Guitarist at Revolted Masses and Magic De Spell, Freelance Audio Engineer. Here, i am gonna post my main mixes, my music projects and anything related to original composition and creativity.
Lost count on how many times I’ve worked with these guys. One of the most promising thrash metal bands, Chronosphere, are about to release their 3rd full length album, called “Red’n Roll”. The guys contacted me for vocals recording and general guidance on various subjects like mastering advice and cd image of their upcoming album.
The recordings took place some time ago, so I didn’t have the chance to use my newly acquired Shure SM7b. A nice sounding AKG condenser mic was used eventually that really flatters the vocals of Spyros. Add to that the Golden Age PRE73 preamp set almost to extreme, and you can imagine the amount of coloration in the final result. During some loud passages I could here a nice saturation that really helped the vocals to cut-through. Single takes on most of the tracks, a decision that allows all the fine details of each vocal take to be perfectly audible.
As a finishing touch, I also created the CD image for the factory. It’s really weird that many cd duplication factories have only recently started to accept .ddp file formats. But that’s another topic!
Always a pleasure to work with these guys. Recorded during 2015, released in 2016.
I am really happy and proud to present to you one of the best moments of my career as a musician and audio engineer. Greek people surely know this guy, but for those of you who don’t, Vasilis Papakonstantinou is one of the best and most famous greek rock artists with a big career starting from the 70’s and still going strong.
For his new release, I was asked to reamp the guitars for the whole record as well as perform the electric guitars for a song called “Nama”. The main engineer is George Archontakis, a famous artist with countless releases under his belt, and a guy I really look up to.
Production-wise, the reamping process took place at Vintage Studios, with George giving the general guidelines and reference for the desired sound. I brought an ENGL Fireball connected to a 2×12 Vintage-30s loaded guitar cabinet. A single SM57 mic was used, on the right spot. Depending on the song/part, we changed mic placement, EQ settings, even adding my trusty Maxon OD808 in front of the amp where needed. The final result was more than pleasing and everyone was happy with the high-gain sounds.
Playing-wise, I used my Hagstrom EMG-loaded guitar, using mainly the bridge pickup, except from the guitar solo. I was free to add some ideas, but the main structure of the song was already decided.
Some trivia about the song:
*)The main “hook” lead was initially meant to be played with a whammy pedal. I decided to try a double bend (bend->slide->bend) to imitate this sound and turned out great, so we doubled this part with a lower octave and kept that!
*)The guitar solo is one-take, first-take, without me knowing that I was being recorded. George asked me to “try some things” but he was secretly recording me, in order to play freely and spontaneously. After listening to it, we decided to keep it!
Working with these guys is a life and career milestone and a dream come true. I feel I learnt more from this experience than a year to any music school.
First time working with Aeon Aphelion, a doom metal group from Athens.
Many years ago, we did a live show with Aeon Aphelion and Revolted Masses. That’s when I met the guys, and I actually got their first album, “Visions of Burning Aeons”. I remember listening to this particular album a lot while working at my home studio and really digging it. That’s why I didn’t have any second thoughts when SoundWay studios proposed me to co-produce and mix/master this EP release.
The challenge with this kind of bands is that they have to sound polished and unpolished at the same time! So, no editing to grid, but on the other hand it has to sound tight and professional. We reamped through several amps, vintage and new models and a really nice ENGL cab. I applied my trusty two SM57 technique (thank you Mr. Nordström) as well as a condenser mic to get more detailed bottom end.
A nice surprise was when the band asked to record a bonus track, performed 100% live. I trusted the nice-sounding room of the studio, and asked the guys to plug and play just like they would do in a typical live situation. After some minor adjustments (mainly to get the phase right, as well as the mic bleeding in overheads mics right) I hit record and BOOM, the sound was already there. We did some takes to get the best performance and… that was it. I can also recall that this was the easiest song to mix.
Speaking about mixing, this was not an easy thing to do. Projects tend to be somewhat complicated these days. Not necessarily in a bad way, but gone are the days of a band booking a studio and recording an album from start to finish. With Aeon Aphelion for example, I got drums and bass tracks already recorded with another SoundWay studios engineer, vocals that were tracked in another studio, and home recorded guitar DI tracks!
