I'm recording a band from Madrid next month. Anyone here from Spain?

[chonchball]

I don't have much advice as I don't know Spanish, but my old band did record an album in the south of France, so I've experienced the language barrier in a studio environment.
As others have said, the most important thing is to speak slowly, trust me on that one. Simplify certain sentences and try not to use complicated English (but don't be a condescending prick either). Show the guys a good time (when not working hard) as this may be somewhat of a "career highlight" for them.
Looking forward to hearing the end result!

I do have a few things planned for them actually. They will be here during the Woodward Dream Cruise which is a world famous annual classic car cruise here in Detroit which is literally two blocks from my house. I also plan on doing a fair amount of grilling to end a few of the days, and probably trying to have them come out to my gigs as well because I still play out during recording schedules (even though my body hates me for it!)

what was is like recording in France? I would love to go there.

 

[digitaldeath]

what was is like recording in France? I would love to go there.

It was fantastic! Our album was tracked in Cox In Hell Studio (ladybird in French is coccinelle I believe, hence their logos etc.) by Charles Massabo from Kallaghan Studio who we met on tour. Have a look at the photos on the Cox In Hell website and I think you'll find more on my old band's MySpace page (check my sig).
The surrounding scenery was fantastic as we tracked in this small down in the south of France. The weather was unreal, made it tough for me when tracking the drums though, us Irish don't handle hot weather very well!
We booked 10 days, finished tracking in 8 so we went to Nice and Monaco to enjoy some time off! Overall, it was a great (working) vacation and I'm sure the Spanish band you're producing will have a similar story to tell when they return home!

 

[Rex Rocker]

Jamón Serrano is not just ham. Jamón Serrano >>>>> Regular ham.

 

[DanLights]

Jamón Serrano is not just ham. Jamón Serrano >>>>> Regular ham.

truest post ever. Amo el jamón serrano!!!

 

[wishtheend]

Hand gestures? Thumbs up, thumbs down?
Maybe find who in the band has the best english - and designate them to be translator. Only other advise is, try to use simple phrases (they may not get our slang) and be very attentive to their reactions/emotions.

Who knows, you both might come out of this with a little extra language skills.

 

[acappa]

Wou! What a susprise!! Inbred and my band share the same rehearsal room, and we are good friends too.
A few questions, for what I know the will only carry their baggage and instruments, no amp, so:
- Which amp will you use to record them?
- Which mic/micing technique?
- Will you use a TS ??
- Triggers and samples on drums??

They are pretty damn good people I hope you´ll enjoy the experience with them.
If there´s any issue, don´t hesitate in ask me thru private, as far as I have their phone numbers too aha...

Good luck man!!

 

[chonchball]

How very cool!
I don't know exactly what amp I'll be using for them yet, I'll try out a few to get the right tone. My go-to amps are my Rivera Knucklehead II and a 5150 II that I have here. I use a TS with the 5150 II, but not with the Rivera. The Knucklehead just doesn't need it. It's so beautifully controlled and contoured
I rented a Star Classic kit to play the album on. I definitely want room sound to play with (especially the snare reaction in the room and the stereo image of the cymbals as well as a fig8 MS about 10 feet in front of the kit), but the closeup mics will probably mostly get replaced/augmented with SSD3.0. That's the route I go with for metal. We all know it needs to be inhuman, consistent and PUNCHY. The only metal record I got away with not augmenting most of the kit was The Informant, but that has yet to get released. There's a cool feature on the recording of the drums for that album on sickdrummer.com a few issues back. I think the March issue.

I'll most likely use Kick 15 or Kick 5 prerferably. The Steven Snare sounds real good as an augment, so I may try that with the Star Classic snare in the room. I just have to see how everything sounds when they get here. For mics I will probably try throwing an RE20 on a bottom speaker for the meat of the guitar, a 421 on the edge of the speaker for the low punch and a 57 near the cone for the high clarity. I have a pretty elaborate set up for doing bass these days which I won't go into detail about, but I guarantee the bass will be SICK

I'll keep you updated on the recording if you'd like! It will be about 2 weeks worth. Such a small world here on the internet!