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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.polymathperspective.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MBValbumArtwork.jpg\")
Loveless<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cBy the time I came in, Kevin was fed up with fighting with people,\u201d says Alan Moulder, reflecting on the problems Kevin Shields was having during the recording of Loveless<\/em>; an album that eventually took him two exhausting years to complete. \u201cCreation had just come out of a distribution deal and money was short so they were putting My Bloody Valentine in budget studios and Kevin was struggling because quite often the engineers were also the studio owners and if anything was going wrong they would try and cover it up. So Kevin would not trust them and would move to another studio.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of those studios were on a shoestring budget so they didn\u2019t have full-time maintenance staff and there were always things that didn\u2019t get fixed. Kevin would say something like, \u2018I don\u2019t think that mic is working properly,\u2019 and the engineer would argue, \u2018Oh yes it is!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d look at him as if to say, \u2018Well, what do you know? I\u2019m an engineer; you\u2019re just the guitarist in an indie band!\u2019 But I learned very quickly that if Kevin thought something wasn\u2019t working, 99 percent of the time he was right. He has incredible hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin\u2019s comment was always, \u2018I just want it to be decent,\u2019 so from his point of view, quite rightly, a faulty microphone isn\u2019t decent. He didn\u2019t want something out-of-this-world, he just wanted everything to do what it should do.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Creation Records didn\u2019t have the finances to book My Bloody Valentine into major London recording studios, they could see that the band\u2019s fan base was growing rapidly, and that it was worthwhile supporting Shields in his quest to get things right. Their solution was to hire Alan Moulder, who already had a reputation for getting good results. Alan was reassured by Creation boss, Alan McGee, that the project would take no longer than three weeks to finish off, and so he accepted the job and began assisting on the mixing of the band\u2019s Glider <\/em>EP.<\/p>\n \u201cI got involved because I knew Alan McGee,\u201d Alan explains. \u201cI\u2019d recorded Automatic<\/em> for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Alan thought that that record sounded slick. So I was brought in as somebody who was considered to be a properly trained, posh engineer, who had worked on chart stuff like Depeche Mode and the Eurythmics. To Creation that meant high quality and that\u2019s what they wanted me to bring to Loveless<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019d go to a studio and if Kevin found that something wasn\u2019t working properly, he\u2019d leave the room while I\u2019d investigate and deal with it. In the end he trusted me so that if I said it was fine, he could move on without having any niggling doubts in the back of his mind. And most of the time he was right, so I would go through it with the studio until it was fixed, or we came up with a way around it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I did with Kevin was mix the four-track Glider<\/em> EP, and when I say mix, I was doing what I was told! Kevin mixed it and I was the engineer. That\u2019s how we got our trust and a working relationship that was good.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Assault & Battery 2 Studio control room: Alan\u2019s current studio in West London<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Recording The Bass<\/strong><\/p>\n By the time Alan started work on Loveless<\/em>, some time around the start of 1990, the drums and some of the rhythm guitars were already recorded. Although there had been some problems tracking the drums, Alan remembers that Kevin was reasonably happy with what he had on tape.<\/p>\n \u201cEven back then Kevin really knew what was good quality was and what he would and wouldn\u2019t settle for,\u201d insists Alan, \u201cso everything was good quality. The rhythm guitars were down and sometimes there was a guide bass, but the rest of the parts were in Kevin\u2019s head. So we went through doing bass on all the tracks. We used a Steinberger bass with no head, so it was very ugly looking and nobody ever used it live, but it had a consistent tone that worked well with layered guitars.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore that they\u2019d been using a Warwick bass which sounded better if you compared the two in solo, but in the track the Steinberger used to cut through. The worst thing about a lot of basses is that certain notes ring out, maybe 20dBs louder than other ones, which drives you nuts. This one was very even up and down the neck.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it sounded very good and Kevin liked it, but it had to have these specific Steinberger strings and we were changing them three times a day. Kevin always had to have the strings very fresh on guitars and so he\u2019d change them as soon as they had lost their zing. So we cleared the whole of London out of these strings.