The Art Of Mastering
I often get asked if I do mastering. I don’t, although it’s a skill I am really interested in learning.
Mastering is much more than just making your mixes loud. It’s an art, one that requires a special ear. I like to think of mastering like a coat of lacquer on a finished project. Mastering adds that last touch that makes all of your work a little more appealing. Things pop out, there’s a sense of completion, and yes, it’s louder. (Of course, louder does not always mean better, but I’m not going to rant about how I feel we’ve forgotten what a volume knob is, and the “volume wars.” We all hear differently.)
For anyone looking for mastering I recommend, James Plotkin, who I use for a lot of my mixes. He does great work, and his rates are unbelievably artist friendly.
Also:
Tracks I’ve mixed and/or produced from my audio archive
On tour with Melvins and Deftones
I’m always looking for new records to work on. Feel free to contact me for producing, recording, or mixing rates. Aaron[@]aaronharris-audio[dot]com
ISIS’ “Temporal” and more
Just a quick update and two dates I wanted to put on your radar.
I recently finished mixing two records I’m really excited about. The first record is by the Russian band Weary Eyes, which is a bit reminiscent of Sonic Youth. The second is from San Diego’s Sleep Lady; their music reminds me of Hum and Portishead (among other things). If you’re in L.A. on October 29, Sleep Lady is playing a show at the Silverlake Lounge. You should come hear a few of the new tracks live. They’re pretty great.
Great combo. API 5500 and 2500. (Thanks Cliff and Mario.)
This week, I’m in the studio with Chino working on vocals for our debut Palms record. It’s sounding really great and we’re all psycehd. I’m just going to leave it at that and stay focused. Sorry to tease.
U47 FET (Thanks Chris Common.)
My talk back mic. Love this little thing.
On November 6 — yes, voting day — ISIS will release “Temporal.” It contains some unreleased tracks, hard-to-find songs, demos, and even an unreleased video for “Pliable Foe” from the “Wavering Radiant” sessions. I have multiple recording and mixing credits on “Temporal” and am looking forward to it coming out. Here’s a peek at the cover art by Aaron Turner.
Also, on a side note: I was sad to learn yesterday that Hydra Head Records would be closing shop in December. I watched as Hydra Head evolved from a small operation in Aaron Turner’s Boston apartment in 1997 to an internationally-recognized indie label. Aaron and his partner Mark Thompson built something special to a lot of people. ISIS, of course, was a big supporter of Hydra Head and we must have listened to the label’s entire catalog on our tours throughout the years. I wish all the bands and employees at Hydra Head the best.
That’s all for now. If you’d like to work together, or inquire about my mixing/producing rates, here’s my contact info. Thanks!
Palms, Melvins, Deftones, and more
Melvins made good use of this club’s lighting system.
I just returned from a tour doing live sound for Melvins Lite. The Lite version of the Melvins (although it’s just as loud and heavy) consists of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Trevor Dunn on upright bass. The Melvins have long been one of my favorite bands. I respect their approach to things. It reminded me a lot of how ISIS operated; very hands on. I enjoy doing live sound, especially the challenge of a new environment everyday and learning how other people approach sound. Some of the house sound guys have good tricks to share. (But others are completely apathetic and unhelpful.) And I appreciate that my collection of Heil microphones always get compliments.
Next week I’ll be joining Deftones on their tour with System Of A Down to drum tech for Abe Cunningham. I’m excited to go out and tour with those guys again. Such a great group of people. I’ve heard some of their new record as well. They’ve worked really hard on it, and from what I’ve heard, it’s easily my favorite record of theirs to date. Thanks to Sean Bates (Abe’s full-time tech) for having me fill in. I’ll be on the tour from Boston onward.
In the studio, I’m finishing up mixing the debut record for the Russian band Weary Eyes; it will be out later this year. Next I’m mixing a record for the San Diego-Based band Sleep Lady. I really like their sound. It’s pretty unique. Check out some of their previous works. I think you’ll like it.
Palms with Bane.
I’m also finishing up the debut from my new band along with Chino Moreno, Jeff Caxide, and Bryant Meyer. The band is called Palms. Here’s the press release if you missed the initial announcement. All the music is finished and we’re now focusing on vocals. We’ve seen some of the album artwork created by artist Chuck Anderson and it’s beautiful. We’re all very excited about this record. It’s coming together nicely.
Also, here’s a video for a song that I mixed for the New Zealand band Mothra. It came out great.
Last, here are a few more photos from the Melvins Lite tour.
Drive day dinner stop.
Dale needed some supplies.
Sound board from one of the clubs
Cliff guitar teching.
My new band, Palms
Here’s the press release:
Los Angeles, Apr. 25, 2012 — Meet Palms, a newly formed Los Angeles based quartet featuring three former members of ISIS (Aaron Harris, Clifford Meyer and Jeff Caxide) with Deftones’ vocalist Chino Moreno.
“Clifford, Jeff and I started Palms a little over a year ago out of a desire to continue making music together after ISIS ended,” explained Harris. “Chino joined shortly after and our sound took shape from there. We’ve worked really hard on this first release and are excited for people to hear it. It’s nice to be back behind the drum kit, and with this line up.”“Being a huge ISIS fan I’ve always dug the moods these dudes convey with their sound,” added Moreno. “I am excited to combine my sense of creativity with theirs, and to have fun doing so.”
