Pearl Jam's studio recordings...

SomethingCreative · May 2009

Does anyone know how they usually go about recording? There's so much raw energy in some of the recordings that I assume they did live studio takes and dubbed over where needed. Brain of J and Save You come to mind.

anyone know where I can find this info?

Avant Garden · May 2009

I don't know for sure, but I have a little bit of experience of recording and being recorded, with live takes and multitracking. Sounds to me like Ten and Vs. were multitracked, but stuff like No Code has a rawer, liver sound, and then there's Of The Girl and stuff which was binaurally recorded so I guess that's live to.

hailhail82 · May 2009

I'm pretty sure they've done the basic takes live since VS., with background vox (maybe lead too?) overdubbed, with additional guitar, keys, etc added in. I'm sure there have been exceptions down the line, of course.
Sounds like from various interviews over the years that Ten and TOTD were played track by track for the most part. I love the story of Mike's headphones falling off halfway through the Reach Down solo so he's playing without hearing the track. Great stuff.

12 weeks of immortality · June 2009

SomethingCreative wrote:

Does anyone know how they usually go about recording? There's so much raw energy in some of the recordings that I assume they did live studio takes and dubbed over where needed. Brain of J and Save You come to mind.

anyone know where I can find this info?

Think I read somewhere that VS. was done all live fully micked. You can hear it on Go and Blood, the jammy endings. Anyway, didn't they record that record in (hehe) recordtime?

Gardenparty · June 2009

somewhere out there in the world wide webs there is a compete log of studio recording notes. I think up through riot act (don't recall which album it began on). I am going to try to track it down because it was a good read but you may be able to find it with a little sleuthery

xtremehardy388 · June 2009

Gardenparty wrote:

somewhere out there in the world wide webs there is a compete log of studio recording notes. I think up through riot act (don't recall which album it began on). I am going to try to track it down because it was a good read but you may be able to find it with a little sleuthery

I know they have (had) the recording notes for Riot Act on synergy. Also, GTW has some recording info.

Dirty Mosquito · October 2010

Does anyone have a link to anything of this? I too remember reading this a few years ago, but I can't find it for the life of me. I would like to re-read it. Really any PJ album studio notes would be cool.

ScrapeMySky · October 2010

I read in an interview with Matt that the drum tracks were done seperately. Can't remember what album it was about though. It was either S/T or Backspacer. So I figure that album (whichever it was) wasn't done live.

mccreadyisgod · October 2010

I know that most of the albums were recorded with the main tracks live, and then vocals and additional instruments were layered in after. It's likely that Ed records scratch vocals (for songs with lyrics ready), and then overdubs them in a booth; for other songs, he may not have final lyrics until after the basic tracks are already done. This has been mentioned in many of the interviews I've read about their recording processes.

Typical instruments to overdub are lead and backing vocals, lead guitar solos, orchestration and keyboards (Boom might record live, or overdub, depending on how integral his parts are to the songs).

Recording either way has its advantages and its liabilities. If you record live, you tend to get a better "groove," since the band is playing together in the same room and feeding off each other. However, if there are little mistakes, you either keep the flub or you do punch-in overdubs. Also, you may encounter some cross-bleed between instruments (hearing guitars in your drum mics, etc), depending on how much you can isolate each source of noise. You can put amps in other rooms or closets from the drums, and put the singer in a separate booth with windows. Sometimes studios will use dividers between the instruments, and sometimes they will just set them up in a good room together, with room mics in addition to individual mics for each instrument. It all depends on the overall vibe, the sound you're going for, and the techniques of the engineer and producer.

If you record one instrument at a time, you get to fine-tune each instrument in the most precise fashion. You get perfect isolation from instrument to instrument. It also means that only one person has to be "on" at any given moment, so you don't worry about one person out of 5 screwing up. However, you don't get that natural, cohesive feel that comes from playing live, together. It makes for a slightly sterile feeling to the music. Some bands/musicians can pull it off (I've done it well with a few other guys), but others can't. The best thing about doing a multi-track recording is the ability to re-do and fix everything, whereas with a live recording, you really have to commit to a single performance by all the members.

Personally, I prefer the live recording method for a few reasons: 1) You get a much better vibe and groove; 2) It's a more authentic version of the band as they are, not an over-worked "perfect" version of what they'd rather be; 3) It doesn't take anywhere near as long to record and mix the album; and 4) It puts more emphasis on good songs played well, instead of the engineer, gear, and ProTools. But as an engineer, I'll admit that it comes at some cost, and that's tough to work around sometimes. If you have a studio booked and the meter is running, but one band member is having a shitty day, that will come through on those recordings. That's why recording is often very difficult on a psychological level, with an over-hyped sense of pressure. It's also why musicians tend to be coddled during a recording session. You try to keep the head space free of baggage and outside stress, so there are no distractions. That's much harder for 3, 4, 5, or more people at one time; when you multi-track everything, you can focus on getting one person in the zone, and everyone else can just chill. And if one guy is having a bad day, you put someone else in the booth that day.

But when it works, and everyone is in the same space and really feeling the moment... live recordings are the best. Multi-track recordings are more likely to turn out good, but live recordings are capable of being great.

12 weeks of immortality · October 2010

I have to agree with Mccreadyisgod
I like live recordings way better, but it really comes down to what type of music you're listening to. Take Nine Inch Nails as an example, that music is mostly recorded track by track and a lot of it is loop based. But thats the approach Trent is heading for and makes a point of it. The fragile is a great record and the sound and production is top notch. So this type of recording can be great.

But this is not how Pearl Jam work. Weather its live or track by track really doesnt matter to me, I've never had a problem with the sound and approch of their recording methods.
But I'm pretty sure at least VS. is a live recording as I've mentioned earlier in this thread.

But it all comes down to saying enough is ENOUGHT when you're working with track by track, cause there is no limitations on the rec. prosess, so if you one late night think its a good idea to have a cow stomping around the studio cause of the crazy sound it makes you do it.

but at some point you have to say to yourself, thats it - this record is done.
Of course Pearl Jam have a bit of experience on recording I would say

and most likely they have an overall idea of what their records should sound like.

but a live recorded record has a great feel and groove. Mudhoney - 'the lucky ones' was recorded live in 3 days
complete with overdubs/vocals. But they havent exaggerated. only done some handclaps and some pianos. Thats perfect in my ears.

xtremehardy388 · October 2010

12 weeks of immortality wrote:

SomethingCreative wrote:

Does anyone know how they usually go about recording? There's so much raw energy in some of the recordings that I assume they did live studio takes and dubbed over where needed. Brain of J and Save You come to mind.

anyone know where I can find this info?

Think I read somewhere that VS. was done all live fully micked. You can hear it on Go and Blood, the jammy endings. Anyway, didn't they record that record in (hehe) recordtime?

Rearview Mirror was live, I'm positive.

mschostok · September 2016

Bump, anyway have definitive answers? Really curious to see if they record with pro tools and all that or live?

2-feign-reluctance · September 2016

mschostok said:
Bump, anyway have definitive answers? Really curious to see if they record with pro tools and all that or live?

I don't believe it's been discussed in the detail you're seeking - I think your best 'answer' for what it's worth has already been discussed in this thread.

Bud Colder · September 2016

Live most of the time I think I read it somewhere. It makes sence cause they sound as good live as they do on albums!!!!!

Gardenparty · October 2016

Here is the link I was referring to. It doesn't necessarily specify how the recordings were done but it certainly gives a ton of info on their recording history
http://www.pearljamonline.it/rs.htm

Pearl Jam's studio recordings...

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