Steffen vom SHREDSOUND Studio, Rostock

The motto of Rostock’s Shredsound-Studio isn’t by chance “The sound for the underground”, so let’s go in the underground and see what Steffen can tell us about it…

Greetings Steffen,

although you are running this studio since only 2007, you already have a positive feedback from the scene judging from your guestbook filled with lots of positive comments. You are very well known to us too, especially after your work with Pighead and Disembowel. Please tell us about the beginnings and the reason for opening of your SHREDSOUND Studio.

Hi Alex, I opened the studio in early 2007. The reason behind it is very common in our scene: you want to record your own band, but you are just missing the necessary money. And when you are in a studio where you have to pay, this puts you under a lot of pressure. This is when you go and try to record it yourself. As time passed by I realized that recording music is a very interesting topic and I had lots of fun with it, so I made a decision to open my own studio.  Everything started with a demo for Moloch which was recorded in our rehearsal room.

In the beginning a friend of mine helped me start the business, as he had a small studio of his own for some years. I had the opportunity to join him and was able to record some bands. However, the studio rooms themselves were not very good, they were too small and narrow, which made me realize that I’ll have to find my own rooms soon, newer and bigger. In the summer of 2008 I finally moved my studio to the new environment and this is where I am now. Naturally, at that time I didn’t own all the equipment that I have now. I went a long way to get all of this and everything came step by step.

Do you have a band of your own? Do you earn money with your studio or is it more like a hobby to you?

I play guitar in a band called WEYLAND. It’s helpful to be a musician yourself when you’re running a studio. The studio is my main occupation and I try to finance my living from it. Of course it’s always a battle as many bands rather try to record themselves. But that’s why I try to keep my prices low so that more people can afford it. This surely doesn’t mean that the quality of the recording corresponds to the price – I always give everything to make a band sound great!!!

How does your studio look like? How many rooms do you have and how big are they?

I have 3 rooms which all together make approximately 90m². The recording room is approx. 50m², the mixing room 30m² and the hallway with the entrance is approx. 20m² big. The hallway is used as a hang out or a chill zone and there is also a small kitchen with a fridge.

We know that you’re not producing only brutal music, but everything which goes in the metal direction. Which bands and styles of music do you personally prefer the most?

Yes that’s correct; I produce almost everything from A-Z. It should just have something to do with Rock or Metal. I can’t even tell you which bands or styles I like the most, I actually listen to everything that I like. At the moment it’s Testament and Exodus.

Is there a production that you are especially proud of?

I’m proud of every production I did because every single one of them had its own challenges and requirements.

One can read on your Myspace-Site that Andy Sneap and Fredrik Nordström are your idols. Did you ever have the opportunity to work with either one of them? Where does your knowledge about audio engineering come from? Did you study or are you self-taught?

Yes, they are indeed my idols because they really influenced the music with their style and many bands became famous because of them. I never met or worked with neither of them. I gathered all of my knowledge through the years of research and also thanks to the internet Although what you read online are sometimes only half-truths, so you have to check and test everything yourself and see what works best. You also need a lot of experience and a good hearing of course – one can develop all that with time, but one never stops learning.

Can you recommend any good bedtime reading to our home recording audience (except the Girls & Corpses magazine)?

Yes, a good one would be: The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook of Bobby Owsinski.

SHREDSOUND Amps

Could you enlighten us a little bit about your equipment? It seems that for guitar recording you’re using Marshall JCM 900, Peavey 5150 and something that looks like an old Laney. Please tell us for which kind of sounds are you using these and to which cabinets do you connect them?

Hey that’s right, it’s a Laney GH100S, the current GH100TI model. It’s a great but simple amp – very flexible and good for metal sounds. Marshall JCM900 is a good amp for rock music, but my favorite is Peavey 5150. This amp is capable of anything you can think of, well, except for the good clean sounds maybe – but who wants to know that anyway?! The lead sound is awesome as well.

With which microphones do you start the search for the ultimate sound?

I always use a single SM 57. On a 4×12 cabinet I choose the speaker which sounds the best and then I position the microphone exactly at the spot where the dust cap meets the diaphragm. Not every speaker of a cabinet sounds the same, and also, if you have more than one microphone of one sort, try them all until you find the best sounding one. The cabinets I’m using are ENGL Pro 4×12″ with V30 speakers and Marshall 1960 Lead with G12T57 speakers. You can use ENGL for almost everything, especially if you want it to sound modern. And the V30 speakers are the first choice for metal sounds! Marshall can be used for rock and oldschool metal, as well as for black metal sounds, owing to its very raw sound.

