How to Make Your Recording Sound Like the 1950s

[@Mario_DiSanto]

What do you think? Did it sound like a recording from the 50s? Song Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKKcn6aZlLZpq68 ~Chapters~ 0:00 - Introduction/background 0:55 - Track Quantity/Live Room Setup 3:59 - Microphone Selection 5:48 - Outboard Equipment (Pre-Amp, Compression, Effects) 8:37 - Editing (Splicing, Overdubbing, Bouncing) 11:13 - Talent in the Room 13:52 - Embrace Imperfection 15:16 - Song Excerpt (Pretty Girl) 16:03 - Last Comments

[@epicgamer9766]

I think it does! great stuff!

[@noeqplease]

You should listen a little bit more to 1950s records. For your vocal, you need to enunciate better, that was a big part of their performances. Sibilance was an issue then as it is now... so watch your plosives and sibilants, and the EQ on the vocal. Vocals were also WAY out front.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

@@noeqplease Thanks Nicholas I appreciate the input. I think you are absolutely correct with your assessment. I should have used a better example of a song for this video as the song itself isn't exactly "50s" sounding by any means. Thanks for watching!

[@GoodnightIrieMon]

You did a great job. I would only say that you left out the most critical aspect of the recording: the source/material. For example: Though mass produced in the early 50’s, the electric bass really isn’t commonly heard on 50’s recordings. Though hard to believe today, in the 50s the electric bass was considered a novelty. An upright bass would have served the purpose much better. I know you’re trying your best with what you have on hand -which was your main point. Guitarists love distortion but in the 50s, that was largely avoided. Not to say no recordings had it, just that it wasn’t as common then. Your recorded track came close but the presence of electric bass in addition to the more modern rock-like rhythm guitar strumming made me mentally place your track in the early-mid 60s. Overall, you nailed it.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

@@GoodnightIrieMon Mr. Ninja, thank you very much for you feedback I greatly value your input. I totally agree with your analysis of the sound as well. The biggest regret I have from making this video is not choosing a better source material to test this recording method with. The truth is I recorded the song presented in this video months before I had the idea of making this video, so I didn't think a lot of the small details through. I listen to A LOT of 60s garage rock so the influence there is very obvious with my guitar playing and song structure. I am considering doing a redux to this video where I make two big changes. First being the song I would record would be much more 50s style (probably do the standard "Doo-Wop" chord progression). And secondly (and more importantly) I would record the song using my two track tape machine and record each track individually using the "sound on sound" method used at the time. I'd record the drums on one track first. Then play guitar along with my drum track and record both sounds onto the second track. Then play bass along with the second track and record that onto the first track.. etc etc, I think you get the point. This would actually be how it would be done in the 50s rather than using a 16 track machine. I have a list of like 2393 other video ideas I want to make before then but I'll get there eventually! Cheers, Mario

[@adamrichards3174]

In the 50s, unless they had major label money, most studios were still mono. Sun records being a prime example of this. Nearly all of their recordings from their heyday were recorded with a handful of mics, mixed live, and recorded to two mono Ampex tape machines (one being used to feedback the signal to the other for their signature slap back echo). Even major labels like RCA didnt usually bother with recording rock n roll in stereo until well into the 60s.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Absolutely correct! Sun records is always a fascinating studio to learn about. I will add that even though some studios were "capable" of doing stereo mixes in the late 50s and early 60s, it wasn't worth the effort just yet as a vast majority of playback systems were monoaural (AM radio being the glaring example). It wasn't until Hi-Fi home systems became popular where stereo playback was even a possibility. Thanks for commenting, Mario

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Was about to say that.

[@larryfine7316]

I had mono once it was awful

[@lordofthemound3890]

@@larryfine7316I prefer mono if I’m listening with headphones. A little stereo separation is okay, too much separation gives me a headache.

[@larryfine7316]

Thus isn't what you're talking about but some songs/bands are mixed in a way you could with an old stereo pan left and hear bass drums pan right hear lead and drums or something say the band slayer or the Beatles. Yea I make silly comments but cheers for great subject and musicianship. Thank you again

[@TheRudySchwartzProject]

This is really well done, Mario. Very nice job. Your recording actually sounds more early-mid 60s than 50s. You should make up a fake band name, Photoshop a fake 45rpm label, and stick it somewhere on social media as an obscure 60s garage band record. I suspect it would fool a lot of people. I'm surprised you didn't mention Joe Meek. That guy was doing some weird shit in his recording studio before he went nuts and killed his landlady.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thanks Joe I appreciate the feedback. You are spot on with the sound being more 60s, in retrospect I should have specifically went for a 50s style tune for this experiment. Funny you mention Joe Meek too, a buddy of mine just turned me onto him a couple months ago and I have been subsequently obsessed since. I love when an artist creates something that has never been heard before (precisely why your music stuck out to me); experimentation is key for a home recordist. And you may be onto something with the fake garage band 45....that's actually right up my artistic alley. May have to run amok with that idea. Cheers, Mario

[@TheRudySchwartzProject]

@@Mario_DiSanto Well, you sort of alluded to Joe Meek when you mentioned the heavier use of compression in British pop music during the 60s. I'm not a British pop historian by any stretch, but it wouldn't surprise me if he were the first to have done that. He also was extremely innovative with regard to using the ambient spaces in his flat to achieve unusual reverb effects. I assume you've heard "I Hear a New World", but there's also a jazz album he produced that's worth checking out (Moondog and Suncat Suites by Kenny Graham): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHjJgXuCqt-Ji5o

[@Mario_DiSanto]

@@TheRudySchwartzProject Just listened through it, excellent stuff. There's so many things to learn from Joe Meek as a producer.

[@GoodnightIrieMon]

That was my impression as well. Much of the intended sonics are there but he’s performing with an obvious rock (no roll) influence. That made it sound like a lost 60s garage band and/or something you might find on the Nuggets compilation box set. Think 50s style songs and arrangements -THEN how to record it.

