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ROGER SOMMERS RECORDING TIPS

When you learn from the masters, you’ve got a fair chance of becoming one yourself. Modesty would prevent US producer, engineer and mixer Roger Sommers from declaring himself as such, but his track record certainly puts him in the big league. In the eighties and nineties, Roger worked under the wing of acclaimed producers like Bob Rock, Bob Clearmountain, Ron Nevison and Neil Dorfsman, where it’s fair to say he learned a thing or two. Some of the artists he has worked with since include Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, KD Lang, Don Henley, Rod Stewart, Ry Cooder, Van Halen and Alanis Morrisette. Australian Musician’s James Manson was thrilled to have the opportunity of asking Roger his thoughts on the humble process of home recording.

How important is monitoring for a home studio? Can good reference speakers make your mix sound more professional? In other words, do home recording, semi pro guys & gals need to spend a packet on monitor speakers? I see NS 10’s are now selling for up to $900 American dollars on e-bay.

Good reference speakers can make a significant difference in the quality of one's work absolutely but, regardless of whether you have the bread for a great set it's still a good idea to use several different reference platforms (Car, boom box, other persons hifi, a really good set of headphones,etc..) as that way, you stand a better chance of finding big tonal imbalances or realizing that what sounded good on one set of loudspeakers may not translate as well on to another.

I got turned on to the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones quite a few years back and they have saved my ass more times than I can remember. I don't do much actual mixing with them on, but when I think I have something feeling pretty close I will always listen to a pass with the HD 600's, and invariably end up better off as a result. I also get good results mixing through a Sony boom box with a line input on it, which I feed from the desk output through a nifty little +4 db balanced to -10 db unbalanced conversion device. It's way more representative of what most folks will end up listening on , and I can listen to other people's work which I admire on the same rig as a check to see if I need to fire myself and find another career, or if I can keep mixing.

I don't think it's absolutely necessary for folks working at home to blow a small fortune on a set of expensive monitors as long as they have several sources they can reference on, and a good enough level of familiarity with what they've got, so they know how to compensate. If you think about it, we've been using NS-10's for twenty years or so now, and the whole time we have all contended with the fact that they're too bright, have somewhat inadequate low frequency response, and tend to accentuate the presence of things like vocals and snare drums more than other systems. After you listen on them long enough, you just get used to them and involuntarily compensate somehow.

Do microphones such as a Neumann 47 really have that something "magic" compared to an SM 58. I have heard of Bono tracking in the control room with an SM 58, so surely the vocal talent is more important than the actual hardware?

It's always nice to have a lot of good tools to choose from but it really is way more about the person standing in front of (or holding) the microphone than it is about the microphone. With all due respect to all the wonderful singers out there, I haven't come across many people in my particular travels who actually know how to sing into a large diaphragm valve microphone, it's a skill unto itself and the last person I worked with who could truly do it was kd lang. She was amazing and knew exactly how far to stand and how to move in relation to the mic to create her own dynamic changes; skills that people had to have when those microphones were first widely used and compression wasn’t as widely used. I always carry a Shure SM-7 around with me and that is almost always where I will start when recording a vocalist, they can grab it, they can shout into it, they can swallow it, and I don't have to de-ess the daylights out of the results like I would if I had put a C-12 or a 251 in front of most of the folks I encounter.

I think the biggest advantage of an SM-58 in the control room is that it’s less intimidating, the foldback balance is usually much more exciting for the artist, and the communication between artist and producer is infinitely better. A lot of singers really feel uncomfortable with headphones and not being able to get the right foldback balance; it can make an enormous difference in the quality of the performance if they’re comfortable and inspired. If you set it up properly, the spill into the vocal track is usually not too bad.

Seeing as you have great experience recording guitars, what is your opinion of Amp simulators such as Amplitude etc? Do they have a place in professional recording? Your thoughts on microphone techniques for Amps.

I think all of the simulation plug ins are worthwhile on some level but, I still prefer to record something that actually moves air with a transducer that responds to those movements. I often use Amp Farm to change the character of a sound, or " put some hair on something" but I have yet to record a D.I. guitar and only use the simulator to get the results I’m after. (I actually use amp simulators way more often on drums and vocals than I do on guitars) Maybe I’m not approaching that technique properly, as there are folks out there who swear by it, but I haven’t yet gotten it to work for me.

