Alice In Chains: Man in the Box Studio Tracks Dissected!

[RickyLee]

This is absolutely amazing.

http://thesoundla.com/2015/10/mitm-clips-dissecting-man-in-the-box/

I read an excellent book (Alice In Chains: In The Studio by Jake Brown) on the Facelift sessions. Many people don't even know Sean Kinney was very close to not playing the drums for these sessions due to having a broken hand.

Of course, Jerry Cantrell's tone on this album is legendary. And I consider Layne's vocal tracks to be among the greatest captured vocal tracks of all time. And then Mike Starr was no slouch on the bass either.

 

[Micky]

Effin awesome.
100.3 FM is classic...
To break down AIC stuff like that is unbelievable.

When the got to Jerry and Lane's vocals it was almost eerie...

 

[RickyLee]

I need to ask, is anyone else having issues logging onto the Forum these last few days?

Mods, any issues lately or is there a new IP address or something?

 

[Frodebro]

I need to ask, is anyone else having issues logging onto the Forum these last few days?

Mods, any issues lately or is there a new IP address or something?

Alex is in the process of moving everything over to a new server, so there are random bits of freak out happening here and there. There's a thread stickied at the top of the Backstage area about it.

 

[Micky]

I need to ask, is anyone else having issues logging onto the Forum these last few days?

Mods, any issues lately or is there a new IP address or something?

Yes. Last night, and again tonite there were some hiccups...
New servers, new IP address, next thing you know we will have a baby blue background...

 

[BowerR64]

This is absolutely amazing.

http://thesoundla.com/2015/10/mitm-clips-dissecting-man-in-the-box/

I read an excellent book (Alice In Chains: In The Studio by Jake Brown) on the Facelift sessions. Many people don't even know Sean Kinney was very close to not playing the drums for these sessions due to having a broken hand.

Of course, Jerry Cantrell's tone on this album is legendary. And I consider Layne's vocal tracks to be among the greatest captured vocal tracks of all time. And then Mike Starr was no slouch on the bass either.

They toured with Kiss when Kiss did their first reunion tour in 96/97 and AIC was the opener. Ive read kansas city was Laynes last live show with AIC which is sad.

Wish i was more into them then i missed alot of it. I agree with the guys on the radio station Laynes voice is great.

 

[AAHIHaveNoIdeaWhatImDoing]

Some thoughts: I think I like Facelift more than their other stuff, which is not the normal opinion, from what I've heard (most like Dirt). Facelift is still heavy and rockin', but not soul-crushingly kill-yourself-depressing the way Dirt is.

Also noticed that the mix on Facelift seems very stripped down compared to later stuff. . .drums don't feel as big/wide, etc.

 

[Bear R.]

Whats up Ricky..that was a cool breakdown of that song...Facelift is a great album..

thanks for sharing that..

 

[blues_n_cues]

cool. that D chord they're talking about-
gained & clean but it's EQ that really makes that one chord stand out in the progression. I came across this effect while working on a recent tune. I had a mix of 2 EQs that really made a gain/clean D chord stand out like that and almost phase. when I switched back to an A chord then a G the effect disappears. I'll see if I can do a snippet of it.

 

[Garrett]

Thanks for that link Ricky. Very, very cool.

I remember the first time I heard Man in a Box on MTV (yeah, I'm getting old). Immediately went out and got the cassette tape!

Never got to see them before Laney's death. Did see them a year or so ago with the new singer. Their live sound is amazing.

Still one of my favorite bands to this day!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I always dug that song. I used to cover it 2002 - 2003. Great song to play - it's hard to screw that song up because the groove is just naturally tight.

 

[RickyLee]

What really blows my mind and makes me feel better about my own playing and my gear as well, is how I am hearing some slightly out of tune guitars between the center talk box and wah overdubs and then the right/left panned rhythm guitar tracks. You can also hear the low E string slightly go sharp when he hits that low E chord on one of those rhythm tracks. That is probably due to the affect of the heavier gauge strings as well as the half step down tuning. You can also hear quite a bit of gated buzz/noise as well

And then that guitar overdub track that is going up to th highe F# note that is part of the D major chord, you hear some tempered tuning there as well. I always have a hard time setting intonation on my guitars to be able to play all chord positions primarily playing a full D major chord in the open position and then have my full G major chord still tune and intonate properly.

I have an '87 4104 amp that I was hacking up trying to get the Facelift tone out of it. Every time I would think I was getting it close, I would put the Facelift CD on and be let down that it was not close as I thought. But now having these tracks to listen to, that might help to understand what and what's not going on in those Cantrell tracks with his amp tone. You can tell there was quite a bit of post production EQ'ing going on for sure now.

From the book I read, Cantrell did all the over dubs in a Los Angeles studio using that Bogner modified Marshall into a Greenback loaded 4X12 that was set up in a stair well at the studio. Amp was cranked really loud, so loud that it drove the studio employees nuts. Mostly due to where they placed the mic'ed 4X12 of course LOL.

Kinney's drum mix was ran through a loud P.A. that was blasting the volume into the room he was playing in, as to fill the room with his drum sound at a very loud and compressed level. Basically to make the drums sound bigger and help give some natural compression.

 

[JimiRules]

Wow, those vocals of Staley's during the chorus parts made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I always dug the second part of the guitar solo in that song. It kind of reminded me of something SRV would play.

 

[jem7sk]

Nice.. didn't know Cantrell could sing. Sounded like he was playing guitar in the studio and singing at the same time.

