WATCH PART FOUR OF THE INTERVIEW RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD

Part Four of our exclusive video interview with legendary recording engineer and producer Ken Scott shot at Abbey Road Studios with Russell Cottier asking the questions.

In this fourth part we looked at Mastering, working with technology and working with limitations and how they can actually help. Come back soon for the next part of our interview!

All of the Ken Scott Features

Nineteen seventy-nine marked the end of one decade and the dawn of another, mirroring the changes in my life.

My time was increasingly devoted to the task of resuscitating Roy Harper’s stalled career, no longer from a tiny rented house in Hereford but from a makeshift office in Birmingham, cobbled together in reclaimed derelict space above a recording studio in Gas Street, spitting distance from the Canal (an appropriate description as it happens; this was definitely downmarket – even less salubrious than the shabbiness of Rotten Park, where Annie and I rented a dilapidated flat).

For several months a fellow traveller shared the Harper universe that increasingly dominated my life. One of Roy’s old mates moved into The Vauld for a while, seeking refuge from a collapsing marriage and his own career hiatus. Being more of a jazzer than a rocker in my youth, Led Zeppelin had passed me by. Indeed (and perhaps amazingly) I was wholly unaware of the mega-star status of Robert Plant, the new arrival who hung out with Roy and I during this period. Indeed, nothing about Robert’s bearing or mannerisms betrayed his status in the rock firmament. He was down to earth, unpretentious and about as normal as any muso could be. There were occasional glimpses that he was a little less than an aspiring Brummy, though, as one treasured anecdote demonstrates (and I’m sure Robert will excuse me if I slightly guild what is a real-life lily…)

A frighteningly posh Jaguar car showroom occupied a large expanse of street around the corner from my dingy Gas Street office. One day, Robert phoned me. ‘Mark,’ he said, ‘I noticed a neat Jaguar convertible in the showroom round the corner. Do us a favour, mate, and pop in to see how much they want for it.’

I duly complied.

Now, those who know me will attest to the fact that I’m something of a sartorial disaster. My standard wardrobe comprises jeans, whatever shirt comes to hand in the morning and a comfortable jumper. My hair may be a mess these days, but it’s positively neat compared to the mop that flopped across my head twenty-seven years ago. In short, I guess I’d sheepishly own up to the fact that more often than not I’m one stitch removed from a tramp or (more kindly) a plumber’s mate rather than a music bizz impresario. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the dishevelled figure knocking the glass window of the super-posh Jag showroom was ignored for several minutes before a tetchy salesman answered the door, more in irritation than welcome.

‘Piss off son,’ came the welcoming response.

‘No, please,’ I pleaded. ‘I’ve been asked to get a price on one of your motors for a mate.’

A scowl accompanied by a half raised hand suggested that the salesman intended to give me a clip round the ear rather than any advice. He hesitated, though, probably unwilling to crease his dapper ‘Top Man’ suit.

‘That…’ I pointed at the convertible XJ6. ‘How much?’

I doubt that the salesman could have mustered a more derisory response had he practiced for a month. ‘Forty Thousand,’ he scoffed with a smirk. ‘Pounds, that is, not pence. Now piss off, sonny.’

I left Mister Jaguar Salesman chuckling at his naff joke and wandered back around the corner to report back.

‘Forty grand, eh?’ Robert’s voice on the end of the phone was curious, his interest clearly pricked. ‘Do us a favour, Mark, and ask what they’ll do for cash. See how much you can knock them down.’

Ten minutes later I was knocking on the plate glass window again.

Tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap…

‘What now?’ The Jag salesman strode rather than wandered to the door, murder in his eyes. ‘I’m busy. What do you want this time?’

I took half a step back and cleared my throat. ‘The convertible…’ I pointed to the gleaming green XJ6. ‘What’s your best deal for cash? Cash pound notes?’ It was just as well I’d taken that step as I swear the salesman would have taken a swing at me and ended up with blood on his pinstriped shirt. His mouth opened but not a word came out.

I tried again. ‘How much for cash? The bottom line? Rock bottom?’

Although his voice mouthed the words ‘piss off…’ what came out was…’thirty five thousand pounds,’ before he caught his breath, pointed to the street and hissed… ‘now stop wasting my bloody time…’ and slammed the door in my face.

I can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed any moment more than when, two days later, Robert and I wandered into the showroom to confront my best buddy (not), the car salesman. Robert laid his briefcase on the counter, flipped open the lid and pulled out a banker’s draft made out for thirty five thousand pounds. Done deal.

I was never able to walk past the Jaguar showroom again without that slick, foulmouthed sales-weasel rushing out to greet me with news of his latest bargains.

Don’t judge a book by its cover and all that jazz…

But back to Roy Harper.

My strategy to revitalise Roy’s ailing career was two fold; firstly, to find a great band to back him on the gigs that we both agreed were essential to raise his profile and secondly…to choose the right record deal. Yes, that’s right. In my naivety I believed that every record company in the world would be blown away by such an amazing demo album and fight one other to sign the great man.

