Record Producer Jack Douglas Captures Aerosmith’s First Album in a Decade with Sennheiser

Oct. 18, 2011 - PRLog -- Boston – October 17, 2011 – As the producer behind so much of the iconic music that shaped rock ‘n’ roll in the ‘70s, ‘80s and beyond, Jack Douglas has cast a brilliant and highly prolific shadow in the music business. Most recently, he has completed tracking on Aerosmith’s first new album in over a decade -- an album on which he relied extensively on microphone technology from both Neumann and Sennheiser.

Douglas’ production and engineering credits are staggering and include such work as John Lennon’s Imagine, The Who’s Who’s Next, Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic, and too many other ‘heavyweight’ albums to mention. In the early ‘70s, as an employee of the legendary Record Plant Studios in New York City, Douglas began fusing a lifelong working relationship with Aerosmith, and has since produced the lion’s share of the group’s material –- which now spans over four decades.

Douglas has always remained one step ahead the technology, insisting on exactly the right choice of microphone as well as its placement. For example, while recording Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion, he captured Steven Tyler’s vocal with a single Sennheiser MKH 816 shotgun mic, placed approximately 8’ away from his mouth. On Aerosmith’s forthcoming album, which Douglas considers a hard rock album that returns to Aerosmith’s roots, he used a mix of new and classic vintage Sennheiser and Neumann microphones.

Building a solid foundation
Much of the album has been recorded at Aerosmith’s own studio, Pandora’s Box – which features a custom recording console consisting of 24 channels of Neve, eight channels of API and eight channels of original Focusrite. “We were really going for that Bonham sound,” Douglas recalls. On the main drum kit, he used the Sennheiser e 906 on the inside of the kick, and also underneath the floor tom. “I love these because they really catch the big boom,” he says. On the outside of the kick, Douglas set up a Neumann TLM 103, and Sennheiser MD 421IIs which were placed on top of the floor toms. For the snare, a tightly tuned, double-headed parade drum, Douglas used a new Neumann TLM 67. “I was surprised at how great the new TLM 67 sounded, and now I can’t wait to try it on vocals,” Douglas says. A pair of new Neumann U 87 Ais were placed above the kit as overheads, and a vintage U 67 was set up further out in the room.

From mellow and sweet to loud and angry
On acoustic guitars, Douglas turned to his old favorites: the Sennheiser MKH 8040
cardioid and MKH 8050 super cardioid microphones, both of which are fed into a Universal Audio LA2A compressor and then into a Pultec EQ. “They just sounded great -- exactly like the guitar. We really had some beautiful guitars here including some old Martins and some great Hummingbirds,” he says. “I’ll just put my ear down there and find the sweet spot – then I’ll put the mic on it and look at Warren [Huart]. If it’s in the right place, I’ll get the thumbs up.”

On Joe Perry’s extensive collection of boutique guitar amplifiers, Douglas has Sennheiser e 609s right on the speaker and often in combination with a Sennheiser MD 421 II. “We are always pulling out the e 609s out and putting them in front of the guitar amps,” says Douglas. “They handle an enormous amount of pressure and get this angry sound that I really like.”

Moving into the final phase
Now that all the basic tracks have been completed, Douglas will soon be recording various overdubs and lead vocals. “Tomorrow I start recording some Hammond organ, and I am going to bring the Sennheiser MKH 8040, 8050 and 800s over there – I’m sure it’s going to sound cool.” Douglas also intends to put Neumann’s Solution D digital microphone to work. “The first thing I am going to try it on is the room – I am really looking forward to that,” he says.

So far, recording the new Aerosmith album has been a lot like old times for Douglas. “We’ve stayed close to each other all these years, and we are pretty much like brothers. We squabble and fight just like a family would, but we have a really good understanding of how each other works.” Douglas also has a good understanding of the microphones he’s been using all these years: “I knew all the Sennheiser equipment would perform, and Neumann speaks for itself.”