Q&A with multi-platinum rock producer Michael Wagener.

[Digital Jams]

Hey Michael great to have you here.

Question: Tooth And Nail was such a huge record in my life and then Under Lock And Key came out and sounded so mind blowing to me. It was almost like Lynch's sound had really come into it's own and the band and production sound was peeking, was there a shift on that record? Meaning did the budget get bigger with the success of TAN? New studio? Did you feel your personal chops grew? Luynch's playing? etc..?

Also: The Hunter is one of my all-time favorite solos, do you remember the day you tracked it? Gear? Was that a planned out solo by George or off the cuff?

p.s. Just read the discog and see that you only mixes TAN but produced, engineered and mixed ULK. That could be the answer. ULK is a brilliant sounding record.

Roy Thomas Baker and I were brought in to mix Tooth And Nail. The state of the project was somewhat a disaster at that point.

ULK was one of my first big Platinum selling albums. As you probably know, we had to keep Don and George about 20 miles apart during the recording.

George was one of those guitar players who worked not only on a solo, but also on the sound of that solo for days before it got recorded. The sound was part of the performance. The kids nowadays don't do that anymore, they come in and totally expect me to get them "THEIR" sound. I don't mind, but I liked it when George and Zack had their own tone and I just had to record it the best way possible.

About the Lynch guitar tone on Under Lock And Key. There are tons of rumors on how that tone was made, most of them started by people that want to sell amps to guitar players. What we did: we had two Marshalls and two Laneys (again not sure which models). One Marshall and one Laney had speakers in the big room at Amigo. The Laney took care of the low end and the Marshal took care of the higher sounds. I split them up so not one amp had the whole load of the full guitar spectrum, I still do that to the day. The other Laney was in a totally dead room and was fed by a Boss chorus pedal, and just slightly mixed in with the other two amps. The second Marshal (I think it was a 50W Plexi) was send to a cabinet in a small tiled bathroom. Everything was miced with 16 microphones all over the rooms. I then summed it all into one output on the console and send it to a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder and from there into the digital machine. George had mentioned that he always gets a great sound with his Fostex 4-track, so I told him to bring it in. We had it under the console covered with a packing blanket so nobody could see it and it was cranked to 11. That is most of the rhythm tone on ULK.

Very cool read!

 

[Digital Jams]

Have the hunter blasting now, damn what a tone!!!!


Michael, you stated the kids today are not looking for that tone like Lynch and Zak did back in the day. When does that search get in the way of your work during the recording process? Ever have to tell somebody that enough was enough, sounds great?

 

[Superunknown]

Awesome info Michael! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.....I'm on ebay looking for a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder as we speak...

 

[skoora]

Awesome info Michael! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.....I'm on ebay looking for a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder as we speak...

I've never gotten guitar sounds on my Hard drive as good as I used to get, easily, on a now, non-functioning Yamaha MT4X 4 track tape machine. I really miss using tape in general. Used to have an Otari MX series 1/2 inch 8 track that just ruled.

Michael, a lot of the 80's records have a nice low end but you rarely can hear a definitive bass line and sometimes kick drum too. Was it a conscious thing of the times to have the guitar be the dominating voice of rythym and melody, besides vocals and just have the bass fill things out underneath or was it just the natural, stylistic direction hard music took in the 80's?

Instead of give me more Cowbell, was it give me more snare?

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

So glad to have you on the board! Gotta get back down and hang with you again! Had a great time with you and your wife! I need to get with you about some interesting things I have going on in the amp world! Welcome and bring on the knowledge and oh ya how about some candy, preferable heath bars!

 

[halford]

This is awesome !! Thanks for doing this

loving all your answers Michael !!

 

[MICHAEL WAGENER]

Have the hunter blasting now, damn what a tone!!!!


Michael, you stated the kids today are not looking for that tone like Lynch and Zak did back in the day. When does that search get in the way of your work during the recording process? Ever have to tell somebody that enough was enough, sounds great?

What I mean is, they sit in the lounge with a few amps and just work on their tone, so by the time they get into the studio to play the part everything is worked out. Sometimes we did some minor corrections, but it was still "their" tone that worked for that particular solo. I don't see that kind of preparation much any more.

 

[MICHAEL WAGENER]

So glad to have you on the board! Gotta get back down and hang with you again! Had a great time with you and your wife! I need to get with you about some interesting things I have going on in the amp world! Welcome and bring on the knowledge and oh ya how about some candy, preferable heath bars!

Jeff, great to see you here. Yes come on down, we're shooting video for my upcoming workshop DVDs, so the schedule is pretty loose (and bring that amp in your avatar .

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Wow, thanks for stopping by! If you're still around, what are some of the strangest/stupidest/funniest/embarrassing moments that occured with your clients? I imagine there's an endless stream of Recording Comedy that you have seen...

 

[MICHAEL WAGENER]

Wow, thanks for stopping by! If you're still around, what are some of the strangest/stupidest/funniest/embarrassing moments that occured with your clients? I imagine there's an endless stream of Recording Comedy that you have seen...

People tell me I should write a book. I think I would get shot if I did that

 

[skoora]

Wow, thanks for stopping by! If you're still around, what are some of the strangest/stupidest/funniest/embarrassing moments that occured with your clients? I imagine there's an endless stream of Recording Comedy that you have seen...

People tell me I should write a book. I think I would get shot if I did that

We'll get you some signature Rig-talk kevlar because that would be a book I would love to read

James is doing a great blow by blow of him recording his latest personal project and it involves a lot of simultaneous dumping to and from protools while using tape. Do you also like doing this as well? An equal combo of dig and tape.

