Engineer Paul Antonell and Kristen Capolino—who’s drawing lots of
attention for her fiery playing—surrounded by a sweet collection of
vintage and boutique amps at the Clubhouse recording studio.
Photo by Todd GayThere’s nothing like recording
through a great amp
with classic mics in a first-class
room. But at the Clubhouse
recording studio in Rhinebeck,
New York, owner and engineer
Paul Antonell takes it a step
further. He has a collection of
more than 50 new and vintage
amps, and guitarists from
around the world seek out his
studio and personal expertise to
deliver memorable tones. Telemaster
Jim Weider, Earl Slick,
Al Di Meola, John Platania,
and Reeves Gabrels are among
the notable guitarists who’ve
tracked at the Clubhouse.
“My basic approach to
recording electric guitar is to
first listen to the player and
their amp and/or cabinet,” says
Antonell. “Once we agree it
sounds good, and they’re hearing
what they like, then I’ll put up
some mics. Through experience
I’ve found that starting with
three mics gives me the most
tonal options. I listen to all three
individually and in combination,
check the phase of each, see
what works together and what
doesn’t, and quickly move on.”
“Certain guitar players are
also quite particular about how
we capture their tone,” continues
Antonell. “For example, Earl Slick
prefers a Shure SM57 right on
his cabinet, aimed at the center
of the speaker cone. Historically,
that’s his tone. So when working
with him, I start there and add
another mic adjacent to the 57,
such as a Sennheiser MD 421 for
some extra bottom.”
For recording acoustic guitars,
Antonell typically uses a vintage
Neumann KM 64 and a Schoeps
CMC 5, each about a foot out
from the guitar, aimed at the
12th fret. “I don’t like mic’ing
too close to the guitar because
the sound can get harsh,” he says.
“After capturing a good performance,
I’ll often ask the guitarist
to lay down a second pass.”
Tracking a second pass
immediately—before the performer
shifts his position or the
mics get moved—gives you the
best chance of matching the
sound of the first track with the
second. This comes in handy
if you want to do any digital
editing or comp a track from
sections of each take.
Antonell’s acoustic guitar
recording chain is usually the
Schoeps into a Telefunken V76
preamp with no EQ, and sometimes
he’ll use a Universal Audio
LA-3A for compression. He runs
the KM 64 into a Neve 31102
module (from his Neve console),
which goes directly to Pro Tools
or tape with no compression.
Since Antonell has a large
live room, he tends to use it
for ensemble purposes only.
“Sometimes though, if it’s a solo
or lead acoustic track, I’ll put
up a pair of Coles 3038 ribbon
mics in the big room and print
them,” he notes. “On the last
Spyro Gyra record, I recorded
Julio Fernandez’ acoustic in the
live room with stereo Schoeps,
as well as stereo Coles placed
about 10 feet back. The room
mics add air to the overall
acoustic sound.”
Kristen Capolino’s upcoming
second release, Enlightenment,
was recorded at the Clubhouse
with numerous guests, including
Doug Pinnick of King’s X
and Earl Slick. Capolino connected
with Paul immediately.
“We got killer sounds right
away and he really captured the
essence of my tone,” she says.
“It felt great, like I was doing a
live show. The vibe was different
from my last record, which
was done brick by brick. I was
able to play and sing live with
the rhythm section, and the
excitement of playing together
in the room really worked.”
To get Capolino’s sound,
Antonell used a combination of
a SM57, MD 421, and an AEA
A440 ribbon on her Orange
PPC 412 cabinet, which was
driven by a THD Flexi-50
head. The recording chain
included Neve 31102 mic preamps
with all three mics bussed
to a hardware LA-3A and then
into a single recording channel.
“Once I get the sound of all
three mics, I commit to tape,”
says Antonell. “When you raise
the fader, the blend is already
there. What the artists hear in
their headphones is always constant,
and it won’t change.”
Jim Weider also does a lot
of tracking at the Clubhouse.
“Paul knows exactly how to get
my sound,” Weider says. “He
knows I like a 57 somewhere
in the chain, but he also adds
what he wants beyond that. By
putting the amps on the hardwood
floor in the big live room,
I get more tone and sustain. It
doesn’t even matter what size
amp I use, it just sounds better.”
Weider has been using an
old blackface Fender Deluxe
Reverb, a tweed Super Reverb,
and his Showman that was
modified by Two Rock’s Bill
Krinard. “He did the ‘David
Lindley ’70s Dumble Overdrive
mod’ and the thing screams,”
Weider says. “I’ll usually play
my old ’52 Tele with a Big-T
rhythm pickup handwound by
Lindy Fralin. For pedals, I use
my Analog Man King of Tone
overdrive and a T-Rex Replica
echo. This combination just
sounds right every time here.”
“Sometimes when guitarists
like Weider work here,” says
Antonell, “we put the head in
the control room and run the
speaker cable out to the cabinet
in the tracking room. I’ve found
that by doing it that way there’s
no degradation in the signal
chain. I always want the cleanest,
purest tone possible.” In addition
to keeping the signal pure,
running a length of speaker
cable from the control room has
another benefit: If the guitarist
is overdubbing in the control
room, it’s easy to adjust the amp.
There’s no need to run back and
forth to tweak the knobs.
Rich Tozzoli is a
Grammy-nominated
engineer and mixer who
has worked with artists
ranging from Al Di
Meola to David Bowie.
A life-long guitarist, he’s
also the author of
Pro Tools Surround
Sound Mixing and composes for the
likes of Fox NFL, Discovery Channel,
Nickelodeon, and HBO.