Do you get better results with your amps or the ones your customers bring along? Did you have any experiences such as: “Hey dude, I got this awesome Behringer transistor combo amp, can you make my guitar sound like Dying Fetus…?”

I always try to use band’s equipment first, but if it doesn’t sound like anything, which happens quite often, I provide my gear. What most people forget is that you need equipment of certain quality in order to produce sounds of certain quality, I’m not a magician and you can’t plug a 200€ guitar in a Behringer amp and expect it to sound like Rammstein (Exactly! Brutal Sounds Crew). A musician is always in the first place and if there are some weaknesses, they have a huge impact on the sound and you can’t “fix it in the mix”. The sound comes from your fingers after all. (Amen! Brutal Sounds Crew)

How many guitars do you use in the mix (panorama)?

I double guitar tracks one time on each side (left – right) – makes 4 all together.

Are you re-amping guitars from time to time? If you’re providing this to your customers, how often do they use it?

Yes I did re-amping already and it’s a nice thing. You can easily adjust the sound after the recording, in case it didn’t turn out so well. It leaves you with a lot of opportunities and you’re able to combine different amp/cabinet combinations. Also, the guitarist doesn’t have to play all the time while you are adjusting the sound. Overall, I’m not using it that often.

A short question regarding vocal recordings: are you using condenser microphones with a pop shield and did you ever try the handheld method with Shure SM 57 or 58?

Well, I’m mostly using an Audio Technica condenser microphone, the AT4033a and I connect that one to a Channel One of SPL. The latter is essential for power and pressure of the vocals. A good microphone is important, but the most important thing is that you connect it to an excellent pre-amp! But I must say, I already did vocal recordings with a SM 57 and it turned out to be pretty good.

Any recommendations for home recording vocalists?

Everybody has to figure this out by himself – some like to run around with the mic in their hands, others like to stand still at the spot. It all depends on the equipment you have – an SM 58 will bring good results. The advantage it has over the SM 57 is that it already has an integrated pop shield. In case you don’t have a booth for vocal recording, which is also essential for a good performance, you can use some mattresses and construct your own

So, the last question before we leave you enjoying the view of the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (correct?) which you can see through the windows of your Shredsound-Studio…

Unfortunately it’s not the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte – it‘s Warnow. But the view is great nonetheless…

Concerning drum recording – should a band ever do this themselves?

Well, if you have low expectations of your sound, you should try it yourself. The drums make at least 65% of the overall recording so their sound is absolutely essential. You need a lot of microphones, pre-amps and A/Ds to record a drum, and all this prerequisites should be of high(er) quality.

The ones who want to try it anyway need a soundcard with at least 8 inputs, so you have enough channels for your drum recording, which makes adjusting the sound easier later on in the mix. And never underestimate the room you are recording in – it is affecting the drum sound massively. Furthermore, the drum heads should be new, clean, in tune, and also free from any tape or stickers, because that will kill the natural sound of the heads.

What about drum programming?

It’s a possibility if nothing else works. VST plug-ins can really help you define a good drum sound. But it’s still no comparison to the real drum recording!

Would you like to say something about the drum-trigger?

I’m using drum-trigger sounds myself. I make samples of every single drum of a drum set which I’m going to record – multi samples – and later on I use them from time to time in the mix, adding them to the original drum sounds.

Ok Steffen, that’s about it, thanks in the name of BrutalSounds.TV for answering our questions. We wish you all the best in future with Shredsound Studio!

This spot is left for your last words J

I thank you for the interview and wish you all the best for the future! Something like BrutalSounds.TV should have been online much much earlier. I want to thank all the bands I’ve worked with and who supported me and my studio. For those interested in the studio, feel free to visit the websites or to contact me if you have any questions.

Shredsound Studio, Rostock

Contact: steffen [at] shredsoundstudio.de

Tel: 0176-76324960

Equipment- list, references, prices here:

http://www.shredsoundstudio.de

http://www.myspace.com/shredsoundstudio

SHREDSOUND’s VIDEO CHANNEL on YOUTUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/user/shredsound