Hmmm…I had much to learn.

We held auditions for backing musicians in Pete King’s recording studio, below my office. These took the form of a couple of days recordings, which Roy and I later mixed at David Gilmour’s private studio (later developed to become Comfort’s Place). Sorry folks…that is yet another story.

We trawled Birmingham for musicians and one name kept cropping up – that of guitarist Bob Wilson, formerly of The Steve Gibbons Band. He topped our list, was offered a gig after (probably) twenty seconds in the studio and fully justified his reputation as being very special. Had Bob lived in London, he would have had the pick of any band in the business as he was both an exceptional player and a true pro. And a diamond geezer to boot. In terms of bass players, we’d pretty much decided on a guy called Dick Cadbury who ran a studio in Gloucester and had quite a pedigree on the session scene. I asked my old mate, drummer George Jackson, to come and lay down drums for Dick’s audition and he was happy to oblige. George had run the drum shop at Buzz Music for a while and was a great player. As chance had it, he was now resident drummer with the Birmingham Top Rank house band, and so was local. However, just before the audition Dick rang up and cancelled, leaving us with a booked studio, a guitarist (Bob Wilson) a drummer but no bassist. I asked George if he could drag along a dep, and this is how we first met Tony Franklyn.

I’ll never forget that first session. I’d been nervous when George turned up with Tony, for Tony was a lad, a kid, a giggling seventeen year old. ‘Just listen,’ George whispered. So we did.

Tony had recently joined the Top Rank band from his native Derby (I think) as resident bass player. He read dots fluently, was a dab hand on clarinet and had made the gig his own immediately. Although shy and a little overawed by the occasion, all his nerves evaporated the moment he plugged in his Precision bass.

We were gobsmacked.

Now, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most talented musicians of my generation in one capacity or other. I have high standards and can recognise an exceptional musician when I hear one. I can honestly say that Tony Franklyn was a league above any other teenage muso I’ve ever heard. On every score, he dripped talent. His sound, his timing, his fluency, his precision – on every score he was not merely the finished article but was already a highly individual voice. Am I over-egging the cookie? I think not. Indeed, he had the same effect on Jimmy Page and Paul Rogers when, upon the demise of Roy’s band, they asked him to join The Firm and tour stadiums in the States. By all accounts he stole show after show, despite being half the age of the other superstars in the band.

So Roy’s band was taking shape nicely. I’d even unearthed some superb backing vocalists who later went on tour with us – Ruby Turner and Jackie Graham. Those girls could sing, as the world was later to discover when they both signed solo record deals. Meanwhile, I started the rounds of London record companies, demos in hand (and those were the days when there were upwards of fifteen majors clustered around the West End).

My meetings proved puzzling. Pretty much everyone was curious but…I was soon to learn that Roy had developed what might best be described as something of a reputation as a loose cannon in the industry, as was summed up by my dealings with Simon Potts at Arista.

I left the demos with Simon (whom I knew quite well from my Haircut 100 days) and met up with him again a week later. He sighed and shook his head. ‘I don’t think so, Mark.’ He was sympathetic. ‘Good luck, though.’ He smiled. As I got up to leave, disappointed he added… ‘Oh, do you mind if I keep the demos? They’re amazing –the best demos I’ve ever heard. Roy’s a genius. There’s a classic album waiting to be made…’

‘Well why not sign him, then?’ I was puzzled.

Simon shrugged. ‘What? Sign Roy Harper?’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. Life’s too short…’

With all the majors passing one by one, we were left to find another strategy. The solution came initially from Roy.

According to Roy, his superstar friends would be happy to invest in a label and finance the making of the record. Guaranteed. After all they were mates, weren’t they?

And so the lunacy began.

I formed a record company – Public Recordings – and committed my remaining resources to the project. A friend of mine, Robert Grayburn, also invested some working capital (thanks Robert…you’ll get it back one day, I promise…) and Roy gave me a list of his ‘friends’ to contact for additional investment. An injection of five thousand pounds as a loan would buy shares and points on the album. Easy, eh?

In my innocence I believed so.

Over the next three months I wrote letters and held meetings with a series of potential investors who’s records graced my collection. I sat in Bill Curbishly’s office making a presentation to an inebriated Pete Townsend, spoke several times to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull (who had always publicly claimed Roy as a major influence) and put in repeated calls to Jimmy Page whom Roy was adamant would chip into the kitty. All of these offered verbal support, but nothing more. However, one by one investors did send cheques. Robert Plant and David Gilmour needed no persuading, although Gilmour quietly suggested that the likelihood of ever seeing his money back was about as remote as a hike on the dark side of the moon. I realise now that he knew Roy better than any of us. So that was ten grand in addition to the ten that Robert and I had invested. Kate Bush was an avid fan and had covered one of Roy’s songs somewhere down the line. I met her several times (and a new hero was born; what an unpretentious, lovely, generous, honest human being…) and one day a note arrived with a cheque for three thousand, all she could afford at the time. So we were nearly there. Just one more investor, and we’d have the budget we needed to make the album at long last.

