Toshi's production on Melvins albums

[Jaron]

They need to do THE WALL OF SOUND!!

[Smellis]

My thoughts.....Toshi is great, Billy is great. Sorry Glen everyone kicks much ass.     /So do you. Share the love........ /

[John Schuller]

I think Toshi does a fine job. I just wish they still recorded to tape ala Lysol and Houdini. These Pro Tools or Logic recordings just sound like corners have been cut.

[Like Stee]

I would venture to guess that buzz osborne might say "its supposed to sound like that".

I think he would say that, and he would be telling the truth.  Are you referring to the drums on Blood Witch or the guitar?  There's definitely some kind of gated non-linear reverb on the drums, as well as some amount of compression on everything.  Those are both things that are added to recordings by choice, not mistakes that are removed.

I think in general Toshi kicks serious ass as an engineer.  The Melvins haven't used nearly as much massive reverb on the drums in recent years as on the earlier albums, except for sparingly as an effect (Houdini Live for example).  I think that was probably a conscious decision on the their part.  Records don't typically have as much reverb in general these days as the early '90s.  Personally I prefer a balance between room and close mic sounds on drums.  An example of amazing room mic sound is Primus' Brown Album.  Some of the tracks on that album have drums recorded with 1 mic pushing tape super hot for massive natural compression.  I think Steve Albini is one of the best engineers ever at documenting the live sound of drums in a room.  My personal favorite drum sound is probably a tie between In Utero and Lysol (didn't Billy record that).  Those albums both have a really nice ambient room sound like the Brown Album, but also have the in your face impact of close micing.  Of course what matters most is the musicians themselves, and nothing makes drums sound bigger (and in my opinion better) than a drummer that can beat the living shit out of their kit ala Dale or Dave Grohl in his Nirvana years.

Another drum sound I really like is tons of compression ala the Empirical Labs Distressor mixed with lots of reverb.  Listen to Really Fucking Nasty/Savage Hippy.  That's what's going on there.

[black stallion]

I don't really mind his style of mixing but I think his drum sound is a little thin.

that's exactly what i meant

I didn't know Toshi did H.A.T. too. That disc has some of my favorite production on a Melvins album

that actually was the firts Melvins album he produced.

[kurva]

he did HAT too? thass good

i miss the organic/surreal feel of honky/HAT ... nowadays they sound too sterile

[glen]

toshi kicks ass indeed.   I wouldn't trade him.

haven't you ever heard of "sake of argument"?

the recording of blood witch is a drop in the bucket. 
but I guess I hear blood witch as a similar song to the bloated pope.  sharp and punchy.
and when the chug hits you the idea, in my head at least, is that it comes and goes quickly and with great contrast to the silence in between each chug. 
and then theres this little echo from the drums after each beat. I wish it wasn't there.
beyond that the sound itself is great on any and all of toshi's work.  clean and well mixed.

*prepares to drag his own cross to his crucifiction site*

but to expand on this subject..   I think toshi is the perfect fit. its more like a team effort with (I'm guessing) buzz and dale sticking their fingers in every aspect of recording and mixing.
as opposed to some johnny-come-lately producer or engineer who their record label insisted they use to get that "hot" sound that all the kids are buying.  a guy (or gal) who goes "NO! NO! NO!  not like that! its wrong!  ALL WRONG!   now do it again except with EMOTION! do you want to go gold or don't you?"   and then storms out of the studio in a hissy fit.

I have a very vivid imagination.

[norecess]

haven't you ever heard of "sake of argument"?

sure, but has it ever worked on the internet? its seldom.

i have had interesting discussions on a 1 tot 1 basis, but never in a thread like this.

[norecess]

They need to do THE WALL OF SOUND!!

i watched a documentary about phil spector last week, nice fellow, very humble.

[(the) Razor]

maybe its new melvins direction but vocals are way too loud in the mix in recent years - that's the only issue i have. suicide in progress is just a recent example....drums and guitar are THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT in all of melvins previous work but there is a big shift to the vocals now and smaller drums.

hey it's all personal opinion, but for me that's the only bitch i have and i always will bitch about things like this because i have 1000 posts on a fucking melvins forum.

we all know Lysol drum sound rules  supreme. we also all know that Stoner Witch is the best recorded melvins album. i just hope they can get that balance right again.

[Like Stee]

and then theres this little echo from the drums after each beat. I wish it wasn't there.

That's what I thought you meant.  That's a reverb that's added to the drums, not some mistake they chose not to fix.  Definitely a conscious choice on someone's part.  Not that that makes it good though.

It'd be interesting to hear them work with someone different for the next album, like maybe Evil Joe Barresi or Billy Anderson again, or someone new like Steve Albini or the team of Mel Dettmer/Randall Dunn...  Now those folks can record some drums!

[>>>JZS<<<]

and then theres this little echo from the drums after each beat. I wish it wasn't there.

That's what I thought you meant.  That's a reverb that's added to the drums, not some mistake they chose not to fix.  Definitely a conscious choice on someone's part.  Not that that makes it good though.

It'd be interesting to hear them work with someone different for the next album, like maybe Evil Joe Barresi or Billy Anderson again, or someone new like Steve Albini or the team of Mel Dettmer/Randall Dunn...  Now those folks can record some drums!

I like Albini drums,but they are just that, Albini drums...Y'all are a critical bunch(nothing wrong with that),but I would listen to the Melvins through a tin can connected by string to a mini-cassette player and find more positives than negatives.....I like Billy
Anderson too,so if the Melvins were to go backwards to an old producer, I would vote for Billy.

[FartLips]

haven't you ever heard of "sake of argument"?

sure, but has it ever worked on the internet? its seldom.

i have had interesting discussions on a 1 tot 1 basis, but never in a thread like this.

*see obama/forum etiquette thread*

[Like Stee]

and then theres this little echo from the drums after each beat. I wish it wasn't there.

That's what I thought you meant.  That's a reverb that's added to the drums, not some mistake they chose not to fix.  Definitely a conscious choice on someone's part.  Not that that makes it good though.

It'd be interesting to hear them work with someone different for the next album, like maybe Evil Joe Barresi or Billy Anderson again, or someone new like Steve Albini or the team of Mel Dettmer/Randall Dunn...  Now those folks can record some drums!

I like Albini drums,but they are just that, Albini drums...Y'all are a critical bunch(nothing wrong with that),but I would listen to the Melvins through a tin can connected by string to a mini-cassette player and find more positives than negatives.....I like Billy
Anderson too,so if the Melvins were to go backwards to an old producer, I would vote for Billy.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[Mad Arab]

The Surfer Rosa album by the Pixies has a great drum sound too. I will say this about Albini, he knows how to record drums.