PRIMORDIAL: OFFER STUDIO ADVICE

ALAN AVERILL, vocalist of Irish Celtic folk/black metal warriors PRIMORDIAL has posted a piece on recording studio advice, originally published in ZERO TOLERANCE.









                                                                                                                                                        PRIMORDIAL are set to release "WHERE GREATER MEN HAVE FALLEN",  the bands anticipated new release due to be unleashed  11/24/2014 via METAL BLADE RECORDS.









PRIMORDIAL have announced a WINTER 2015 UK tour.








PRIMORDIAL unleashed "Redemption of The Puritan's Hand" 4/23/2011 via METAL BLADE RECORDS.

FROM PRIMORDIAL:

It's been a while since I posted one of my columns so here is one from the end of this summer I wrote for ZT about recording and advice on being in the studio

RECORDING AND THE ART OF MAKING YOURSELF SCARCE

One of the most important things about recording that you learn after a couple of years is when to not be around, the art of making yourself scarce. At least in the traditional studio sense, as we have just done with the new Primordial album. Of course more and more it is the case these days that people are making music at home on their laptop or even as a band recording their parts seperately at home. Yet still a quick glance at the booking roster of the studio we just spent several weeks in would suggest young and new bands are still taking a chance on the proper live room and trusting an old fashioned studio, in house engineer situation.

It just struck me the other day when someone who was just about to go into the studio for the first time asked me for some advice about what do I tend to do on a typical day in the studio that i realised more then half of the time it's a well practised routine of staying out of the way. The creative process itself has always been a strained one for me, the touring and travelling and standing on the stage has always been the reward for being in the studio. Rehearsing traditionally for me has always meant a long trek across Dublin on a pissing rainy cold windy day to some god forsaken shithole in an industrial estate to sit and listen to riffs, which as a singer is mainly what you do. The concentration required to often be a great musician is something I can find elusive at times so the moment the intro plays and the walk onto the stage is where I feel at home. Some people thrive on the sitting in front of the laptop working out layers of riffs to a click track but even when playing in Dread Sovereign I try and make the writing process as visceral and instant as possible.

So the art of not being around when you are not needed, when I think back to albums we made back in the old days were we all sat around behind the engineer for hours upon hours listening to every take every member did as we didn't know any better my first advice would be that no one needs to hear every take and it just adds extra pressue to the person dubbing guitars or singing to have the rest of the band sitting there as judge and jury poking their noses in. You don't need to be there questioning every take and querying guitar sounds when everyone else is trying to do something completely different. Keeping opinions to yourself can be hard but remember that while arguments and tension can help the music in some ways, it always did within Primordial time wasting in a pressurised expensive environment is tiring. Not scoring points for the sake of being right about something and holding up the atmosphere of hard work is vital, so not only knowing when to make yourself scarce is key but also when to keep your mouth shut. When to take a walk.

I've always been a night owl and much prefer to work on the singing in the dead of night while everyone else is gone or in bed, it also stops potential points of conflict over which way the vocals go. Your engineer should have a good head for music and composition and be part coach, part zoo trainer....poking you with the stick to make you jump through that final hoop and get the best take. I find I thrive under pressure but stress will of course affect anyone's takes and you can hear it in performances. The to be able to present a body of work to the band after a strong couple of hours work and then take constructive criticism is important, sometimes it can be hard but knowing when to leave an idea alone and chalk it down as a bad idea and move on is very important. Personally I more often then not trust my instincts on this one but sometimes we need to be able to take it on the chin and not take it personally when something in the old light of day is out of place. Not every idea is golden.

What you also need to do is pick the right people to work with and trust their and your instincts, remember the speakers in a modern studio are different to what you have at home, some are completely flat others have peaks in the mids, bass or high so when you wonder why your bass sounds so high in the mix trust the engineer who works with the speakers and should know the set up. If you have a cheap and nasty stereo at home, take a moment to think about what you listen to music on, if you only play music through laptop speakers or an ipod then do you really trust your ears to make executive decisions on your album? Sometimes being able to release the music to someone else who might have a better insight during the mix is very important. When we go away and make notes on a mix and then compare them with Primordial our bass player has things like 'electrical hum at 4”45.....noise of door closing caught at 2”34', how the fuck he hears these things is beyond me but he does. So consider who in your band does things best, who has the best ear for detail.

What works best is to make a plan of attack with the engineer and all be reading of the same page sonically. So if the guitar player wants a modern crunch to the guitars and to overdub every bar and quantise the playing but the rest of you want an organic 70s sound and leave in noise and spill this is going to make everyone's life in the studio difficult as you all push in different directions. Hand in hand with this attack is gear, as Mags from the Academy used to tell me back in the day, 'you can't polish a turd' and he was right, when we went over to record 'Journeys End' he simply put the Charvel back in the bag and handed us some old Gibson's, which is where Primordial's trademark guitar look and sound came from. If you bring in a modern head and amp with a new guitar you aren't going to get that Iommi 74 guitar sound, similarly if your drummer doesn't hammer a very expensive kit you won't release your inner Bonham with light drum sticks and a patched together small kit with beaten skins. Most importantly if you want to sound like a band from the 70s or 80s then remember bands then didn't have protools to overdub so your takes must be tight and dynamic. If you want the full amount of damage you have to have the weapons for it and the skill and will to use them. I.e if you aren't Black Sabbath the chances are you won't sound like them so having the musical chops and the gear is step one, knowing what you want, how to play it and how your rig is set up before you record is half the battle. Want to sound like Angus Young? Well then don't play a modern Jackson through a Laney and on and on.....
Just remember when you haven't got anything to do take yourself out of the pressurised situation of the control or live room and having an opinion on just about everything is pointless! Tactical warfare wins the day!

Alan Averill

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-