Gabe Dagrezio on Recording Pip & The Lefties Newest Single "Gimme a Moment" Out Now!
Gabe Dagrezio is the head audio engineer at Amplified Studios. In this interview, we will ask him about his experience engineering Pip & The Lefties' newest single, "Gimme a Moment." So let's get into it and see what he has to say!
TO LISTEN TO PIP & THE LEFTIES NEWEST SINGLE, CLICK BELOW.
WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE?
"We approach the recording process starting from the songwriting, paying great attention to the song structure, arrangement, and tones before we even set up to record the scratch tracks. In addition, the band went for an overdub recording, which meant we layered all instruments, one on top of the others. This approach is usually more time-consuming but allows total sound and ambiance control."
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FROM START TO FINISH?
"All the members of the band have busy schedules, so we had to work around it. From the initial rehearsals to the final master, it took about five months, which is quite a long time for two songs. If we had done it in one full immersion studio experience, we could have done the whole thing in less than a week."
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TALK TO ME ABOUT ANY EXPERIMENTING THAT HAPPENED IN THE PROCESS.
"A lot of experimenting was involved, especially when looking for inspiring tones and parts. It was also the first time I worked with Pip & the Lefties, and experimenting a little is one of the best ways to get to know each other better, musically and personally. For instance, we tried several snares and cymbals to find the ones that deliver the best feel for the tracks. It's all about the little details. The same experimentation was very much needed to find the right guitar tones; we had about six amps set up and ready to go and a handful of guitars to match looking for the tone that would work best. By the time we recorded guitars, we had enough musical context to evaluate in real-time. We spent enough time looking for the best microphone/preamp pairing for Pip's vocals, he has a very special voice, and each piece of gear would react differently to it. We have a lot of cool gear at Amplified Studios, and they all have slightly different characters.”
WHAT WAS THE EASIEST PART OF RECORDING?
"The easiest part was the engineering. Making sure that all the signals go to the right place and the gain structure is strong seems complicated initially because there are many moving parts. Once these aspects are fully internalized, it is the easiest part of the recording."
Pip & The Lefties taken by Unknown
WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF RECORDING?
"The most challenging part was committing to ideas, taking them to their full potential, or dropping them before they took up too much studio time. Pip is a powerhouse of ideas, and throughout the session we had no shortage of good and bad ideas to try out. As a producer, I have to make sure the session keeps moving forward so we complete the project within the budget, but I also have to give a listen to any ideas the artist might have before proceeding; finding the right balance between getting creative and getting things done can be difficult."
WHAT PIECE OF GEAR IN THE STUDIO DO YOU HAVE THE MOST FUN USING?
"I had so much fun using the Amplified Studios' facility. When recording organic bands, I love to work heavily on the tone and process the signal before recording it. This can only be done by using high-quality analog gear on the way into the DAW, and this studio has everything one can need to make a killer sounding record."
Pip & The Lefties taken by Unknown
ANY TIPS TO PASS ON TO ASPIRING ENGINEERS?
"Sure, understand that an outstanding performance will sound great even if recorded poorly, while a poor performance will sound bad even with the best rig in the world.
My tip is this: don't let the engineering get in the way. When an artist is in the headspace to deliver an excellent performance, you must be ready to capture it adequately. The artist will stay in that zone for a limited amount of time; if you mess around with knobs and patch cables while they are ready to go, they might get frustrated, and you will miss the best performance of the day."
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