[@jamesknox3107]

@@Mario_DiSanto Check out Humphrey Littleton's Bad Penny Blues, engineered by Meek when he worked for EMI - good explanation in the comments of what Meek did on this recording to make it burst out of the speakers and sound so fresh. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp-ml3iwlt53bK8.

[@robbytheremin2443]

I was born in the 50s and I'm also a musician and a retired engineer. Like others have said, it does sound closer to 60s music, but I don't think that's a problem. In fact, it reminded me of early Jefferson Airplane and I really liked it. It also earned you a subscriber. 👍

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Robby, it's an honor to be compared to Jefferson Airplane. Only thing I may be missing is Grace Slick's vocal pipes! Thanks for watching. Mario

[@Alex-Defatte]

I'm a big fan of the 50's and 60's sound. You captured the rock side of it very well in Pretty Girl. Sounds great!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Alexander, Appreciate the compliments. Mario

[@JDMacias]

If u are a fan of this music you should check my music

[@BradYaeger]

I did something similar , but modeled of Sinatra's early Capitol recordings. It was a ballad , and no orchestra but the overall vibe was the goal. Didn't have access to one of the classic Neumans so I sang into a Royer ribbon mic we used for overhead. Talk about needing SERIOUS breath control! . It's fun to do this kind of thing. The limitations really push you to focus and get it right the first time instead of just fixing it later. And that energy truly transfers onto the recording

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Amen. Where can I hear this recording? Mario

[@BradYaeger]

@@Mario_DiSanto Its on my channel, "Peoples Key" . Used "In The Wee Small Hours " as a template. I even wore a suit to record!

[@craigshewchuk9018]

You're right about the musicianship, it's fun to get the tracks down with no cuts all the way through, it sounds the best still, get it done one take, doesn't need to be first, but one whole one. It makes a difference

[@h.p.dominocus]

I recently wrote a song in this style and wasn't sure how to go about getting the right sound since I only have experience working in rock,metal, and prog music. This is the exact video i was looking for. Also, I can't wait to finally use my 60s era Oliver tube amp on a recording!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

That Oliver amp is going to do you just right man! Thanks for watching. Mario

[@ditmarvanbelle1061]

Yes. The art of putting down 4 mics in strategic locations to somehow capture everything. Once the setup is adequate, roll tape and let the magic happen. Being GenX, I of course had an 8 track (missed the fifties by several decades) but we still caught drums on 3 channels and that was enough

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Ditmar, I have always found 3 microphones to be adequate enough for my drum sound (bass drum mic, snare mic, and overhead mic). The only thing that suffers in this setup are the toms, but you can compensate by accenting those drum strokes during your fills. This is what a good drummer should be doing anyway when playing live in a non-microphoned venue (or in a live room recording session such as this). An experienced drummer knows how to balance their volume across the whole set. A really good example of this can be seen in John Bonham's drum tracks. He only had 4 mics on his set (in the early days at least) yet you can hear the toms well in the mix. This always starts with good dynamic control by the drummer. Mario

[@elwrongo]

great song and you've nailed the sound of mid to late sixties psychedelia to my ears, fab work

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you very much! Will be posting more videos like this soon. Mario

[@luismartinez6408]

he didnt write that song.

[@herfuzzyness]

what a wonderful video. learned a lot, and feel so inspired by how straightforward the recording process was back then. sometimes the tendency of modern music to hyper-edit feels intimidating, and i forgot it could be this simple. your point about the air in a room being a natural compressor is so helpful. and of course i love your many beatles references 💛 thank you for a wonderful lesson, looking forward to seeing more of your work! ✨🤗🌟

[@Mario_DiSanto]

You're very welcome!

[@jbonillaguitar]

that final recording sounded like Night Beats 👍. More 60's psych than 50s rock in sound and style imo

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Just checked out that band. Their levitation session was amazing. Mario

[@andriusl2163]

yeah, as Mario said, amazing. Good tip Taco

[@ryanluchuck8445]

Great job Mario! So much knowledge. Took me decades to figure out half this much.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you for the feedback Ryan!

[@billymcguiremusic]

Had this pop up in my feed, and it's such a great video. So much info about 50s style recording, and I enjoyed the song! It sounded a bit more "recent" than the 60s, but still had some vintage vibes to it.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thanks for watching Billy! There will be more videos like this in the future. Mario

[@msb8013]

I've been recording these ways for years. I kind of hope it becomes popular someday. I hope somebody finally labels my kind of genre. You can't call it bedroom music but I've recorded in a lot of bedrooms.

[@amibeingdetained3417]

Great video, love the concept and run down. There was only one thing that didn’t rub me the right way and it was what you said about compression: in a closed mic situation where you end up getting MORE peaks, that would be less so like compression and more like maximization. With an open mic situation, you saying that the sound is more even Sounds a bit more like compression. In other words I think that a more focused sound wouldn’t automatically mean a “more compressed” one. Either way, love what you did here and I hope you can one day do one on 1970s recordings!! There’s nothing like that hard hitting American vocal mic grit that you got out of cheaper 1970s recordings!! (A good example of what I mean is Gil Scott Heron’s “Lady Day and John Coltrane)

[@amibeingdetained3417]

Another way to describe what I was saying: I think by saying “the air would act as a natural compressor by giving you a more even response of the instrument, therefore acting as a compressor” is really the only thing I have qualms with. By not close micing, (and not recording from too far away obviously), you are in essence getting a more natural set of harmonics/frequency response from the instrument. Yeah of course you’d get peaks from close micing, and it may sound more clean, but once you say more peaks I’d say that’s the only thing holding you to that statement. Yeah, compressors remove peaks and even things out, but at the EXPENSE of the natural dynamics/frequency response of the thing being recorded. I know I’m being nit picky here hahah, but I do think it’s an important thing to keep in mind when thinking about compression!!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Although you are being slightly nit-picky, I must contest you bring up a fair point. When I made that statement in the video I was only refering to the peaks of the signal being recorded. I wish I was able to edit videos after they were posted to KZbin so I could make clarifications like this. Although, the technical details of what you are mentioning might be a little 'too much detail' for the average viewer. I also plan on doing a similar video for the 1970s (and 1960s) so be on the lookout for those (and other recording "tutorials"). Thanks for clarifying the validity of my statement, Mario

[@TempleOfUtopia]

The best thing about this video is that you're teaching people how to set up real analog recorders and really simulate an old studio, most videos out there are telling people to use plugins which is so unoriginal and dumb

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Ain't no fun in plugins!

