Apollo Artist Sessions Vol. V: Jacquire King & Robert Ellis

Session Notes

Watch producer/engineer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Norah Jones), record Robert Ellis and his band performing "Good Intentions” at the Peter Nappi Leather Shoes and Goods store in Nashville through two first-generation Apollo QUAD audio interfaces and the 4-710d 4-Channel Mic Preamp.

Tracking

To track the ensemble, King set up a virtual analog studio with nearly every source running through the API Vision Channel Strip plug-in and the Studer® A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder plug-in.

Vocals

For Ellis’ lead vocal, a Shure SM7 dynamic mic was used and King placed a Teletronix LA-2A compressor plug-in from the Teletronix® LA-2A Classic Leveler Collection to gently massage the vocal before it hit the “tape” of the Studer plug-in. When mixing the vocal, King used the Legacy Neve^® 1073^® EQ plug-in, the 1176 Rev A from the 1176 Classic Limiter Plug-In Collection, and the Fairchild 660 from the Fairchild Tube Limiter Plug-In Collection. For ambience and echo, a bus went to the Galaxy Tape Echo and the EMT® 140 Classic Plate Reverberator plug-in.

Guitar

The electric guitar was miked with a Neumann U87 and incorporates a touch of the API’s 225L compression module. For the guitar in the final mix, a combination of the Helios™ Type 69 EQ plug-in and the 1176 Rev E from the 1176 Classic Limiter Plug-In Collection were used. The EP-34 Tape Echo plug-in added a touch of dimension and stereo width.

Drums

The drums were tracked with a stereo ribbon mic for the overhead, a mic on the kick, and a mic on the snare. A major component to the stellar drum tones is King’s use of parallel compression on the drum bus. Using the FATSO™ Jr./Sr. Tape Sim. & Compressor plug-in — the Spank setting and Tranny options engaged — he’s able to season the drums with an aggressive texture that is easily blended back into the mix.