Microphone techniques? The most important one is to first use the microphones strapped to the side of your head and stand in front of the guitar/amp combination to see if the source is doing what it needs to be doing. If the tone coming out of the amp is sub standard, no microphone or clever placement technique will salvage the sound. I will mess with guitars, amps, and pedals, etc for a while to get an interesting/appropriate/exciting tone before I start grabbing mics and stands. Having said that though, I love ribbon mics on guitar amps and own eight Royer 121’s which have proved invaluable to me in the last few years. They handle lots of SPL and always provide something worthwhile (though I do sometimes cover the back of the mic with something as they are, by nature, bi directional and sometimes I want better off axis rejection).I also still lean on Senhheiser 409’s, Audio Technica 4050’s, AKG 414’s, Neumann fet-47’s when they’re around and (here it comes again….) the Shure SM-7. I tend to use mostly close miking and just move the mic (s) and try different combinations of mics until it feels right. Look, if the part is right, the guitar player can play it well, the instrument is properly set up and intonated, the amp is dialled in properly, it really isn’t that hard to get good results.

I guess these are dime a dozen questions now because they are asked all the time, but I’ll enquire anyway. Ha! Tape vs Digital? Hardware vs Plug Ins?

Tape still has the sonic edge in providing desirable non linearities and "glue" but it’s really quite costly in today’s world of ever shrinking budgets. It’s a digital world we live in now and it provides us with a level of flexibility that we have all come to rely on (sometimes too heavily). I have cut my fair share of 2" tape and I really don’t miss it to be honest ( I still have a few good scars on my left hand from the blade jumping out of the splicing block and me slicing my hand open all over somebody’s master……), Pro Tools is an incredibly powerful creative platform and it has enabled to me make cost effective records with young bands (and especially their drummers) that I probably couldn’t do if I was still working exclusively with analog tape. I still have yet to find a plug in that surpasses the efficacy and sonic integrity of the hardware box, but it’s wonderful to have both, and to be able to combine them if necessary. I’m still a firm believer in getting it right at the front end, before it goes into the box; treating the DAW like tape recorder and using the plug ins further on in the process; maybe that’s just my archaic old school thinking getting the better of me, but give a pile transformer based mic pre’s, limiters and equalizers any day rather than an unprocessed signal and a bunch of software emulations of…… er…….. um…. transformer based mic pre’s equalizers and limiters.

Your favorite compressor? Should novices attempt to use compressors? Any hints on simple compression use?

I’ve been monkeying with compressors for a very long time and I still learn new things about compression all the time, which is simultaneously very exciting and very frustrating. Every time I think "okay, now I really know how to work all these silly boxes", I come up against something that puts me back in my place and I feel like I know nothing all over again. The thing about using compression is you really need to listen to the attack and release (especially the release time) times and it’s a skill that not everyone naturally possesses; it takes time and patience for many of us to tune in to what a compressor does. A good rule for simple compression use is to remember that you can always compress more later but, if you apply too much "squashing" you can’t really reverse the damage. Sometimes it’s best on individual instruments to do some pretty gentle peak limiting and then apply more later if necessary. George Massenburg once told me (okay, he yelled but that’s just George and we love him….) that the key to using compression properly is to listen to the release time, and he’s right.

I have a lot of favourite compressors, I love the Focusrite Red 3, the Empircal Labs Distressor, the Alan Smart C2, and the older discrete Neve 32264’s and 33609’s. I also used a unit made by Joe Malone in Brisbane recently that was astounding, and I must see about owning one at some point soon. Okay, I know what you’re thinking, "this guy is naming off all of this really expensive stuff, of course it’s good!" I also think the FMR " Really Nice Compressor" (not very expensive at all, about $400 Australian dollars) is a MUST HAVE unit. I have a few of them and use them all the time on Drums, Bass, you name it. They’re great, they’re stereo, and they’re easy to transport. I also get a lot of mileage out of using cheap stomp box compressors (MXR Dyna Comp, Boss limiters etc..), or sometimes expensive stomp box compressors like the one made by Demeter in the states called the Compulator, that thing is amazing, and it’s got a really neat blue LED that’s guaranteed to impress all of the chicks that are constantly hanging around recording studios…(ha! If you believe that one I have a bridge to sell you).

I have worked with engineer/producers who were complete assholes and this translated to the end product. I have never met a truly great engineer/producer who wasn’t also a truly great human being. From your humble reply to my request for some of your valuable time and your success in your career, I assume you to be a member of the latter group. Is it important to have a sense of humor/patience to be great at what you do creatively? Any classic stories on having to bite your tongue?

