Ola does the Black album!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter RaceU4her
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The tone on Wolf and Man is one of the best . Imagine it mixed louder like the previous two albums . It would be beyond crushing
 
Man, I dunno how much my bluetooth headset is contaminating the sound from the vid, but it just doesn't sound quite there. I also think a small part of that rhythm sound off the album was a hot as balls signal just barely clipping at the board; which I hear during the palm mutes. Or maybe I'm hearing something else.

Also, I'm sure it sounds more convincing where Ola's sitting rather than how he recorded it, but when I had a black dot Mark III a few years ago I swore I could get that album tone with little effort - using ceramic pickups and a Tourmaster cab with V30s.

Either way that's a really cool vid and I like the dive he took to get there.

Edit: Mix sounded REALLY good. Goes to show how the mix can change everything.
 
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Techdeth said:
The tone on Wolf and Man is one of the best . Imagine it mixed louder like the previous two albums . It would be beyond crushing
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You make a valid, rarely mentioned point. James's guitars are mixed lower on the Black Album than on any other Metallica studio recording. They take a back seat to the vocals, and drums (including the room sound/huge reverb from the drums). It was certainly one way to achieve a radio friendly mix...
 
sahlomonic said:
Man, I dunno how much my bluetooth headset is contaminating the sound from the vid, but it just doesn't sound quite there. I also think a small part of that rhythm sound off the album was a hot as balls signal just barely clipping at the board; which I hear during the palm mutes. Or maybe I'm hearing something else.

Also, I'm sure it sounds more convincing where Ola's sitting rather than how he recorded it, but when I had a black dot Mark III a few years ago I swore I could get that album tone with little effort - using ceramic pickups and a Tourmaster cab with V30s.

Either way that's a really cool vid and I like the dive he took to get there.

Edit: Mix sounded REALLY good. Goes to show how the mix can change everything.
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Gotta take into consideration the original was recorded on 2” tape,
along with all the other variables.

Personally, I thought that MXR 10 band sounded like shit, but overall I enjoyed the video and appreciate the work that goes into producing this kind of content.
 
thegame said:
You make a valid, rarely mentioned point. James's guitars are mixed lower on the Black Album than on any other Metallica studio recording. They take a back seat to the vocals, and drums (including the room sound/huge reverb from the drums). It was certainly one way to achieve a radio friendly mix...
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That’s always bothered me . Especially Wolf and Man. That tone shines .
gtrwun said:
Gotta take into consideration this was recorded on 2” tape along with all the other variables.

Personally, I thought that MXR 10 band sounded like shit.
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tape and the parametric eqs as well .
 
It’s just not going to happen. valiant effort I will say though for sure! The playing , the vibe, the entire signal chain etc. it’s the sum of all the parts that made that sound. And there is absolutely no way to reproduce that sound 100 percent perfect. Even bob rock said he could never reproduce it, let alone that mix.

Not to nitpick Ola, and I know he knows these things, but the only thing he used that was original to that record was the 2c+( or a mark III :D ). Mesa cabs, wrong mics, wrong speakers, wrong preamps, an eq that can’t do the EQ curves that they did in the record, and the wrong Marshall head.again, not saying it can’t sound good because I thought it sounded great for what it was! It’s just not gonna be that.

The sm57/421 combo, along with MARSHALL cabs and Marshall celestion 16 OHM speakers are crucial to that sound. Of course, James’s hand wouldn’t hurt either. The room mic was I believe a U87 definitely adds something too. In my experience adding a room mic like that 20 feet back or so pointed at the cab can really give better imaging of the midrange especially, but I think being subtle with it is the key.

I will say if you’re a novice with listening to a tone and trying to figure out frequencies to cut or boost to get close to it, in my opinion cutting 1200 hz as Ola mentioned ( and he’s correct on that as well) is a fast way to get you that very familiar Metallica type of hollowish scooped midrange tone. So start there if you are ever interested in getting a Metallica’ish type tone. Searing highs in the 6-8k range, a big cut around 1.2k, a decent gain stage ( but not too much gain) a 4x12, and voila, you are gonna be in the ballpark vibe wise.
 
