Joey Sturgis FAQ

[ahjteam]

In similar fashion as I did for Collective Questions to Andy Sneap, lets get this out of the way so that we won't have to repeat the same questions 7 million times. This thread is meant for all the random questions for Joey, so don't make your own threads for them, but instead post them here. This interview might cover some of the questions, but here are some more:

Rules

Rules are really simple:
- I will list the answered questions in the first post about production techniques
- First read this first post (and preferrably the full thread) to see if your question has been already answered or asked!
- No questions that do not DIRECTLY apply to Joey and/or could be just as well be answered by someone else!
- You can buy his drum samples from here, but no begging for POD presets or other settings etc! If you want a starting point, try this unofficial patch
- No questions that are related only to a certain gear, band or people, but more general questions about production techniques as possible. Make your own thread for those.
- For album specific questions, check this sticky
- No questions related to money. period.
- I am a moderator of Joey's forum. Behave or I'll ban you.

Answers so far (updated December 5, 2011)

Joey:

- Joey Sturgis was born in Jan 3rd 1985 and started recording in 2004
- He is (edit: single), doesn't drink or do drugs
- Likes blue tits better than green tits
- His twitter account is @joeyismusic and would like you all to #FF him on Fridays.
- He runs The Foundation Recording Studio in Connersville, Indiana.
- If you want to record an album with Joey, email his manager Craig Ericson at craig@riserecords.com, but his waiting line is long and he has listed some (old) info on the myspace page
- He sells drum samples
- He is currently not being endorsed by any company, but would really like to be endorsed by drum heads, strings, and guitar making companies. *wink wink*

Drums:

- Uses Roland triggers
- Records almost always the mic signals too nowadays, not just the triggers, (eventho he did say that at some point)
- Sometimes programs drums, but only as last resort kinda thing
- Doesn't use bottom snare mic anymore
- According to Jeff (who does the drum edits) the newer tracks have had mono room mic
- Uses his own and Steven Slate samples
- Answer on how he tracks drums
- Answers on tracking drums
- Uses Cubase's stock reverb, Roomworks SE, but doesn't always use it
- Pans the drums from audience perspective (hihat on the right, ride on the left)
- Uses/has used VGST GClip and/or IK Multimedia Classic Clipper to smash the transients on snare
- Uses subtractive eq and Waves Max Bass for tonal shaping the drums (tips for eq)
- Joeys old processing tips for snare
- Video explaininging how he edits drums
- Uses magic tricks

Bass:

- Bass processing varies a lot and "it really depends on the band / song / part"
- Hates tracking bass too
- Uses UAD Nigel and preflex a lot for bass, here is his old settings for it
- Old chain

Guitars:

- Uses Line6 Pod Farm 2 (Platinum) for all guitar related stuff
- "The patch" (unofficial)
- Answer on his signal chain.
- Doesn't use dual tone feature on Pod Farm because of the phase problems
- Records guitars going to Countryman Type 85 DI-box and then into RME Fireface 800
- Always double tracks guitar. Has tried quad tracking, but never does it again (follow up)
- Use same amp sound on both sides
- Hates recording guitars
- Doesn't like real amps
- Answer on recording stuff at half speed
- Hard pans guitars
- Talk about pickups
- Uses a limiter at the end of guitar chain NEW

Synths:

- Uses a lot of different synth stuff

Vocals:

- Answer on how he tracks vocals
- Answers about vocal effects
- Mixes vocals separately from the music
- Uses autotune, doesn't use Melodyne
- Old answer what he did on the Oceano's album

Other gear related:

- Joey is a PC user
- Doesn't use reference monitors, just Adam A7's, but sometimes reference listens in his car
- Used Steinberg Nuendo/Cubase for a long time, then bought Pro Tools HD3 rig, didn't find it working for his workflow as he used a lot of virtual instruments etc and switched back to Cubase.
- Has recorded at 24bit and 48khz, but nowadays records at 24bit 44.1khz
- Says his favourite piece of gear is RME Fireface 800
- Uses Steel Series XAI mouse
- Uses SSL for glue

Misc:

- Joey's tutorial on group mixing
- Answers about the final RMS levels
- Requires demos from bands and other answers about his work methods
- Mixes as he goes
- Mixes into a mastering chain
- Doesn't distort the mic input
- Doesn't record stuff in half speed
- Has outsourced some of the production stuff to other people
- The most common mistakes people do when trying to be "the next Sturgis", but think it's cool that he can inspire people
- Interview with AudioGeekZine that answers many questions

 

[DanLights]

About bass, he has mentioned his bass sine wave trick, but AFAIK that´s pretty much all he´s said about his bass processing/tracking methods, so the rest is pretty much in the dark for now.

 

[Williamn]

Its also known that he likes (or atleast did in the past) nigel/preflex from UAD on tje bass.
Would love to try it out, but I have no plans to get a uad card anytime soon.