Sadly, I have met, worked with (and been tortured by) a number of brilliantly talented people who were not particularly kind or genuinely empathetic human beings. Talent and intelligence don’t always come in the same package much like talent and kindness don’t. I have always admired those who were good at what they did, and simultaneously treated those they worked around with dignity and kindness. Patience and understanding are absolutely vital, especially as a producer, as your jib is basically to get to know a group of people on a rather sensitive human level in a very short time such that you can determine when they are doing their best work to achieve their vision. A good sense of humour is an invaluable tool in the creative process, there’s no question about it. I really don’t want to work with anyone who doesn’t have a sense of humour; if you’re going to be with the same group of people in the same room for 12 hours a day you really need to be able to laugh occasionally, or you might as well be doing something you hate for better money. The music "thang" (I don’t even feel comfortable calling it a business in the context of this discussion) often attracts a lot of very insecure people who take themselves WAY too seriously and are burdened by an over inflated sense of self importance. I’ve dealt with more than a few people who equate what they’re doing (making music, making records, feeding their own narcissism, etc ) with " saving lives" and that approach gets old reeeeeeeeeaaaaaallllllllly quickly. I want to do good work as much if not more than the next person but not at the expense of my own sanity and not if I have to work with people take themselves too seriously and treat others badly.

How big a role does marketing play in what we as consumers decide to buy so far as music equipment? I know of musician colleagues who would not be caught dead using anything that wasn’t a name brand. Behringer springs to mind when I think of good quality hardware at a price that makes technophile snobs turn their noses up in disgust.

I guess that depends on how many "gear porn" mags you read and how much attention you pay to what the adverts and reviews say. I think the pro/semi pro equipment manufacturers have done a wonderful job convincing all of us that our lives can’t possibly be worth living unless we buy their boxes full of integrated circuits and blinking lights. Personally, I rely much more on a recommendation from someone who’s work I admire than I ever would on a magazine review but, I’m fortunate in that I tend to hang around recording studios with lots of geeks like me who have no lives and nothing better to do than obsess about overpriced boxes full of integrated circuits and blinking lights. As far as gear that is less of "status symbol", it really is always about the pilot more than it is about the plane, and I know a lot of wonderful recordings done with non top shelf gear. I own two Behringer Edisons and the Behringer Ultra Bass and use them in mixing all the time.

How have you coped with the evolution of recording and where do you see recording in another 10 years. Does software like Apples Garageband make you nervous? From a magazine/design point of view, anyone who can run a few filters in Photoshop now considers themselves a graphic designer. There is some bad, bad graphic design out there at the moment. Is music production heading in this direction?

Certainly the bar has been lowered, the reverence and admiration for the actual craft of audio engineering has diminished dramatically, but these are different days and we humans are connecting with popular music in different ways that we have in years past. When I was a teenager, me and my geek friends would obsess over our stereo equipment and the way things "sounded". I don’t think very many people are all that concerned about the sound of something, purely for the sake of it anymore (if the widespread acceptance of the sound of MP3’s is any indication, then there’s no turning back, we’re doomed, "welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order"?…). As long as a track is exciting and has impact it doesn’t really matter what it sounds like a lot of the time. Having said that, I still prefer great sounding recordings that have had attention paid to them but, I have also been touched and moved by recordings that , quite honestly, sound like crap. If the song is a great song and the performances support the song, than it really doesn’t make AS MUCH difference.

I wouldn’t say that software like Garage Band makes me nervous as much as it makes me excited that someone is going to write some really extraordinary music which they will partially "sketch" in Garage Band and then I will get to participate in helping them take that music to the next few levels (and quite possibly keep a lot of the work they’re already done). The advent of inexpensive uber powerful digital workstations is sometimes analogous to giving guns to the natives but, I actually think it’s a healthy thing that more people are exposed to the technology and as a result hopefully become passionate about creating and recording music. To me, the technology is just a tool and can never replace the human contribution made by those who have an innate connection to music, and the craft of recording it. I know what I bring to the party in terms of my approach to song craft, my ability to recognize great hooks, and the years of experience I walk in the door with; so, please pardon the hubris but, no, Garage Band doesn’t make me nervous at all.

From an engineering point of view, there are so many audio tricks/techniques that can be applied to average material to make it sound interesting, do you think the artist has become lazy/uncreative? Does an artist have a say in the direction of their material.

Yes, I would have to concur that those who know something about what powerful tools exist in the record making framework will often lean too heavily on the technology to save them from having to do certain hard yards. I also think that there are a lot of very switched on, ultra creative, talented people out there who make the technology work for them and use it to augment rather than replace their input. Then there is another group of very creative folks who manipulate the technology in a fashion that enables them to use it as an actual instrument. I think there’s some pretty remarkable creativity going on a lot of hip hop records I hear, and I often marvel at the unique and clever manner in which they approach things, as I know I would never in a million years have come up with the same thing. If you’re referring to the proliferation of devices like Auto Tune and Melodyne, well I hate having to tune more than the occasional note or two of a vocal performance but, I’m glad that I can do that instead of having to endure endless frustrating weeks/months of someone who just can’t hit one or two notes bursting into tears or hating me because we can’t get the line that we have all agreed is the best melody for the song. I like the fact that the technology can help keep the band together, I hate the fact that the very same technology has clogged our culture with an overload of dilettantes out there making records who quite frankly shouldn’t even be allowed to buy them. Okay maybe that’s a little strong but, Jessica Simpson, and her "ilk" should pay double for the records she buys…how’s that?

