Time Out Of Mind - Techniques

alexvdbroek

alexvdbroek

New member
Any one have some tips for getting a sound like Time Out of Mind?
I know Daniel Lanois likes his delays rater than reverb. And of course he has a great room which he has recorded in. Anyone got some tips to try?

Thanks
 
alexvdbroek said:
Any one have some tips for getting a sound like Time Out of Mind?
I know Daniel Lanois likes his delays rater than reverb. And of course he has a great room which he has recorded in. Anyone got some tips to try?

Thanks
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That's actually probably most of it. It's a great sounding album, but there doesn't seem to be anything unusual going on - just a great sounding room with a lot of room ambience captured in the recording, nice "vintage-y" sounding instruments and amps, solid performances and arrangements, and great material from a great songwriter.
 
I too love the production style of Daniel Lanois....that airy/spacey and harmonically rich/overlapping kind of sound. :cool:

Not trying to plug my own music :D but on the second song (Easy Love) on the CD I just released...I was going for Lanois-style distortion on the lead guitar....the kind that churns and grinds with a lot of low-end rumble and sustain.
 
*sigh* Was I the only one thinking of Steely Dan's Time out of Mind? Sucks to be old. :D
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TeyshaBlue said:
*sigh* Was I the only one thinking of Steely Dan's Time out of Mind? Sucks to be old. :D
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Yeah it does, if it involves thinking about Steely Dan. :eek:






(I'm sorry man, I imagine you like them, but they're the one AOR band I could NEVER get into. "Reelin' In the Years" is so trite and annoying and overly polished (minus a truly shitty lead guitar sound) that it induces fits of rage whenever I hear it.)
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
(I'm sorry man, I imagine you like them, but they're the one AOR band I could NEVER get into. "Reelin' In the Years" is so trite and annoying and overly polished (minus a truly shitty lead guitar sound) that it induces fits of rage whenever I hear it.)
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ROFL...you do know you just pinned a sign on yer back that says "Kick my Ass!", right? :D
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
Yeah it does, if it involves thinking about Steely Dan. :eek:






(I'm sorry man, I imagine you like them, but they're the one AOR band I could NEVER get into. "Reelin' In the Years" is so trite and annoying and overly polished (minus a truly shitty lead guitar sound) that it induces fits of rage whenever I hear it.)
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You and I are in agreement! :D
I just never could get into Steely Dan music. :(

It might have something to do with a couple of chicks in my younger days that played that shit TO DEATH... :rolleyes:
...but even while it's top-notch performance & audio quality, it was always rather lifeless sounding to me. Like something made in a factory...with a blender. ;)
 
miroslav said:
You and I are in agreement! :D
I just never could get into Steely Dan music. :(

It might have something to do with a couple of chicks in my younger days that played that shit TO DEATH... :rolleyes:
...but even while it's top-notch performance & audio quality, it was always rather lifeless sounding to me. Like something made in a factory...with a blender. ;)
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*shakes fist at damn kids on the lawn*:mad:

BTW, I'm takin this one to the cave!:mad:
 
I'm sure if I heard a Steely Dan song today I would like hearing it (once) purely out of nostaligia...;)

...and 'cuz it would remind me of those two chicks! :o :cool:
 
miroslav said:
You and I are in agreement! :D
I just never could get into Steely Dan music. :(

It might have something to do with a couple of chicks in my younger days that played that shit TO DEATH... :rolleyes:
...but even while it's top-notch performance & audio quality, it was always rather lifeless sounding to me. Like something made in a factory...with a blender. ;)
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Exactly! Everything I've heard has been generic feel-good sort of rock music, heavily harmonized vocals, a very generic male lead vocal, and very obviously "intelligent" guitar solos but with no real feel or grit to them. I remember reading that they worked with a ton of well known session players back in the day, and that doesn't surprise me at all listening to their solos. It sounds like a jazz guy being asked to play something for a rock band.

I'll take the Stones over Steely Dan any day of the week.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
Exactly! Everything I've heard has been generic feel-good sort of rock music, heavily harmonized vocals, a very generic male lead vocal, and very obviously "intelligent" guitar solos but with no real feel or grit to them. I remember reading that they worked with a ton of well known session players back in the day, and that doesn't surprise me at all listening to their solos. It sounds like a jazz guy being asked to play something for a rock band.

I'll take the Stones over Steely Dan any day of the week.
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lol @ Skunk Baxter = Jazz guy.
 
TeyshaBlue said:
lol @ Skunk Baxter = Jazz guy.
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Hey, whoever played the "Reelin' In the Years" solo really, well, shouldn't have. :p

Anyway, this is a thread about the best Dylan album in decades - let's not pollute it any more with talk about some washed up soft-rock AOR band anymore, ok? :p
 
miroslav said:
I guess you don't like his 2009 Christmas album?

:p
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My father and I have mutually decided to agree that Dylan never recorded a Christmas album, so I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about. :D

The Bootleg Series Vol 8: Tell-Tale Signs, however, is excellent, and has been in heavy repeat lately. :)
 
miroslav said:
I too love the production style of Daniel Lanois....that airy/spacey and harmonically rich/overlapping kind of sound.
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About 20 years ago -- shortly after the Lanois-produced Robbie Robertson album, after Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball, long after Peter Gabriel's So, but I can't remember if Dylan's Time Out Of Mind was out yet -- I was hired to arrange, produce, and engineer a track for a singer-songwriter who very specifically wanted "that Daniel Lanois sound".

The airy/spacy part was mostly achieved via distant miking, multiple delays & reverbs, and dynamically automating those effect returns during the mix. The harmonically rich/overlapping kind of sound was achieved via lots and lots of layers of very quiet, very simple parts -- single note drones, sustained pads, and simple two- or three- note motifs -- that continued throughout the entire tune, but again, varied dynamically throughout the mix. So what might initially be perceived as just "ambience" on an acoustic guitar part would turn out to be this seething, ever-evolving, but extremely background composite of 6 or 7 electric guitars, 4 synthesizers, and 8 FX returns.

That, plus a pair of overdubbed crosspanned hihat tracks, completely nailed Lanois' late 80's sound.
 
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