[@CharlesFloyd-k7p]

Hey Mario-- great concept for a KZbin demo you have. As I am only discovering this channel now, let me say how fascinated I am with your wall of gear and sincere interest in getting a truly vintage sound in your recordings, whether or not it is 1950s or 1960s. Equally fascinating is that someone as young as you are could be so interested in the topic and so knowledgeable about it. I say that being one who was only 4 years old at the time that the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1964. Yep. I'm old. I am a lifetime classical musician but my parents would not support a pop-rock career. Yet, I've never lost any interest in the music and the sound of the music of that time.

[@ronfrancois]

All of your criticisms are exactly how we felt after a session. Generally a wholly unsatisfactory process and thus the reason things are as they are today. Many steps were taken in advance to mitigate the problems. Pre-production / rehearsals were a major one. Signal to noise was a big thing. Hitting the tape at correct levels. Mixing the players by moving instruments and microphones around in the space. Deciding which instruments would be overdubbed to preserve bass and treble which would suffer in first bounce. So for instance. Vocals, bass, tamborine, claps would need extra top and bottom. And yes, at the end still a massive dissatisfaction. Unless of course you were Nat King Cole or Sinatra their records were made with no limitations and still sound excellent today.

[@federicovicente8116]

Thank you, KZbin random. When you want to, you do recommend such a good stuff like this.

[@tomwaite5127]

Great video, a lot of lessons can be learned from old school recording techniques. I would disagree with your point that American records tended to be less compressed, with your example being Motown, the classic 60’s Motown sound for me is HUGE amounts of compression, mainly from hitting the tape so hard. They also pioneered early forms of parallel compression, Lawrence Horn would split the vocals, heavily compress one as well as boost 5khz and mix it back in with the dry vocal. We know that the Beatles wanted to get the Motown bass sound and it wouldn’t be hard to speculate that their experimenting with heavy studio compression was also similarly inspired by Motown, given that EMI engineers were sent over to the US to purchase some American compressors and came back with the Altecs that would be modified into the RS124 compressors that were used heavily on albums like Revolver. That being said Ken Scott and Geoff Emerick were genius engineers in the own right.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Tom, I would also agree with all of what you are saying (especially the parts about Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott). I should really avoid making these types of generalizations because it really depends on a lot of factors as you said. I have to remember that parallel vocal trick you mentioned. I've never used parallel compression on vocals before. Thanks for sharing. Mario

[@PrismaticSpray]

I was under the impression multitrack went from 2 track straight to 4 tracks by syncing two 2 track machines / recording to both sides of one tape. Learning there were 3-track machines is maybe the strongest mandela effect ive experienced.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

As far as I am aware, the only way to synchronize two tape machines (at least back then) was to sacrifice a track on one of the tape machines to record a syncing signal to. This would then be read by the first machine and used to control the second. With that method you would only get 3 tracks if you used 2 two track machines. It is a little surprising to hear 3 track machines were popular because in today's age we only use 2 track, 4 track, 8 track, 16 track, and 24 track. All multiples of each other...well almost. So 3 sounds a little funky. Cheers, Mario

[@carlwinslow5905]

Motown had a 3 track. Kinda rare to find them today but they pop up every now and then. I worked on one many years ago.

[@Hepnotical]

3 tracks make perfect sense usage wise if you think about it… 1.left and 2.right instrumental mix and 3. vocal. That’s why the vocals always sound so huge on records from that era. They got special treatment and were the only thing with any degree of separation. Because if everything’s big and detailed… nothing is. And since most studios were still working in mono back then it also makes sense that the 2 track machine was most popular. 1. Instrumental mix 2. Vocal.

[@tangibleblockofwisdom6386]

Sound-on-sound. Different from overdubbing in the contemporary sense. This is outputting mono onto mono, deliberately* causing tape track bleed, harmonic distortion, and, in the case of Spector, adding reverbs in the process (these were usually subterranean concrete rooms, within the studio, with a microphone and speaker to achieve and record the reflections) and essentially, all sense of depth was created by using polarity inversion, aka phase shifted 180 degrees, also variations on how far the degrees were shifted between instruments. This is now known as mid/side. Middle signal is + and side is - or 180 degrees shifted, or just off. Also these guys were masters of mastering, using these techniques. But sound on sound & phase shifting is very underused, and is how a mono signal achieved depth in the Z axis (inward or away from the listener) from a single speaker signal. Cheers!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I have really been wanting to try a mid-side recording. The layout of my living room really makes things difficult for something like that. I also have been recently mixing my all my songs in mono so I haven't had a need for a stereo image track.

[@tangibleblockofwisdom6386]

@@Mario_DiSanto try it man - all you need is a ribbon mike and a cardioid. The ribbon puts out the figure-8 pattern / the two lobes, so you get a front and back (one of which is usually more dominant as i remember) which will give you the room depth / 'side' channel, then the cardioid puts out the centre image or 'mid'. Should work in any room. Even some non-ribbon mics will work, as long as it's switchable-pattern with a figure-8 option.