<\/p>\n \u201cHe also had a Vox Tone Bender distortion pedal and used that on the bass pretty much all the time. There are lots of different models but he had a great one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe bass went into a vintage Ampeg SVT amp, which was a pretty standard bass amp in those days. It was a big valve one with an 8\u00d710 cabinet. We rented most of our amps from a vintage guitar and amp supplier called Harris Hire, and I\u2019m sure it was one from them. Ampegs vary a lot but we got a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n To capture the sound, Alan remembers positioning a Neumann U87 about three inches from the Ampeg and also believes that there was DI recording taken at the same time. The policy for recording was to eradicate the sound of the room and to avoid using compression, hence the need for a very consistent bass!<\/p>\n \u201cKevin didn\u2019t like any room sound so the mics were as close as possible,\u201d Alan recalls, \u201cand we may have put a blanket over the whole setup to make it even deader!<\/p>\n \u201cCompression wasn\u2019t allowed; Kevin didn\u2019t like it. I managed to get away with a tiny bit of compression on the backing vocals because I asked if I could try it and he said I could as long as he couldn\u2019t hear it. But he\u2019d test it by shouting into the microphone and if he could hear it ducking down he\u2019d say there was too much compression! But his singing was about 15dBs lower than the shouting so really there wasn\u2019t any compression at all.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there is no point ever trying to get one over because if you are caught out then the trust has gone, so you can\u2019t do that, but the compressor added a tone that I liked, so I didn\u2019t care. It sounded good and that\u2019s all that mattered. I didn\u2019t really do much creatively as an engineer at all.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the bass DI signal, Alan can no longer recall whether or not it was used: \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure we recorded a DI but I can\u2019t remember how we balanced it. We didn\u2019t mix it to tape so they were on separate tracks if we did do one.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taking The Lead<\/strong><\/p>\n After the bass, Alan remembers recording the lead guitar parts, but says that there was no consistent methodology. \u201cEach song had a different approach. Kevin would have an idea for different amp and pedal setups and we\u2019d try them out. On one song, for example, there were two amps facing each other, quite close together, with different tremolos on each amp and mics in between, so there was some kind of pulsating sound, as if they were pushing and pulling against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin\u2019s distortion sound was mostly created using effects pedals rather than the guitar amplifier settings. The pedals Alan most clearly remembers were the Roger Meyer Octave Fuzz and Active Fuzz. \u201cWe were using them a lot,\u201d Alan insists. \u201cKevin used the Active Fuzz and Octave Fuzz together because you could drive the Octave Fuzz so that would respond with a weird gating effect. It would decay to a point and then shut the notes down in a way that he liked.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he had lots of other pedals too and he\u2019d pick certain ones for a track. We had a Digitech Whammy pedal that did octaves when you pushed the pedal down, which he liked. He also had a wah wah and some other fuzz pedals including a Jim Dunlop one, I think.<\/p>\n \u201cI seem to remember, all the rhythm guitars went through a 1960s Marshall head with an old 4\u00d712 cab that matched the amp, and also a Vox AC30. The signal was split between the two amps and they were close mic\u2019ed with SM57s right on the cone. I always mic guitar amps right on the cone and usually in the middle. If there are four cones I just pick the best one. Sometimes the cones sound different if the cab has been used on the road a lot, but normally they sound pretty similar. Sometimes I put a Shure SM57 and a Sennheiser 421 right in the middle as close to the grille as I can get, because I find that if I balance them 50\/50, that generally sounds exactly how it sounds in the room, but on the Valentines I had one SM57 on the Marshall and another on the Vox. The guitars Kevin used for recording were normally a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d usually experiment with the sounds for quite a while and then he\u2019d change the strings. Once we\u2019d got the sound right I\u2019d set the tape machine to cycle and leave the room, and he\u2019d practice for about an hour. I\u2019d be sat outside and he\u2019d just be there on his own working it all out. For Kevin, it is not just the way he plays it, but also the way he makes the effects work and the way his guitar responded to the distortion.