Current Tape Reviews

Recording: Paul has employed a bevy of enviable gear to fashion a fairly successful track here. We applaud the fine vocal recording, with its rich warm tone and lack of artifact. The piano also comes across as nicely recorded.

Sadly, however, we had some trouble with the drums in the mix. The kick drum is quite “clicky” to our ears, lots of beater head, but not much meat. Adding to the drum woes is a very ambient overall sound on the entire kit. A search of Paul’s gear list fails to indicate any live drums, therefore we can only assume that his sources originated from either plug-ins or his synths. Either way, the distant “roomy” ambience is in stark contrast to the dryness of his other sounds/instruments. The end result is that the track feels somewhat unsettled to our ears.

Suggestions: One of the great advantages of modern recording is also one of its potential downfalls. As our choices multiply, so does the potential for confusion. At the risk of sounding archaic, back in the day, we were fortunate to have more than one or two quality processors in even the best home studio, and only the higher end consoles had more than four aux sends. Today’s DAWs can contain literally hundreds of options, each with their own sounds and parameters. So how does one chose?

Sure, in the long run we all find our favorites, but it takes time and not a small amount of effort, to plow through the sheer number of eqs, compressors and processing at our disposal. Ultimately, it comes down to individual taste, no? Si! In Paul’s case, his choice was to go for a “split” sound in terms of ambience. Is it the wrong choice? Well, ultimately that is up to Paul. Would we choose a drier sound for the drums? You betcha. And fortunately, should he take our advice, Paul has the firepower at his disposal to audition dozens of worthy choices.

Summary: April showers, ah, never mind...

Contact: Paul Grenier, paul@paulgrenier.com, www.paulgrenier.com.