thesoundguy wrote on Mon, 07 February 2005 22:19 |
First off, the edit from Waiting For The Bus onto the one of Jesus has got to be the single most bestest greatest edit that any human has ever done with a razor blade. That edit alone is worthy of a big space on the wall in the rock and roll hall of fame, put the master tape right up there. |
Quote: |
What kind of console was Tres Hombres mixed on? Im assuming this is a 16 track master mixed to 1/4"? |
Quote: |
Can you comment on the drum setup on this record? Were they in a booth, or baffled in a larger room? Was the kit on a linoleum floor? Sounds a little brighter than carpet. |
Quote: |
Assuming there were scratch vocals from the tracking sessions, were any used on the LP or are all the vocals overdubbed? |
Quote: |
The Fadeout on Beer Drinkers is about the most insanely perfect fadeout anyone could make... |
Quote: |
Are we hearing mostly fender tweed amps on this record? |
Quote: |
Do you recall if during the tracking sessions, the guitar solos were played live with the rhythm tracks, or if the backing rhythm guitar over the solos went down with the band? |
Quote: |
Do you recall how long it took to track and mix? |
Quote: |
Were you involved in preproduction meeting for Tejas? If so, was there an intentional and motivated effort to take the record in a new direction, or did the sound of the record just simply result from the work flow? |
Quote: |
Do you recall if Ten Dollar Man was one of the first songs tracked for this record or if it was recorded towards the end of the sessions? The snare drum move right before the DI guitar comes in absolutely gets me off every time I hear that song and is one of my favorite mix moments on all the zz records. Leaving dusty's cough coming into the last verse is a righteous rock moment, more people should take note of stuff like that, the average engineer would have muted that. |
Quote: |
Was the master for Gimmie All Your Lovin VSO'd up a whole step? I have an original LP that definitely has a pitched up version, always wondered at which step along the way this occured. |
Quote: |
Thanks for enduring my somewhat long list of questions... |
compasspnt wrote on Thu, 10 February 2005 08:10 |
I like finding little anomoly things to leave in certain tracks. There's a lot of that in ZZ stuff. I used to look for and find it in Beatles' records, so I had to do it too. |
tenaciousJay wrote on Thu, 10 February 2005 14:10 |
Wow, great to have you here, Terry. Billy Gibbons is one of my biggest influences on guitar, both playing and tone-wise (And Jimmy Page is the other!). |
Quote: |
I'd love to know anything about the sessions for Deguello, specifically anything you can remember about the wide range of incredible guitar tones - amps, guitars, pedals, microphones, rooms, whatever. |
Quote: |
That one seems to get overlooked as a classic ZZ LP but it's always been one of my favorites. Bad, Nationwide kills me every time I hear it. Do you recall how Billy played that first solo? There's a part right after the intro of the solo where it sounds like he's quickly tapping 2 notes octave apart with his left hand but I could never get it to sound right. |
Quote: |
Also, have you heard the new CD box set at all? I've heard it's a much better representation of the way the LPs sound but haven't actually gotten a chance to listen myself. |
tenaciousJay wrote on Fri, 11 February 2005 03:48 |
Thanks for the detailed answer, Terry. C'mon, you know the part! daaah, dit dah. bu- dumbula dumbula dumbula dumbula dumbula dumbula daaah, dit dah. etc. LOL well that probably doesn't help. I had also read somewhere that that album was tracked in a bunch of different studios, sounds like that's not true. And any thoughts on Pearly? could you tell it was special or was it just a typical nice early LP? |
tenaciousJay wrote on Mon, 14 February 2005 12:05 |
Terry I wonder if you could comment on the guitar sound in Eliminator. What I always heard it was all Rockman - but was there an amp mixed in as well? And thoughts on the direction of that album as a whole - it certainly was a huge change in sound, even if there were hints of it on earlier albums. |
Radd 47 wrote on Thu, 17 February 2005 20:45 |
Hey Terry, what the heck is Billy saying at the end of Sharped Dressed man? Added by you I presume from one of those other tracks? |
Quote: |
That one seems to get overlooked as a classic ZZ LP but it's always been one of my favorites. Bad, Nationwide kills me every time I hear it. Do you recall how Billy played that first solo? There's a part right after the intro of the solo where it sounds like he's quickly tapping 2 notes octave apart with his left hand but I could never get it to sound right. |
Brian Kehew wrote on Mon, 28 February 2005 12:53 |
...Bill Ham was a genius, as ZZTop OWN their own masters since 1970 (which was rarer than a horny Racquel Welch then)... |
Bob Olhsson wrote on Mon, 28 February 2005 13:04 | ||
|
strawberrius wrote on Tue, 15 February 2005 11:17 |
terry - are u saying you played the drums on LEGS? 1 @ a time O.D. style? or a kit? that is insane - whenever i work with drummers, there is a fill that has become known as the "zz topper" which is any snare fill that ends with the last 2 16th notes of a bar (all over LEGS). if this is true, then u r the creator of the famous "zz topper" fill. and although this is not a revolutionary drum fill, it has been mentioned by name in just about every rock session i have done in the last 18 years. kudos!!!! -john fields |
Bill Mueller wrote on Tue, 01 March 2005 16:27 |
For a few shows on the Tres Hombres tour we had a caterer who laid out spreads like that for the whole band and crew. I almost only eat Mexican whenever I go to LA or Houston. In a few days, I am going to Austin and I am going to eat myself unconscious. Best Regards, Bill |
compasspnt wrote on Sun, 06 March 2005 19:31 | ||
Hi John, Long time, no answer...sorry! Well, I guess it can now be told, as long as you promise not to pass it on, but yes, I played the drums on "Legs," and in fact, almost the whole album. As mentioned, this song was recorded in my attic, except for Billy's lead guitar and vocal, which came from a previous studio version which was unsatisfactory. (Oh, if I could tell the whole, real story! Maybe someday...) |
jimmyjazz wrote on Mon, 07 March 2005 10:54 |
Terry, this may get into the part of the story you can't tell, but I always wondered why Frank Beard seemed curiously absent on ZZ Top records as they started going ga-multi-platinum. It was blindingly obvious, even to the barely-ZZ-Top-fans such as I, that the drums were pretty much electronic. What happened? I never felt the drums on earlier releases were anything but good, so it doesn't seem to me to be an issue of talent. Was "Eliminator" really just a Billy Gibbons vanity record? |
Level wrote on Mon, 07 March 2005 12:49 |
T, How is Billys health? I heard he had a rought time of it not in the too distant past... (if you don't mind) |
compasspnt wrote on Mon, 07 March 2005 11:11 | ||
Definitely not a vanity record. It was an attempt to reach ga-multi-platinum status. However, this is indeed part of the story about which I should not speak. |
Brian Kehew wrote on Thu, 17 March 2005 06:30 |
I see now there is a double-disc greatest hits ZZ package out. Anyone heard it yet? Original mixes and sources? Good mastering? I still cannot believe Bob Ludwig mastered the "Chrome" box set. Literally some of the worst mastering I have ever heard, from ANY facility. And on such an important project... |
maxim wrote on Fri, 01 April 2005 21:52 |
... I'm trying to work out why exactly this process often involves replacing the original drummer... it's so common, it's become an archetypal rock'n'roll story is it to do with the difference between live playing and recorded drums after all, it doesn't seem to happen (as much) with other instruments... is "hit" drumming just about hitting the kick and snare hard on the alternate beats, and everything else is detracting from that feel? i don't want to make this personal, but instead talk about it in a general production philosophy manner could you elaborate on this phenomenon? |