The strokes sound

[vacant]

OK this is a very similar post to the one about fuzzy vocals but slightly different. Im looking to get a very "strokes" ish sound from vocals and guitars. Are there any techniques you guys would suggest? I have pro tools le and a fairly limited set of plugins, amplitube, t-racks, autotune, etc. nothing fancy. I have heard about sending vocals thru an amp and micing the amp, but i have no experience with it, if you could help me id appreciate it.

[The Seifer]

turn into the strokes; I think it may help you sound like the strokes.

[LemonTree]

I remember reading an article about a recording session on the Strokes. I think the singer plugged a mic directly into a small keyboard amp then the amp was mic'd back to to desk. A lot of room mic's in weird places were used also, and the drummer played with his hihats way out on the left to cut the spill into the snare mic. was really interesting, wish I had a link for you.

Could have been on SOS I read it

[peopleperson]

If you have the Sans Amp plug in, that's great for a slight vocal distortion.

[ez_willis]

Originally Posted by LemonTree

I remember reading an article about a recording session on the Strokes. I think the singer plugged a mic directly into a small keyboard amp then the amp was mic'd back to to desk. A lot of room mic's in weird places were used also, and the drummer played with his hihats way out on the left to cut the spill into the snare mic. was really interesting, wish I had a link for you.

Could have been on SOS I read it

Here's the link-

[FALKEN]

why anyone would want to sound like the strokes is beyond me.

vocals - sing through any mic, into a small solid state amp, and mic that with any mic. helps to have the amp in another room or closet to avoid bleed. also helps to have a little gain on it.

guitars -

they sound like they were recorded direct; and processed with software. the high end on their distored tracks seems to go beyond the capabilities of a guitar speaker.

i have done no reading on them or anything. but I can tell you that their guitars are tracked over and over again. and panned. and not natural sounding.

[EleKtriKaz]

The guitars were miked with Sennheiser MD421s...I think for the first album they were playing out of Fender Devilles.

[Flamin Lip]

Yup, run Vox->sm. combo->57->preamp.

I would also add that this is the best/only way to record harmonica too.

[FALKEN]

fuck. Now I have to sell my 421.

[EleKtriKaz]

I have a 421 and a Deville, but I'm keeping 'em. Not because I want to sound like the Strokes.

The Strokes don't have the best sound in the world, but at least they have a different sound. I mainly like to listen to This Is It occassionally because I've read a couple articles about the making of that album (like the one ez_willis posted), and I think it's pretty cool that they made an album that a lot of people really liked in basement with a few inputs, a few not-so-expensive mics, and a few nice preamps.

[corban]

I wouldn't advocate trying to sound like the Strokes because the sound of Is This It is very distinctive and popular, so anything that sounds remotely similar comes across as a ripoff (including their second album). However, I would disagree with the generally negative attitude on this board towards the Strokes recordings based on its "unnatural sound" and poor quality sound. Though I'm a relative newbie to recording, my time of careful listening to various eras of music recording has told me that obtaining a "good" sound is subject to personal tastes, era, styles, and fads. There are many examples of this: the sound of the drums on the white album is a great sound, but you don't hear it much anymore; if you had played a mix of a Nickelback-ish recording to Zeppelin back in the day they might have thought somebody had accidentally turned the drums waaay too far down and the guitars waaay too far up, and they might have called it a bad mix. Well, a lot of people here might agree with that, and I would be so inclined as well, but on the other hand, the mixing of a song like D'yer Mak'er is very idiosyncratic and unique (the drums are super up front with the vocal way back), which is part of what makes it so great, but a Nickelback fan might call it bad mixing cause it doesn't fit in with the mix scheme he is looking for. It's the same with the Strokes. They've done some unique stuff: I personally hadn't heard that the guitars are tracked more often than average or that they're run direct and processed, but they're definitely panned hard and the vocal is distinctive in its tone and distortion, which I agree is done probably through a small solid state amp. The audio is not very clean, and perhaps that's why the strokes are subject to so much audio snobbery over here, but that messy sound is part of the fad in the indie scene, which the Strokes have had a huge hand in introducing to a much larger public. I can understand not liking it for its audio properties, as long as its understood that personal taste is not the authority on whether it's a good sound or not.

By the way, I wouldn't bore you all with so much writing, but I'm stuck at work with nothing better to do

[chessrock]

Dang.


A lot of people must really want to sound like the Strokes.

This is about the 100th post I've seen on the internet where someone has asked how to "get the Strokes sound." I guess it is sort of unique, in a way. Their sound is fun, and I get a kick out of it. So I certainly don't blame people for being curious about how they track -- don't get me wrong. I'm not in any way trying to give you grief about asking.

You know, it's too bad the Tapeop message board is down right now. There is a lot of good info there if you do a search. Keep an eye out for when it's back up and running. You could get some really good info there -- lots of Strokes fans frequent that board. Good luck!