Doldrums Singles

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Back in August 2024, the Doldrums and I headed into Stranded Recording Studios.

The Doldrums hail from Wombarra, on Dharawal country, and consist of two long-time friends, neighbours and musical compadres; Michi Hirzel (Sealife Park, Spiderling) and Matt Steffen (Decoder Ring, Toby Martin, Jim Moginie’s Electric Guitar Orchestra).

We first started talking about recording their sound in early 2024, and jointly felt that a live to tape machine session at their local South Coast studio Stranded, would be best to capture their dreamy, meandering blend of guitars, drones, drum machines and hazy vocals. We felt that the Doldrums‘ sound would be complimented by the vintage tonal warmth of Stranded Recording Studios‘ MCI JH24 16 Channel 2” tape machine.

As the duo’s rhythm section is based around drum machines, it allow me to set up Michi and Steff and their guitar amps in the live room at Stranded Studios. Their amps where placed left and right, firing up the length of the live room. I used some baffles down the centre length of the room to reduce the spill at the close mic stage (see the below image). This studio positioning helped to facilitate a nature stereo image of the two guitar sounds, Michi left and Steff right. This was captured via stereo room mics placed left and right at the end of the room. Blending the close guitar mics into the room stereo image was a particular fun aspect in the mixing stage of the record. A full list of the mics used can be found at the end of this post.

The main beds of tracks were captured on 2″ tape and then recorded to Pro Tools. Any further guitar solos and vocals were recorded directly to Pro Tools. The mixes were then taken to completion at my home studio, with a few visits from the lads at the studio.

My main reflections on co-producing the record with Michi and Steff include:

It’s both extremely satisfying, and tricky, to work with guitar tones that are breaking up at the amp level. The lads pull some great guitar tones and aren’t afraid to push there small diaphragm amps to the point of breaking up. Heroes in the production suite to control such edgy tones were firstly, the medium of 2″ tape , and then within the mixing phase, modern plugins such as Fab Pro Q3, and frequency specific dynamic control in general.

A second take away would be, not everyone wants or needs Hip Hop drum fatness! Hearing the lads drum machines driven to tape and coming back with a fat, warm tape saturation initial inspired me to make the drums huge via some EQ, compression and parallel compression. Michi and Steff had to tell me to settle down on at least one occasion, and to sit the drums more equally in the mix. At the end of the day the client is always right, and their vision needs to be delivered.

Another reflection would be, it’s a fun challenge working with introspective musicians come vocalists! Steff occasionally graces the tracks with some heartfelt vocals which are meant to act as both a lyric and another instrument layer. Steff was definite that the vocals had to not stand up front like a Pop vocal, but rather, sit right back in the mix and be as hazy and washed out as possible. In this balancing act, I had to incorporate quite a few extended mixing techniques. Firstly, to keep Steff’s vocal audible while using so much reverb and delay, I used side-chain compression on the FXs so that the vocal ducked the FXs volume just a bit to keep Steff’s vocal from being swallowed by the said FXs. Further, to keep the vocal from getting lost in the wall of guitars, I resorted to using Waves F6 on the Guitar Sum Bus, and routing the vocal as the key input/ side-chain compression signal for the guitars, so that the guitars ducked slightly when Steff is singing. I particularly like the F6 plugin as it’s easy to set the compression to occur only in the mids/ and or sides, and at whatever frequency band the vocal is most dominant. As Steff was panned centre, I applied only frequency specific compression in the mids, and at around 2-3kHz.

Michi  and Steff, have been active musicians in some notable Sydney bands, see their credentials at the top of this post, and as such, were very good at communicating their aesthetic and sonic desires. They were heavily involved in directing the mixes and co producing this record.

For more information and music from the Doldrums, head to their Instagram, or check them on Spotify. The tracks are being released one by one as singles on Spotify, and the Doldrums’ Bandcamp.

Here are some pictures from the studio sessions

INPUT/ MIC LIST:

Drums:
Radial stereo DI –

Steff Guitar:
Close mics – Shure SM57, Neumann KM84, AEA N-92 ( 1 foot back – to one protect the ribbon, amps were LOUD, and to reduce proximity effect)
the 57 gave bite,  the Neumann gave full frequency pick up and shimmer, the B-92 ribbon gave warmth, body and glue.

