BACK TO THE FUTURE

As musicians flock to the warm sound of analog, what are the best recording choices for you? 

Years ago even the most intrepid musicians couldn’t make an album without renting a pro recording studio and all the pricey yet required accoutrement that went with it. Today the process is fast, easy and cheap—anyone with a laptop and a few accessories can create an album in a bedroom. Digital technology has changed everything.

Or has it? Even with the ease, portability and versatility of digital recording, countless musicians are returning to the analog world to make their records shine. The analog sound is back—and everyone wants a piece of the past. Is the vintage vibe of analog processing right for your own recording project? And if so, how do you capture the authenticity, tonality and cozy warmth that only analog can deliver without sacrificing convenience of the digital world—or breaking the bank?

For help, we turned to Jay Joyce and Damien Lewis. Joyce is a Grammy-winning Nashville producer and multi-instrumentalist who has crafted albums for artists like Emmylou Harris, Cage the Elephant, Sleeper Agent and Eric Church. Lewis is a Grammy-nominated engineer, mixer and producer whose discography includes the likes of Mariah Carey, Katy Perry, Quincy Jones and Usher.

 

What’s the appeal of analog?

JOYCE: The best way I can describe it is that it gives the music a certain glue that’s forgiving and makes listening a more pleasant ride. It makes all the pieces of a record hold together.

 

What makes it sound so good?

LEWIS: People describe analog sound as warm or saturated, and a lot of that is because you’re running a signal through transistors, power tubes and resistors—and it picks up noise along the way. It’s physical electricity passing through components, and that causes small amounts of harmonic distortion and grit. Digital recording tends to sound very sharp and clean—even harsh—so people like to pass their sounds through analog circuitry to get that missing warmth and fuzz.

But analog gear has issues.

JOYCE: It craps out. I have a couple of great old analog Telefunken mic preamps that I regularly have to send off for six months while some guy searches for an unknown tube to repair them. Things break down, hum, buzz, and depending on what they’re built for they don’t like super hot sound levels which can be a problem.

LEWIS: If you need to make changes on a mix you have to dial all of that gear up exactly how it was, and that can take a lot of time. For a lot of the mixes I’ve worked on many have to approve it, so there are massive amounts of recalls. And once the mix is approved, you might still need to recall the song months later to do alternate versions. On Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” we had a finished track and a month later, the producers wanted to put Drake on a verse, so we had to open up everything exactly as we closed it. Using Pro Tools is a huge help in situations like that.

JOYCE: It takes work to deal with vintage analog gear but it can be worth it. I have a couple of old Universal Audio 1176 amps that you just can’t beat. They improved them over the years, but the old ones sound magical and have their own unique character. No plug-ins or other preamps sound like them.

 

What if you’re working digitally?

JOYCE: When I have to deal with a lot of recalls, I use a hybrid world of both digital and analog. I mix down everything through an analog console and even when I’m using Pro Tools, I cut through an MCI JH24 analog tape machine and use its transformers to warm up the sound. All my mixing is done through analog channels before it goes back into the computer.

LEWIS: I use a hybrid setup as well—and one of the big things I lean on to warm up a Pro Tools mix is a summing mixer. SSL, Dangerous, Neve and API make great ones. If you’re bouncing 32 tracks down into a final mix, Pro Tools will send out each track individually and the summing mixer combines all of your stems in the analog world, rather than the digital world. It adds more space and definition to your final mix.

 

Do you ever use tape?

LEWIS: Very rarely—but Jack White and all of his artists on Third Man Records work entirely analog and I love everything that they do. Daptone Records is doing the same thing.

JOYCE: If the band I’m producing is rehearsed, ready to go, and comfortable recording in a live situation, I prefer tape. Though after, I dump the tracks into Pro Tools and do most of my overdubs and editing in the box. I recorded Cage the Elephant, the Wild Feathers and Sleeper Agent straight to tape.

LEWIS: Even if I don’t track to analog tape, I very often print my final mixes to half-inch tape using Ampex ATR-102 or Studer A80 tape machines. I did that for the Wood Brothers and for Midi Matilda.

Can you get analog sound without analog gear?

JOYCE: If you’re looking for a specific sound, software plug-ins can be useful tools to lean on. Universal Audio makes killer digital emulations of Ampex and Studer analog tape machines. I also use the PSP Vintage Warmer.

LEWIS: A lot of companies are also making tape saturation plug-ins right now. Steve Massey’s TapeHead is awesome, and companies like SoundToys and DUY make good ones, too.

 

Do you need a lot of analog gear to make a great record?

LEWIS: You can make a great recording with anything, and it doesn’t need to be vintage or analog. Producers need to focus not just on gear, but on getting a good tracking and mixing environment and making sure that their rooms are treated properly. Having good analog-to-digital convertors is also really important when it comes to tracking and listening back.

JOYCE: I’ve worked on some great records back in the day just using little Roland VS-880s [standalone digital recorders]. About 80 percent of Patty Griffin’s Flaming Red was done that way. We put it on tape later, but the general feel was immediate. It didn’t matter what format we recorded on—the music was magical. If you’re going to invest in one thing, I would recommend making sure you have good analog mic preamps. Universal Audio and Retro make great ones. When I worked with Eric Church on Chief, we recorded in Pro Tools but went through Neve, Telefunken, Altec analog gear—that helped get the sound hairy and warm.

 

What’s the future of analog?

LEWIS: Analog outboard gear like compressors and preamps will always be around, but the days of the multitrack analog tape deck are numbered, mostly because parts are becoming less and less available and the people who know how to tech those machines are becoming fewer. Plus, analog tape is getting harder to find and more expensive than ever.

JOYCE: To me, analog vs. digital is becoming less and less of an issue. There’s room for the kid making records in his bedroom using a laptop—but there will also always be room for a bunch of humans in a room recording analog sound together. Analog will always have its place.

–Michael Gallant