New Monday #5

Happy Monday. It’s March 11th.

​​​Happy 311

Oh no! 311 the band?

Yep! They celebrate their existence with a concert every 3/11 since their start in the early 90’s, although this year they celebrated yesterday in Las Vegas.

These guys were all over the radio in their time and were a counterpoint to grunge.

Oh that snare! It’s one of the most distinctive things about a 311 record. Instantly recognizable with a ton of ping and ring. I love snare sounds like that. Anyway, check out this short vid with 311 drummer Chad Sexton: it’s not the snare. it’s how he hits it. He’s a great player.

VIDEO: Chad on how to hit it...

So, here’s 311’s Beautiful Disaster. Have a listen.

Let’s concentrate on dual heavy guitar parts.

Often, doubled heavy guitar parts turn into a bland, undifferentiated goopy wall of sound, like someone dumped gravy over everything on the plate so the potatoes taste the same as the beef.

The 311 guys manage to get something heavy and the gtr on the left is distinct from the gtr on the right. If you listen, you’ll hear the guitar on the right has more midrange to it and the one on the left has the mids scooped out. The sounds stand out from each other and yet interlock.

How to do this? Use different amp/guitar combinations. Change things up. Can’t use a different guitar? Change the amp. Can’t change up the guitar and amp? Swap in different mics. Stuck with the same mic? MOVE THE MIC AROUND. Record one with the mic close, and the other with the mic further away. Eq them differently.

Use Ray’s guitar micing trick

My friend Ray would unplug the guitar and crank the amp way up so that there was a lot of hiss (white noise sorta stuff) coming out of the cabinet. Then, he’d get down on the floor, cover one of his ears and move his head around closer and farther from the cabinet until the hiss sounded bright and warm - as full as possible, and then he’d stick the mic right in the spot where his ear was. and he got a great sound - full, with a good representation of the cabinet.

What was Ray listening for? On a 4x12 cabinet, Ray was finding where all of the speakers on the cabinet and cabinet resonances were overall very much in-phase.

Record one part Ray style, and the other do your usual mic stuck right up against the grill.

Here’s Steve Albini’s ideas on this exact topic

Here’s Dan talking about how he gets guitar sounds in a Podcast.

Last Thing

Click here: it’s Quick, Inane and Funny

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Dan and Luke