The pressure mounted. Pressure from Barclays to repossess Roy’s farm, pressure to keep the musicians we’d found for the album on-side, pressure to confirm the pencilled studio dates at Chapel Lane outside Hereford, close to Roy’s house (meaning we had accommodation for the band). I needed one more investor, but all I was getting were rejections. Rejections from Pete Townsend, stoned silence from Jimmy Page, haughty indifference from Ian Anderson, until…

The phone went.

‘Hello. Public Recordings.’

‘Can I speak to Mark please.’ It was a familiar voice. I racked my brains, trying to place where and who and when…

‘Speaking.’

‘You sent me a tape with a letter asking me to invest in your new record company.’

‘Ye-es…’ I answered hesitantly. Who was this? It was such a familiar voice that I assumed I was speaking to someone I knew well.

‘I love the demos. I think the album deserves a chance. I’ll put a cheque for five grand in the post today. OK?’ …a pause… ‘ and thanks for thinking of me.’

‘So…you’re a close friend of Roy’s?’ I was still desperately struggling to place the voice, too embarrassed to ask who it was in case it was an obvious friend, desperate for a clue.

‘Me? A friend?’ The caller laughed. ‘No. We only met once. Linda and I were recording at Abbey Road and dragged Roy in to help out with backing vocals. But I’m a big fan. Always have been. So is Linda.’

I knew. The voice. I knew who it was. And if I hadn’t, I would have found out soon enough. The caller confirmed in his own modest style…

‘Oh, I’ll send a personal cheque, Paul McCartney, rather than getting MPL involved. Less paperwork needed.’ As I gasped, he added… ‘And by the way, regard it as a gift rather than an investment. I may not know Roy very well, but I know him well enough. I won’t expect to get it back. But good luck with the album anyway, Mark.’
And the phone went dead.

At last we had our money courtesy of Robert Plant, David Gilmour, Kate Bush and Paul McCartney. Oh, not forgetting Robert Grayburn and me, of course.

Rock and Roll…

(to be continued…)

Roy Harper; Born In Captivity/Work Of Heart Science Friction HUCD008

Eccentric

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I often wonder how recording engineers and producers stumble into their (often accidental) careers. I found this in my archives the other day and enjoyed revisiting an eyelash of my own, and UK recording, history. Maybe it might interest others?

Bear with me, dear reader (if you do in fact exist) as I delve into the fading greyness of my hazy memory banks to recount a strange, strange episode in my professional life.

I spent most of the 1970’s developing a business, Buzz Music, in Hereford, a sleepy and forgotten but extremely beautiful English county town a ten-league-boot stride or so from the Welsh borders, half an hour’s drive north of Kingsley Ward’s famous (infamous?) Rockfield recording studios in Monmouth.

From humble roots as a small record shop, Buzz had stretched and yawned it’s hippy wings and spawned guitar, drum and keyboard sales departments, a large flightcase factory and touring PA rigs, putting us at the heart of the anarchic two-tone and new wave music scene of the late 1970’s. I could write chapters about my madcap adventures with The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners, The Pretenders and more, but will spare you this indulgence. Suffice it to say that these were crazy days – the archetypical sex, drugs and rock `n` roll years of ill repute. Please kiddies, be warned – such a lifestyle is seriously prejudicial to your health and should be avoided at all costs. Stick to liquorish and pussycats, don’t inhale and live a quiet, uneventful life. Otherwise…you might end up like me (heavens forefend). Those days are far behind me now but I wouldn’t have missed them for all the microphones in China.

Back to the plot…

Like Icarus drawn to the sun, Buzz reached for the skies and eventually burned its wings. The collapse was slow and painful as my partner, Alan, and I spent a year working for the receiver to pay off the company’s debts. We succeeded, but emerged in 1978 broke and jobless.

By this time, I knew how to coordinate a rock and roll tour, knew the promoters, the sound rig and lighting suppliers and found I could turn a buck applying my knowledge and contacts for the benefit of clients. So it was that I found myself scraping by with a series of tour production gigs that kept the wolf from the door.

One fine day, totally out of the blue, I received a call from a Mr. Ian Tilbury, self-styled impresario and artiste manager. One of his clients had recently moved to a small village outside Hereford and wanted to hire some bits and pieces of recording equipment to make a demo of his next album. Could I supply a Brennel Mini 8 recorder and a Roland space echo, a DI box and some cables for a couple of months?

Indeed I could, I replied, at a price. A deal was done (I could sub hire the eight track and the margin would pay at least a week’s rent), and I arranged to deliver. And who was the client, I asked?

Roy Harper, came the reply.

I drove the equipment to Roy’s farmhouse– The Vauld – in the village of Marden with my hands trembling at the steering wheel. For this was my one, true musical hero, a man who’s Magnus Opus – Stormcock – was rarely off my battered turntable. I was about to meet my musical god. It was a feeling that I’ll never forget, a high that ranks with any I’ve ever had before or since.

