Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 28, 2009 Members Share Posted September 28, 2009 For those of you who may not have heard Phil O'Keefe's engineering/mixing skills on a direct basis, I invite you to check out his work on the most recent track from my upcoming Zak Claxton album. "Thanks Anyway" The song may sound pretty unremarkable; it's a pretty simple pop tune. But if you heard what the "before" and "after" comparison was like, you'd be pretty amazed. This was one of those songs that if something bad could happen, it did. Timing issues, tuning issues, intonation issues with the lousy singer (aka, me), holes in the arrangement... it was all there. With my blessings, Phil not only did an amazing job with the mix but also (wearing his co-producer hat) made some crucial additions that completely made the track congeal. Anyway, if you guys didn't know Phil beyond being a forum mod, let me assure you that he's a bona fide engineering genius, and I've worked with enough engineers to know this for sure. :phil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 28, 2009 Don't gimme no . I could have worked with a lot of different people on this, and choosing you was the best decision I ever made. Get ready to slate me some time in 2010 for Zak Claxton 2: Electric Boogaloo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VSpaceBoy Posted September 29, 2009 Members Share Posted September 29, 2009 Sounds good nice job.. I'll tell you though, when I first turned it on I was like "Whoa there is some weird phase issues" lol. Then I realized it was on purpose. :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 29, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 29, 2009 "Whoa there is some weird phase issues" lol. Then I realized it was on purpose. :poke: Yup, that's the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted September 29, 2009 Members Share Posted September 29, 2009 It's not, like, a plugin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Yeah, it was a phase shifter plug-in. Frankly, it was easier to just use a plug-in on the acoustics than it would have been to run them out to the pedalboard, and then back into PTHD. Not that I was being lazy - I had other things that I needed to do on that track, and since using the plug-in got me what I wanted, I saved myself a bit of time... but if I had been dissatisfied with the plug-in, I definitely would have run it out to say, the Lovetone Doppelganger on my board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted September 29, 2009 Members Share Posted September 29, 2009 I really can't wait to hear the rest of this, and to hear what you've done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted September 30, 2009 Members Share Posted September 30, 2009 Phil is a tasty dude! I keep hearing cool tracks he's done, thinking perhaps i should intern a bit over there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CME Posted September 30, 2009 Members Share Posted September 30, 2009 Triangle solo at 1:25! Awesome. and Kudos on a nice mix. I dug it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Yeah, my big triangle solo. I thought for sure Jeff was going to ask me to take that off, but he liked it, so it will probably stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 30, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2009 Yeah, my big triangle solo. I thought for sure Jeff was going to ask me to take that off, but he liked it, so it will probably stay. I specifically told him that it MUST stay. See, with Phil, you get more than an knob-twister. You get a triangle virtuoso as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Don't gimme no . I could have worked with a lot of different people on this, and choosing you was the best decision I ever made. Get ready to slate me some time in 2010 for Zak Claxton 2: Electric Boogaloo. I look forward to it. Are you really going to use that as the title for the second album? As you know, I tend to get a bit embarrassed with kudos, and am not all that great at self promotion or tooting my own horn (which probably hurts my "career"), but I know full well that you had plenty of engineers you could have selected for the project (including your more than qualified self), and I am sincerely humbled and honored that you decided to work with me. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 Eh, that's awright, I'm not so good at that kind of thing either. But you're doing what you love to be doing and that's what's truly important. And we'll sing your praises for you: Phil rulez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kendrix Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 It doesnt sound like polished turd to me. Only you are aware of the ugliness involved in the sausage making process. That's as it should be. Good Recording engineers rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 2, 2009 Members Share Posted October 2, 2009 But if you heard what the "before" and "after" comparison was like, you'd be pretty amazed. This was one of those songs that if something bad could happen, it did. Timing issues, tuning issues, intonation issues with the lousy singer (aka, me), holes in the arrangement... it was all there. With my blessings, Phil not only did an amazing job with the mix but also (wearing his co-producer hat) made some crucial additions that completely made the track congeal. I finally got around to hearing it - my internet's been down due to a little remodeling in the kitchen - and given what you are describing here, Jeff, it's impressive. Quite frankly, I forgot that you had said all this, so I simply listened to it thinking that it sounded really great. It was only after the song was over that I realized that it had tuning and timing issues and that kind of thing. Wow!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 5, 2009 It's really amazing what Phil did here. I mean, don't get me wrong; the song was pretty good to start with, and that's important. But there's a lot of little detail work... stops and starts, different feel in the verses compared to the chorus, and I'll be the first to admit that we didn't capture it perfectly. But what I got back from Phil was way beyond what I'd expected. We're now just a couple mixes away from finishing the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 We're now just a couple mixes away from finishing the album. Actually, we're done. Well... at least with the mix adjustments and digital versions. I still have to run off the analog versions - sometimes I like to feed the board outputs into a analog reel to reel, then provide both the analog and digital versions of the mix to the mastering engineer - but that's a fairly straightforward process I can do in an hour or two. Scheduled release date: 12/11/09 Congrats on the completion of your new album Jeff. It was a blast working with you. Let's do it again sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.