Any producers, sound engineers, mixers out there?

[el perro]

Deftones albums are recorded, and mixed very well in my opinion. I know there isn't an exact way to record, but can anyone with a good ear and recording/mixing experience tell me anymore about how Deftones albums are, or could have been done?

I know from a interview with Stef that he records a hard left and hard right guitar part. and i'd especially like to know how Abe gets such a good recording with his drums. Diamond Eyes sounds abosolutely pristine compared with previous albums.

[M1GHTY M4VS]

about DE - Nick Raskulinecz, he´s the man, not to critizize Terry Date but Nick is on another Level + things have evolved over the years. Forget about Adrenaline, it´s more like a High Quality Demo Record not much to mention about serious mixing - rather a low budget production to get things going. ATF was pretty much awesome mixed. WP effects are the best on any record but to me it seems a bit cropped - quiet compared to the other records but the mix is awesome. DE didn´t have to much to mix, the bits that are there are highly noticable, but overall it´s the Guitar Album to me, though Chino´s style on it doesn´t need much mixing, sounds wasted most of the time which doesn´t need to be a bad thing about it, it has another unique but not often appreciated feeling. SNW is overmixed at certain points but has clearly some nice flow during the moody songs + the Ezrin Thing shows how much it flaws from the mixes, some of them are really great but not what you would expect to be hearing on a defs album + not many of these demos could get along with Vocals.

[Starz]

Here's an interview with Raskulinecz describing how Diamond Eyes was recorded and what was used. Interesting read if you're into recording music like me...

http://eqmag.com/article/riff-riff-/June-2010/113865

[nineteen]

I only know a tiny bit about it all (aka nothing) but I really like the sound of Self Titled and Around The Fur. White Pony is also amazing but sometimes a bit too tinny for me.

Diamond Eyes is OK but I just don't like the snare sound - sounds a bit weaker than their previous pops etc. Around the Fur seems to have the best sound IMO.

SNW is alright, but marred by odd sound.

Just a personal preference/listen really.

[skullisred]

I only know a tiny bit about it all (aka nothing) but I really like the sound of Self Titled and Around The Fur. White Pony is also amazing but sometimes a bit too tinny for me.

Diamond Eyes is OK but I just don't like the snare sound - sounds a bit weaker than their previous pops etc. Around the Fur seems to have the best sound IMO.

SNW is alright, but marred by odd sound.

Just a personal preference/listen really.

Completely agree with this, ATF and self titled all the way in production terms. Terry Date is the man. The overall quality on self titled is amazing imo. And ATF still stands the test of time, snare sound omfgggg and guitars are real heavy even back then.

I dunno why but i'm always a bit dissappointed by DE's productions. Im not sure if im correct but I think it may suffer from the 'loudness' problem a bit?
Song like CMND/CNTRL and Royal in particular seem to be a bit choppy/bitty in places. maybe its just me but I think S/T production > DE

[Deftones-argentina]

Despite The snare drum isn't as perfect as with other records, what nick did do really well is to find a place for the 8 strings in the mix. I never liked that much how terry made the 7string sound, in my ears sounded really sloppy. We can't deny that some of the effects are really REALLY well crafted. Terry D gives 'em more of a sountrack feeling in my opinion. I'd like to compare deftones 3 producers more acurately, and talk more about shawn (that for me had some nice ideas, but the overall product sounds more umm...lo-fi than it sould?)

[Starz]

Chris Lord Alge mixed the song 'Diamond Eyes' and that sounds way more punchier and crisp than the rest of the album that was mixed by Nick only. Would like to know what Chris Lord Alge did/use to mix that song bearing in mind all of the guitars etc were recorded in the way that interview above describes.

I think what Terry did great with White Pony and S/T is he kept that dark, moody vibe within the band at the time right in the mix. DE has a more clear cut vision, we know what this record will do for us and Nick did great with keeping that upbeat vibe within the band and translated that very well into the overall mix of DE. For me, the only real atmospheric ambience in DE comes from Chino's vocals and the way they are processed.

I thought Shaun only mixed Chinos vocals and not the whole SNW album? There is a similar sort of vibe on SNW where the vocals create a lot of the overall atmosphere.

Just my thoughts anyway...

[UrZ*]

Chris Lord Alge mixed the song 'Diamond Eyes' and that sounds way more punchier and crisp than the rest of the album that was mixed by Nick only. Would like to know what Chris Lord Alge did/use to mix that song bearing in mind all of the guitars etc were recorded in the way that interview above describes.

I think what Terry did great with White Pony and S/T is he kept that dark, moody vibe within the band at the time right in the mix. DE has a more clear cut vision, we know what this record will do for us and Nick did great with keeping that upbeat vibe within the band and translated that very well into the overall mix of DE. For me, the only real atmospheric ambience in DE comes from Chino's vocals and the way they are processed.