[@stereolites4974]

Very nice video and many good perspectives!!! Thanx a lot Mario ! Best, the Stereolites

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you for watching. Mario

[@rockboy360]

I know this may sound like blasphemy but this would've sounded more accurate if you actually pre-recorded the guitar and bass DIs and reamped them through your amps while you played the drums so you could've had the bleed everywhere. It is a necessary evil for anyone trying this on their own. Awesome video, very informative and great results regardless.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

It is a tad bit like blasphemy BUT that is exactly what I intend on doing for the follow up to this video. I am also going to attempt a true sound on sound technique. Thanks for the comment, Mario

[@jeremyalm9006]

Great job! My first thought when I heard your final mix was... Moody Blues!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Hell yeah Jeremy. I always thought of the Moody Blues as the band to put on the radio when you are at "make-out point" with your high school sweetheart. I wrote this song originally to win a girl over that I had a crush on so it feels like a fitting comparison. Cheers, Mario

[@CharlesFloyd-k7p]

I love the results (continuing from my post just a moment ago). My only request is that you include more audio examples to equal your brilliant verbal explanations. You are really onto something important here, so there's no surprise that so many thousands have also shown interest. We've edged towards "pristine" audio in computer world, and yet for all the analog-ish plugins we have, how to happily degrade audio to cleverly emulate that 1950s-1960s sound has been under explored. I wonder what plugins you use and how you use them-- or how others can use them in the absence of analog hardware. That said, there is much valuable info in so many of your other videos on the same topic with regards to vintage emulation that there is so much room for more. Bravo, dude. Keep up the good work!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Hey! Thanks for all your comments. I don't use any plugins as I am not recording in a DAW. If I am recording digitally, I use an Alesis HD24 as an outboard unit. So all my 'effects' are done through my board. Really I think most of the "sound" comes from the approach rather than an emulation of a medium. I think the modern computer/DAW changes how people songwrite. It's a whole different approach and method. In reality, the first step to get a vintage sound for 99% of people is turn off the damn CLICK TRACK! Stop copying and pasting. Stop using samples from libraries. Use real instruments. This may seem like simple advice but I think this is really important for people to understand. I have heard very convincing simulations of a "tape sound", but none of those recordings really excited me because they tend to be lifeless. No soul. Songwriting is always king. If you wanna sound like a 50s rock artist, you gotta listen to early 50s R&B records just like the greats were. No medium or emulation is going to change that. After the ethos is figured out then the gear comes. An analog pre-amp of any sorts that you are able to push in saturation is the key. It could be tubes, a transistor, a transformer...hell even a good microphone can do it. Anyway, hopefully that was useful haha. Cheers

[@FreshAir4]

Fellow “younger” tape-head here, very sick vid. Only time/function i use protools for is as a “master deck”/converter. Just to get music online. First tape machine was a tascam 464 porta, recently picked up a fostex model 80, tape is taking over my life

[@Mario_DiSanto]

It'll do that to ya. I have started to amass a bunch of tape machines in my house. It's becoming a problem haha. Mario

[@wigwagstudios2474]

honestly listening to it it sounds more 60s, but early 60s in particular. definitely beatles beach boy kinda vibe to it

[@gobigrey9352]

Sounded good to me, kind of 50's grunge style. I tried to emulate that room sound on the lead guitar on my song "One Oh One" on my channel. I used a little Fender Champ clone in my bathroom and mic'd it out in the hallway. Also used a spring reverb pedal and light reverb in my DAW. Thought it came out pretty well.

[@dadadrew]

60s garage punk…you got the vibe nailed

[@jonesvox1]

Sgt. Pepper was recorded on two synchronized four track tape machines. One track was sacrificed to contain a 50hz tone to allow the syncing. Liked your video 👍🏼

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I believe the only time they synchronized two machines was for the recording on "A Day in the Life". The rest of the album did utilize two machines but this was for bouncing purposes. Meaning the tracks were bounced from one of the 4-track machines to the other 4-track machine. Quite an impressive feat considering I always feel like I am running outta space on my 16-track! Thanks for watching, Mario

[@meanderer06513]

Ah - that Tascam 16 track...! I almost bought one when I was in Japan in the early 80s...I wish I did!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

It's a good one for sure. Perfect for my needs despite some negative things I hear people say about 'em. Thanks for watching Dave! Mario

[@jerryclegg1846]

“Emulate” is defined as “match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation.” To give it a fair “emulation” one would need a ribbon microphone like, still available, a 44Bx. Tube audio console and tape running at 15ips on an Ampex 300 or 350/351, in a studio like “the church”, or any radio station studio. Once you have the ingredients, then the talent can record, and the mixing can begin.

[@KLUNKET]

Sounds great- really great!! If I were to hear this on the radio without knowing that this was recorded in 2022, I would without question legitimately believe that this was a vintage recording- BUT, to me it sounds more like mid 1960's. Great job though, this was fantastic!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you so much I appreciate the input greatly. I agree the sound is more 60s for a lot of reasons. Keep on the look out for more similar videos in the future. Thanks Mario

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Regardless whether it's really accurate '50s or not: a) it's a nice song b) you did your best with what you know and you have There's a video here on YT somewhere (maybe by Sound On Sound) about a modern studio in the US with '50s gear where bands go recording in that style and attitude. Look it up, if you haven't already.

[@mrpres17]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYKQpJaursehppI I've looked it up for you

[@DarkSideofSynth]

@@mrpres17 Thanks. I simply almost never post links, even YT ones, because the comment might end up in spam or even deleted. Sometimes, it happens, others it does not...

[@mrpres17]

@@DarkSideofSynth I'd do it anyway, you never know who you might help

[@DarkSideofSynth]

@@mrpres17 That's true. Encouraging people to actively look, instead of always being spoon-fed is also good, though :))

[@elsizzle2000]

Love this guy! Thanks Mario!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you Doctor Siz!

[@quintonpilat7659]

This video was very well done! As someone who is just getting into the world of recording and mixing, it’s hard to find quality content like this that really dives into the nuances. You’ve earned yourself another well-deserved subscriber!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Glad you found this useful Quinton. I hope the videos I have planned for the future will benefit you. Mario

[@bjornkreuze7423]

What a great subject !