 

[Harley Barley]

the few times i've read about the bass i remember people asking "Do you use Pod Farm for the bass as well?" and he would say "no i rarely ever use Pod Farm for bass i always do something else "

i could be wrong tho but thats the impression i was under.

 

[CAlexanderParra]

- Do you usually double or quad track rhythm guitars?

He double tracks because he believes quad tracked guitars aren't as defined...I think.

 

[pipaguapique]

Nigel on the UAD 1 card is what i remember...i also remember him saying that the Bass Driver in Pod Farm "rocks!" but im not sure if he use it on bass or what else.

hey venezuelan, would you care to elaborate a little more on the sine wave trick, or do we have to wait for him to explain that?

 

[CAlexanderParra]

hey venezuelan, would you care to elaborate a little more on the sine wave trick, or do we have to wait for him to explain that?

It's pretty simple really, for bands that tune down pretty low you just midi out the bass track note for note. Then apply a sine wave generator/synth to it and low-pass it to 200hz or where ever you think it's necessary to get rid of the fart-tastic harmonics if present. You now have super stable low end.

I tried this with a bass track that was already guitar pro'd and it worked flawlessly. Just had to edit to match the live playing more and it was solid.

 

[DanLights]

hey venezuelan, would you care to elaborate a little more on the sine wave trick, or do we have to wait for him to explain that?

The explanation said by joey himself has been quoted in the AS forum a few times lately, but I'm too lazy to search. He said you take the originally recorded bass track and process exactly like you normally would, Eq and everything, and then at the end of the chain highpass it so it has pretty much no lows, then use a sinewave for the low end like Alex explained in the post above me

 

[joeymusicguy]

In similar fashion as I did for Collective Questions to Andy Sneap, lets get this out of the way so that we won't have to repeat the same questions 7 million times. This interview might cover some of the questions, but here are some more:


Endorsements:

- Are you endorsing any companies or products?

No, but I wish I had some companies behind me. I would really like drum heads, strings, and guitars. Those are the things that are always giving me a fucking headache.

Guitars:

- Do you still mainly use the Pod Farm for guitar tones or do you use real amps nowadays?

I use Podfarm 2 for anything guitar.

- If yes, do you still use the Tubescreamer > Cali Diamond Plate > Threadplate cab > U87 mic as a starting point for the heavy rhythm guitar tone (as I had collected here), or have you found something better?

I have found something better. and I'm not a one trick pony despite what people think. People will find 2 or 3 recordings that are similar and call me a one trick pony. The problem is they have yet to explore my discography where I have come up with many different tones or sonic characters. In short, I don't do the same thing every time.

- Do you usually double or quad track rhythm guitars?

Never quad. There are few albums where I tried it out. I will never do it again, unless its for a production purpose (like recording a chorus with regular chords, then layering single string root notes over top of it).

Bass:

- Everybody always seems to be interested on the guitars, but nobody ever seems to ask about the bass. What do you usually do to it?

It really depends on the band / song / part. Some songs end up with different tones spread throughout. Bass is one of those things you need to listen closely to... Some notes can have a higher RMS value and become louder in sections where it shouldn't. You have to monitor or listen for these situations.

The big deal breaker with bass is intonation and editing. If you nail those two things, the tone is easy to create.

Drums:

- When watching videos and pictures of your earlier recordings, you recorded drums mainly with triggers + overheads and not with mics. Then you used Steven Slate samples (and especially Kick 10 and Snare 12A) before you started doing your own samples from the kits. Do you still mainly record with triggers or do you record the miced signal?

I will record mic signals almost always, unless I know for sure it would be pointless to do otherwise. It is ironic that a lot of the video's that get the most famous are weird situations that don't have much to do with what I would normally do, or don't reflect the average recording situation. That being said, I am practical. If I don't need a mic here, I'm not going to set one up. There are a lot of bands now days writing music with computers, and coming into the studio with a drummer who's never played any of the songs. In these situations, I am not going to waste production time letting the drummer learn the songs into the microphones.

Synths:

- What synths do you mainly use?

I use a lot of virtual instruments... East West stuff, Project Sam, Prominy, Native Instruments, Spectrasonics, etc. etc.

 

[ahjteam]

Oh yeah, another question that came into mind... what kind of crew do you usually work with and what is the stuff that you always do yourself? I understood you have for example outsourced some of the editing jobs to Jeff Dunne for example.

 

[joeymusicguy]

Oh yeah, another question that came into mind... what kind of crew do you usually work with and what is the stuff that you always do yourself? I understood you have for example outsourced some of the editing jobs to Jeff Dunne for example.

Jeff Dunne does all of my live drum tracking edits, IE: quantizing. He sends it back to me completely quantized and consolidated, and I do the rest from there.

Nick Sampson sometimes records the guitars and bass in my studio in place of me, because I simply hate this part of recording and would rather pay someone to do it. Production ideas are still covered by me in pre pro by scratch tracks, or added after Nick is done with it.

The rest is always me. There are some albums where Nick did vocal edits, but that no longer occurs because I edit vocals immediately right after I record each take now.

