Genesis - Peter Gabriel vocal sound ...

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gilwe

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Does anyone have any information about the recording equipment used at the recording of "Trespass" to "Foxtrot" albums ?

The overall sound (on "Trespass" especially) is just amazing !!!

I'm curious particullary about the vocal mic for Peter Gabriel's vocal recording ...
 
I've seen studio footage around that time where Gabriel's got 2 mics taped together... I couldn't tell what the bottom one was, but the top one was a silver Beyer - either an M69 or M88...
 
I'm crackin' up over here, because I always thought they really discovered their sound, and Peter's voice in particular, on "Lamb."

I always thought everything before that kinda' sounded like junk, but I know a lot of people who think the way you do. I'm going to have to start listening again to some of the earlier stuff.
 
If you'll listen to the VINYL (and not to a CD) using a superior stereo system with a very good pickup cartridge I'm sure you will very soon notice what these people (and me) are talking about ....

unless you don't like warm, analog sound ... (and I'm sure you do :) )
 
Analog, shchmamalog. Warm, cold, lukewarm, freezing . . . however you slice it and/or dice it, it just sounds low-fi to me.

I'm a fan of the bbe sonic maximizer.

If they had used gobs of that on Gabriel, I'm sure I would have looooved the sound. :D

Just kidding.

For an example, audition the earlier version of "Super's ready" Foxtrot version with the "Second's Out" version. T

The chorus, in particular. Second's out version sounds like an explosion of sound, compared to the "deflating balloon" sound on Foxtrot. Phil's voice seems to fill the entire arena, whereas Pete's sounds like it would fill en entire closet. It could have been produced so much better. :D
 
I agree that Foxtrot is not considered the "best" sound among these albums. Trespass is really exceptional. It keeps much of the first "From Genesis to revelation" sound, much 60s...

For "Second", well, it sure sounds much more "Rocky" ... I think the "explosive" sound you mention mostly refer to the drums on the album (the had both Collins and Tompson on drums)

I like the dark sound of the earlier albums, although I don;t think it is gonna suit most of modern rock recording including my own...

60s...
 
gilwe said:
The overall sound (on "Trespass" especially) is just amazing !!!
I'm curious particullary about the vocal mic for Peter Gabriel's vocal recording ...
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Gabriels voice on Trespass is amazing, maybe his best ever. Just listen to the opening track "Looking for Someone"....oh my god ! I used to believe the production on Trespass was really awfull but now I love it because of the production. Some might call it lo-fi (chessrock) but I just think it has great character. When they had the 12-string guitars, flute and oboe, and mostly piano and organ I thought they had some of their best moments.

Sorry gilwe, don't know what kind of mikes they used. I'll look through my Genesis books and pictures and see if I can find out.

My favorite Genesis recordings;

Selling England by the Pound
Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Trespass
Wind and Wuthering
Archives 1967-75 box set

.....and I might throw Steve Hackett "Time Lapse" in there just because it's so Genesis-y. :cool:
 
I LOVE the sound of their early albums... not cutting-edge hi-fi by any means, but OTOH, perfect for the songs........!
 
I always found the sound production on the Gabriel albums a little on the thin and tinny side.

However, the production on "A Trick of the Tail" (the first with Collins on lead vocals) is just freaking amazing. The opening surge of sound on the first song, "Squonk," is just blissful to the ears. :D
 
Fontcow said:
I always found the sound production on the Gabriel albums a little on the thin and tinny side.

However, the production on "A Trick of the Tail" (the first with Collins on lead vocals) is just freaking amazing. The opening surge of sound on the first song, "Squonk," is just blissful to the ears. :D
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Michael Rutherford said in a recent interview that when the original Roland Chorus Ensemble came out they used it on almost everything on "A Trick of the Tail". I went back and listened to that album again just to hear that effect. Yes, it's chorused. :)
 
.....and I might throw Steve Hackett "Time Lapse" in there just because it's so Genesis-y.
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Steve Hackett is just great ! Just as Genesis started to sound boring came Hackett and showed how great and interesting he was !! He is really great -

Voyage of the Acolyte and Defector are top albums .

