Production Research - Greta Van Fleet & The Rust Brothers
In this entry I will be analysing research I have done on the production of rock & roll band Greta Van Fleet’s debut hit record Anthem of a Peaceful Army. Taking inspiration from classic 70s bands, they have an unmissably similar sound to Led Zepplin, with reaching influence from wider classic rock, blues, and folk artists such as Fairport Convention. This album was produced by production team trio The Rust Brothers (Al Sutton, Marlon Young and Herschel Boone) at Nashville based Blackbird Studio, specifically it’s studio D fitted with 96-Channel API Legacy Console.
Setup in the studio began with the live room layout, adamant that they’d not be recording to a click the sessions were formatted in a live studio session setup so the band could play together as a whole whilst doing the initial main tracking. Therefore with drums taking the centre position, with lead guitarist and bassist also in the same room, and to then prevent bleeding the amps of which were set up separately in isolation lockers. Doing recording sessions without a click track can lead to issues later in the mix where timing may need adjusting to lock tracks together, however with the sessions here going forward without the band will have had to ensure they played tight with minimal discrepancy with their timekeeping.
To hear of a professional production team going forward with this is unlike what I’d of expected, as with my own recording sessions it is something I’ve always ensured as the resulting tracks are always tighter and lock together better between tracks in the balancing stages. However with such a tight nit band, consisting of three brothers who’d grown up playing music together, disregard for a click may allow them to flow into a natural rhythm better and perform as they do at their sell-out concerts.
Utilisation of amp isolation is also another set-up technique which will allow for the band to carry out the live studio session set-up which they prefer, whilst maintaining clear separation between the audio recordings on the drums, the bass and the guitar. These instruments, if recorded without isolation in the same room as one another would cause a huge mess between tracks, making the mixing and processing stages a much bigger task than if done with isolation.
Along with the kit / guitar /bass, there was also setup a keyboard rig presumably also with isolated amps, consisting of a piano / B3 / Fender Rhodes / Wurlitzer which were tracked mostly as overdubs with some usage throughout the initial live tracking also. Finally, vocals were recorded separately in an isolation vocal booth on a Neuman u67 along with the acoustic guitar. To begin with they’d track scratch vocals alongside the initial live recording, which would then later be rerecorded at full range to prevent overworking the singers vocal chords. Along with overdubbed keys, the band also used this workflow to overdub layers of guitar and other layers very similarly to Led Zeppelin's heavy use of overdubbing over the same sounds to build up something unique and distinct.
The approach to tracking of the album according to Sutton reflects a simplicity focused and refined recording process which he has developed through his experience with rock & roll recording, ensuring clarity and minimal phase cancellation in a modern style distinguished from early classic rock by the increased low-end and hi-end frequency ranges. Authenticity is key to his recording strategy, getting it right at the source by aiming to capture recordings as they sound present in the room, using minimal EQ in favour of correct tonal sonics in the recordings.
Opting for imperfect character with emphasis on classic recording workflow, Sutton states he has little interest in production in the box with the DAW Pro Tools and views the software more like a tape-recorder. With the aim being also on longevity of sound, as classic rock has maintained with it still being a popular genre packed with timeless tracks, disregarding new sound design methods in favour of quality sonics from the source are a crucial approach to the album. Looking to the source of audio tracks rather than opting for extensive processing Sutton encourages an approach where the focus is on the instrumentation and it’s application and inherent tone rather than a change in mic / pre-amp or a convoluted post-processing / mixing strategy later.
One example of this approach is his recording strategy when it comes to drums, utilising the familiar Glynn Johns technique, ensuring equidistant positioning from the snare for minimal phasing issue, this technique uses less mics then singularly spotting each element of the kit, and focuses the sound through just two microphones (in this case two Neumann u67). The accompanying mics are then placed on the kick (AKG D36), snare (SM57 / Neumann Gefell m300 set-up together with an X clip, along with a side centred Sennheiser MD441) and Blumlein positioned stereo pair of Mesonovc Ribbons for the room. The multiple mics on the snare will be to balance and blend the different tonal recordings, with the X positioning presumably for stereo playback with the side centred mic filling the impacts with more characteristically lofi tone and noise to fill the snare recording out further for that heavy rock timbre. Use of Blumlien positioned room mics will further this stereo effect in playback, creating a large spacial field for the kit which encompasses the mix and sets the stereo room for other elements to position in, representative of the live room studio recording set-up itself.