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually he\u2019d say he was ready and we\u2019d change the strings again. We\u2019d record it all from top to bottom three times onto three different tracks. Then he\u2019d pick one and say \u2018Yes, that\u2019s it!\u2019 and it was normally the third take. There were never any drop-ins or any track comping \u2013 it would always be a complete performance.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coming and Going<\/strong><\/p>\n Throughout the production of Loveless<\/em>, Alan received many offers to work on other projects, the most notable of which was the Hormonally Yours<\/em> album by Shakespeare\u2019s Sister, which he completed in a couple of months. On another occasion he found time to mix Transvision Vamp\u2019s album Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble<\/em>, again completing it and then returning to carry on with Loveless<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI was doing very varied stuff at the time,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI worked on Loveless<\/em> in lots of sections because I\u2019d be offered a project and I\u2019d ask Kevin if we\u2019d be finished in time. He\u2019d say, \u2018Yes, we\u2019ll be done by then,\u2019 so I\u2019d accept the project and, of course, we wouldn\u2019t be finished and I\u2019d have to go away. But it was good because we were working very nocturnal hours and the pace got slower and slower, so having a break meant I came back re-energised.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I kept coming back because I liked working with him. It was long, weird hours, but being in a studio with Kevin is fun. Even if you are not working you are having an amazing conversation. The guy is very interesting to be around so I felt I was part of something special.\u201d<\/p>\n Just before Alan departed to work with Shakespeare\u2019s Sister, Kevin started experimenting with a sampler to create some guitar textures for the song \u2018To Here Knows When\u2019. This was done by recording lots of guitar feedback to DAT tape, and then turning it into Akai S1000 samples which could be triggered from a keyboard. To Alan\u2019s surprise, the experiments were still ongoing when he returned several months later. Alan attributes the slow progress to the new sampling technology, which not only took some time to master, but also offered the band the chance to try out new musical ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d started off moving at a fairly brisk pace, doing bass on maybe two or three tracks a day,\u201d Alan recalls, \u201cand then we got into the guitar overdubs and were doing one song a day. But after that Kevin\u2019s energy was sapped and it started to become a slog. When I returned they had already been working on the sampling for eight weeks and I worked on it for another two weeks after that, so it was pretty slow.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sampling was uncharted territory. We didn\u2019t know the gear properly \u2013 we had just gone from the S900 to the S1000 which was a massive jump \u2013 and there were lots of possibilities to explore. I remember there was what sounded like a blur of notes to me, but Kevin could hear that some were cutting off and weren\u2019t playing properly, and we couldn\u2019t understand why. Now it is obvious: we had overused the polyphony, but at the time we couldn\u2019t work out why it wasn\u2019t playing back. I don\u2019t remember solving it but we managed to get it so he liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n Alan believes that Kevin\u2019s guitar feedback sampling experiments were an attempt to achieve a sound which had the same qualities as those of the flute, having previously used a flute sample on the track \u2018Soon\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin was into the flute,\u201d explains Alan. \u201cThere is something organic and pure about it that he liked and the sampled feedback seemed to have a similar tone. The thing about the feedback is that it changes the longer you hold the key down, so you get all these weird changes and a bit of discordance and randomness that he liked as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end Kevin mixed the feedback quite low in the track but it was the right level. It gave the song this bubbling little tone underneath. It is quite subtle but you couldn\u2019t take it out because it was a major part of the track. Of course, the great thing about those records is that there is actually not that much on them. Pretty much everything fits on the 24-track, so, compared with records today, it\u2019s pretty simple. It was all about sound and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tape and Voice<\/strong><\/p>\n Although Loveless<\/em> was recorded in a large number of studios, Alan was able to get a consistent result by lining up each tape machine at the start of the session. Most sessions were done on Otari MTR90 24-track machines which, according to Alan, the lower-end studios tended to use because they were considerably less expensive that Studers.<\/p>\n Before starting work on the lead vocals, Kevin took the unusual step of laying down the album\u2019s backing vocals without any lead vocal guide at all.