Roy had bought The Vauld with the proceeds of a large EMI advance after renegotiating his Harvest contract following success in the mid 1970’s. Part of the deal was that EMI supplied him with a recording console – one of only three dedicated studio desks built by Jeff Byers under the ‘Midas’ banner. Very Neve-like and built like a battleship, this was a quirky twenty four input, eight buss beast bristling with transformers. It was somewhat idiosyncratic but (as I now appreciate) it sounded great.

Roy had converted the old Granary behind the farmhouse into a grand annex, including a gallery where the Midas lived. By this time – 1978 – he had parted company with EMI after the failure of the horrifically expensive ‘Unknown Soldier’ album (initially recorded as ‘Commercial Breaks’ but revamped at great cost after EMI’s cold response). In typical Harpic fashion (Harpic being Roy’s nickname in the bizz) Roy had retired from the music scene to breed sheep (an occupation for which he was utterly unsuited) and smoke dope. Meanwhile, he had fallen out with his longstanding manager, Pete Jenner, and entrusted his career to the slick but shadowy Ian Tilbury.

Hmmm…

Roy’s coffers were pretty well exhausted by now, but Tilbury claimed to have Geffen Records hanging by a string, hot to trot, ready waiting and willing to sign with a huge advance, subject to…subject to hearing demos of the next album. There was insufficient dosh in the kitty to put Roy in the studio (in no uncertain terms, as I was later to discover) so the cheap option was to let Roy loose with an eight track, his old Midas, a Shure mic (yes – one mic) and some bits and pieces. Ian was confident that a set of polished demos would result.

Wrong…

I unloaded my bits and pieces from my trusty old Volvo, tugged my forelock with trembling fingers, humped the Brennel upstairs via the tradesman’s entrance, hooked the machine up to the old Midas and made sure that everything was working fine. I recall that Roy seemed confident that I could leave him to it, and Verna, Roy’s girlfriend, made me a cup of scented tea before I tugged my forelock once more and hit the road for Hereford and home.

I had met the great Roy Harper. What’s more, he seemed like a nice guy. Lovely gaff. Ah…what a memory for the collection.

I slept well that night.

Two days later I received a phone call. Apparently Roy was having some problems recording electric guitars (he was experimenting with a couple of early Tokai’s sent to him by the importer as a mark of respect – another fan. They were exceptional Fender copies…better than the real thing, I’d go so far as to say). Like a sloppy Labrador at his master’s beck and call, I headed back for Marden, The Vauld and Harper’s modest home studio.

‘I can’t seem to get the DI box working,’ muttered Roy, his forehead creased into an uncomprehending frown, his finger pointing at the small metal box on the floor.

‘I’m not surprised…’ came my reply, wide-eyed and horror-stricken.

This was the moment when I realised that, musical genius or not, matters electronic and mechanical were not Roy Harper’s forte. Lying on the carpet was an MXR DI box with one cable going to Roy’s guitar, one cable going to the Midas desk, and the third going from the XLR output to…to the mains. For reasons best known to the Muses of Marihuana, Roy had decided to slam a mains plug on to one end of a mic cable and plug a redundant output of the DI into the 240v mains supply. That he lived to tell the tale is remarkable.

One thing was crystal clear. This man should never, ever, EVER be left alone with any kind of electrical appliance, let alone the spider’s web of cabling associated with a multitrack recording rig.

And that is how I was called upon, by force of circumstance, to apply my fairly extensive live sound engineering skills to a humble recording rig. As of that moment, I became Roy’s demo engineer.

Over the course of the next two months, I visited The Vauld every evening after my other freelance duties were done, with double-bubble at the weekends (thanks to the tolerance of my longsuffering girlfriend, Annie Jay). Personally, it was anything but a drag as Roy, Verna and I became friends. I found Roy one of the most cultured and learned musicians I’d ever met; beneath the surface, he was miles from his eccentric public persona. Thoughtful, considered and…well, to be honest he was (and probably still is) somewhat bonkers in the best tradition of English eccentrics. Musically, though, the period was an education that went beyond any I could have hoped for.

By this stage in his life, Roy had made half a dozen (or more) albums and had probably done more gigs than most successful artists do in their lifetime. The bulk of his previous recording had been done at Abbey Road with a roster of engineers that reads like a who’s who of recording alumni – Alan Parsons, John Leckie, you name them, Roy had worked with them. Whatever anyone might think of Roy’s voice, he was a singer with few peers, capable of effortlessly and meticulously double, triple, quadruple tracking a vocal in one, two or three takes. He could instil a degree of emotion or subtlety or finesse to his extraordinary lyrics without parallel. His guitar style was extremely personal, and although not an ‘educated’ player, his style has influenced hundreds of acoustic musicians down the years. Moreover, he had a unique way of leaving gaps in an acoustic track, ready to overdub a related part and build up the backing with crossed rhythms and guitar harmonies, creating a rich patina against which his voice could weave and soar.

