Who is this Harvey Gerst jerk and why should I listen to anything he says?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Harvey Gerst
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The encoder definitely crapped all over this one...was able to hear enough to tell it was a great recording job....
 
That guy on "Goin' back to Texas" sounds like Hendrix wearin' a cowboy hat! :D
 
You can get the SCMPX encoder at that link that Jerry posted , its on the second page......
 
getuhgrip said:
That guy on "Goin' back to Texas" sounds like Hendrix wearin' a cowboy hat! :D
"That guy" is John Nitzinger, an almost legendary Texas guitar player. He was a big influence on Stevie Ray Vaughn, he played with Alice Cooper for a few years, had some major records in the 70s, started a major Texas group called Bloodrock, and was the original guitar player in Rocky Horror Show on Broadway - the character that Meatloaf played in the movie was patterned around John.
 
OK. finally a serious statement.

OK. I'm finished playing around.

Harvey,

Q1: Why do you run all of the bass tracks in all of these songs direct? What don't you mike bass amps instead? Is this a cleaner sound?

Q2: What is the first thing that goes through your head when you first start recording a song? What are you thinking about?

Q3: Do you have a hard time getting into some music? I mean when your recording obviously you don't like all music that you record? How do you cope with that? How do you still do a good job even if you can't get into the music?

BTW, I liked that sax in Rescue me. Nice reverb on that.
 
Re: OK. finally a serious statement.

Originally posted by JerryD

OK. I'm finished playing around.

Harvey,

Q1: Why do you run all of the bass tracks in all of these songs direct? What don't you mike bass amps instead? Is this a cleaner sound?

Yes. Biggest problem in recording bands usually turns out to be who's gonna own the bottom octave of music. Everybody but the singer is fighting for that big bottom sound. Most bass amps tend to be a little sloppy, so we run them into an instrument input on our mic pres, or into our Ampeg SVT rackmount preamp, or a number of other boxes that will give us more control over the sound. Plus, I add a lot of top end while I'm tracking a bass, emphasizing string noise and the higher notes.

Q2: What is the first thing that goes through your head when you first start recording a song? What are you thinking about?

First I try to get a handle on the song. What is the band trying to do? What are the chords? Is it grooving? I'm also listening for possible instrument intonation problems. Once we start to go for a take, I listen to the bass/drums groove. If it's steady and it cooks, that's all that counts to me - I can fix the rest later.

Q3: Do you have a hard time getting into some music? I mean when your recording obviously you don't like all music that you record? How do you cope with that? How do you still do a good job even if you can't get into the music?

I have a hard time dealing with bad music or bad musicians. I either will gently get rid of them, or tell them they're really not ready to record and to save their money.

BTW, I liked that sax in Rescue Me. Nice reverb on that.

Thank you. That was Jeff Barnes, of the Grammy winning group, "Brave Combo" - he's a very talented guy. The reverb was a Lexicon Alex, set to vocal plate (#10, I think).
 
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Tons of talk about microphones... what about the preamps you use and like and hate?
I think we should start a preamp talk, similar to that huge mic thing we have going there...
I'm not sure if I like the v67 or not. It could be the encoding, but it seems like it is warm, but lacks that "presense" or "life" that makes a vocal track sound like I want. Are the vocal tracks in thier original form pretty sparkly? The encoding might have killed it.
Last question... how much do you know about frequency carving and making things sit in an already tracked song? This is the greyest area of all, an very very VERY little information on it. I was gonna buy a book called , Precision Frequency Control by Eduard Gerber, but it was over $100 and not at the library, so that killed the idea. Other than that, there are no sources I can find. "Keep practicing" says Roger Nichols "you'll get it" He posts everything and its mother on recording, but it seems the biggest secret is how to get it from average to huge. It would be a conflict of interest to give that information up, I guess. I know a TON of techniques, but something is still missing. I dunno... any ideas?
Oh, one more.... what are some good books on mics and techniques?
Thanks,
Paul
 
Harvey, I see you used the akg d112 and the ATM-25 for kick? Which one do you prefer, and why?

And same for toms... sm57 and e504?

And always md421 on floor. Why is that? I'm used to mic the floor tom with the same mic as the other toms...

Thanks, Roel (Still in the quest of which drum-mics to buy...)
 
John Nitzinger

Harvey
Can You pass along any news of John Nitzinger?I met him on stage at a jam at the Poop Deck in Ft Worth a couple of years ago.At the time he was trying to get a Buddy Miles project going(Buddy was living in a trailer in Mansfield,I heard,and Johnny was trying to get him back in music).I've been a fan of his since the old Cellar days and "Louisiana Cockfight".

Tom
 
Hey Tubedude.....you asked for book recommendations...I bought one 2-3 months ago called "The Home Studio Guide to Microphones" by Loren Alldrin and I think it is an excellent book. It costs about $35 at Guitar Center. On the other hand, there is alot of the same useful information in the thread started by Chris F. that you are familiar with, all supplied free by Harvey Gerst.
 
Thanks for the post

This is really a cool site.


You hangin out with us makes that much cooler. Thanks.
 
Hey Harvey

Man...am I tired. I stayed up till 4AM last night reading through all your posts. I think I have now read most (if not all) of your (Harvey's) posts! I also got to know some of the more interesting personalities here @ homerecording.com. :rolleyes: (ie. Steve Lamansky)

I was doing research on what my first mic should be, and someone recommended that I read your posts about the V67. I did a seach on Harvey Gerst and then proceded to read. I just wanted to say that I respect the hell out of you man, and I think you're one of the few people here with actual substance to what they're saying. I'm glad that even a newbie like me can have the chance to hang out with a pro like you. I hope many more threads with ya in the future.

I'm gonna put together a cabinet of mics someday, but I'm poor now, and I'm probably gonna start with the V67 (unless the C1 lives up to all the hype. looking forward to it!). there. thats pretty much all I wanted to say. Shameless brown-nosing over. :p

Peace
Balt

PS. Even though my profile says I'm from Fairfax, but I'm in Ft. Worth right now, visiting my parents. Some storm we had the other night, eh?
 
Yeah, it was pretty bad last night. The whole place shook. If you're in Ft. Worth, why not come up here and see what I'm doing? Hell, you're only about 1/2 hour away. I'll play you some of the stuff I've done here and you can tell the group what this stuff sounds like, since I can't seem to post a decent mp3. Just call before you head out (940) 482-3422, to make sure I'm here (which I am, most of the time). There's a map on my home page, ("Contact") and it's a straight shot up I-35W.
 
Whoa Harvey -

what an opportunity! But I'm not sure you realize how much of a "newbie" I really am. I'm afraid that if I came to your studio, I might just get in the way and be annoying and incompetant (sp?). I'd be like the kid who got to go to the cockpit of the airplane. I'd be amazed by what I saw, but I'm not sure I'd know where to begin. :(

then again, the chance to see a studio pro in action is too cool to pass up. (the little kid inside me is jumping up and down). :D I'd love to stop by, but only if you know what you're getting into, inviting a pure novice over.

let me know, and hopefully I'll see you soon.

balt
 
No biggie. Come on up. I'm doing mixdowns and tracking most of this week so there aren't any big sessions going on. A metal band is redoing one of their songs tomorrow evening, and I have a country guy redoing vocals on Thursday in the morning.

You're welcome to come by and watch and ask questions while the groups are here, or come by when there's no group and I'll play some stuff I'm working on, while I mix down. Either way, it should be interesting, besides, in keeping with this thread, you can report to the forum what I do, and what you heard. Just gimme a call as you're heading out the door (940) 482-3422.
 
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