What I want to know is what software did the guy use to separate everything?

 

[chucho]

Wow, those vocals of Staley's during the chorus parts made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Oh man I TOTALLY agree, me too! (and just just the chorus, the whole thing!)
The man's choice of notes is brilliant, especially when harmonizing with himself. I also very much like the slight dissonance between Layne & Jerry.

If you enjoyed hearing the vocals removed from the recording, do a Youtube search, you will find a few of these that will curl your toe nails the singing & harmonizing & choice of notes is just, well, UNIQUE.

Thanks OP, I really really enjoyed that. The analyst also has a pretty good sense of humor.

Have a great day!

 

[blues_n_cues]

Oh man I TOTALLY agree, me too! (and just just the chorus, the whole thing!)
The man's choice of notes is brilliant, especially when harmonizing with himself. I also very much like the slight dissonance between Layne & Jerry.

If you enjoyed hearing the vocals removed from the recording, do a Youtube search, you will find a few of these that will curl your toe nails the singing & harmonizing & choice of notes is just, well, UNIQUE.

Thanks OP, I really really enjoyed that. The analyst also has a pretty good sense of humor.

Have a great day!

let
s probably give the Producer some credit for the harmonies.

 

[RickyLee]

let
s probably give the Producer some credit for the harmonies.

I am trying to find the dissected tracks from Ozzy and Randy's Crazy Train. Poke around on that web site as it should be there. I had forgot about that one from quite a few weeks ago. Every week they do a new song. Rush Tom Sawyer, Yes Roundabout as well as Marvin Gaye Mery Me were mind blowing.

ADD: oh man, wait 'till you hear this one . . . .

http://thesoundla.com/2015/09/mitm-clips-dissecting-ozzys-crazy-train/

 

[SmokeyDopey]

Nice...

 

[AAHIHaveNoIdeaWhatImDoing]

didnt know cantrell could sing? i think he doubles with layne on almost everything after dirt and quite a few songs on dirt. also takes lead on some of the softer songs. and of course on their new stuff you hear his voice at least as much as duvall's. he was also the primary songwriter of the band from what i read.

 

[RickyLee]

Wow, those vocals of Staley's during the chorus parts made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I always dug the second part of the guitar solo in that song. It kind of reminded me of something SRV would play.

That is something I always hear as well. I have always wondered if Cantrell possibly had any influence from SRV? It is well documented that he was a huge EVH fan, though I do no hear any EVH type feel coming out of Cantrell's playing.

Nice.. didn't know Cantrell could sing. Sounded like he was playing guitar in the studio and singing at the same time.

What I want to know is what software did the guy use to separate everything?

Cantrell sings the verse section lead vocals on "Would?" While Staley sings the lead vocal on the chorus.

I am wondering as well how Christian Hand is getting all these isolated studio tracks as well? It would have to be coming from the original studio multi-track masters somehow.

Oh man I TOTALLY agree, me too! (and just just the chorus, the whole thing!)
The man's choice of notes is brilliant, especially when harmonizing with himself. I also very much like the slight dissonance between Layne & Jerry.

If you enjoyed hearing the vocals removed from the recording, do a Youtube search, you will find a few of these that will curl your toe nails the singing & harmonizing & choice of notes is just, well, UNIQUE.

Thanks OP, I really really enjoyed that. The analyst also has a pretty good sense of humor.

Have a great day!

During the Facelift album recording sessons, Layne was pretty much sober, well at least free from the throws and sickness of heroin. The book I read about the recording sessions, mentions from the producer and engineer that what he was experiencing during Layne during the vocal tracking sessions was mind blowing. Layne would lay down track after track of flawless takes. And Layne's voice at that time was so powerful, as you can hear a difference in Layne's voice on the Dirt album, but then you really hear the loss of power in his voice on everything after Dirt and in live performances as well. That producer engineer has stated that the vocal tracking by Layne on Facelift was the greatest performance he has ever experienced. Layne had perfect pitch and command of his voice at that time. And you obviously hear the difference in his power and the tone and texture of his voice on Facelift. He was at his peak at that time.

When they were recording Dirt, the sessions were the complete opposite regarding getting Layne's vocals recorded. The sessions started out rough as Layne was battling his heroin addiction at that time. I read that they actually had to scrap the first month of sessions. The producer had a big argument with Layne and then it was worked out that Layne would come in and track his vocals sober, and when he was finished for the day he was allowed to go use his heroin. So what you are hearing on Dirt from Layne, is a man feeling the pains of heroin withdrawal. This is probably why many of the songs and vocal performances on that album have that sense and feeling of urgency and a hint of anxiety. A very dark sounding album for sure.

let
s probably give the Producer some credit for the harmonies.

Layne would hear counter harmony parts in his head while he would be tracking his vocal parts in the studio, so he would mention to the control room that he wanted to try another vocal harmony take. Many of the vocal harmony parts were done between Layne and Jerry and had been worked out well before going into the studio. This would mainly apply to the first album Facelift. But when they were recording Dirt, Layne was doing much more harmony vocal overdubs all by himself. But Layne would would come into the studio with all his vocal harmonies pretty much worked out already.

didnt know cantrell could sing? i think he doubles with layne on almost everything after dirt and quite a few songs on dirt. also takes lead on some of the softer songs. and of course on their new stuff you hear his voice at least as much as duvall's. he was also the primary songwriter of the band from what i read.

Yeah, Cantrell was the primary song writer in the band. More prolific and a natural writer you could say.