Production Notes - Satta

Being an engineer means that sometimes you have to know how to be only that; an engineer. The temptation to produce is sometimes irresistible, but watch out for pride that overpowers reason. You may be missing out on learning some great producing chops.

SATTA recently came in to Surreal Studios. They are a Reggae Hip-Hop band looking for a deal. I engineered, and SATTA produced. Of three songs only two made it to tape. The third was attempted on three different days and in Tom's words, "This one just doesn't want to be put on tape." So that song was called on account of rain. (It DID make it a few weeks later, but that's another story.)

Not many bands put this much effort into demos, but Satta was absolutely certain what was needed out of these songs. These were for college airplay (gigs) and record company submission so they had to be top quality.

We started on the first day by loading the songs into the studio sequencer. The keyboardist and I both use a no-nonsense IBM sequencer (Voyetra SP Gold) that does everything you tell it to do without crashing. The tape was SMPTE striped, the sequencer locked to the tape and we were transferring tracks immediately. At the most, we put over a stereo submix of a few sounds at once; kick and snare, then a layered bass, then a few tom fills, etc. A total of about 12-15 tracks were sent over in this fashion, laid as hot as possible on an analog 24 track with Ampex 499 tape.

Vocals were sung by Cellis (AKG 414 through a UREI limiter 4:1 compression) and used as both a guide for the guitar and as a final vocal. In the mix a little high end was added with the board EQ and an old Aphex.

Sax was recorded through the 414 and blended with a Sony C37 for a mellower tone. But it turned out that a first take with the brighter 414 alone was a better performance. So it was used in the final mix with some rounded lower EQ .

Daris' guitar parts were taken either directly to the board or miked in stereo with Sennheiser 421/441s in the guitar room. I like those microphones for their tonal quality and jackhammer transient capabilities. There is a certain mix level for all instruments where they become suddenly present. Any quieter and they disappear and any louder and they eat their neighbors. Transient guitar parts are better when miked because the spikes even out a little in the mike. In this case, the guitars only mixed in well at one level.

Without really mentioning it we used virtually all first takes. The fact that these were sequenced tracks made it important to catch a live feel on all of the overdubs.

They knew enough to let me spend a few minutes setting the song up before they came in to mix, and then they let me take the time to get the sounds they wanted. But let me reiterate, these were the sounds that THEY wanted. I've been doing this for fifteen enough years and I know who is working for who. My job is to give them what they ask for. If something is not happening that I think ought to be, such as a slight swirl on the sampled backgrounds with a flanger, I'd do it but not really announce it. If it worked, great; I was adding it while they were listening to other things. If it didn't work, no big deal. I didn't waste any time either way.

Occasionally there would be a studio glitch such as routing not happening or running out of headroom. All of these were dealt with easily, in this case by routing directly to the back of the effect, and by lowering the output gain from the VCAs. Maintenance was performed as soon as they left and the studio was totally pristine and shiny in the morning, ready for more abuse.
I generally knew what their direction was for the songs, but making that happen took some focused listening. The low end was scrutinized and evened out and was soon pounding away as good hip-hop reggae should. The MCI automated mixer enabled us to sit back and listen to progress without having to memorize fader moves.

We compared the mixes to other CDs and tapes of hip-hop reggae and discovered that everyone else mixes for a "boxy" sound. We wanted this on our mixes, it provides Punch. A quick trip through an external EQ and stereo compressor set to 2:1. gave us the sound. Then the mix was re-settled into position with some further tweaking on the board EQ and with some automated level adjusting. We would mix a song for four or five hours, make a copy and take it home. The next day any screwball things we noticed on other speakers were dealt with and the mix was committed to DAT. Total time spent for 2 songs - 19 hours.

So what did SATTA do that was so impressive? Quite simply they brought in their talent, opinions and experience and asked for a sound that matched their vision. I engineered it and let the session unfold.

These are some of the best tracks laid down at Surreal and it's to SATTA's credit that they took the time to make it happen. They all showed respect for everyone's opinions. And I really think that Cellis' "Fat Boy Style" clams played a large role in getting the right mix.

Kurt Riemann owns Surreal Studios AND is the President of the United States.