 

[Jimmie]

Michael, welcome and thank you for gracing us with your wisdom and willingness to share.

Despite the advancements in recording technology, it seems the best tried and true means of capturing sound, still relies on Vintage large condenser mics like the Neumanns and 70's era pres or their clones like the Vintechs. James really opened my eyes in video-documenting his latest recording project yet I feel both blessed and at the same time, cursed. Blessed because I better understand what it takes to create a sonic gem, and cursed because to acquire these vintage pieces to capture sound, requires really deep pockets and a lot of luck that your hard earned cash isn't unwittingly purchasing a "vintage" U87 Neumann and it showing up at your door with a K-67 knock-off fresh out of China.

For desperate Recording Engineer wannabes such as myself, aside from the Vintage pieces, what would you recommend if left to aquire gear made post Y2K from mic to pre to DAW like ProTools HD?

Thanks Again!
Jimmie

 

[Mark Day]

Thanks for being here Michael. This is so very interesting to hear from the dude himself that has helped to create my favorite guitar tones!!!!

Can't wait to hear some cool "rockstar" stories

Mark

 

[killertone]

Hi Michael - thanks for being here!

I have a non guitar related question...what was up with the snare drum sounds in the 80s? They are the one thing that irks me like crazy when I whip out an old 80s track. Specifically I mean that "pssh" attack instead of a "crack" attack with an extremely washed out reverb...Was that just a product of the times? I remember being in my teens back then and thinking that the snare drum sounds were bad even then. Not bagging on you at all, your status is legendary and well-deserved...it's more of an "era" question, I guess.

 

[Gainfreak]

Hi Michael - thanks for being here!

I have a non guitar related question...what was up with the snare drum sounds in the 80s? They are the one thing that irks me like crazy when I whip out an old 80s track. Specifically I mean that "pssh" attack instead of a "crack" attack with an extremely washed out reverb...Was that just a product of the times? I remember being in my teens back then and thinking that the snare drum sounds were bad even then. Not bagging on you at all, your status is legendary and well-deserved...it's more of an "era" question, I guess.

Excellent question and I agree 100%!! Most of the 80's snares sounded like a baskeball hitting a glass window in a hall hahahha!

 

[roadifier]

I have a pretty short question. How much post EQ'ing did you do to Metallica's MOP guitar sound? and what exact amp did James use on MOP? Thanks, Its great to have you on the board!

 

[ACShreds]

Hi Michael - thanks for being here!

I have a non guitar related question...what was up with the snare drum sounds in the 80s? They are the one thing that irks me like crazy when I whip out an old 80s track. Specifically I mean that "pssh" attack instead of a "crack" attack with an extremely washed out reverb...Was that just a product of the times? I remember being in my teens back then and thinking that the snare drum sounds were bad even then. Not bagging on you at all, your status is legendary and well-deserved...it's more of an "era" question, I guess.

haha i love the 80's snare sound. I wish they'd bring it back.

 

[lolzgreg]

Michael,

It's a real honor to have you here. My buddy Rodney said he spoke with you briefly, and you were a huge help in finding his tone.

A shout out to Mr. Lugo for swaying you to come here as well

I was wondering if you could please let us know a little bit about microphone placement on a cabinet. A lot of engineers swear by using only a single microphone, while others (like yourself in most cases, as far as I have gathered) use several. Do you have a real sweet spot for dynamic microphones/condenser microphones in general? I know with ribbons, they are very forgiving when it comes to high end content, so you can slap that sucker right on the dead center of the cone, and will get some serious midrange without any fizz. With dynamics and condensers, I have noticed that even moving the microphone several millimeters can change the entire high end or fizz content of a distorted guitar sound. When I use several mics, I notice that this issue becomes much less prominent due to extremely minor phase cancellations due to the differing frequency responses of the various microphones used, and also the fact that the phase is going to be just a tiny bit different, but with the reduced fizz also comes reduced clarity.

Also, I record cabinets in a reflection-free isolated area that has several hundred pounds of rockwool insulation that is wrapped in fabric to help reduce low end buildup on palm mutes and my room's resonant frequencies; I also float the cabinets off the floor with rockwool panels, with a mdf panel on top, and an Auralex Gramma on top of that. I still seem to get some unwanted blooming in the low end, despite all the treatment. Is it commonplace to knock off a handful of decibels of low end peakiness with a Distressor, or something of the sort?

Thank you so very much for your time and knowledge,

-Greg Tomao

 

[Rev]

Hey Michael thanks so much for taking time to answer our questions. I have three questions concerning Pornograffitti...

1. What is the trick to getting those big 80's style background vocals/harmonies that Nuno does on many tracks? It only sounds like his voice on some but they sound really huge!

2. Unlike other Extreme albums, this one had a ton of complimentary horn/brass arrangements mixed in that gave a ton of dynamics to the sound. Can you explain how that was introduced and the story behind getting that on the record?

3. Nuno's guitar, from what I have read he was using a ADA MP1. It sounds like there are multiple layers of tracks over each other. Was there something special to give those tracks the uummph for lack of better words, that really carried the songs to which was new for you or the band at that time?

 

[Deleted member 3860]

Hello Michael-
If you could, please share your insight on dealing with pick/string noise.
When I play or watch live clips of others playing, I often hear a lot of pick attack/string noise (most noticeable with high gain tones). Yet when I listen to most albums, the attack is very smooth and fluid.
Eq? Compression? Fairy pixie dust?

Thanks for your time!
Russ