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was amazing,\u201d says Alan. \u201cI kept saying to him, \u2018Do you not want to put a guide vocal on,\u2019 and he would say, \u201cNo, I know what it is going to be.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe built a sound booth with a blanket over the top so that it was completely dead, and we had a Neumann U87 going into a UREI 1176 compressor, which was set on 8:1. I always tend to use higher ratios, but if the gain reduction needle moved I\u2019d be amazed. It didn\u2019t really do any compressing, but just running the signal through the 1176 adds a nice sheen to the top end. There was no EQ, or if there was it was very, very minimal.\u201d<\/p>\n One aspect of the vocal recording Alan recognises as being different to how most people work today was the use of the in-house mixing desks preamps, rather than dedicated preamp hardware. \u201cNowadays everybody brings in vintage Neve 1073s and API mic pres; but we only ever used the desk,\u201d reveals Alan. \u201cWe worked a lot at Protocol Studios which had a Soundcraft and a DDA, so we were not using high-end mic pres. I remember doing the backing vocals in room B at Protocol on a Soundcraft.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe tambourine, which Kevin played, was recorded using the same U87 setup, but without the tent. He\u2019d stand about three feet away from the mic and play. He was very good at playing the tambourine \u2013 it\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n The lead vocals were the last tracks to be recorded, by which time Alan was being called away to work with The Jesus and Mary Chain and Swervedriver.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there for a couple of the lead vocals,\u201d says Alan. \u201cQuite often you work on tracks that sound amazing, but when the lead vocal goes on it is a disappointment because you have a certain expectation, but none of the Loveless<\/em> ones were like that. They were at least as good as I\u2019d hoped they would be, and some were better. That\u2019s pretty good when you\u2019ve been hearing the backing tracks on their own for about a year. I remember thinking that was quite remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Alan didn\u2019t mix the album, he did find time to visit The Church studio in Crouch End, to see how the mixing was coming along.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin was sub-compressing the drums pretty hard to get them to cut through,\u201d remembers Alan. \u201cIt\u2019s the age-old mix problem that we all have to fight with when there are really loud, overwhelming guitars. It is hard to get the whole drum pattern loud without it taking over, and if you are compressing it hard and you hit a cymbal, that\u2019s all you hear, because the cymbals and hi-hats get through the compression.\u201d<\/p>\n Another factor which made it even harder to balance the drums and guitars was Kevin\u2019s dislike of panning, as Alan explains. \u201cGetting your drums to cut through is not easy if you have everything in the middle and most of Loveless<\/em> is mono. When I mixed with Kevin on the Glider <\/em>EP, I said \u2018Everything is down the middle, Kevin, do you not want to pan anything off?\u2019 He said \u2018No, I don\u2019t like it.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI remember getting away with panning the tambourine slightly to the right because he couldn\u2019t hear the difference, but that was the only thing. If he couldn\u2019t hear it, he didn\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Assault & Battery 2 Studio<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Release and Reception<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, Loveless<\/em> is widely regarded as one of the most influential records of the 1990s, but when it was released, at the end of 1991, it received mixed reviews. Alan believes that the recording process overshadowed the music, and that the expectation was too great.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we were making the record, the Glider <\/em>and Tremolo<\/em> EPs came out and the band was getting bigger and bigger. Everyone was massively influenced by the previous record, so their reputations and their cool points were going up through the roof. You could feel that, but you also felt the pressure and expectation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Loveless<\/em> came out you couldn\u2019t read a review that didn\u2019t go on about how long it took to make. Everyone was saying, \u2018Why did it take so long?\u2019, but the important thing is the quality of the record.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good that Loveless<\/em> is now so revered because Kevin put his soul on the line. I remember when it was being mixed he was talking to me about how he thought he was losing his mind, and his hearing! He\u2019d toiled over that record and by the end it had just about sapped the whole of him.\u201d TF<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.polymathperspective.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/assaultbattery2-Acopy-1024x683.jpg\")
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