Following from the drum recording, the bass was recorded with both it’s DI for a pure clear recording, along with a Neumann Fet 47 mic’d bass cabinet for added power and drive. This use of doubletracking for bass recording is also a well utilised approach as it gives the ability to properly balance clarity with drive for the low-end, to create a solid tone to ground the track with in the mix. The leslie B3 was recorded through a U87 on top and a Neumann Fet 47 at the bottom, again this will have been done to provide balancing capability in the mix between a warmer and thicker tone from the Fet microphone which characteristically is a more full sound than the airy and clear condenser U87 tone. The remaining keyboards were recorded over DI from the small form vintage guitar amp which they then monitored through. This will have provided the varying keyboard tones with a consistency in timbre and tone as their different intrinsic sounds were processed through the same tonal quality within the amp, adding a subtle glue between the keyboard while still maintaining their individuality.
The guitars were then recorded through multiple amp setups, such as an AC30 and a Marshall Clone, mic’d up with a U67 on one and a U87 on the other. These were sometimes swapped with Sony C37 or SM57 depending on what the track required through the albums progression, however Sutton states these were always to be positioned in the centre of the cone on axis, this would create a more balanced and full tone in comparison to angled positioning here.
The mixing process for the album began with rough mixes done during the recording sessions of each track, these would lay the initial ideas out for the final mixes which would be carried out at the end of the recording process. This method allowed for the production team to focus on the recording during the sessions at Blackbird Studio maximising their time and creating a distinction from the recording stage for the mixing stage, realising efficiency into their practical workflow. Final mixing for the album was done on a 48:24:4 API Legacy Desk at Rustbelt Studio, The Rust Brothers own studio which they know acoustically better than the Blackbird Studio, meaning a better monitoring environment for them to work in. With the initial rough mixes done alongside the initial fruition of the tracks in the recordings, their instincts were preserved and their first impressions on how the mix should balance could then be brought into consideration and reference during the final mixing stage. Sutton states the rough mixes were already nearly there, reinforcing that invaluable first mix done during the live recording sessions as a foundation for the final tracks.
When it came to the levelling throughout the tracks Sutton states he rides faders throughout using the desk for vocals and guitar levels, and Pro Tools for drums. This hybrid approach allows for the focus on dynamic layers to move as needed using the touch of faders, whilst the drums are kept as a solid backing to the tracks and could be set and left as a firmer foundation to fader ride over.
Sutton carries out parallel compression in the DAW, adding in drive to elements of the track through this technique, which can then be brought in on the desk for mixing on the faders. This is also accompanied by a consistent use of effects processing on specific instrumentation which is maintained across tracks to keep a cohesive sound throughout the album. This mixing approach makes for a consistent sound and is what will give The Rust Brothers their distinctive mixing sound which can be heard on tracks beyond this album, and doubles as a confidence for the band going forward with more recordings with the assurance that consistency will be met beyond this release. Stutton does also state that due to the studio architecture implementation of the patch bay, processing routing is subject to change and is done so where appropriate to add variance and interest instilled into throughout the album, with effects units concerned less with dynamics and more with spacial qualities with such effects such as reverbs and delays. This leads to a subtly evolving and immersive sonic experience which is still reinforced by consistency in instrumentation and dynamics.
When it comes to bringing tracks into the mix, Sutton starts with monitoring individual tracks and making adjustments to each as needed to ensure quality and to detect artefacts which may need editing. These when okayed are then brought in along with the vocal taking a focal point of reference which the instrumentation can then be balanced against. Once the mix was there, Sutton would send it across to Marlon Young for the go-ahead to then send it across to the band. At both of these points feedback and tweaks are provided and worked on, until the final mix reaches completion.
All these strategies employed by the Rust Brothers in the production strategy and approach reflects the focus on a full and thick sound, with quality aimed for at the source so that the mixing process later is a simpler game of balancing over vast multiprocessing treatment. This fuller tone is inherent to classic rock of the 70s which has held up timelessly against decades of music, and is clearly what they aim to replicate for Greta Van Fleet and this seriously compliments their sound. The approach is both fitting and elevating for the tracks which the band approached them with and does justice to them in their quality and with their ambition to hold up against giants of the genre such as Led Zeppelin, which they successfully do by being a class act which no doubt will hold up the test of time, along with the resurgence of drive for the genre of music which they embolden.
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References -
Paul Tingen, Inside Track : Greta Van Fleet “When The Curtain Falls”, Sound on Sound, Secrets of the mix engineers : Al Sutton, Accessed 15.03.23 | link : Inside Track: Greta Van Fleet 'When The Curtain Falls' (soundonsound.com)
Greta Van Fleet, Republic Records, “Anthem of the Peaceful Army” | Released October 19 2018