Double tracked vocals were mixed almost in equal volume and each track was automated depending the part and vibe of the song. Same goes for saturation and reverb effects, which were extensively used, even on rhythm guitars.
I tend to rely on reference mixes more and more these days. When I was younger, I thought this was a bad thing and that you have to do your own thing. But as I get more experience under my belt, I feel that you have to have a direction. This is natural and something every producer is doing, whether he admits it or not. So, I listened to a lot of music, took notes and borrowed some elements. At the final stage of the mix I tweaked everything to sound solid and nice.
Last but not least, a different mastering for digital and physical release and…done!
Some reviews are already out and state the nice overall sound of the EP. So that’s cool! A nice experience.
Co-produced, Mixed and Mastered in 2019-2020, released in 2020.
First time working with Void Era, an alt-rock band from Athens, Greece.
Come to think of it, I have worked with Ilia (Vocals, Guitars) before, for the Burning Stone single I mixed back in 2013.
7-8 years later, this is a 5-track debut EP and a whole different story.
I had the chance to listen to the demo songs of the trio before they hit the studio. Nowadays, it’s very common practice for bands to record some elements of the production at home. Things like guitars, bass, even vocals might be recorded in a DIY fashion, and this was the case with Void Era. While this method has its advantages, it’s also very important to have these tracks recorded properly. So, we had to get some things fixed or re-recorded, mainly from a technical point of view (crossfades, proper tuning, properly recorded DIs etc).
We recorded the drums at SoundWay studios, the place I record most of my drums nowadays. Can’t really remember what snare we used, but I do remember applying different snare tunings for different songs, which turned out great. Once again, room mics were my friends and played an important role in the mix too.
Guitar-wise, there is one extra octave rhythm guitar in there, duplicating ALL the standard rhythm tracks So far so good…but the best part is that this track is not a lower octave but a higher one, roughly imitating the sound of a mandolin. My initial thought before starting to mix was that I was not going to use any of that, but in some cases I actually found myself loving them, thus raising the faders a lot. I reamped the DI signals through real valve amps at my home studio.
Mixing -wise, it was all a matter of combining aesthetics with the technical aspect of the mix. The more I mix, the more I understand that a crucial process for a successful production is imagining how as element should sound and then translating it into EQ curves, and plug ins but without losing its initial essence.
This was also one of the first tracks I started to realize the algorithms and mechanisms of most streaming services (YouTube, Spotify), adjusting the dynamic content of the final master accordingly. Good times!
First time working with Enthroned Serpent, a black metal band from Athens, Greece.
Just realized I have never posted this mix on the blog. Well… until now. We worked for several months on this EP, as this is the band of Simos, the owner of SoundWay studios and a good friend of mine.
To begin with, real drums were recorded at the great sounding room of SoundWay Studios. The drummer brought a small piccolo snare drum with him, which helped the snare to cut through. Of course, samples were used to give it more body, but more about this later. Managed to capture a great stereo image that compliments the width of the mix.
Guitars were reamped through a Peavey 6505+, a really cool JVM410H Marshall tube head and a massive ENGL 4x12‘ cabinet. Both amps were cranked to death and 2 microphones were used to capture the final sound. A small secret about black metal: ”Turn the Treble frequencies up until the guitar amp sounds harsh, then turn it up some more.” The opposite goes for the bass frequencies. The balance between the 2 mics was adjusted accordingly during the mixing process for rhythm and lead guitar playing.
The singer was really steady and really helped the final result to shine. Among others, Sakis Tolis (from Rotting Christ) gave a helping hand to one of the songs.
Black metal is a unique genre that requires an out-of-the-box approach, and mixing was a really fun procedure. The challenge was to make everything sound big, in your face and, well… black metal, without sounding harsh. APHEX aural exciter was my friend, which gave character to guitars and vocals. Samples were used for drums, (you simply can’t avoid it) blended with the natural kit. Bass was heavily compressed and distorted. A typical old school black metal mix is not complete without TONS of volume. The amount of limiting at the mastering stage was huge, maybe my loudest mix to date.