[@mikebassy]

The player yes I agree with that segment totally , you know this stuff

[@PhatLvis]

Song is cool, in any era. 50s drums, I think, usually further "back in the room." Chamber is more 50s; spring more 60s. Perhaps more bleed (faux, of course, unless an actuall band plays everything together). Very nice sound, regardless - well-engineered and captured. No substitue for real analog gear & methods, especially vintage.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you for taking to the time to comment. I would definitely paint this song as more of a 60s sounding song, especially for the reasons you point out. Although a lot of local garage rock 45s of the 60s era have the drums way way way back in the room like you describe. When you say faux bleed, what exactly do you mean by that? Cheers, Mario

[@jeffthevideoguy23]

The song sounds more like 60's L.A. garage punk

[@Zergei]

Perfect timing, I have a little 50s style track to work on and after months of learning the basics I get this great video! Thank you!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Can't wait to hear what you come up with! Any other ideas for a video let me know.

[@acmerockgroup]

Nice job, Mario!

[@scottshields3054]

Hey I'm not sure if this would help or not, but I know that a lot of drummers who played traditional grip actually tilted their snare drums at a pretty drastic angle away from the player. That combined with rimshots where you're hitting the rim and the head at the same time will probably give you more of the snare sound you're after. I've done some experiments doing that before and it's crazy how much of a difference that can make. I like your video too.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Scott, I really think a drum company should come up with a snare stand that has two switchable positions for the reason you are saying. I like to switch from match grip to traditional grip frequently depending on how hard hitting I want to be. It's such a pain to constantly change the angle of the snare to compensate for this. Additionally, the reason traditional grip originated goes back to the military drummer boy days where the snare drum was slung on their side (and titled) to allow for walking while playing. Absolutely nutso-in-the-butso that they used to use drummers for wartime commands! Usually young boys too. Mario

[@scottshields3054]

@@Mario_DiSanto I know some stands if you tilt them one way, then you can actually spin the top part of the stand to reverse the angle. That's how I've gotten around that in the past.

[@h.markhorton8188]

@@Mario_DiSanto better to blow someone’s ears out drumming, than kill someone with a Luger or tank.

[@lanolinlight]

Your song sounded like a 1966 rock song recorded in 1956.

[@willthethrillguitar4826]

Dude great video !! Love it

[@LA7Rose]

This was a really well done, informative video! Loved your thoughts on Limiters in the studio and how they make your more creative.

[@markmcclellan8421]

Only problem is that song you recorded sounded like it was in the 60s-70s -style wise. Talking about close mixing drums is NOT what they did in the 50s, overhead and kick mic max, if that. And the most important thing which isn’t obvious to most listeners is this was NOT recorded live. Working with the room was a major deal in the 50s, using ribbon mics off axis qualities to reject certain elements was how people worked live, and thus there was bleed, the glue that made 50s records wonderful and organic. Looks like you have a nice little recording setup there.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Mark, the drum track you hear is just the mono room ribbon mic. At minimum I usually at least have a bass drum mic to fill in some of the attack, but for this song I wanted to see what I could do with just the one. It is obviously hard to replicate the live sound with just one musician, but I am working on a Part II of this video where I address this concern. Thanks for watching and commenting. Mario

[@MrJeep75]

I hate auto tune

[@dereklytle6719]

Why, though? I understand that it shouldn’t be used as a talent excuse but there are some songs that just require auto tune regardless of singing ability.

[@metallboy25]

​@@dereklytle6719 No.

[@RomanThecreator0915]

​@@metallboy25 there's a lot,Autotune is a great sound effect,who would listen to Heartless by Kanye West,without autotune? Or even Cher

[@jb20092009]

It actually sounds more like a ‘65-‘67 garage record…with the vocal sounding very much like Jim Morrison. 1950s? I don’t think so!! Great song btw!!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I agree, thanks James.

[@davidlincolnbrooks]

What? No quantization to grid and Autotune? You've just lost 9/10 of your audience... haha..

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Don't even get me started David....

[@nickwilkinsmusic]

oh boomers they never get old, oh wait ..

[@heartbreakandmotorjive1867]

As a teenager in the 90's I bought a 4 track reel to reel. I'm so grateful I got that recording experience. I've found a lot of my favorite recordings were from the days of limitations. Even after I moved to digital, some of my favorite recordings were due to limitations from lack of budget\equipment. Forces you to be creative. 😊

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Would love to hear those recordings. Mario

[@heartbreakandmotorjive1867]

@@Mario_DiSanto hey Mario! Thanks for replying to my comment. I still have some of my recordings and the reel to reel. I think it's a teac 3340s. Unfortunately the recordings are not very good. LoL I have some that are just me playing acoustic and singing, but I have some that I used keyboards and computer too. I had a Yamaha keyboard that I could program songs on, and a win 3.1 computer I could record on(not @ CD quality) and copy paste loops that I saved on floppy disk. I later got a fostex 4track cassette machine and used the reel to reel like a DAT machine to mix to. I also used to lug that thing to live shows of bands I knew and come from the board to tracks 1&2 then set up room mics for 3&4. Ive been going through my music new and old and posting it to KZbin. Feel free to check it out on my channel.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

@@heartbreakandmotorjive1867 Dude I would live to hear the live show recordings!

[@heartbreakandmotorjive1867]

@@Mario_DiSanto I would too, but I can't find any of them. Sad times.

[@DavidAndrewsPEC]

Sounds rather like a 60s garage band song recorded at Norman Petty's place in Clovis. It would definitely work.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you David that is a big compliment in my book! I appreciate the comment. Cheers, Mario

[@DavidAndrewsPEC]

@@Mario_DiSanto :) Given that I'm a fan of Petty's production techniques ... ;)

[@noncounterproductive4596]

It sounds like something from the Pebbles "60s punk" compilation.