For a young, naïve makeshift engineer, the experience of working with such a sophisticated and practiced musician provided an education without parallel. As a studio virgin, of course, I wasn’t aware of how privileged I was to work with someone capable of such intense and relatively faultless performances, take after take. The recording rig was basic to the point that any experienced engineer would cringe. There was no click track, no sequencing, no computer (computer? Roy would have had a heart attack) – nothing other than the Midas, the Brennel (with no autolocate, of course), a pair of Tannoys, a Delta Lab DL1 delay/modulator (for Roy’s electric guitar) and (I think) a Roland Space echo for reverb and delay. Yet over the course of those two months, Roy and I recorded what was later to be released as an album – Born In Captivity.

I contributed a lot of ideas to the arrangements and even sang backing vocals on one song – Stanley – but take no credit. I’d aways arranged the songs in all the bands I’d played in, and enjoyed chipping in ideas and making suggestions. The talent was Roy’s and Roy’s alone. But somehow I engineered the sessions and achieved a passable result, sufficient to meet with Ian Tilbury’s approval and conviction that the tapes would swing the Geffen deal. Tilbury remained bullish about this until, that is, his cheque for the gear hire bounced and he disappeared to America having mortgaged Roy’s house to the hilt (by virtue of the Power Of Attorney Roy had granted him during a particularly dumb and trusting moment) and pocketed the proceeds.

So there we were, Roy and I, me an avid fan, the two of us good friends, a decent set of demos in the can and…and Roy staring ruin and bankruptcy in the face. Drastic action was called for.

Enter John Leckie, engineering genius and human being par excellence. Out of the goodness of his heart, John came up to The Vauld and rerecorded some of my demos and polished others (a few were left alone, inflating my ego hugely). He did a superb job given the lack of gear, but then John Leckie will ALWAYS do a superb job without complaint or fuss. (Come on, some of you ‘credible’ superstars – get John on the case with your next album. He’s too modest to hustle his credentials, but he has more talent and musical ability in his little finger than most ‘happening’ producers who seem to dominate to plumb jobs these days). Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with an extremely time consuming but surprisingly lucrative tour production gig. Despite this, Roy’s predicament remained at the forefront of my mind.

By this time – 1979, I guess – I’d established an enviable reputation for providing top class sound, lighting and logistics for UK and European tours. I knew the ropes, and could usually skim twenty or more percent from other quotes and come in on budget.

I was offered several potential tours by major record companies, but could only take on one. I recall that I whittled the options down to two possibles – a new EMI band that offered a decent profit and an Arista act that intrigued me. I submitted a reasonable budget to Simon Potts at Arista but he came back to me with an alternative proposition; the band in question was not a priority act, and Arista were looking to trim costs wherever possible. If I was prepared to undertake the tour production and coordination at cost, he was prepared to agree a contract whereby I would get 20% of any profits the tour generated. Now, as all you pros out there know, agreeing to such a deal on an unknown act is tantamount to commercial suicide. Bands lose dosh on the road in the early stages of their career, and the dates that the band’s agent had booked hardly left much scope for profit even if they sold out. However, I really liked both the band and their as yet unreleased album and went with my gut instincts. Although I was skimping and scraping to make a living, I negotiated a bonkers contract with Simon Potts and Arista. I’d do the tour at cost, but would pocket twenty per cent of any profits generated.

And the band?

An unknown act called Haircut 100.

The week before the tour hit the road, Haircut’s first single raced to the top of the charts. Hysteria broke out. The tour gigs were swapped for larger and larger venues, and as many punters were locked out as could be shoehorned in. And then the tour was extended. The clubs were cancelled in favour or Top Ranks, and then municipal halls were added – larger and longer and longer and larger. I recall sitting with Simon Potts at the back of the (then) Hammersmith Odeon on the first of five sell-out nights, looking at Arista’s sales figures. Two weeks before Christmas, Haircut’s first album was shifting one hundred thousand copies A DAY. Eat your heart out, Artic Monkeys. This was the 1970’s. When an album shipped big, it shipped B-I-G. And the band put on a great show, night after night. Sadly, they couldn’t cope with the pressures of so much sudden success and record company politicking destroyed the goose that laid the golden egg. After my involvement, the band bombed in Europe and the States, Nick Heyward (a decent talent) was persuaded that his future lay in a solo career and that was that – another ink blot on the history of pop.

So I had brass in pocket, the opportunity to take my foot off the rent-gas and a continuing belief in Roy Harper and what I genuinely believed was a great album waiting to be recorded. But Roy needed a manager. He was broke, The Vauld was close to being repossessed by the bank and there was no sniff of the promised Geffen record deal in the air.

A longstanding friend at the time was John Mostyn, formerly manager of The Beat (and later manager of Fine Young Cannibals). John was currently at a loose end, so I drove him out to see Roy and we spent the afternoon chatting. Fingers crossed, I drove John back to Birmingham, imploring him to take Roy on as a client. As we hit the outskirts of Brum, John shook his head. He didn’t believe sufficiently, he confessed. Roy just wasn’t his bag. However…he turned to me and winked…why didn’t I manage Roy? I had the belief John lacked. I knew Roy. And for the first time in years, I had filthy lucre in the bank. And after all, management was a combination of common sense, efficiency and industry contacts. I would learn the rest in time.