Really happy to work with Enthroned Seprent, co-produced, mix and mastered during 2017-2018.
I know this artist from Matter Of Act, a cool Greek band I produced a few years ago. This is his one-man solo project described as Acoustic Metal…and it really is both acoustic and metal, how cool is that?
Once I started recording, I realized that the level of the performance would make my life easier. What you hear in this recording is mainly one take/first take. Most of the times, I would record a second vocal/guitar take just for safety. Same thing goes for editing, I only removed unwanted noises and…editing was done!
From the very beginning we decided to keep it simple and straightforward. Many mics on the acoustic guitar to get as much of the room “sound” as possible. Vocals were recorded with an AKG condenser mic. This is one of the many examples of using TONS of plug ins, without actually sounding “over-mixed”. Sculpting EQ, some compression, some more EQ and some more leveling, saturation, multiband compression, limiting for overall loudness and so many more. A touch of reverb added but, other than that, there are no reverberation FX.
Now this is an interesting project I did a while ago for Wild Machine, one of the few glam rock bands left in Greece. Interesting fact: back in 2004/2005 these guys were the talk of the town, with a growing audience and we even played some shows together when I was 15 years old.
These guys still have it! Drums were recorded with no triggers or samples, a P bass covering the low end, double tracked guitars and a SM7 for the vocalist. Straightforward Rock’n Roll ingredients. Same goes for mixing: I decided to keep away from the typical cheesy stadium rock mix and stick to a more natural (Ac/Dc like) result.
Wild Machine are actually getting ready for their full-length album (entirely recorded at Soundway Studios, where I engineer), and this is a taste of what’s coming. Once the album is out, I am going to post a new article, as the mix will also be slightly different.
Recorded, mixed and mastered in 2018 for Soundway Studios.
Here is the first song that I produced and mixed for Panos Smyrnaios, since he participated in the “Rising Star” TV show and got nationwide recognition.
The initial idea was just an acoustic guitar and vocals. We set up the guide track with Panos and begun building the main structure of the song. Intro is a typical “spotlight to the singer” approach, while the full production kicks in at the first chorus, with drums and electric guitars (played by me). I suggested some production ideas, for example backing vocals in the chorus and an acoustic outro, which really made a difference to the track.
Acoustic guitars were played by Panos, who (as always) did a great job with groove and dynamics. Bass duties were handled by John Grigoriou, a musician that has participated in countless recordings and who gave an interesting twist to the song.
I also had the pleasure to work with an exceptional clarinet player, Mr Petros Halkias. Petros is a well known traditional player here in Greece an the grandson of Petroloukas Halkias who, more or less, established the sound of the clarinet here in Greece, as we know it today. He came over to my studio and did a great job.
Recording wise, both acoustic guitar and clarinet were recorded with an ORTF mic placement and a condenser mic, a combination I frequently use lately. I used my AKG for the vocals and decided to keep just the DI of the bass blended with a mild overdrive for the chorus. I mixed the whole thing until I was 100% happy with the way it was sounding. Had a tough time removing the harshness of some elements (including the vocals) without making it sound dull, so countless instances of multiband compression came to the rescue.
Last but not least, I sent the mix to George Archontakis, the bass player for Magic De Spell and a famous sound engineer, to master it. (George is also the guy who called me to play and reamp for the one and only Vasilis Papakonstantinou.) He once again nailed it, adding extra depth and extra glue to the track, through various outboard and in-the-box tools.
First time working with Jagertees, a jazz pop/rock band from Athens.
Here is a mini-diary of the recordings:
Preparation:
The guys sent me a rehearsal of their song in order for me to get the general direction and vibe. I instantly decided that the final mix should give the impression that the whole band is playing together, in the same room.
First day: Drums!
The drummer of this band is a brilliant and a creative musician. I set up a Yamaha Stage Custom drum set and really took my time to tune it to perfection. The snare on this recording is a Mapex Black Panther 13′ snare tuned low, in order to get rid of its aggressive rock character. Rack toms were tuned pretty high, while the floor tom pretty low, in order to maintain the low end of the drum kit. Two Overhead mics and two Room mics in ORTF position, and there you have it: a great overall drum sound even without enabling the spot mics. This guy practically “mixed himself” as he had steady dynamics and a great laid-back groove that allowed me to turn off (and forget) about the metronome during the rest of the recordings.
