Ok, here ya go, first question...

[Kevin]

I have been a fan of your work for many years now and in regards to your heavy metal projects, you always seem to consistently achieve an extremely punchy distorted guitar sound and overall things are very clean sounding and "snappy." For instance, take Nevermore's "Dreaming Neon Black," or all the projects that you worked on with them, the guitars are punchy as hell. Same with Exhumed (which is way detuned, tho, but that tone is killer!), Spiral Architect, which is really crisp, and same with some of the Novembers Doom stuff I have recently heard. Do you get this from the microphones you choose or do you compress the hell out of the guitars or what? Thanks!

Kev

 

[NK]

I don't always use the same technique for every album, because I think that each record needs to have its own character. That means I'll assess the treatment necessary per project. I always try out an array of mics, finding the one that works best with the sound we have. I also try out different speakers, amps, guitars etc, as necessary as well. It's a building block process, sort of a process of elimination so to speak. Quite often a mic/speaker combo will work really well for one guitarist and not as well for another one, depending on a number of factors like tightness of palm muting, tuning, gauge of strings, the type of part (chugging/open chords etc) that's being played etc. Everyone's touch is different, so I always try tailor the sound around each individual as opposed to going in with a sound in mind.

I don't use much compression on anything.

 

[acorredor]

Neil:

Regarding your approach to compression, when do you decide "this needs compression!" for example on toms and lead/rythm guitars... what kind of compression do you use on snare/kick for fast, heavy stuff, like Nevermore for example.

Thanks a lot!

 

[NK]

I just use it when I think it needs it, to either even out nasty peaks a bit, or to add punch to stuff. I like using the compressors on the SSL for mixing. Distressors can be fun too.

Neil K.

 

[acorredor]

Thanks Neil!!! Well, i don´t have access to a SSL board (there´s only one in my country, in a private studio), if you were to mix an album on Pro Tools, what plug-ins would you use on drums, bass and guitar.

Thanks a lot!!!

 

[NK]

Hey..for some reason I'm not getting alerts to posts here...so I'm sorry for the delay in replying.

Actually, as of now, I don't mix within Pro Tools so I've not been in that position yet. However, I've been doing more and more stuff in PT recently, especially automation etc. so I'm sure I'll end up using more and more plugins. I do use them for specific effects of course, but for the most part I'll do my EQing on SSL or Never consoles.

Neil K.