Why not?

Why not indeed?

And that’s how I was persuaded to embark upon one of the more crazy episodes of my life…

(to be continued…)

Roy Harper; Born In Captivity/Work Of Heart Science Friction HUCD008

Eccentric

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Part Two of our exclusive video interview with legendary recording engineer and producer Ken Scott shot at Abbey Road Studios with Russell Cottier asking the questions.

In this second part we asked Ken about his microphone choices and placement when recording drums and came back to making decisions as you go along when recording and how important good monitoring is.

Come back just before Christmas for the third part of our interview!

WATCH PART TWO OF THE INTERVIEW
RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD

Last Week’s Part One is here 

Ken Scott’s video guide of how to record and mix drums for students and engineers is a superb DVD pack. Find out more about the EDU version by clicking here!  Its videos cover everything from basic mic techniques to mixing and everything in between. Ken walks you through the recording process and on the second disk you get to play with the drum tracks that he recorded so that you can understand how he does things.

Special thanks to Ken for giving up so much time and to everyone at Abbey Road but we’d like to mention Mirek Styles, Colette Barber and Simon Campbell for their help in making this possible! We would also like to give special thanks to Russell Cottier  for coming all the way from Liverpool to record the interview!

Come back just before Christmas for Part Three!

OTHER EXCLUSIVE KEN SCOTT VIDEO FEATURES

- Watch Ken recording the Epik Drums Samples (5 Videos)

- Watch Ken talking in an interview with Nijel Jopson at Abbey Road

Ken Scott is a legendary British recording engineer and producer who recorded The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Duran Duran, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Devo, Lou Reed, America, George Harrison and many other iconic artists in music history. He had his start in the 60’s working as a Tape Operator at Abbey Road Studios and from there went on to engineer and produce some of the most acclaimed albums of the 20th Century. Ken has recorded timeless songs such as “I Am The Walrus”, “Rocket Man”, “Ziggy Stardust”, “Dreamer”, “Walk On The Wild Side” and many others. One of the unique aspects of Ken’s career in music is the diversity of iconic styles he has been a part of from the 60’s to today.

“EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection” is a Sonic Reality virtual instrument/plug-in for drum kits and grooves with the authentic sound and feel of timeless classic albums. Expanding the Drum Masters series with high resolution vintage drum sounds, EpiK DrumS features drum kits and grooves of 5 of the world’s best drummers all recorded and mixed by legendary producer/engineer Ken Scott.

In this first massive volume from the Ken Scott Collection, Ken has recreated the drum sounds in the style of multi-track studio sessions he recorded with David Bowie, Supertramp, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Elton John and The Beatles. These authentic classic sounds were achieved by using the same rare recording equipment, drum kits, percussion and expert technical assistance from Ross Garfield “The Drum Doctor”, advanced programming by Sonic Reality and collaboration with the original legendary drummers Bill Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Woody Woodmansey, Bob Siebenberg and Rod Morgenstein. All together it is one the most EPIK productions ever done for a software drum and groove instrument.

A decade or so ago, we used to buy microphones from a company in China called 747 microphones, established by engineers from Geffell in (the then) East Germany in the 1970’s. We gave these cute condensers the moniker of ‘Micro Funk’ and at sixty or so squibs a pop, they proved a popular addition to many a professional and semi-pro collection. They were adequate for most purposes, although lacking in character. Still, at that price they were a definite bargain when compared to better made (and better sounding) examples from Germany and Austria.

And then a strange thing happened…

Gradually, the same bulbous contraptions started to appear on the market with different badges and vastly inflated prices. What was most alarming was the claim by many ‘manufacturers’ (middle men, in other words) that these were ‘U.S. made’. They weren’t. Oh, for sure some had been tweaked en route from Asia with the addition of a different transformers, a new resistor here or a capacitor there, but without exception the capsules, the bodies and the bulk of the electronics were identical. But prices…

New shapes appeared. Some were clones of established classics. Indeed, I was called upon as an expert witness by AKG who successfully sued one Chinese company for ‘passing off’ – manufacturing a replica of the C12VR. Other examples represented new designs, alarmingly so on occasions. We received a succession of tube mics from different ‘distributors’ with potentially lethal power supplies, as the male and female sockets had been inexplicably reversed, leaving HT voltage exposed to prying fingers on bare pins. We asked the distributors to withdraw these dangerous products. They refused. We contacted trading standards and shortly thereafter the most blatant examples disappeared. Thankfully.

By now, prices of these well-marketed microphones had edged up into the middle hundreds, but worse was to follow as in the last few years the market has been flooded with high-end microphones costing thousands of pounds and claiming to be lovingly manufactured in the States or Europe.

They’re not. In fact, I can buy exactly the same microphone as one marketed with a prestigious name in the west at over two thousand pounds for a couple of hundred directly from Beijing.