Of course artists have say about the direction of their material, at least the ones I try to associate with, but I don’t very often get the call to work with the disposable pop diva type who is merely using his/her good looks to get a fifteen minute musical career off the ground so that she can use that level of temporary celebrity to get an acting career happening, make bad films and be in bad television. Those are the folks who don’t have much say in their material, and unless someone was willing to pay me an exorbitant fee (and I was writing at least some portion of the material) that has little or no allure for me. If we’re going to call someone an "artist", then in my opinion they would absolutely have to be involved with their creative output, otherwise they’re just …… ……… er ………. um …. I dunno, but they should probably just get into the acting thing straightaway and leave the music for those who are genuinely moved and driven by it.

What do you listen to in the car/at home?

In the car (and those of us who reside part time in Los Angeles spend a lot of time in their cars) when I can stomach it I listen to a lot of public radio to try and stay aware of what’s going on in the world; it’s really the only chance I get for many weeks on end sometimes. Unfortunately, these days in the US it’s so very frightening that I sometimes can’t hack it and often have to revert to listening to music (what a concept, eh??). I’m home so little that I tend not to listen to much music there but, now that I have an ipod and have put virtually my entire music collection onto a dedicated computer I find myself hitting "random" on itunes and rediscovering my love for music purely as a fan. I never though that I would get off on hearing Black Flag and old Kiss alongside Def Leppard, Rufus Wainright and Aimee Mann but, it works for me and it’s really very inspiring. The data compression certainly makes the music much less interesting sounding and one dimensional but, just to have on in the background it’s wonderful.

A favorite musical experience?

There are many for me, I’ve been very blessed. I’ve been having a pretty wonderful experience for the last twenty years, and I hope I can get another twenty out of it before I have to go to work at the drive through window at McDonalds or sell pencils on the street corner.

Your first ever engineering job?

How do we qualify job?? I was helping friends make demos with a TEAC 3440 four track when I was about 14. The recordings weren’t any good but we had a lot of fun. I was making a reasonable living in the early eighties recording a bunch of mostly rather cringeworthy metal bands from the Sunset Strip but, I was a hack until I started working at the Record Plant in 1987; that’s when I really began to understand what was involved. Does that answer the question….er…… …..um…  …… ….probably not, eh??

How important is mastering for the final product? Why do outside guys end up mastering? Should this process not also be up to the engineer/ producer. Have you ever had a master come back that has made you bury your face in your hands?

Okay, let me start by expressing my opinion that too many people confuse mastering with mixing……….more on that in a minute.

I’m of the opinion that you don’t call the plumber to work on the electrical even if he wires up houses in his spare time; you need to call the specialist in for the important tasks. When I’ve obsessed over a record for a number of months I want someone with an objective opinion to weigh in, especially if I trust them and admire the work they’ve been associated with. Mastering folks (at least the handful of good ones who just do that style of work and began by cutting vinyl) sit in the same room every day, in front of the same set of loudspeakers, with the same really expensive signal chain, listening to pretty much nothing but two channel stereo mixes of records. If those guys don’t know when something comes out of their speakers that does or doesn’t sound "like a record" then I don’t know who would.

No, I have never really had a bad mastering experience but I always try to be present at mastering and to work only with people whom I trust.

What are your tips for bands embarking on their first studio recording?

I know there are a number of folks who would vehemently disagree with me on this but, I think that the most important part of any recording, especially for a young band, is what they do before they get into the studio and the clock is ticking. This process is commonly referred to as pre production and though people vary widely on their approach to it, the common idea is that you all work together to have a cogent idea of the building you’re about to build BEFORE you show up to build it. I would rather spend a month working on arrangements, tempos, keys, parts etc, than burn a bunch of money in the studio and end up with sub standard work because we were unprepared. There are VERY few bands around these days that would merit the approach of merely "taking an audio snapshot of an inspired moment of spontaneous genuius" or "setting up the mics and letting the tape roll", though I’m keen to find some and make some and make a few records that way. When I meet with bands who are overly drunk with romantic ideas of the record making process and have been bamboozled by myths, legends and other fairy tales I usually get a bit worried. There is a very happy medium between the technology making a record and the humans using the technology to make the record without tying their hands behind their collective backs; each situation requires a unique application of the "craft" (yes, the craft of record making…) and my experience has always proven that the pre production process helps to find that unique approach more than any other phase.