[@RemyRAD]

Well now young whippersnapper. You bring up, Sergeant Peppers. Let me tell you something about that. Okay so I was working for a huge multimillion dollar, International Advertising Agency. And I was in charge of all audio and video productions. We cut commercials with some of the, finance voiceover talent. In the USA. I cut tens of thousands of commercials. And with those commercials. We had these fabulous, Jingles. All custom produced in New York City. By one of the best guys in the world. Whose many other jingles. For companies like Coca-Cola, GE and others. Became memorable songs. And so one day I told the boss of the advertising agency. That I could bring in jingles this well. For about one 10th, the cost. And he said really, how? We only have a voiceover studio. I said I can do it. He said okey-dokey then. We will place an ad in the newspaper for a composer arranger. You will, interview them. And if you find somebody good. You'll send them to my office. Yes sir. So I picked out this one guy. He had never done this before. He only did, born again Christian music. And I was a hippie pot smoker. But Don was good. And the boss sprang. For a brand-new, 1 inch, 8 track, MCI, JH-110. And while the, B version had been introduced. I wanted the, A, version 1. As I had my technical reasons for that. I shall reveal later. Now I also had this other interesting problem. I can only accommodate, 4 headphones. I would be having. Up to, 13 people and musicians. In a room. Originally designed to only accommodate between one and four, announcers. And we squeezed in a brand-new 6 foot, grand piano. So it was a little tight. And the room was very dead. And I had 1/2 busted, AKG, BX-20 E spring reverb unit. That clunked. In the left channel. With percussive anything. That wouldn't be on the beat. With the clunk.. But sounded okay on other stuff. No matter. It's what I have to work with. So here was the problem. I had 8 tracks. But everything and everybody. Was going to be done in a 3 hour long, overdub session. Oh my God. How do I do that? I only have eight channels! Whoops. You can only bounce so much. Whoops.… Um…. It's okay! I know what I'm going to do! So I load up a fresh piece of 8 track tape. And set the machine to 30 IPS. I get the hottest tape made. At the time. 3M Scotch 250. A plus 6 over, standard operating level tape. So Dolby or DBX noise reduction. Mostly unnecessary. And the, A version 110 MCI machine. Because it had an inherent, what they called, problem. But I didn't see it as that. It had a low-frequency bump. In the response. Which kept me flat at 30 Hz. No other 30 IPS American machine. Could reproduce 30 Hz at 30 IPS. Except this one. Due to its problem. And which was said. To have additional harmonic distortion at that frequency. Oh poo. Oh well LOL I was flat to, 30 at 30. And nobody could hear the fucking distortion! As it was inaudible. And I was flat to, 30 at, 30. In my drums sounded fabulous! And so did the Bass guitar. So. The rhythm section comes in. Bass, Drums, Guitar,, Piano. I put, 4 microphones on the drums. Kick, snare, overheads. Onto 4 separate tracks. And then the other, 3. And now I had one track left open! Okey-dokey! What to do now for all of these overdubs. By the Miami Symphony Orchestra! So I'm going to need a lot more tracks for overdubs. And I take my seven tracks the rhythm section. And I mix them down to a single track. Of a stereo recorder. And then I load up a fresh Reel of 1 inch tape. And I transfer that single track, mono composite mix. Of the rhythm section. Onto a single track. Of the 8. Now I'm ready for overdubs! So one of the time. The strings. The woodwinds. The brass. The solo instruments. Come and go. And for each section. They are on a separate piece of 8 track tape. So now I have approximately, 72 tracks. On multiple pieces of 8 track reels. And they'll have to end up on one together. Oh dear. That's going to be tricky. As I have no kind of synchronizer or anything. So how my going to do that? I know! I have to composite all of the overdubs sessions. One at a time. All to a single track. And then synchronize each one of those single tracks. Coming from the stereo recorder. To be in sync with everything. On the 8 track recorder. Without a synchronizer. But I have, 2 synchronizer's! My right index finger. And my left index finger. And I'm going to drag my fingertips. On the metal real flange's. Of the tapes running. To keep them in sync together. And I arrange my two speakers. And monitor everything in mono. In a stereo field. And if the sound starts to drift towards the left. That means the left machine is running too quickly. So I must drag my finger on the left machine. And then if it drifts to the right. The right machine is moving too quickly. And I have to drag my finger on that roll of tape. And I'm able to synchronize everything tighter. Than a, $3500, SMPTE synchronizer. And taking up 2 tracks! Which I could not afford either way. So I had to use my fingertips! And in the end. I am not with 8 tracks. Of 72 composited together. To mix down. To the mono final. But there was a problem with that. The boss told me he only wanted, mono not stereo jingles. I said but it's 1979. Were going into the 80s. I think I should make this in stereo. Well he was a gruff old guy. And he barked at me. No! I told you only mono! Okay okay. Mono it is! (Continued in next post)

[@epicgamer9766]

Cool video!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you sir

[@darryldouglas6004]

For some reason there are a lot of plugins that will make your digital recordings sound like crap… er I mean VINTAGE. Yeah that’s the ticket Vintage sounding records like when they were slate. 😃

[@davidflanagan7108]

Sounds more like the Stooges. And that’s a good thing. Would really like to hear more of your original material using this approach. Keep up the good work. You’ve convinced me to subscribe to this channel.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Those old Nashville records are amazing considering what they had to work with, but like you said they had real musicians.

[@davidrandall5743]

Thanks!

[@knives_on_static]

definitely sounds more like mid 60s garage rock than 50s, but I imagine the same techniques were used at that time.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

For sure it was largely the same; multi-track recording as we know it today really didn't hit strides until the late 60s when 8 track tape machines became standard. There were 4 track machines in the 60s but the work flow was still much different than what we consider multitrack recording today. Mario

[@slimkickens]

@@Mario_DiSanto and the small studios that the garage band used were probably still using 2 or 3 track machines

[@platterjockey]

Your song sounds much more like it came out of the mid-60s instead of the 50s.

