Pro Tools

Travisevian · #1 08-31-2011, 12:52 PM

For years, it has been reported that Stevie dislikes computers, the internet, cell phones, iPod's and other forms of modern technology. She has been quoted as saying that the internet has destroyed rock music. Yet, for the production of her last two albums, Pro Tools was used. For someone who supposedly dislikes computers and has talked about how they replace people, I find it curious that she would allow such a program to be used for her albums. It doesn't seem to be her style at all.

Credits:

http://rockalittle.com/lyrics_trouble_in_shangrila.htm

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/In-Y.../e/93624958680

CADreaming · #2 08-31-2011, 01:03 PM

It's standard practice now.

SapphireSister · #3 08-31-2011, 01:31 PM

Um that's way past the songwriting process so I don't see why it really matters. Would you prefer her to record using an 8-track or something? I don't think in the modern world she could quite get away with it lol.

mezzoforte · #4 08-31-2011, 01:44 PM

What a hypocrite! I think I'm going to have to leave Stevie fandom until everything she puts out can be played on a gramophone.

**mylittledemon** · #5 08-31-2011, 02:01 PM

It's been standard practice to use ProTools for quite some time. I have a feeling Stevie just flat out doesn't get involved in that part of the record making process. She doesn't really need to, technically... She tells them how she wants it to sound... And doesn't need a working knowledge of ProTools to really do that.

CADreaming · #6 08-31-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mezzoforte

What a hypocrite! I think I'm going to have to leave Stevie fandom until everything she puts out can be played on a gramophone.

LOL!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

It's been standard practice to use ProTools for quite some time. I have a feeling Stevie just flat out doesn't get involved in that part of the record making process. She doesn't really need to, technically... She tells them how she wants it to sound... And doesn't need a working knowledge of ProTools to really do that.

I'd eat one of her cassette tapes from 1978 to see her cut and paste a section, record an overdub and tell Lindsey they need to go back and grab the last section of that solo.... LOL!!

AnthonyMI · #7 08-31-2011, 06:22 PM

To stevie the term "cut and paste" means to run and "find scissors and elmers"

louielouie2000 · #8 08-31-2011, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

Um that's way past the songwriting process so I don't see why it really matters. Would you prefer her to record using an 8-track or something? I don't think in the modern world she could quite get away with it lol.

Fleetwood Mac recorded on tape for Say You Will. It seems horribly inefficient, cumbersome, and even risky to me. If you use ProTools you can easily and instantly keep everything backed up, easily and instantly edit it, etc. I don't personally have any qualms with Stevie using ProTools. After all, she has used electronica in her music for decades (she used synthesizers quite heavily in the '80s).

I can't say I'm nuts about her using Auto-Tune, though. You can hear a couple of of pretty pronounced instances of Auto-Tune on In Your Dreams... and that's something I'm not a fan of (a spot or two in Italian Summer come to mind off the top of my head).

CADreaming · #9 08-31-2011, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Fleetwood Mac recorded on tape for Say You Will. It seems horribly inefficient, cumbersome, and even risky to me. If you use ProTools you can easily and instantly keep everything backed up, easily and instantly edit it, etc. I don't personally have any qualms with Stevie using ProTools. After all, she has used electronica in her music for decades (she used synthesizers quite heavily in the '80s).

I can't say I'm nuts about her using Auto-Tune, though. You can hear a couple of of pretty pronounced instances of Auto-Tune on In Your Dreams... and that's something I'm not a fan of (a spot or two in Italian Summer come to mind off the top of my head).

You can see pro tools set ups in the DR documentary...

SaraThePoet · #10 08-31-2011, 07:33 PM

I don't think she hates technology as much as she lets on..it is a part of her life whether it is directly or indirectly. Saying she is a hypocrite for using Pro Tools is like chastising someone for taking advantage of the latest medical technology. Kinda silly

Her biggest beef seems to with the Internet being a vessel for stealing music and turning kids into anti-social zombies..and to an exent,she is right

Macfanforever · #11 08-31-2011, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaraThePoet

I don't think she hates technology as much as she lets on..it is a part of her life whether it is directly or indirectly. Saying she is a hypocrite for using Pro Tools is like chastising someone for taking advantage of the latest medical technology. Kinda silly

Her biggest beef seems to with the Internet being a vessel for stealing music and turning kids into anti-social zombies..and to an exent,she is right

Yes I agree.She old fashioned in a way.I'm old school myself with the analog recording of music.Now I use the digital stuff like Cool-Edit pro.{now Adobe Audition}Steinberg,Sound Forge {Now Sony Sound Forge} I will be getting Pro-Tools later.She's right about the internet pirates.I can't blame her on that.I now all young ones are hijacking tunes.It's all ages.She's trying to get her point across in these latest interviews about the subject.I figure Dave would had to talk and teach her about computers and software.Which I think now she's feels better about them now.

dreamer78 · #12 08-31-2011, 08:06 PM

[QUOTE=mezzoforte;1012669]What a hypocrite! I think I'm going to have to leave Stevie fandom until everything she puts out can be played on a gramophone.[/QUO

that was so funny lol i really got a good laugh at that

Macfanforever · #13 08-31-2011, 08:15 PM

[QUOTE=dreamer78;1012768]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mezzoforte

What a hypocrite! I think I'm going to have to leave Stevie fandom until everything she puts out can be played on a gramophone.[/QUO

that was so funny lol i really got a good laugh at that

I would not mind to hear her on a gramophone.I have to whine that baby up and let EO17 play.

Travisevian · #14 09-01-2011, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CADreaming

It's standard practice now.

Why?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

Um that's way past the songwriting process so I don't see why it really matters.

