other, an archetypal Angus Young chord pattern. Note also the combination of these hard, flat guitar textures with a club-oriented sharp kick-drum sound (The Cult being famous for introducing hard rock textures into the club environment).

RAPEMAN -Bud (1988) & SHELLAC - My Black Ass (1994)
Live recordings by two of Steve Albini's bands, based very much on foregrounding the sound of a guitar through an amp. This is Albini's take on the afore-mentioned notion that prior to advanced multi-tracking and effects processing. a band sound or guitar sound was treated as a macrocosm - ie. the whole of a band's identity. Rapeman specialized in brute and raw live recordings designed to foreground as much as possible the sound and presence of the instruments. Note how this the Rapeman track features Albini playing one chord only, varying it by playing different strings and/or with different intensity. It is as if the song is a demonstration of the guitar's sound alone. Same applies to the one-chord texture in the Shellac track.

METALLICA - Enter Sandman (1991)
From the self titled 'Black' album. Metallica's approach to studio production on this album - contrary to the whole history of hard rock and heavy metal - is based on giving low-frequency presence in he guitars. Note how the guitars have been amplifier-shaped and desk-equalized to accentuate the low strings of the guitars. Note also how the floor toms of the drum kit have been tuned to the low notes of the bass guitar. This is a sophisticated and complex application of Page's deconstructivist approach, but here facilitated by frequency separation and fusion. Note also how the whole song rumbles with low frequencies without generating a confused muddy sound.

GUITARS - INCORPORATING THEIR ICONIC PRESENCE

By the mid-80s, the sound of a hard rock guitar had become a clear sonic icon which could evoke the feel, presence and texture of the preceding two decades worth of guitar sounds. Interestingly, both black hip hop and white rock acknowledged this by stylistically incorporating, blending, subverting or ironically quoting the 'hard rock guitar sound'.

EXAMPLES

HERBIE HANCOCK - Rockit (1983)
A seminal and influential example of how a single Jimmy Page-sounding chord could be scratched into a song (in this case, by Grandmixer DST) to signify the guitar icon. Note how the simple, repeated single chord is almost trapped in the black jungle of bass pulsations and low frequency rhythms. Produced by hi hop and jazz fusion bassist and producer Bill Laswell.

ZZ TOP - Legs (1984)
A hard rockin' Texan boogie band from the 70s, ZZ Top resurfaced in the MTV generation almost parodying and cartoonizing hard rock sounds. Note how in this dance mix, the guitars are virtually the softest and most sonically invisible presence in the mix, yet the 'image' projected by the song is one of a driving rock tune. A precursor to The Cult's retro-style blending of club-environments with rock-sounds.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Born In The USA (1984)
Based on remixing the original recording produced by Bob Clearmountain, this remix has a totally self-destructive fusion of hip-hop remixing styles (courtesy of renowned Latin hip hop producer Arthur Baker) and standard post-Phil Spector white rock studio bombast. Note how the samples of fragments of the song - particularly the shards and slivers of fuzz guitar - are used to rebuild the rock structure and texture of the original. Note also the almost inane fusion of non-club production technique wit dance remixing stylistics.

CHARLIE SEXTON - Impressed (1986)
Produced by Keith Forsey - original drummer on numerous Euro Disco recordings by Giorgio Moroder who then went on to produce Billy Idol. Forest's style was based very much on accentuated a hard rock presence but as contained with numerous studio frills. Note how this remix of Impressed swirls between guitar textures (played with considerable expertise by Charlie Sexton) and the dance-oriented synth-pop chords and effects. Typical of mid-80s 'dance-rock', this track carries many of the stylistic traits based on blending the dance club with the sound of rock guitars.

CUT SLASH KILL - God Is Dead (1988)
A simplistic reworking of an ACDC loop in order to stylistic play upon the satanic image of heavy metal. The sound of rock is here foregrounded for stylistic purpose - even though the process which made it were analytical and ironic. Such workings beg the question - when is the sound of hard rock real and when is it fake?

YOUNG GODS - Long Route (remix) (1988) Working in the similar lines, Young Gods foregrounded the use of samples to engineer the iconic presence of hard rock and heavy metal. Most samples here are from Metallica and Slayer recordings Note how the style is like an electro-acoustic reconstruction of the rock sound while still accenting the stylistics of the original sounds ie. the driving guitars, etc.).

IGGY POP - Cold Metal (1988)
A live studio recording with minimal overtracking, this is another track which begs the question of reality, validity and authenticity in the sound of rock. Starring Iggy Pop (whose Stooges' albums defined much of the grunge off-shoot of hard rock); produced by hip hop producer Bill Laswell (who had also produced PIL's ALBUM) and with guitar by Steve Jones (original guitarist of the Sex Pistols). This track - despite its hard-edged simplistic production technique - stylistically quotes Pop's own 'neo-rock' LAST FOR LIFE; the original recordings by the Sex Pistols; a variety of post-punk studio sounds (PIL, etc.) as well as both the Stooges and Led Zeppelin original sounds and styles.

CHARLY LOWNOISE - A Whole Lotta Lownoise (1994)
While much early hip hop was equally hinged on disco and hard rock (particularly original hardcore hip hop and Gangsta rap - Run DMC, etc.), Techno and other studio-based dance musics picked up the idea of sampling/scratching/incorporating guitar bites from the likes of Run DMC, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, etc. (eg. Snap, CC & The Music Factory, etc.).Hardcore Techno has since taken this to extremes with forms of Techno - Gabba, Hard floor, Lownoise, etc. This track openly samples ACDC and transforms the texture and presence of this iconic guitar sound into a churning wall of rock Techno.

Text © Philip Brophy.