Michi Guitar:
Close mics – Shure SM57, Neumann KM84, Royer R-121 ( 1 foot back – to one protect the ribbon, amps were LOUD, and to reduce proximity effect)
Similarly, with this array of mics, the mix had tonal options, the 57 gave bite, the condenser the upper brilliance, and the ribbon gave warmth, body, and glued the other mic sounds together.

Live Room Sound:
Neumann U87 stereo pair
as mentioned these were placed at the back of the room, and captured the stereo spread of Michi and Steff’s amps, and provided a natural reverb that was used in most of the mixes.

Steff Vocal:
Neumann U87 and Shure SM57
I love blending these mics. The U87 give a full classy body and clarity, whilst the SM57 give that almost nasally mid poke when a sound needs a bit more rawness.

Steff Acoustic Guitar:
Neumann U87 and Senheisser MKH 8040 stereo pairs
Both condenser types worked well, but I think the U87s mostly made the record due to it’s crisp and slightly vintage tone

Making Sense – Podcast recording

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Over the tail of 2023 and deep into 2024, I collaborate with the Make Shift creators, Caitlin Marshall & Lizzie Rose, to create an audio courser delivering their great knowledge about creativity and it’s role in our sense of well being.

The audio course is titled Making Sense, and is a nine part audio course on creative first aid, designed to listen to while you’re walking, driving, cleaning the bathroom, cooking dinner…. Making Sense explores what creativity is, the neuroscience of what happens when we practice, the role of the nervous system and the five elements of creative first aid.

A free episode can be found on substack.com here https://substack.com/home/post/p-147355790

This was an very interesting job. The content was great, the hired talent Elana Stone (intro track) & Tom Maclachlan (Narrator/ Voice Over talent) were excellent, and there was a lot of music and sound to create.

As this is my production blog, I will keep the post nerdy, and most relevant to aspiring creators of Podcast like material and content.

My mic choice(s) for the vocal/ voice over was a Neumann TLM107 + Shure SM7B + Pop-shield. The Neumann lent clarity and upper frequency sheen, whilst the SM7B gave a warm and intimacy. The mics then hit a signal chain of Vintech 573 pre-amps, Warm Audio WA2A compression and then into my DAW on the day, Ableton. The recording was done @ Stranded Recording Studios in Bellambi, see pictures below.

 

Once all the editing was finished, my vocal processing chain in the DAW employed the following concepts: (in order of processing) High Pass Filtering unwanted low frequencies, boosting presence(5-6kHz ish), boosting air (10kHz and above), compressing to control dynamics, de-essing to control sibilance, de-reverbing to remove reflections, more EQ to sweet the vocal, limiting for volume boost, mouth de-clicking, and finally more frequency and band based compression to control any final sibilance and harsh resonances.

The exact plugins used in the process are pictured in the below audio effects chain screenshot

The settings can be seen to some degree in the below screenshot

 

Beyond the vocal recording and production, about 2 hrs of original music had to be written for the audio series, this became somewhat reduced as I realised the comfort in recurring themes and songs/ sounds to evoke the right atmosphere. Generally though, as the audio series in reflective, more gentle genres were engaged, such as ambient, folks and chilled beats. When juggling a range of foley, pre composed music and music gestures that were required to be composed within the mix session, I found having Bus or Groups enabled in Ableton very valuable. My main groups were Music, Foley and Instruments, as can be seen below. Such a process allowed me to control the automation of more macro level fades, reverbing and filtering out of sonic elements so ensure the most fluid delivery of the content.

The audio series is a paid series, but the generous folks at Make Shift have made available one of the episodes for free, see below

Read on Substack

More information about the audio course can be found here, https://www.makeshift.org.au/making-sense

Recording and mixing Elana Stone

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At the end of 2023, Elana Stone asked to record a single, Eyes with myself at Stranded Studios in Bellambi.

Over a high paced session, Elana laid down an assortment of haunting keys, synths, vocals, harmonies and even great vintage drum machine parts. She was a delight to work with, effortlessly jumping from layer to layer, capturing the sound that was in her head.

Early 2024 I was in the mix process, the track was shaping up beautifully with a misty Twin Peaks 80s favour. Elana, however, could hear the possibility of the second half of the track lifting with a layer of some organic drums and bass. Elana’s longtime collaborator, Kieran Parker, quickly recorded some great new bass and drum layers, and then came the tricky job of finding space for two bass lines and drum parts.

Production-wise, we got there with some aggressive EQ shaping, sidechain compression and more conceptually, really allowing each of the basses and drums to have a unique character. The new drums eventually adopted a quite psychedelic layer. It was fun to be treating a whole drum bus with flangers, phasers and over-the-top psychedelic treatments in generally.

