Studio Techniques Quotes

There's a very old recording maxim that goes, 'Distance makes depth.' I've used that a hell of a lot-whether it's tracking guitars or the whole band. People are used to close-miking amps, but I'd have a mic out around the back, as well, and then balance the two. Also, you shouldn't have to use EQ in the studio if the instruments sound right. You should be able to get the right tones simply with the science of microphone placement.

A lot of times I use live musicians, but I don't want it to have that live funky sound so I'll just take the best loop of a drum part and repeat it over and over and over again so that there's consistency and it feels a little bit more programmed. But I have a love/hate relationship with comping as well.

Well, we didn't have our original drummer on our last record. And most of that album was not played as a band in the studio. It was mostly the world of computers and overdubs. There was very few things played live or worked out as a band.

There are three different modes: playing piano, just me at the microphone, and me at my effects units. And I can mix those up in different ways.

I didn't finish high school, but I went to a special school for producers and musicians, a three year course for engineering, producing and learning all the tricks. So now I have my producing degree and certification.

I've always tried different stuff in the studio. I use rakes, spoons, cans... I'm a surround-sound type of guy.

I learned everything I knew about recording and engineering from my experience with Odd Future, so I was pretty comfortable with not having much.

I wanted to use the studio like a microscope for sound, which is what good engineers do.

Brian Eno taught us how to use the Recording Studio as an instrument.

Every time we go into the studio and use a different engineer or producer I try to look, listen and learn their approach. That has helped with the gear I look for to use live and in the studio.

There's a certain urgency that comes from the records of the early 60s before overdubbing and multitracking came into play.

I just recorded in studios, you know, people pressed the buttons for me. So I just started recording the bass lines and guitar parts with my voice, covering classical pieces, or just making up melodies so I could learn how to use it.

Sometimes we'd just play acoustic guitar and try out the parts and make a library. We'd use a double cassette player and make little edits.

Today, it's very tempting to create songs by cutting and pasting in the studio.

The tracks on 'Sleep' were recorded live to 2-track. I did a fadeout or two of them, but that's really it.

We all record together. We do it live; then, after that, we do overdubs, if we need to, to repair stuff. Usually when we do stuff, we have to make sure we get the bass and drums down, and by doing it live, you're actually playing the song. You're not piecing together a song.