Lovely view from today’s ride up into Arsina
#ModernAge
Baccalà con bietola – un piatto Toscanissimo!
Every color all at once
Today we wrapped up mixing the new @vanessa_peters album “Modern Age” and I couldn’t be more stoked about this record! It’s loud, fun, happy, hopeful, urgent, and straight-up rocking. Not a sad song to be found – just 40 minutes of in-your-face hard-driving pop/rock.
This album was originally planned to be recorded at an amazing studio in Texas with @joereyesmusic producing and @coil_audio engineering, but when covid hit we had to change plans. Instead we’ve assembled 11 tracks that we recorded all over the world while we were out on tour – on two continents, in four countries – USA, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Instead of going into the studio, we recorded in farmhouses and barns, and I mixed it in a corner of my bedroom.
The magic on this record comes from our face-meltingly good band the Electrofonics – @matteo_patrone on keyboard, @ciancaguitar on electric guitar, and @andrea_colicchia on bass – who brought their joy of music and their exceptional musicianship to bear on every song. The result is super energetic and tons of fun.
And of course the magic also comes from @vanessa_peters who brought us 17 songs that we recorded, and winnowed down to this core of 11. Vanessa’s songcraft and killer voice are in top form on this album. We wished we could put all the songs on this one record, but felt it was best to be punchy and concise. I can’t wait to share this record with you!!
Wonder which mic to use for recording vocals at home? One option is the trusty SM58. Unscrew that nappy windscreen and put up a decent popscreen instead, hit that baby with plenty of EQ and compression, and enjoy! Dynamic mics like the SM58 capture a lovely midrange texture that is unique to this style of moving-coil microphone.
For this application I actually prefer the brighter, airier Beta 58 to the original, but both will work. The trick is to get rid of the metal mesh + foam windscreen, which covers up & distorts the treble (and creates problematic plosives). And don’t be afraid to heavily EQ! For this application (guitar based pop/rock) I am using +7dB @ 5KHz and – 12 dB @ 200 Hz shelves, and tons of compression for an edgy, biting vocal that cuts through a dense guitar mix.