The result is below

Come the release of the track within an album setting, it was amazing to find myself in the album credits alongside a host of my favourite Sydney-based engineers and producers, such as Tony Buchen, Antonia Gauci and Richie Belkner, as well as a gun line up of musicians, including Josh Pyke, Luke Moseley, Justing Stanley, Zoe Hauptmann, and Keiran and Lachlan Parker.

Below are a few images from the session. Elana’s album tour dates are also below.

Bass Ventura single mastering

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Across the last few month I’ve been doing a bit of Bass and Afro House mastering for the Sydney / Gold Coast artist Bass Ventura.

Bass Ventura aka Sean Brodnik, is an old student of my from SAE Sydney, and therefore that history puts a great spin on the client/ mastering engineer relationship. Across the last four singles his production has gone from strength to strength with the subtle feedback that both mastering and mastering engineers can give re total mix balance and dynamics.

Here are the first two singles from this first batch of 4 masters. Enjoy and follow Bass Ventura at any of the below locations:

Bianca Spender – Instagram campaign composition

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Recently I was asked to supply some ambient music for the Autumn collection of contemporary fashion designer, Bianca Spender.

As with a lot of these briefs, it started one place and ended up in another. As the images started to come in for the new collection, there was an elegance and sophistication that required moving beyond the first ambient music brief. Both Bianca and colleagues decided a more orchestral theme would be more appropriate.

The job was for a short 8 sec clip. As a compositional challenge this can be hard, and I find it often lends itself to more of a single musical cadence rather than any passage of music as such.

Below is the version that was chosen for the recent Instagram campaign, and follow Bianca Spender’s beautiful creations in fashion at her instagram – https://www.instagram.com/biancaspender/

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bianca Spender (@biancaspender)

Sweetie – Punch The Shark EP released

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Back in Feb 2023 I was the recording engineer for Sweetie and producer Jono Boulet. The 5 tracks recorded over the 3 day session, have now received the Jono Boulet production, and are now available on a cracking new EP titled Punch The Shark. The EP is receiving some great reviews.

Check it all out at the below locations:

 

 

 

Back in the studio w Nic Cassey for his 3rd LP

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I’m excited to say I’m back into the studio with old friend and client Nic Cassey. Across the years we’ve made two LPs together, and are now working on his 3rd record from Stranded Recording Studios in Bellambi on the South Coast of NSW.

Nic is an artist that effortlessly taps into a sound and songwriting style that one could place as a 60s / 70s singer songwriter style. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, first learning drums and then piano and guitar. Vocally, he’s a great poet with a beautiful unique voice. You can check out his back catalog on Spotify.

On the first two tracking days at Stranded, we were joined by Scott Leishman and productively recorded the drums, piano, guitar and bass beds for 9 tracks. The Input List is as below.

Piano – A/B Pair – Rhodes pencil pair – BA JLM preamp
Piano Room – U47 (Chess Tools) – Great River Preamp – Smack Compressor

Acoustic Guitar – Sennheiser 4080 spaced pair – EZ1290 Neve Clone
Acoustic Room – same U47 as Piano

Kick In – D12 – Vintech 573 – Clark 1176
Kick out – Condenser (can’t recall the European brand) – desk pre
Snare Up – SM57 – Vintech 573
Snare down – SM57 – Desk pre
Hat – Beyer M160 – Desk Pre
Rack & Floor Toms – Toshiba Ribbon RB1 – Desk Pre
OH L & R – Coles 4038 pair – Telefunken V675
Crotch Mic – Sennheiser MD441 – Neve clone pre – Smack Compressor

Our third day at Stranded focused on vocals, and after a huge day, we had all vocals recorded and comp’d for the record. The studio had just invested in a few more mics and compressors so we had the fortune of recording in 4 fine mic flavours to give options during the mixing phase; the Input List is as below:

Vox 1 – Neumann U87 – Vintech V573 – Warm WA2A
Vox 2 – Neumann TLM 107 – Vintech V573 – Chandler EMI TG1
Vox 3 – Shure SM57 – EZ1290 (Neve Clone) – dbx 165A
Vox 4 – Chesspiece (?) U47 Clone – EZ1290 – Chandler EMI TG1

 

New Weird Australia – Fragile States compilation

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Towards the end of 2022, Stuart Buchanan from New Weird Australia approached me for an unreleased track for a new compilation, Fragile States.