VESmedic, they literally built a room (the "tent" as they called it) around James's rig using blankets, giant foam pads, etc to bring out certain frequencies from his amp naturally (to greatly emphasize what was already there) so it wouldn't have to be done with EQ. They also used multiple mics to intentionally phase notch some frequencies as well, again so they wouldn't have to rely on outboard EQ so much. I miss the era when producers and engineers got real creative to create landmark tones.
 
thegame said:
VESmedic, they literally built a room (the "tent" as they called it) around James's rig using blankets, giant foam pads, etc to bring out certain frequencies from his amp naturally (to greatly emphasize what was already there) so it wouldn't have to be done with EQ. They also used multiple mics to intentionally phase notch some frequencies as well, again so they wouldn't have to rely on outboard EQ so much. I miss the era when producers and engineers got real creative to create landmark tones.
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I get what you’re saying, but the info about the aphex EQ that Ola posted are spot on and actual pictures I believe from bob rock. They did all that and that’s completely true about phasing out certain frequencies etc, but they still used the aphex eq in the loop with those settings ON TOP of everything that you mentioned. I think it just further illustrates the point how, I’d say impossible, it is to get dead on this tone!

And I do too, some engineers definitely still do, but it’s all about budget of course. They did this album over almost a year right? That’s a lot of time to get amazing results for sure. But I agree, tones like the black album, carcass heartwork etc are all prime examples of engineers pushing the boundaries to get something unique and really owning their craft .
 
RaceU4her said:
Imagine having months to get guitar tones alone?? I think the most I’ve spent on any of my clips is three hours and that’s recording and mixing every instrument lol
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When you hear what guys do that make records like this, it really is just insanely mindblowing to me. I mean, I still know guys that will spend 3-4 days EQing a snare drum. Even one THEY tracked themselves! It just seems so daunting to make something awesome when you hear what engineers do and the lengths they go to just get a damn snare drum sounding great. Talk about pulling your head out, and a life of complete self loathing. But it’s the only way to do it at that level, tons of sacrifice and dedicating your life to it.
 
VESmedic said:
I get what you’re saying, but the info about the aphex EQ that Ola posted are spot on and actual pictures I believe from bob rock. They did all that and that’s completely true about phasing out certain frequencies etc, but they still used the aphex eq in the loop with those settings ON TOP of everything that you mentioned. I think it just further illustrates the point how, I’d say impossible, it is to get dead on this tone!

And I do too, some engineers definitely still do, but it’s all about budget of course. They did this album over almost a year right? That’s a lot of time to get amazing results for sure. But I agree, tones like the black album, carcass heartwork etc are all prime examples of engineers pushing the boundaries to get something unique and really owning their craft .
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Yes the Aphex EQ in the loop is true. I should have clarified that when I said they did those things as to not rely on outboard EQ, I (quoting Bob Rock) I meant the studio outboard EQ units (for the post mic signal). But I'm glad you mentioned Heartwork as I really favour that fat and wet analog sound Colin Richardson has gotten on so many extreme metal albums. In my opinion Bloodthirst is the best sounding CC recording due to Richardson.
 
Even though i'm not really a black album fan, its always cool to see everyone nerd out really hard on the gear being used.

I prefer the puppets tone, by far, if it has to be a metallica record.

But Ola seemingly does a good job? It's hard to tell without it being multitracked - I dial tones in with that kind of baked in.
 
thegame said:
Yes the Aphex EQ in the loop is true. I should have clarified that when I said they did those things as to not rely on outboard EQ, I (quoting Bob Rock) I meant the studio outboard EQ units (for the post mic signal). But I'm glad you mentioned Heartwork as I really favour that fat and wet analog sound Colin Richardson has gotten on so many extreme metal albums. In my opinion Bloodthirst is the best sounding CC recording due to Richardson.
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Bloodthirst definitely is may fav CC because of production and songs . Great one
 
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