Palms’ debut album will be issued by ISIS’ former label, Ipecac Recordings, and is slated for a 2012 release with a release date to be announced soon. The album was recorded and mixed by Harris, and produced by Palms.
Palms is Jeff Caxide (bass/keyboards), Aaron Harris (drums), Clifford Meyer (guitar/keyboards) and Chino Moreno (vocals).
Follow us on Twitter: @PalmsBand
Update: Jezabels and Mental Architects
Hello. I just wanted to share a few things that have been going on. The new Mental Architects “Celebrations” record is now available. I produced and mixed this record. I’m really happy with how it came out, and the process was something I’ve always wanted to try. Here’s my favorite track from the record:
Also a preview for the new Ancestors record is available for listening. I drum teched this session at Infrasonic Sound, one of my favorite studios. To hear a sample, go to this LA Weekly page.
I’m going out with the Jezabels in a few days to do live sound for their upcoming U.S./Canada tour. We’re hitting some of my favorite spots. If you’re free, come see these guys. They’re great live. Tour dates can be found HERE.
Some of you may have seen the drum tracking pictures I posted on my Facebook page a few weeks ago. The photos were taken at Joe Barresi’s studio, where we tracked drums for my new band. We used some unconventional gear that I can’t wait to talk about. The record is coming along great, and we will be announcing more exciting details in the near future. Here’s a couple pics from the drum tracking:
Thanks for reading.
Aaron
Mental Architects Release “Launch The Avalanche.”
The Mental Architects have released a video for Launch The Avalanche, the first single from their new record “Celebrations” out 04/2/12. The record was produced and mixed by me. You can also read more about the making of the record HERE. Can’t wait for people to hear it.
Larry Herweg Of Pelican Talks About Tracking Drums With Me.
In a recent interview on Brooklyn Vegan with Mike Hill of the band Tombs, Larry and Trevor from Pelican talk about the making of their new EP -” Ataraxia/Taraxia,” and what it was like to track drums with me here in Los Angeles.
Here are some highlights from the interview –
Mike Hill: Who handled the production duties on Ataraxia / Taraxia?
Trevor de Brauw: It’s sort of complicated. Since the band is no longer located in one city we have to fly by night, we have limited time at our disposal. What we ended up doing for these songs was split up the recording. Larry tracked his drums with Aaron Harris (Isis drummer) in L.A. for two of the songs and then sent us the drum tracks. We recorded the rest of the material in Chicago at Engine Studios with Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Gates of Slumber, Leviathan).
There are basically three engineers involved: Aaron Harris, Sanford Parker, Kemble Walters, who’s Larry’s bandmate in ÆGES.
How does recording with close friends affect the process of making a record?
LH: For me, I’ve always looked up to Aaron (Harris) as a drummer, and he’s gotten a lot busier being an engineer as of late. He’s working on records all the time now and I just feel like he’s a good person to have in the studio with me; he’s such a mellow guy and he’s easy to talk to. He calms my nerves. The studio can always be kind of a stressful situation, kind of uptight. He can offer good insight. I remember there was a couple of fills I was doing on the second song of the EP and he was like “Yeah why don’t you pull back a little, hold back on those fills.” He does offer really good insight. Made the songs better in the end. He made it more of a comfortable experience. I’m in a band with [Kemble]. He’s a drummer too; he was the same way. You know he’s kind of like, if I did something that was kind of weird, he’d say “Oh, why don’t you try this instead?” And I’d say, “I didn’t think of it that way.” Both guys were really good influences on me; made it pretty smooth. As far as Sanford goes, I wasn’t there [this] time, but recording with Sanford is always awesome. When I was in Lair of the Minotaur we did our records with Sanford.
To read the full interview go HERE
Listen To New Pelican
Pelican released a track from their forthcoming EP “Ataraxia/Taraxis.” You can hear the song, “Lathe Biosas,” on Soundcloud. I tracked Larry Herweg’s drums for “Ataraxia/Taraxis,” which I wrote about here.
(I did not mix this track, only recorded the drums)
New Pelican EP: ‘Ataraxia/Taraxis’
The new Pelican EP that I worked on will be released in April. It’s called “Ataraxia/Taraxis.” I tracked Larry Herweg’s drums for the new release. It was mixed by Sanford Parker, who also tracked the guitars and bass for the record. I’m honored to be part of this new record in the Pelican catalog. Working with Larry was a blast, and we got some great drum sounds. Can’t wait for you all to hear it. Click the picture below for a press release, or click HERE.
Mental Architects release teaser of new album “Celebrations”
The Mental Architects have released a video of the recording process for their new record “Celebrations” that I mixed/produced. Have a look into the amusing approach to tracking drums in their rehearsal space in Bulgaria. You can hear a short sample of the new record at the beginning and end of the video. Can’t wait for it to be released. Click HERE or the image below to watch. Enjoy.
Click to watch the making of "Celebrations"
Aaron Harris Audio 