Baby Animals = Goosebumps

[blackfoot]

Just finished final playback after a month of tracking Baby Animals with David Nicholas at the helm. What a band ! The majority of the tracks are goosebumps material. Very tough goosebumps indeed ! The monitor mixes sound fantastic. David is mixing at Sing Sing next week. Should be great album ! It's suddenly very quiet & empty here & the studio looks like the day after a huge party. Sigh. Back to the real world of winding leads & searching for cleverly hidden coffee cups.

[The Tasmanian]

I'll bet it all sounds killer through the quadeight.
Mr Nicholas and the band made a fine decision.

[walding]

One of the best rock bands and singers to come out of oz in 20 years.

I have their 1st album on vinyl .

Sexiest woman in rock.

[Wiz]

The first time I heard early warning, I nearly ran off the road
Great band.



Was a breath of fresh air at the time

[rick]

Oh gee so you know I cut early warning and that first record on vinyl
.
But I think it was more then 20 years ago !

[Wiz]

Oh gee so you know I cut early warning and that first record on vinyl
.
But I think it was more then 20 years ago !

I didnt know that. Wow.

I really mean it, that guitar riff, when i first heard it.. was like a punch to the face (in a good way) , I actually rang the singer in the band i was in (now my wife) and told her to go grab the song, as we were gonna have to do it live. It just seemed to part the cloulds of shit music that was around, or felt like it was all around, at the time.

kudos

[blackfoot]

They've lost nothing in terms of energy & swagger. The songs & arrangements were finely crafted and really familiar feeling . From the opening chords you know your in good hands. I'm sweating on hearing these songs in a stadium , Suzie still wears a telecaster like a sexy dress. She's one hellava Studio Mum too ! The band are very family like and she looks after them all. She was there for every session including guitar & percussion overdubs .
We used all 20 channels of the Quad Eight & the rest were a combo of Brooks, Shadow Hills & UA. The Q 8 likes drums, really likes drums! I swear you could put anything in front of Dave Leslie's amps & you'd have a winner but the Q8 got the gig done. It was great fun to work with David "Chipper" Nicholas again. I miss them already

[Ender]

Suze is the real deal Can't wait to hear the new CD.

Jim, was it the original drummer and bass player back for the CD, or just Suze and Dave? I saw them in '09 and they had a couple of new guys who were pretty good, but I couldn't tell if they were just filling in or it was a more permanent arrangement.

[blackfoot]

They had Mick Skelton on drums & Dario Bortolin on bass. I'm not sure how long this lineup has been together but they cooked. Nary a click track in sight. Mmmmmm.

PS. Thanks to all who helped steer the gig my way, You know who you are!

[Simon B]

Leso is an absolute champion of a bloke. The sound, his playing, it blows my mind everytime I hear him.

Mick Skilton is a drum god.

Dario is a monster on bass.

An Suze She is just unbelievable!

What mics got used?

[blackfoot]

All mics were used ! Dave emptied the cupboard ! The only mics untouched were a couple of U87's. Usual suspects all around .

[blackfoot]

Billie inspects mic placement. She also acts as an infinite baffle .

[jasound]

What happened to Eddie and Frank the old rhythm section.
I was engineering a session for singer songwriter Troy Newman with Greg Ladanyi producing
at Megaphon studio and the band was the Baby Animals without Suze.
They worked their asses off. I think we got up to take #60 of one song
With Ladanyi shouting out "pocket pocket, gimme the pocket, it's not in the pocket.
One of those combinations of players/people that just have something special when they play together.

It's funny that feeling after a big session or tour, where your left feeling a little
empty after every bodies gone. Jim it sounds like the spirit of rock'n roll came to visit
for a little while.

[Simon B]

All mics were used ! Dave emptied the cupboard ! The only mics untouched were a couple of U87's. Usual suspects all around .

I meant what got used on guitars an vocals an all the geeky audio stuff like that.

[blackfoot]

SIXTY TAKES ! Ouch ! This lineup had no problem finding pockets. 6 takes max ! Average 2.5 songs a day for rhythm tracks . Like I said they had their shit together & it was good shit. It was pretty much a month of chuckles all around. The days were not long except for a few late night inspirations. Some nights Dave Leslie didn't want to stop. He was pulling some monster sounds from a 3 amp rig in my large room.

OK , for the geeks
Compressors used were Pendulam OCL 2, Q8, Distressor, Brooks,Langevin & LA 2

4 pc Kit in 4x4x3 mtr room
Snare t/b. sm57
Toms t/b. 421
Kick. 421
Oh. 414eb
Hats. 414eb
St room. Shoeps mk4
Mono room. RCA 77d

Dave amp rig in 6x7x4 mtr room

1. U47 fet & 201
2. Sm7 & 906
3. Sm57 & pedro ribbon
Acoustic. Neumann 103

Suze amp. 906 in 2x5x4 mtr room

Suze Vox. & BV Sm7 & Neumann 103

Bass Brooks di

Hammond. Crown SASS

percussion. 421 & SASS

[DarkSky]

OK , for the geeks...

Great to get the run-down on gear choices - thx Jim! Looking forward to hearing the results.

Interesting about the 103s. Are they new acquisitions (the studio mic list doesn't seem to mention any 103s.

Also interesting that a couple of 103s were chosen over the U87s. It happens, but not would be expected in certain quarters...

[Simon B]

I am pretty sure its a TLM 170.

Their face book page has a photo of Suze singing an even though the mic is a little blurred there is a Polar pattern selector on the back of the mic visible.

Their Page also has a picture of Dave in front of his amps an pedal boards. 2 of those amps were handmade in Sydney.

[blackfoot]

Definitely a Neumann TLM 103. Dave Leslie owns a u47 fet,a 103 & an sm7. They recorded some demo vocals at home on the 103 & they were keepers so Chipper wanted to match that. Chipper had to deal with a bit of " Demo Love" on some guitar & vocal tracals. Fortunately they were well recorded & pretty easy to match & fly in. At least one of Leslie's amps was a Reynolds.

[blackfoot]

Sorry about the upside down picture. I was told by both David's that we were using a TLM 103 on vocals, but on closer inspection of the photo it does look like a 170. I dunno, I'm old & forgetful. She sounded great whichever mic it was.

[Simon B]

The Doll House amp is a Reynolds Valveart made in Windsor. The Mi Amplfication is made in Camperdown. The other amp is a 65 amps London..... I think its the london.......

Here is some clips of Leso playing the Iron Duke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLPgSUfVBcE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKziQpKlQb4

An a little bit of trivia.

Suze's Tele is the actual Tele used in the movie Hold the Line.

An here is a photo of Suze while at blackfoot sound.

[obutcher]

Nice one for the updates Jim. No doubt the album will sound huge!

[DarkSky]

She sounded great whichever mic it was.

I have a couple of TLM170s here and they are a great mic - lovely detail and beautifully smooth without the signature honk that some LDCs suffer from. Had a pair of 103s here for a while too, and they were a bit more picky with vocals as to who they worked on - but on the right voice the 103 can shine.