If possible, I always advise that bands record their rehearsal/ preproduction work as often as they can and continually listen back to get a level of objectivity. This way, they can become more adept at self editing and learning how to help each other do their best work. With the veritable plethora of inexpensive digital recording devices available today (and all the older second hand stuff that can be had very inexpensively), pretty much anyone can afford to cobble together some sort of recording device that will enable them to put a mic in the room and document what they’re doing. You can tell the drummer all day long that he/she is losing tempo after the middle eight but until that drummer steps out from behind the drum kit and can actually hear something other than their cymbals (anybody ever stop to wonder why most drummers can’t hear above 5k by the time they’re in their twenties???) they probably won’t believe you. Recording rehearsals is absolutely invaluable, especially if you take the time to actually listen back.

What should these bands invest in? Good studio or Great Studio? Good mastering or Great mastering? Etc

At the risk of repeating myself, it really isn’t about the studio so much as it is about the person flying it, and the connection/understanding that person has with the artist regarding their vision. I would always recommend a great studio if someone can afford it, but that scenario is often very intimidating, and sometimes its best not to take that approach. You can get spectacular results with less than spectacular gear/studio if you plan things properly and inject a bit of ingenuity. Bands that have a pretty solid drum foundation (which is the case for most rock bands) certainly need to insure that they can get solid, punchy basic tracks, and that can often be determined by the quality of the facility they were tracked in, but it’s still , ALWAYS more important that the arrangements, parts and tempos are right for the songs and that goes right back to pre production. Ten years ago it was pretty difficult to fix poorly recorded or unexceptional sounding tracks, these days with all the fabulous technology out there you can usually salvage a sub par recording if the songs and performances (make sure your guitars are intonated well and your parts are in tune all you guitar/bass playing types out there, out of tune guitars ARE NOT COOL, and can’t be fixed after the fact I don’t care what anyone says!) are right. And that leads me to a wonderful segue to my next point………

With all due respect to all of the wonderfully talented mastering folks out there, all the mastering prowess in the world is not going to fix bad mixing and improperly balanced tracks. Taking bad mixes to get mastered is like hiring a great house painter to come paint your manure hut gold; underneath the gold paint, it’s still made of manure and will collapse once it encounters a heavy rain. I find that a great many people are confused about what the mastering process can, and can not achieve. Mastering is really just about the last chance for 2 channel (unless it’s multi channel surround) EQ and limiting, as well as getting the individual songs to match in level and feel so they hang together as a coherent body of work. I would strongly advise against people deluding themselves into thinking that mastering is going to save lame performances/production and especially, bad mixing. ANY worthwhile mastering engineer would agree with that, it’s really just common sense once you understand how the pieces all fit together. I was having a chat just yesterday to Rick O’Neill who is unquestionably one of the premier mastering dudes in Australia, if not internationally as he does world class work, and he sends people home more often than he would like because their mixes aren’t useable. He told me that the other day he had to send someone away to recall their mix and turn their lead vocal up 10DB! Obviously, some people don’t realize some of the differences between mixing and mastering.

The moral of the story/diatribe?? Preparation and pre production are crucial, spend your $$$ on tracking solid drum/basic tracks, do your overdubs somewhere less expensive, and get your stuff mixed by someone who knows what they’re doing (and has the experience to tell you when you need to rerecord something or leave it alone) and can hand you a mix that the mastering engineer barely has to mess with except to make it a bit more exciting and add a bit of sheen to it.

Is Trevor Horn a genius and what was he like to work with? (Sorry, I had to throw that one in.)

I wish that I could have worked with him more, he was a gentleman and, the consummate professional on every level. He was very kind to me, and considering that he is "music business/record making royalty" he had no airs and graces about him whatsoever; he just wants to do good work…..I love that. He definitely comes at things, first and foremost from a very musical platform, and leaves the technical aspects up to the people he’s hired, and he has certainly earned that luxury. Trevor Horn really understands great hooks, and he knows the anatomy of a great pop song and the pivotal melodic components contained therein; he is a savant, there is no question about it. He’s a fabulous vocal producer, and got exceptional work out of the folks that we were working. What can I say, he’s unquestionably one of the few record producers I’ve worked with or been around who motivated me to think ,"when I grow up , I want to be something like him, and sadly, I can’t say that about very many people.