Now, I have a problem with this. Indeed, I have two problems. The first is misrepresentation. A degree of tweaking and component swaps doesn’t constitute manufacturing and it’s downright dishonest to claim a Chinese product is made in the West. But secondly, these mics just don’t sound very good. The limiting factor is the capsule, a decent general purpose affair but lacking the precision and design quality needed to deliver top quality results.

Every week I seem to find myself debating the origins of yet another expensive addition to the range of mics flooding the market. Time after time a distributor or manufacturer swears blind that his new microphone is made in America only to back down quickly when pushed into a verbal corner. Because these Chinese mics are simple to identify. The giveaway is the cheap connector that protrudes from the base rather than being inset as with most European mics. All these Chinese connectors are identical, so if your new, expensive, US mic has a mini barrel-like protrusion into which to stuff the mic cable, it’s Chinese made. And of course, all these mics have similar, flimsy suspension mounts and (usually) a tacky aluminium flightcase.

Be warned. These mics are mutton dressed as lamb, destined to devalue faster than the Drachma should you want (or need) to part with the thing.

Lest I always seem grouchy and negative, it’s only fair that I heap praise upon the one exception to an otherwise shoddy bunch.

Manley used to market a Chinese microphone under their Langevin brand name (the 201). In fact, this was a pretty decent microphone, but what made it special was the informative instruction brochure that came with it. As well as having a host of useful recording tips, there was a detailed background to the genesis, making clear that the guts were made in China and then assembled with selected additional US parts in the Manley factory in the States. There was no apology for using Chinese capsules, and nor should there have been. The microphone was excellent value, looked good (I believe the case and grill were American made) and performed well.

Manley’s honesty was refreshing, as that company’s approach always is. Moreover, they had no desire to hide the origins of what they acknowledged was a budget microphone. On the contrary, their explanation confirmed why they could offer such good value. But why should this company be the exception? Why should so many other brands hide the honest truth?

I suspect the reason is staring me in the face, along with the shoddy XLR connector.

Filthy lucre. Only a fool would pay £2000 or more for a £200 Chinese mic with a fancy badge.

Ever been fooled?

I sincerely hope not.

Eccentric

Follow Eccentric every week here on the RP/Blog

Ken took time out to meet us in the newest studio at Abbey Road Studios so that we could find out more about Epik Drums and the new ‘EDU’ DVD Tutorial version – Use this link for the EDU version.

Russell Cottier asked Ken the questions and the video is in several parts, this is Part One. Later on, after the video interview series completes, we will be using the samples that Ken has recorded (with some great drummers) on a test session and that will be a follow up video series so stay tuned and check back every week for the latest video! Who knows, Ken may even mix the session that we record!

WATCH PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW SHOT AT ABBEY ROAD

Ken Scott’s video guide of how to record and mix drums for students and engineers is a superb DVD pack. Its videos cover everything from basic mic techniques to mixing and everything in between. Ken walks you through the recording process and on the second disk you get to play with the drum tracks that he recorded so that you can understand how he does things.

Special thanks to Ken for giving up so much time and to everyone at Abbey Road but we’d like to mention Mirek Styles, Colette Barber and Simon Campbell for their help in making this possible! We would also like to give special thanks to Russell Cottier for coming all the way from Liverpool to record the interview!

Come back next week for Part Two!

OTHER EXCLUSIVE KEN SCOTT VIDEO FEATURES

- Watch Ken recording the Epik Drums Samples (5 Videos)

- Watch Ken talking in an interview with Nijel Jopson at Abbey Road

Ken Scott is a legendary British recording engineer and producer who recorded The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Duran Duran, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Devo, Lou Reed, America, George Harrison and many other iconic artists in music history. He had his start in the 60’s working as a Tape Operator at Abbey Road Studios and from there went on to engineer and produce some of the most acclaimed albums of the 20th Century. Ken has recorded timeless songs such as “I Am The Walrus”, “Rocket Man”, “Ziggy Stardust”, “Dreamer”, “Walk On The Wild Side” and many others. One of the unique aspects of Ken’s career in music is the diversity of iconic styles he has been a part of from the 60’s to today.

“EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection” is a Sonic Reality virtual instrument/plug-in for drum kits and grooves with the authentic sound and feel of timeless classic albums. Expanding the Drum Masters series with high resolution vintage drum sounds, EpiK DrumS features drum kits and grooves of 5 of the world’s best drummers all recorded and mixed by legendary producer/engineer Ken Scott.

In this first massive volume from the Ken Scott Collection, Ken has recreated the drum sounds in the style of multi-track studio sessions he recorded with David Bowie, Supertramp, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Elton John and The Beatles. These authentic classic sounds were achieved by using the same rare recording equipment, drum kits, percussion and expert technical assistance from Ross Garfield “The Drum Doctor”, advanced programming by Sonic Reality and collaboration with the original legendary drummers Bill Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Woody Woodmansey, Bob Siebenberg and Rod Morgenstein. All together it is one the most EPIK productions ever done for a software drum and groove instrument.