The compilation’s idea was to reflect on Brian Eno’s original definition of ambient music as “ambience… atmosphere… as a surrounding influence: a tint”, and his intention to create “a space to think”. Artist were ask to reflect on where ambient music was at in this age, and it’s desired function.

It’s a great listen and features a hole range of new voices in the Australian Ambient scene. My personal track is under the alias Ambient Lights, and comes in as the second last track on the compilation, I assume they were operating under the principle of leaving the best to last. Just joking, it’s a great listen from start to finish, but here’s my Ambient Lights alias’ submission.

All proceeds go to Seed Mob, Australia’s first and only Indigenous youth-led environmental organisation; and Firesticks Alliance, who provide Indigenous leadership, advocacy and action to protect Country through cultural fire and land management practices.

Recording Sweetie with producer Jono Boulet

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Early Feb 2023 I had a three day session at Stranded Recording Studio, recording a new EP for the band Sweetie, and the producer Jono Boulet.

Sweetie are a solid 4 piece rock band, so the mic tactics were somewhat standard, but the presence of the producer, Jono Boulet, always gives the recording engineer a bit more time and leeway to focus on the sounds.

The mic input list can be seen below from the studio pics. Stand out combinations of mic, preamp and compression that come to mind are as follows.

Firstly, the inputs at Stranded are restricted to 16 channels, so some compromises were made, that including just one mic for the kick drum. In this case we used my AKG D12 and Jono pushed it in further than usual to get as much beater sound as possible. This combined with the preamp choice of a Vintech 573 and some punchy 1176 compression was one of the best kick sounds I’ve pulled as yet. It also help that we were using the beautiful in house Gretsch drum kit.

Beyond, the kick, the toms were recorded with Toshiba RB-1 ribbon mics. I’ve become a fan of ribbons on toms over the years for two reasons; They have the ribbon thick, fat tone, and further, being a figure 8 polar pattern, they reduce the bleed from cymbals and other drums. The RB-1s worked a charm on this record as expected.

One last interesting mic combo worth mentioning was Jono Boulet’s stereo crotch mic technique. Rather than standard options for a crotch mic, such as Sennheiser MD 441, Jono likes to use a stereo XY pair of Neumann KM-84s. It was a cool stereo close pair, and whilst it takes mixing a record to really love and appreciate certain mic techniques, it looked like it was going to be a great option in the mix for Jono to dial in.

Last reflections, Sweetie were the first band I’ve recorded that wanted to start at 8am in the morning. Unusual, but productive! The two baffles pulled together in Stranded forms a quiet dead vocal booth.

Below are a bunch of pictures from the session.

 

 

Dharawal composition commission

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I love composing to picture, and in Sept 2022 I was asked to create the sound track for a short promotional documentary on Dharawal country. The job was commissioned by Wollongong Council and produced by Mane Collective.

 

The budget was such that it afforded being able to record local indigenous performer Dale Wright on Yidaki and boomerang clap sticks. Yidaki, or as it is commonly know, Didgeridoo, is not actual an instrument the people of Dharawal country played, but rather originates from the north eastern Arnhem land. Nevertheless, Dale has been bless by the north eastern mob to carry the sounds of Yidaki south, and rightly or wrongly, it is a sound that evokes a sense of the indigenous people and history of Australia at large.

In talking to Dale, I was excited to come to a better understanding of the musical history of Dharawal country, and was told that the men usually played boomerang clap sticks and the women drums made from possum skin.

In trying to be aware and sensitive to all parties viewing and using the documentary, the sound palette that was chosen included:

  • a bed of skin drums, clap sticks, yidaki and field recordings taken from the area. Such sounds were used to place the view on country
  • a range or transitional synth sweeps and synthesizer effects that capture the movement of the weather patterns over the escarpment
  • a chord progression or two that used traditional folk and pop stylings to create a light uplifting emotion
  • and lastly a few modern electronic or dance music influenced drum patterns and techniques to give the product a contemporary flavour.

The direction that the composition and overall sonic arch of the documentary was informed by Jamie LePre, Mane Collective Director. His sense of country and understanding of the task on hand made his direction specific, inspired and a pleasure to work with. I think both Jamie and I enjoyed the back and forth of compositional ideas as the pictures rolled in, and I hope we get to work together on more projects soon.

Below is a few pictures from the recording session with Dale Wright at Stranded Recordings in Bellambi.