The others doesn't fall and the his overall sound is great.
 
Re: Re: Genesis - Peter Gabriel vocal sound ...

Wide Awake said:


....

My favorite Genesis recordings;

Selling England by the Pound
Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
.......
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Man, I thought "Selling England" was a much better recording than the Lamb, which I find muddy. I'm going on memory, but I have an Italian vinyl pressing of "Selling England" that's far superior to what we were getting here in the States. I don't have as good a copy of the Lamb, and that could be why I'm biased towards "Selling England". I don't know if you can beat "Cinema Show" which also rocks on "Seconds Out",. Good job by Phil and Bill Bruford on skins....
 
Although I love all of the Gabriel era, I have to agree that Selling England is the one that really amazes me production and sound wise, it is much more polished than the older stuff and not as dark as The Lamb, The Lamb is my second favorite. It is funny how Peter´s voice was bright and sometimes squeaky, and on a live cd of The Lamb, it is very dark and raspy, as it is nowadays. His voive really changed a whole lot during the years, unlike Phil´s.
 
chessrock said:
Second's out version sounds like an explosion of sound, compared to the "deflating balloon" sound on Foxtrot. Phil's voice seems to fill the entire arena, whereas Pete's sounds like it would fill en entire closet. It could have been produced so much better. :D
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Maybe something to do with the fact that Seconds Out was recorded IN AN ARENA and the original was recorded in a closet, relatively speaking.
 
Wide Awake said:
.....I used to believe the production on Trespass was really awfull but now I love it because of the production..."QUOTE]


Once I had a car fall on both of my feet. When they lifted it off of my left foot, I thought "This feels much better"

Ouch.
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acorec said:
Wide Awake said:
.....I used to believe the production on Trespass was really awfull but now I love it because of the production..."QUOTE]


Once I had a car fall on both of my feet. When they lifted it off of my left foot, I thought "This feels much better"

Ouch.
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I have the right to change my opinion on a 34-year old recording. You'll be hearing from my lawyer pal, the late Johnny Cochran. :cool:
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robin watson said:
Maybe something to do with the fact that Seconds Out was recorded IN AN ARENA and the original was recorded in a closet, relatively speaking.
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You certainly make a good point.

It took you about three years to make it, but it was made nonetheless. :D
 
Mixed for Vinyl

Some albums do seem to be mixed for vinyl or 8-track tho... Listen to:

*In Through the Out Door - vinyl
*Any OLD AC/DC - vinyl (although this one translates pretty well to CD)
*Born on a Bayou (CCR) - 8 track
*Any BeeGees - 8 track or vinyl
*Any of Charlie Parker's older rippin saxaphone stuff, T-Monk's or Duke Wellington's jazz- vinyl for certain

There's something to be said... I'm sure each medium imparts its own flava to the mix, and I'm guessing a lot of this stuff was mixed for vinyl, 8-track, or audio cassette (yuk.)

I love old crooner records like the rat pack up to hippie stuff from the 60's and 70's on vinyl. There's no comparison, unless there's been a remaster for the new mediums and standards of broadcast...

Just my two cents.
 
Such good memories of Genesis here. As a teenager, I saw them play a dozen times, usually to a half-full audience in small theaters in Michigan. In fact, I saw the Lamb tour in Grand Rapids--a few hundred people packed a several- thousand seat concert hall. What a disaster financially.

I wore out all the CDs mentioned, but still, Genesis was always the poor cousin to Yes for me. I still throw The Yes Album or Close to the Edge on the burner every few months just to ground myself. In fact, the recent symphonic Magnification CD has some great moments, too. I'm glad to see they're still around and busy.

Genesis fans might want to listen to a more recent recording of some of the old classics--pick up Hackett's Watcher of the Skies, which features Bill Bruford and John Wetton, among others. Worth a listen if you like the idea of a somewhat heavier, darker Genesis sound.

J.
 
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