Ok, I hold my hands up – this might be considered a thinly disguised bit of PR for an upcoming release, but it’s probably the most fun recording I’ve been involved with this year, so what the hell:

Do Not Adjust Your Set – a 7″ EP featuring re-recordings of classic 60s and 70s TV themes, on the small but savvy Fruits de Mer label. The guys know their market so well, it’s likely to have already sold out by the time you read this – they are without doubt best example I can think of how to run an indie label in these changing times. Strong label identity, very consistent releases in a well chosen niche, self contained distribution, customer loyalty, excellent press releases and a nice black book of well targeted promo contacts.

And I quote:- “Fruits de Mer Records – possibly the world’s smallest vinyl-only psychedelia/progressive rock/acid-folk/krautrock/spacerock record label – classic and obscure tracks from the sixties and early seventies reinterpreted by brilliant new bands – and released on ludicrously-limited colour vinyl.”

But let’s shift focus onto the recording – FdM sets out to prove nostalgia is what it used to be, with a bit of help from yours truly.

I was given pretty much carte blanche in choosing the artists and putting the EP together.  Novelty concept records,spoof ads and the like have always appealed to me in a twisted sort of way, ever since I heard a Goons album when I was 8 years old.  In fact the first recordings I ever made were daft adverts and sketches, on a little battery operated reel to reel with the most astounding wow and flutter there ever was.

So it was immensely enjoyable re-creating the ITV and BBC stings that open each side (and strangely gratifying to hear the BBC play your cover of their own time signal!).  The guys even let me design the back cover like a page from an old copy of the Radio Times… complete with naff black and white ads, the lot.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  Otherwise from a production standpoint, it was mainly a matter of offering direction, tweaking a mix here and there, then squeezing the six mastered tracks onto vinyl – “Robinson Crusoe”, “White Horses”,”The Sky At Night”, “Ace of Wands”, and the inevitable Gerry Andersonness of “Captain Scarlet” and “Fireball XL5″.  Yes, I know I’ve done a Gerry Anderson record before, but it was a looong time ago, and I still like puppets that sing.

Most producers do, don’t they?

http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/tvthemes.html

Visit Fran Ashcroft’s website

I had a blast last week, mastering a new project for Big Al Wagner of Big Toe Studio – the album was “Whispers from Infinity“, by the Anahata Sacred Sound Current.

Which means a deeply listenable collision of Indian, Egyptian, Israeli and hip-hop influences – featuring Hossam Ramzy, percussion player for Shakira, Page and Plant and Peter Gabriel amongst others – and guest appearances from Rasul Allah and ATMA from the Lost Children of Babylon (a chamber of Wu-tang Clan).

Not surprisingly it sounds fantastic, though I do say so myself !

And, I got a great reaction – producer Anahata said in an email

“All I got say is WoW! WoW!! WOW!!! -I love it!!! So amazing!! A dream come true -thank you Soo much… I am now officially a fan!”

- which is exactly the kind of reaction we all want to get, right ?

Well yes, except when people make comments like this it always makes me feel bad for everyone else involved.

These recordings were five years in the making, and they sounded fantastic when they got to me, thanks to the incredible work Al, Karl and the performers put in. All I did was apply the finishing touches – balance the levels and apply the right EQ, multiband compression and light limiting to each track to bring out the best in it.

But as often happens, because mastering is the very final stage in the process, and it’s the first time people can sit down and hear the whole thing as an album, exactly as it will be when released, the overall effect can seem huge, almost magical.

So, am I saying mastering engineers don’t deserve the credit they get ?

No ! Well, not exactly – I work really hard on every project I get to make it the best it can be, and as I wrote recently I think the process of assessing and optimising every song individually is the very heart and soul of mastering – making the whole much greater than the sum of it’s parts – and when you get it right, it is a bit like magic.

But I would never want that to take away from the fact that you can’t make a great master without great material – and for that, mastering engineers can’t take any credit at all. Working on people’s music is a privilege, and the fact that we get to present the artist with the final polished product that can make them go “wow” is just the icing on the cake.

Please file under “I love my job”…

Russell Cottier has edited this excellent footage shot by Tomás de Camino Beck at his studio in Costa Rica.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO 

Tomás de Camino Beck a.k.a “Automata” works as an engineer and record producer in Costa Rica. He has worked with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan bands since 2009 and quickly became an emblematic figure in the emerging Costa Rica music scene.

In 2011 Tomás founded Automata Records (automatarecords.com), a record label that distributes bands produced, and recorded by Automata only, and that uses an alternative music business model of low cost fair share distribution.

Automata has recorded Costa Rican bands like Las Robertas, 424, Florian Droids, Colornoise, Parque en el Espacio, Niño Koi, Monte, Tercer Mono, Cocofunka, Los Espejos, Mr Gone and the Invisibles, to name a few.

Special thanks to Tomás for helping make this video possible and to Russell Cottier for editing!