[@doubleleft2155]

Sorry you didn't learn how to record a voice properly. Your narration is all pops and pumping compression. It is very distracting. Made the video unwatchable for me.

[@-ce8kc]

The recording he did was like mid 60s

[@RalphCastelli]

just subbed, u actually love music

[@Eden_Rubin_Music]

Why you have all this equipment beside the fact that you made the video? Is your thing is analog old gear because you like the sound of this or something? I have to admit that even though I'm a 60-70's music freak and really love this music old sound, I still don't find any reason today to have such an expernsive equipment when it's actually way more expensive and has much more limitations than the digital world of today. If it's a sound thing, worse case there are plugins that can sought of emulate this, but at the same time I have to admit it's not exactly like the real thing(so maybe that's the reason).

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Edin, this is actually a really important question as I often have people ask me this. I will try to keep my answer as short and sweet as possible because I tend to ramble. 1. It's undoubtedly more fun to record music this way. I find zero enjoyment in using a computer to record music. I am not a recording engineer/producer by trade so I do not do this for a living. I do this in my spare time for myself and my friends were time restraints USUALLY aren't a concern. 2. Physically turning knobs and pushing buttons is a fantastic way of learning your equipment and it's limitations. This is especially true for compressors (which arguably is a recording engineer's most important tool). I guarantee a newbie will better understand and learn how a compressor affects a signal source if they are using a physical compressor than a plug-in. 3. Limitations are a good thing. Being limited by your equipment forces you to be creative and think outside the box. In the same vein, it is difficult. And anything worth trying should be difficult. I can't tell you how many hours I spend trying to complete tasks that could take me 5 seconds on a computer to do. But if I did it that way I wouldn't become a better musician or a better recording engineer. 4. I am a mechanical engineer by trade, and as such I love the design of machines. I love cars, clocks, film cameras, etc. Tape machines and amplifiers are just an extension of this. As much as I see my equipment as tools, I also see them the same way a collector enjoys his baseball cards or whatever. I also enjoy the history of music recording, and actually practicing the methods I read about in books or online is just another sense of enjoyment for me. 5. I have yet to hear a digital recreation of analog distortion, tape saturation, pre-amps being pushed hard, etc. that sounds good to my ears. People can argue all day about digital clones of compressors, but in my opinion analog distortion is something that will never sound right when produced artificially. And my music consists of A LOT of distortion. A big disclaimer here, I never actually used a DAW or plugin before so my experience is limited. However, there is a reason all big name studios STILL use fancy analog gear when tracking even if they mix their songs completely on the computer. 6. Between my time at work and the living in the 21st century, my eyes spend a lot of time on screens. The last thing I want to do in my leisure time is stare at another computer screen. 7. I am an analog SNOB. I look down upon anyone who uses plugins!!!....kidding of course. Hopefully this gives you some idea of why I and others choose to record music this way. I can expand further if need be. I can easily talk about this stuff for hours. Cheers, Mario

[@MrPeuguitar]

Do you Know ForestLab in Brazil? It's a fantastic analog record studio. A great guy called Lisciel Franco he's the owner this place, and his job it's amazing!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Pedro, I just checked out that studio. Seems like they got really awesome stuff coming out of it. Thanks for sharing. Mario

[@MrPeuguitar]

@@Mario_DiSanto Tks for your answer! @LiscielFranco

[@MrPeuguitar]

@LiscielFranco

[@lucyfuir6386]

This sounds like mid sixties garage band Type of recording. Like pipers at the gates of dawn sound

[@tensago]

For me the only thing that gave it away was the Reverb and the guitar tone. Guitar tone was too clear

[@who_cares848]

Any advice for 80s sounding recording? Just bought a poly-800 and an alesis sr-16, I wanna make some genuine 80s new wave like Depeche mode and new order.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I know very little about achieving a 80s sound in the studio. The only advice I can really give is: gate reverb on the snare, synthesizers, electric drums, distorted but tamed guitars, and you probably had 24 tracks to work with. My knowledge of music recording kinda falls apart towards the end of the 70s. Mario

[@bob4analog]

15:02 "computer generated garbage." Excellent! 👍😉 Analog!

[@andriealinsangao613]

BOOM!

[@damani1711]

dude you went through all the technicals and then pussied out of playing the song, play it whole and play it loud man! its good and even if it werent its a scientific demonstration of the techniques you spoke of.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I have a link in pinned comment with the whole song. But I will keep this advice in mind for a future video. Thanks for watching. Mario

[@damani1711]

@@Mario_DiSanto well after the video i did since i was curious to hear the climax of this video! and from there i was confused because its a really great summary and it sounds good man. also, the comments rgdng "its 60s its 60s" i feel dont quite get it, shit, you could even have recorded a cover of Beyoncé - its still a 50s recording emulation.

[@jussiniemi9560]

Really nice work. The song sounds a bit like kinks or the stooges. Very interesting video.

[@alexanderewing3779]

Would liked to have heard a bit more of the tune but it has, to my ears, a cool, 60's Psychedelic vibe. Interesting! Cheers A

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Alexander, You can here the full song here, kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKKcn6aZlLZpq68 Would love to hear your feedback! Mario

[@gwugluud]

This is slightly off-topic, but I really don't find much specific information online re what the average Midwestern USA recording studio used circa 1965-ish. What tape machines, what mixing apparatus, etc. It would be interesting to know what gear was used to record "I Need Her" by The Dominions, to cite one very random example. I bet you'd know.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

It is unfortunately very difficult to find a lot of this information. This is why I often put disclaimers in my videos basically stating "I am generalizing greatly". Sometimes I take some liberties and assume some things where I really shouldn't be. The information about 1960s garage rock recording that I find often comes straight from the mouth of the artists. If you listen to enough garage rock on KZbin you eventually come across band members reminiscing in the comments section. There you will hear about people talk about their local recording studio setup and other funny anecdotes. Other times I find information on music recording forums. (Sometimes I even get lucky and have a garage rocker from the 60s email me!) It is difficult to generalize recording practices during this time anyway because the methods varied greatly depending on the studio and what tape machine they had access to. The difference in workflow recording on a 2 track versus recording on a 4 track can be very substantial. Tape machines aside, I rarely EVER see information listed about mixing desks used. I have a feeling the average mixing desk used in the early 60s was custom made in house, as they were all very simple in design at this point. It really wasn't until the 70s were mixing desks as we know them today came into fruition. I am just guessing though... Okay now I am rambling, Mario

[@notgonnaknowtillthen3192]

I love the Deatles too! Great video by the way, just wish I had enough space for the tape recorders and mixers tho.