Second Day: Guitars and Bass
These guys can really play, so we only did a couple of hours to finish the other instruments. The general sonic direction was decided from the very beginning, but I kept a DI signal to reamp later. Most of the layers are one take, including the main and outro solo. I also suggested adding an Ebow during the acoustic bridge which worked really nice with the track.
Third Day: Vocals
Vocal tracking was once again an easy task for Jagertees, so I mainly concentrated on the feeling, expression and dynamics. I chose my trustworthy AKG condenser mic, directly into the Golden Age PRE73. A bit of improvisation on the bridge and…Done!
Editing and Reamping:
Editing on this track was kept to a minimum, due to the quality of the takes. So, only basic editing, mainly to remove unwanted noise and headphone leakage.
Reamping was done on my Bugera 333XL, with 2 microphones perfectly in phase with each other. I even added some reverb on the way in, to give more body to the guitar sound. Lead guitars were treated with a Maxon OD808, a great addition to the sound.
Mixing:
My biggest doubt was how “much” should I mix? Mainly because it is supposed to sound natural but not messy. So I decided to make a lot of small and subtle moves, instead of major and bold ones.
EQing with multiband compression is a great way to have an ear-pleasing mix and a natural result so there are MANY instances of multiband compression on this session. A bit of compression on the room mics, but nothing fancy, the source was great to begin with, so this made my life easier.
FX-wise I had mainly 3 buses with 3 different types of verb to choose from and a basic filtered delay.
Mastering:
It’s always tough to master your own mixes, isn’t it? So, once again, I introduced my mastering chain early on and mixed through it. Some multiband compression, a bit broadband compression, a tiny bit of EQ and a limiter, made the track to sound the way it is.
It’s always a pleasure to work with skilled and dedicated musicians and this track is the proof that mixing begins from the musicianship and creativity.
Here is my first production for 2018. This track came to me on a basic format, so all I had was just an acoustic guitar, a basic drumbeat idea and vocals.
The real challenge for me was to give a vintage twist to the song without making it sound old-fashioned or outdated. So, the recipe was simple: 80s, almost disco feel to the drums, slap back delay on many elements, a heavily saturated bass guitar played with a pick, compressed vocals with (you guessed it!) slap back delay and various filters.
After listening to bands like Last Shadow Puppets, I also decided to add a Tarantino-style guitar and some backing vocals to compliment each chorus. A tambourine was also recorded, to add more groove to the whole song.
This is one of those times that I used multi band compression instead of just lazy EQing. This is a great way to achieve instrument separation without making everything sound small.
Recorded, mixed and mastered: December 2017-January 2018
This is a very interesting project, as it comes from an artist with a classical background.
In other words, the original composition was just a score written for some basic instruments, like the bass and the violin. The real challenge for me was to turn that “lifeless” score into a vivid, finished song.
The main work began with the drums, and then came the bass, the guitar and all the other instruments (vocals, violin etc).
I recorded a tambourine to compliment the snare hits and also added a bendir as a MIDI instrument.
Another challenge for this particular mix was to get rid of the rock philosophy! No punchy drums, no subtle saturation on bass, just a clean approach with lots of reverb and gentle sounds. Doing that, without ending up with a dull result was something I had in mind from the very beginning.
Once again a great project! Produced, Mixed and Mastered during late 2017.
Here is another one that I had completely forgotten to upload. No surprise actually, as I start to believe that only a small percentage of everything I have done is actually uploaded to this blog. Gonna try to change that. Anyway…
This is my guest appearance for Amken, an upcoming thrash metal band from Greece. Vanias, a member of Amken (and a great guy btw) was my student for a small period of time. If I recall correctly, we were working on some parts for him to play tight. The band eventually asked me to participate on their record as a guest, a proposal I gladly accepted.
You can listen to my solo around 02:44. This is something I could write for my band, Revolted Masses, and I am very happy that they liked what I did.
Vaggelis Revolted Audio Blog 