Well, I'd imagine that it would matter to Stevie and that she has an opinion regarding how she would like her songs to sound and to be produced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

Would you prefer her to record using an 8-track or something?

Perhaps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Fleetwood Mac recorded on tape for Say You Will. It seems horribly inefficient, cumbersome, and even risky to me.

It sounds so digital to me for an analogue recording.

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

After all, she has used electronica in her music for decades (she used synthesizers quite heavily in the '80s).

However, synthesizers had a tendency to have a fuller, richer sound during that time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I can't say I'm nuts about her using Auto-Tune, though. You can hear a couple of of pretty pronounced instances of Auto-Tune on In Your Dreams... and that's something I'm not a fan of (a spot or two in Italian Summer come to mind off the top of my head).

Are you for certain? That really doesn't seem to be her style. Do you think she used Auto-Tune on Secret Love?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CADreaming

You can see pro tools set ups in the DR documentary...

Interesting...

snicksfan85 · #15 09-03-2011, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travisevian

Why?

Why not?

It's a technology that's about 20 years old that's made recording cheaper, easier, and more accessible. Even if analog recording is the golden child preference for audiophiles, it's the biggest pain in the posterior. Protools is cheaper, easier to edit with and organize, allows for a ton of tracks without daisy chaining 2 or 3 machines together, and doesn't require the fine art of punch ins, splicing tape, and calibrating machines. Plus, we're talking the best Macs money can buy and high end Protools HD rigs. It's not like me hooking up a Mbox to my Macbook. (which would not sound bad but wouldn't be up to major release standard) You literally have hundreds of plug-ins at your fingertips, some that are just as good as the outboard gear. You're not limited to the length of the tape. You can put months worth of sessions on one hard drive. 2" 24 track tape is expensive. (Think 3 hard drives for the price of one reel) Most quality tape machines are 30+ years old and prone to being temperamental. Plus, with Protools, you don't have to worry about tape degradation after a billion playbacks. Tape gets messed up, there potentially goes months worth of work. A hard drive gets corrupted, you might be able to get some of that back. (Assuming you didn't triple backup all your sessions which is also pretty standard)

I will tell you, in the 2 years I worked at a major studio, there were only a handful that used analog tape and those ended up being dumped into Protools for mixing or editing. Protools is the standard.

Also, you would be surprised the amount of Autotune that's used these days. (Which is really the only gripe I have with the whole DAW set-up). It's hard to point it out on a listen through off an album unless it leaves an "artifact" (odd sounding digital noise) or it's used for the "Cher" effect (think "Believe"). But I hear it on this album in certain spots and there's a few places I suspect but can't say 100% on whether or not it was used.

The Mac used tape to record Say You Will and then dumped into Protools for the mix. That's a tape machine controller next to the console in the house. Plus, Lindsey's getting ready to splice tape at one point (1/2" or 1") during Thrown Down and then using 2" on Say You Will.

Mark Needham did an interview with Mix Magazine talking about how it was recorded and then was mixed:
Whereas Buckingham used his Neotek console and Sony 3348 2-inch to cut tracks at the Bellagio House, Needham and Buckingham mixed at Cornerstone, feeding DAW tracks through the studio's Neve VR console, plus racks of his own outboard gear. Additionally, there were some tracks from the solo project that were on analog reels. “For most of the stuff, we're using a 64-channel Pro Tools rig, and then I have probably four or five racks of outboard gear that travel with me. On a couple of tunes, we actually had 128 channels; we brought in a [Pro Tools] HD system. But mostly we were just using my [Pro Tools] 888 24-bit system with the dB Technologies converters on the output. We added some parts in the studio while we were mixing, and then I like to add in additional stuff, as well. I usually add in several more drum sounds. And I like to have the ability to be able to split the vocal off onto maybe three or four returns.”

While he used “quite a few” plug-ins on the project, Needham notes that “all of my compression and EQs are outboard analog. I have several Neve pre's and EQs and API 550s and 560s. I also use Jeff Daking EQs, Focusrite Reds, 1176s, 1178s. I have a bunch of Manleys that I like. I use the Drawmer 1969 [compressor] on background vocals. Recently, I've been using some SPL [Sound Performance Labs] things that I got hooked up with on some projects I did over in Amsterdam. One is a piece called a Transient Designer, which I love on drums. Then there's the cool [Charisma] Tube [processor] and their Qure EQ. I love what that does for acoustic instruments that have been processed through the mill on digital gear; the top end can get a little dull and hard to fit into a mix, but I've been very happy with what [the Qure] did. I have stacks and stacks of gear, and we used a lot of it on this album.”

Needham says that he enjoyed the challenge of making a coherent mix out of the many layers of tracks Buckingham delivered. “The goal, of course, is to be able to actually distinguish all the parts. Sometimes you have 20 or 30 vocals going and seven or eight percussion tracks and numerous guitar parts; really, a lot of information.”

I asked Needham the same question I'd asked Buckingham: How do you know when it's done? He, too, laughed. “When we've tried every possibility that we can imagine?” He notes that on the two songs that used 128 tracks — “Peacekeeper” and “What's the World Coming to” — “I took two older versions of each [from the solo sessions] and the new versions that the band had recorded, which were in slightly different tempos and keys, and combined all that together, pulling out parts from both; I made a hybrid of them.”

One challenge Needham faced was dealing with Buckingham's beloved half-speed guitar parts: “The tempo variations made it a little difficult to transfer it over to Pro Tools because his VSO speeds range from two whole steps up to a whole step down, which caused some problems with the Pro Tools clock,” he says.

Also interesting to note, Stevie has been running a live version of Protools off and on since 2007 for her shows. (Also, per a Mix Magazine interview.)