I thought Shaun only mixed Chinos vocals and not the whole SNW album? There is a similar sort of vibe on SNW where the vocals create a lot of the overall atmosphere.

Just my thoughts anyway...

Different EQ'ing / compressing. different FX. And I wouldn't be surprised if that riff has quite a few layers.. (quadtracking anyone?) lots of tracks, lots of mic's used... so he had a lot to play around with. Less condensor, more dynamic?

I believe Chino and Shaun were supposed to do vocals, but unfortunately got carried away..

And your right on the vocals they really create so much mood. The effects and multitracking is done very nicely. But also don't forget it's like a $ 15 000 mic that they used, and the characteristics of the mic (freq. response/pickup) really fit his voice I believe..

Oh and the snare:

Abe's whole kit is tuned pretty effing low u guys. Listen to the kickdrum toms, everything.. his ride cymbal is big and sounds huge too..  He's a very precise guy, he "tunes" his kit to the guitar.. Steph goes lower, he goes lower.. although he's made it work better than on SNW this time around..

cymbals are 19/20" crashes, 22" ride, 15" hats, 20" china "trash"... pretty heavy cymbals man..

[Starz]

The same microphone that was used for Chino's vocals was also used to mic up the bass cab and two of them were used as overheads for Abe's kit. Pretty cool.

Yeah that ELA M 251 microphone costs a lot of money. would be cool to see a picture of a U87 strapped to his hand. he must have used this mic to do the screaming parts in DE.

[SomeOf]

Hi !
Does anybody know how ATF's and WP's recordings went? Or what equipement they used? More precisely, do you have any information on Terry Date for Deftones' work with regards to the sound and production please?

[M1GHTY M4VS]

Hi !
Does anybody know how ATF's and WP's recordings went? Or what equipement they used? More precisely, do you have any information on Terry Date for Deftones' work with regards to the sound and production please?

For equipment deftonesworld might be a good choice.

[UrZ*]

The same microphone that was used for Chino's vocals was also used to mic up the bass cab and two of them were used as overheads for Abe's kit. Pretty cool.

Yeah that ELA M 251 microphone costs a lot of money. would be cool to see a picture of a U87 strapped to his hand. he must have used this mic to do the screaming parts in DE.

Yeah I wonder if it's the original or the re-released one... I'm guessing the original. But yeah he worked it well, so he deserves it ;-). If I'd use the 251 or a Rode NT2 there wouldn't be much difference

[Starz]

Hi !
Does anybody know how ATF's and WP's recordings went? Or what equipement they used? More precisely, do you have any information on Terry Date for Deftones' work with regards to the sound and production please?

ATF information:

- 2 SM57's split the dustcaps on 2 of the 12s of a 4 x 12 Marshall cab
- Audio-Technica ATM-25s on the drum tom toms, 57 on snare and either U87s or C414s as overheads. Sony C-800G was used as a mono room microphone
- Everything was recorded into an early 70's API board with a Neve BCM-10 sidecar and Studer A827 tape machine
- a lot of the scratch vocals done by Chino with an SM58 made the record

- Chino's vocal sound is usually based on a healthy amount of quick compression and patch #23 on the SPX 90... a doubler effect with the left side 5-10 cents flat, and the right side 5-10 cents sharp. And swimmy delays. Terry is a big fan of the Zoom 9030 box, originally made for guitars (and it's not great on guitars) but perfect for nutty vocal and drum effects

[DEFinatelydeftones,fsho]

Chris Lord Alge mixed the song 'Diamond Eyes' and that sounds way more punchier and crisp than the rest of the album that was mixed by Nick only. Would like to know what Chris Lord Alge did/use to mix that song bearing in mind all of the guitars etc were recorded in the way that interview above describes.

I think what Terry did great with White Pony and S/T is he kept that dark, moody vibe within the band at the time right in the mix. DE has a more clear cut vision, we know what this record will do for us and Nick did great with keeping that upbeat vibe within the band and translated that very well into the overall mix of DE. For me, the only real atmospheric ambience in DE comes from Chino's vocals and the way they are processed.

I thought Shaun only mixed Chinos vocals and not the whole SNW album? There is a similar sort of vibe on SNW where the vocals create a lot of the overall atmosphere.

Just my thoughts anyway...

You are so dead on with your idea of Chino's vocals being the ambience to the album. Says so in the article V posted hours ago! Sometimes I don't realize things like that until I hear or read it, but you nailed that one.

[defsteve]

Here's an interview with Raskulinecz describing how Diamond Eyes was recorded and what was used. Interesting read if you're into recording music like me...

http://eqmag.com/article/riff-riff-/June-2010/113865

They talk about Diamond Eyes production here:

http://eqmag.com/article/riff-riff-/June-2010/113865

Only 3 days late