Collective questions for Mr. Sneap -thread

[Machinated]

got a couple of questions:

andy - i think your drum sounds are what set a lot of your mixes apart, even from some of the big name mixing engineers. You have spoke before about your OH's, generally about placement and micing - is there anything else you are doing to achieve that seperation you get? I have noticed you get fairly consistently good OH sounds whether it be on stuff you have tracked, or stuff you have only mixed. as a kind of side question do you find yourself notching out any annoying frequencies in OH and room mic tracks?

also a more simple question:

when you are using drumagog/drum rehab etc, are you printing these tracks off, or running the plugins real time?

 

[Fragle]

"when you are using drumagog/drum rehab etc, are you printing these tracks off, or running the plugins real time?"

i *think* i recall him saying that he's printing the tracks rather than running the plug all the time....maybe because it's easier to correct the mis-triggers that way, imho.

 

[Pot]

I have another one.
When you build your new studio, did you call some specialized companies to do the works on it or did you do some works by yourself? Do those floating doors/windows work well for soundproofing?
Your studio looks very very cool.

+1

 

[Via Noctis]

Andy, I have read you mention 2 of the most metal moments on record that never actually happened. Dare I ask what they were?... may be a PM... It is driving me nutz..

edit: sorry, I just realized this post has nothing to do with his production techniques.

 

[ElektricEyez]

Ive got this killer little thing called a mouse it makes the pointy arrow move in front of me!!

Wow dude! That's crazy and here I was thinking that you did all your automation with a DAW controller, especially since mouse automation is a pain. I would think that being able to put your hands on each fader and mix like that would be so much easier. But I guess if the board reacted slow, then it defeats the purpose.

I just finished watching a documentary with Tom Dowd of Atlantic and how they used those old school knobs and only recorded a full band with 1 mic in mono cutting directly to records, then after awhile they got 8 track and he built a board with faders and finally tape. I know that was irrelevant and off-topic, but it's just a trip how far recording has come.

 

[aramism]

i'm sure this has been answered before, i couldn't find it but...

aside from amp/cabinet/mic what other factors are involved when you record guitars. do you keep the cab in a big live room or a small dry one. you mentioned there's carpet with a lot of sand under it or something along those lines earlier. do you find that dead space helps the sound. ie do you every use moving blankets to deaden an overly live and reflective room. reason i ask is because one of the rooms i have is a drum room i mean its small like 200sq ft or so but its pretty live in there and maybe killing some of it helps tighten the sound? even when close micing?

 

[Morgan C]

When mixing (something that you've engineered), do you find yourself doing a lot to it, or just a few minor tweaks to make it all fit nicely. I always find myself doing a LOT of fixing in the mix, and I remember Joey saying that he barely does anything in the actual mixing process - he's working with Slate samples and a damn good POD tone so there's not much more to do.

Do you find yourself 'fixing' a lot of stuff in the mix, or are your recordings so damn good that you don't have to? On that note -- what are the chances of us getting like a 30 sec sample of RAW drums from you? Even if its just you playing.. I would kill to know what the difference in quality is between amateur and pro recordings... since so much can get changed/replaced during the mix process.

 

[GeertSamuel]

When mixing (something that you've engineered), do you find yourself doing a lot to it, or just a few minor tweaks to make it all fit nicely. I always find myself doing a LOT of fixing in the mix, and I remember Joey saying that he barely does anything in the actual mixing process - he's working with Slate samples and a damn good POD tone so there's not much more to do.

Do you find yourself 'fixing' a lot of stuff in the mix, or are your recordings so damn good that you don't have to? On that note -- what are the chances of us getting like a 30 sec sample of RAW drums from you? Even if its just you playing.. I would kill to know what the difference in quality is between amateur and pro recordings... since so much can get changed/replaced during the mix process.

Sort of same question I had on the previous page...so yeah..
+1 to this one... really curious how your engineered drums sound raw..

 

[aramism]

+2 to morgoe

and +1 to mine

 

[greyskull]

well... in that case Andy; ill trade you the studios barely used except once in a blue moon Mackie 32 8 in an argosy desk for your control 24....

worth a try innit

 

[gabriel g.]

1.Hey andy, Steven Slate wrote, that you use his drumsamples (or at least have them) .
Did you use them on a record? and when the answer is yes, can you tell us on which one?

2.When you are micing a guitar cab with one sm57, how close do get the mic to the speaker?

3. What do you think modern-metal will become in the next years, I have the feeling that all the killswitch engage rip-off bands are dying.
But I dont have the feeling, that this emo-metal-autotuned-angel-singing-breakdown bands will survive the next years...

So I´m very interested in what you think as a real PRO

thank you very much for all the answers!!!!!
It´s amazing that you take the time for us

 

[Via Noctis]

Andy, On the recent video posted you mentioned bringing the rhythm guitars down during the solo. Do you do that during heavy vocal parts too?

 

[rcg]

1.Hey andy, Steven Slate wrote, that you use his drumsamples (or at least have them) .
Did you use them on a record? and when the answer is yes, can you tell us on which one?

2.When you are micing a guitar cab with one sm57, how close do get the mic to the speaker?

3. What do you think modern-metal will become in the next years, I have the feeling that all the killswitch engage rip-off bands are dying.
But I dont have the feeling, that this emo-metal-autotuned-angel-singing-breakdown bands will survive the next years...

So I´m very interested in what you think as a real PRO

thank you very much for all the answers!!!!!
It´s amazing that you take the time for us

I'd like to know too. +1

 

[ahjteam]

Oh yeah, another question popped into my mind...

Andy: How much time do you usually use with an album?

 

[DanLights]

I say +1 on the question about where do you lowcut the bass, and if you normally do kick or bass lower? all other questions are pretty valid too. As everybody has said before Andy, it's great that you regularly take your time to answer all these questions, thanks a lot!

 

[Fox Mulder]

Mr. Sneap, how do you go about ear-care, have you ever gone to an audiologist?

 

[The-Zeronaut]

Mr.Sneap..could you remember what Wah pedal was used on Doomsday machine (and if possible...in their last dvd)?
seriously that album has the best lead tone EVER.PERIOD.
the leads sounds so fucking big and epic (and in their last DVD live too)

Do you usually use the same type of reverb in the leads? (plate , spring , hall , room...etc etc)

 

[Metaltastic]

Mr.Sneap..could you remember what Wah pedal was used on Doomsday machine (and if possible...in their last dvd)?
seriously that album has the best lead tone EVER.PERIOD.
the leads sounds so fucking big and epic (and in their last DVD live too)

When it comes to leads, that's where I really gotta say the tone is mostly in the fingers (way more than rhythm IMO), but still, Andy's wizardry definitely helped, and I agree, the lead tone is godlike on that album! I'm just saying, I doubt knowing what wah pedal was used will really help anyone in achieving it

 

[The-Zeronaut]

When it comes to leads, that's where I really gotta say the tone is mostly in the fingers (way more than rhythm IMO), but still, Andy's wizardry definitely helped, and I agree, the lead tone is godlike on that album! I'm just saying, I doubt knowing what wah pedal was used will really help anyone in achieving it

i asked for the wah pedal not for the sake of getting that awesome tone myself (im a fucking noob production and guitar wise)
i just fucking like that wah sound (in the last dvd is awesome) and im planning on getting a wah pedal for the home studio in the future

Seriously i have wet dreams with this lead tone





Sorry for the offtopic

 

[AshM]

Hi Andy, just a very brief question.

For guitars, do you ever use 2x12's or only exclusively 4x12's?

Cheers