Electronic Musician Article

[Mike Mendelson <MJM@ZYLAB.MHS.CompuServe.COM>]

I finally got a shot at the scanner, so here is
the EM article.  Happy reading.
-mjm


Electronic  Musician -- February 1994
PRO FILE
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Digital Barn Dance
Recording Kate Bush and The Red Shoes.
By Michael Molenda
[scanned w/o permission by the scan-daemon]
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K  K ate Bush's music is so theatrical
KK   that  you  don't  hear  it  so  much
K  K as "see"  it.  Her  productions  are
almost  mystical  in  their   ability   to
reach   beyond   the   aural    proscenium
and pull the  listener  into  an  emotion-
al tableau.  So it's fitting that her  cur-
rent   album   The    Red    Shoes    pays
homage  to   another   chillingly   evoca-
tive talent,  the  late  British  filmmak-
er Michael Powell.
   The  Red  Shoes,   named   after   Pow-
ell's classic 1948  film  about  a  doomed
ballerina,   was   recorded   and    mixed
by   Bush's    longtime    engineer    Del
Palmer in  her  "home"  studio:  a  state-
of-the-art  facility  housed  in  two  ad-
jacent  barns  on  her  parent's  farm  in
Kent County, near London.
  The  studio  is  equipped  with  an  SSL
4048E  console  (with  a   G-series   com-
puter), a Fairlight,  and  AMS,  Eventide,
and  (luantec   signal   processors.   Six
months  after  the  project  began,   Bush
purchased   two   Sony   3324A    24-track
digital   recorders   from   Abbey    Road
studios,  making   The   Red   Shoes   her
first 48-track digital production.
  "We   used   to   be    dyed-in-the-wool
analog lovers," admits Palmer.  "But

after day one of going digital, we were
totally convinced that it was the  best
thing since  sliced  bread.  Everything
sounded so great direct  from  the  mi-
crophones, that I barely  touched  the
EQ during recording.  And the  absence
of tape  hiss  is  a  boon  for  Kate's
music,   where    arrangements    some-
times break down to literally nothing."
The Red  Shoes  took  three  years  to
complete  and  includes  guest  artists
such  as  Eric  Clapton,  Prince,  Jeff
Beck,  and  the  Trio  Bulgarka.   Bush
developed  keyboard  and  vocal   ideas
over  simple,  4-bar  drum  loops  pro-
grammed by  Palmer  on  the  Fairlight.
When  a  song  was  adequately  fleshed
out, drummer Stuart Elliott was  called
in to replace the Fairlight loop.
"All the drum  sounds  on  the  record
are  Akai  SIOOO  samples   played   by
Stuart   on   Simmons    pads,"    says
Palmer.  "The only live sounds  are  the
cymbals.  If  you  solo  the   overhead
tracks you  can  hear  the  clack-clack
of the  drumsticks  hitting  the  pads.
We  used  samples  because  our  studio
is relatively small, and  if  we  miked

acoustic  drums   we'd   always   get the
same  room  sound,  which  is  not  very
exciting."
  Bush's   lush   vocal   orchestrations
were  recorded   on   a   Neumann   U87,
usually by  herself.  "She  didn't  want
to  bore  me  while  she  worked  things
out," explains Palmer.  "So  I'd  set  up
a  vocal  sound,  hand  her  the  remote
[control for the multitrack], and leave.
When  she  felt  she  had  enough   good
performances  on   tape,   we'd   select
the  best  complete   performance   [for
each song], and  fix  little  things  by
punching in lines  from  other  tracks."
 According   to   Palmer,   the    album
practically  mixed  itself.  The  sounds
on tape were  good,  so  he  just  added
reverb  and  made  sure   each   instru-
ment had  enough  space.  As  a  result,
The Red Shoes  is  one  of  Bush's  most
organic productions.
 "Kate  really  doesn't  like   to   use
samples    or    sequences,"     reveals
Palmer.  "Everything  on   the   record-
except  a  few  drum   loops-is   played
real-time.  We   definitely   wanted   a
band feel, so  we  didn't  get  obsessed
with technology.  I  just  twisted  knobs
until things sounded good."