I enlisted Brian Hood to edit drums on one occasion because I was pressed for time and was working with protools.

 

[norris6969]

About bass, he has mentioned his bass sine wave trick, but AFAIK that´s pretty much all he´s said about his bass processing/tracking methods, so the rest is pretty much in the dark for now.

He only used that sine wave trick on the new Emmure album.

 

[eternally_gutted]

I have found something better. and I'm not a one trick pony despite what people think.

could you give some info about what are you using for guitars?
i´m asking for general info like if you´re using the dual option in pod farm and what amps yo use.
(i´m not asking for a pod patch...)

thanks,

 

[ahjteam]

could you give some info about what are you using for guitars?
i´m asking for general info like if you´re using the dual option in pod farm and what amps yo use.
(i´m not asking for a pod patch...)

thanks,

patch = bunch of settings = exactly what you are asking



I updated the first post. If you have any other general questions, shoot. Here are some that came in to my mind that might be beneficial to many:



- What sample rate and bit depth are you using? have you tried some of the higher bitrates like say 88.2khz or 192khz and if you have, did you find any benefits?

- What is your favourite piece of gear and why?

- How do you usually track vocals?

- You said on the guitar pickup thread that you hate tracking guitars. What about bass, do you track them or does it fall under guitars?

- What do you think are the most common mistakes people make when they "try to be you", and how do you feel about it when people actually idolize you so much that they try the be "next Joey Sturgis"?

- I remember reading from Facebook that you said that you use the stock reverb from Cubase (Roomworks SE?), is this still the case? If yes, do you use it for everything or for example just for drums or just for vocals?

- Once way back when we were accusing you using "too much audible autotune" on the sneap forum then you made a new version of the same clip and I heard this effect that still sounded like autotune pitch glitch, but you said there was no autotune in the clip and that it was chorus effect. So what kind of processing and effecting do you usually do for vocals?

- You released some solo material, like "Chasing after Dreams", "Young At Heart" and "The Ocean, Forever" (I'm honestly really digging your voice on them btw ) Can you make a place where can we get them collectively like on your website or something?

 

[eternally_gutted]

patch = bunch of settings = exactly what you are asking

nah, it´s a general question. if he uses dual amps or another different amps? i think that is not a patch.hahahaha.

 

[joeymusicguy]

nah, it´s a general question. if he uses dual amps or another different amps? i think that is not a patch.hahahaha.

Usually I stay away from Dual Amps. There's phase problems. And delaying in MS (milliseconds) isn't good enough to get that "magic spot" in the phase

Also, I always use the same amp for rthm gtrs on each side. So there's never like... a 5150 on the left and a mesa on the right. People who do that give me a headache. Its not cool, it just makes your recording sound lop sided.

 

[jipchen]

Never quad. There are few albums where I tried it out. I will never do it again, unless its for a production purpose (like recording a chorus with regular chords, then layering single string root notes over top of it).

I asked it generally in another thread, but this time I'm interested specifically in your opinion:
The typical metalcore song are two guitarists playing *mostly* the same riffs, especially the verse.
Chorus, bridge, intros etc. may differ - one guitarist playing a melody while the other one plays the rythm, for example.
So for these songs, do you record 1 track for each guitarist only, because they're playing almost identical things?
Or would you double track each guitarist so there are 4 guitar tracks in the end?
Sorry if this is already what you meant, not shure I got it right. May also be a question of what the song requires. Thanks in advance.

 

[Seth Munson]

He only used that sine wave trick on the new Emmure album.

I don't think so

 

[eternally_gutted]

Usually I stay away from Dual Amps. There's phase problems. And delaying in MS (milliseconds) isn't good enough to get that "magic spot" in the phase

Also, I always use the same amp for rthm gtrs on each side. So there's never like... a 5150 on the left and a mesa on the right. People who do that give me a headache. Its not cool, it just makes your recording sound lop sided.

thanks for your info joey, i appreciate it a lot.

some questions:
- do you still use a preamp after the cab in pod farm 2?

- different amp in emmure and devil wears prada ep? i was listening the miss may i monument album and i feel the Cali amp but in those new two albums the guitars have a different sound.

thanks,

and yes, i get phase problems when i had the pod with different amps and cabs in pod farm in dual mode.

P.D. it´s curiosity, because i have not the pod/pod farm anymore.haha

 

[Sixstringmayhem]

I asked it generally in another thread, but this time I'm interested specifically in your opinion:
The typical metalcore song are two guitarists playing *mostly* the same riffs, especially the verse.
Chorus, bridge, intros etc. may differ - one guitarist playing a melody while the other one plays the rythm, for example.
So for these songs, do you record 1 track for each guitarist only, because they're playing almost identical things?
Or would you double track each guitarist so there are 4 guitar tracks in the end?
Sorry if this is already what you meant, not shure I got it right. May also be a question of what the song requires. Thanks in advance.

i too would like to know...

for example for a break down. are there two guitars chuggin on each side? two guitars on left two guitars on right?