[@mkshffr4936]

Fascinating. The song sounds a bit like an acid trip but I like the recording.

[@theguitarprofessionals8584]

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@barrydevonshire9749]

Connie Francis was an expert at overdubbing. So punchy recordings

[@Paul-dw2cl]

I like your suspenders

[@billysantiago6016]

I love this

[@marcotrosi]

Love your video, thanks for that, the only remark I have is the use of the word "talent". I don't know why but nowadays the young generations use "talent" as a replacement for e.g. "skill". But they are not the same. Let's say you have 2 guitarists that can play the exact same stuff equally good, everything sounds the same, still one can have talent and the other does not. For example Guitarist A had to practice 20 minutes to learn something, and Guitarist B a whole day to learn the same. The end result is the same, but one uploaded it faster to the brain/fingers because of the talent. The other scenario to describe if someone has talent is when you can do things very good very intuitively without being really taught, just by listening/looking/testing, especially things that can not be taught. Again, great video, keep it up, would love to see/hear all your equipment in use. Greetings from Germany. edit: unless you really meant "talent", then ignore my comment

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Marco, thank you for watching and your comment. You bring up a good point about the use of the word "talent". There definitely is a difference between talent and skill. I think the better word I should have used in the video is "practiced". There was without a doubt a mixture of naturally talented and skill driven musicians in the studio at the time. The similarity between the two was that both groups were "practiced" in their material. In the digital age with endless takes, overdubs, and editing, you can get away with having less talent or skill. Cheers, Mario

[@marcotrosi]

@@Mario_DiSanto absolutely, thanks for taking the time to respond. ❤

[@userNULL]

DUDE WE HAVE THE SAME OSCILLOSCOPE

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Oscilloscope brothers for life 🤝

[@jwebstersmithii7459]

Fun vid. Fun production work. Well, here's a remake I did of a Johnny Mathis song. But I focused on making the vocals sound vintage, rather than the entire track. Has 808 bass thumping. So it's a bit of a hybrid.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXTUpnacm7aUbqs

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you man, your song sounds great. Mario

[@rustopherhayden]

Love the song.

[@josephnelson2591]

Norman Smith didn't close mic anything on the drum kit except the kick. Everything else was captured on a single overhead. Enter Geoff Emerick and close mics on everything (mind you there were only eight inputs on that REDD.51 desk - ten if you used the effect returns). From one extreme to the other... yet the Normal Sound (John's nickname for Norman Smith was Normal) doesn't sound that primitive, does it?

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I've always heard people complain the early Beatles recordings were 'sub-par' in quality. I couldn't disagree more with this statement. I love that early beatles 'live room' sound. I bet if you added some room reverb into those mixes it would have sounded EXACTLY like they did playing the same songs in the Liverpool/Hamburg clubs before they hit it big. Martin and Smith did the Beatles justice (obviously since we are still here talking about those recordings!). I wish my at home studio was better setup acoustically and physically. My drums are jammed into this tiny room with very low ceilings. This makes the possibility of using a single overhead an impossibility. My overhead is actually a "Front of Kick" mic. I place my ribbon mic about ten feet in front of the kick about chest height and it gives me a reasonably balanced sound. I wish I had the opportunity to try a proper overhead though. Cheers, Mario

[@TheSactoSmile]

sounds way more like a late 60s early psychedelic/garage tune but it sounds awesome

[@PendelSteven]

9:45 If I'm not mistaken Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was recorded on *two* 4-track recorders. Overdubbing and bouncing between the two four trackers. It cost a pretty penny, but the band had the money. so yeah. Of course other commenter's may corrrect me if I'm wrong.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Steven you are correct they bounced between the two. Still impressive in my eyes. For the recording of "A Day in the Life" they synchronized both four tracks for a total of seven tracks. Mario

[@kapitannemo8246]

What is name of the microphone I love it! Also great video!!!

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Thank you! It's an EV RE-15. One of my favorite mics.

[@rphillip1086]

I hear the 80's. I remember those Tascams though- in the 80's.

[@audiolego]

Cool channel wow. I have been listening to 50s Rockabilly on KZbin playlists. There's a lot of them that sound like Surf Batmanish rock to me

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Introducing my new band name, 'Surf Batmanish Rock".

[@davidrw61]

Actually, that combination of distant mics and heavy reverb sounds like a 1960's recording from an indie label....

[@Mario_DiSanto]

David, I would agree with you. Thanks for watching. Mario

[@Slickcatfilmz]

Sounded great but more like a mid 60s garage rock song

[@jakep8484]

Sounded too far away, needed more gain on vocals and that

[@TheHeadbanger93]

Please do a video on how to do a 1970s style recording! It's my favorite decade and I'm dying to know for my own music.

[@Mario_DiSanto]

I will get there. Give me a little time. Mario

[@MrJeep75]

Buddy Holly was a master in his craft

[@singalongwrudy8690]

One Mike , one channel, mono. Reel to Reel ( betamax)

[@JohnMassari]

Love your track. Get that placed in Quentin Tarantino film‼️💯‼️

[@Mario_DiSanto]

If Tarantino did a coming of age film it'll work lol

[@BiserAngelov1]

Today's strive for perfection, makes musicians, gave out their craft to AI voluntarily !

[@Mario_DiSanto]

Perfect music has a habit of sounding sterile.