Matt Taylor, “Naked Eye”
Recording Magazine, March 2007
Equipment: eMac, Steinberg Cubase SL,
Plugsound Global VST, M-Audio Omnistudio USB, PreSonus Comp 16, MIDI Composer Quickshot keyboard, RODE NTI. M-Audio Studiophile BX-5 monitors, Takamine acoustic guitar, hand percussion, Squier bass
Music: "Naked Eye" is a male vocal acoustic based song with a singer/songwriter sensibility. Matt wrote, performed and recorded the track.
Recording: Wow! This is one serious "throwback" to a simpler, gentler and more psychedelic time. Think early Seals and Crofts mixed with the Youngbloods and Marty Balin ("Today") era Jefferson Airplane having a hoot at Donovan's place and you would be on the right track.
We had to check to make sure that there wasn't an 8-track half-inch (dbx or Dolby, your choice) machine in play here somewhere! Matt has delivered a mix that has a presence so in keeping with that era that its almost unnerving. The acoustic guitar has a 'heavy pick on slightly dead string' sound that was typical of that time— stories abound how various elements, including barbeque sauce, were applied to strings in the studio in order to combat that pesky "new string" sound during that era!
Matt's bass tune and performance are also "of its time." In the absence of a drum kit to provide an anchor, the bass is free to wander, and wander it does, in a slightly over-compressed fashion, that places it front and center in the mix. The vocals, particularly the lead, are uber-present, and suffer from sibilance. However, unlike most of the compressor/limiter-based sibilant artifacts that have become a pox on modern recordings, Matt's problem sounds (to our ears) more the result of structural issues, or the clash of his voice with the hyped high end on his vocal mic.
The minimal hand percussion is delivered dry, and once again has a presence that exaggerates its role. The overall effect of all of this is something like a football game where no one lines up in the backfield on offense (hey, it's almost Superbowl time as I write this, what can I tell ya?). So...
Suggestions: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, folks! Or as another brilliant singer/songwriter once put it, "One man's ceiling is another man's floor." The mission statement of this column is to assist, and whenever possible, to help its readers to discern, learn and ultimately to progress as recordists. Style police we are not, nor shall we ever be. That being said, we suggest that Matt back off the compression on his bass guitar, in a mix this sparse, it should find its way clear by frequency alone. Regarding the sibilance, a dynamic or ribbon mic may be a better choice for the vocals. Summary: Where'd we hide the turntable!!
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