Anyone have any info on how Son of Hotta by Sky was recorded?

As a child of the electronic-dance-music generation, you might imagine that I don't appreciate "good music" as I guess most people on here do, being into actual recording and all.

But, whilst I personally feel more at home with VSTs (and, more recently, analog synths like the Oberheim SEM Pro, and the SB4000 which I recently built, which have, in essence, changed my entire approach to electronic music production, and, have forever ensured that I will never have enough money left to build everything I want to build now ;-)), I have always had a pretty good grounding in live music also, and, hence, indirectly, the sound of a good recording.

For instance, my Dad used to play this to me all the time and I still absolutely love it, probably even still more so then most of the DnB/Trance/Electronica I currently spend 99.99% of my time listening to and producing.

The tune is called "Son of Hotta" by the amazing group Sky (their version of Toccata by Bach is equally amazing, and one of the best digital CD-recordings imo in music history http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgbgUrp1a70 - again go find the original, the YouTube compression DESTROYS it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1q1r4jqI4I

Admittedly this low quality version doesn't even come close to doing it justice, but, on an original CD recording, the depth, clarity and dynamic range, imo, are some of the best ever captured.  To me it really pushes CD quality to its limits, surviving very well, and taking the medium to levels I don't think it's gone to since.

It's just recorded SO DAMN WELL it still impresses me even today.

Does anyone have any information on how and what it was recorded/mixed/mastered with?

It's just so damn good just for my own pleasure I must know how it was done.

regards,

Luke

Don't have anything to add production wise but if you dig those guys give Film & the BB's a listen.
http://youtu.be/BV9fqP8IS3E

Also, quality production starts with quality players, that above all else is what makes a great recording.

-Casey

signalflow said:

Also, quality production starts with quality players, that above all else is what makes a great recording.
-Casey

Click to expand...

Hi Casey!

Oh totally, I didn't write that in my original post since it was kind of implied.  And yes, whilst I would always normally say it's down almost 100% to the playing, in this case, I uniquely feel there is a HUGE amount extra going on in the recording as well (more then usual IMO).

For instance, on Toccata, the release on the harpsichord/synth is one of the clearest and most beautifully recorded release sounds of any recording I've ever heard.  To get it to sound THAT good must have been difficult.  The recording lets you intimately hear how good the player is, which to me is above and beyond just mechanically micing a great player.  It's so quiet and subtle, yet it's present and nicely balanced.

And the mixing is just totally top notch, and perfectly complements the incredible clarity of the recordings.

I'm just really curious whether they really did just "chuck a bunch of SM58's-through-a-Behringer(tm)" and that it was down 100% to the artists (after all, you don't need to mix a song when the artists have already perfectly balanced it in the first place right? or whether they really used some of the best equipment available at that time and spent a long time agonizing over mixing and treating it as perfectly as they could.

Cause it just rocks 8)

I'll check out the other link, thanks!

thanks for the heads up for this great song. Had no idea John Williams (the classical guitarist) was ever involved in something like this. Some of their other stuff gets a bit too prog-rock to me.

I was about to write that the above "quality production starts with quality players, that above all else is what makes a great recording" is just about the laziest answer one can give. But then again it doesn't seem to me there's a whole lot going on recording-wise. These guys really do seem such great players much of the dynamics is clearly coming from the fingers. It quite easy to hear as well since all of the instruments are introduced one at a time. The rest of the sound seems to be standard clean recording techniques to a large format multitrack tape. Not much processing going on as far as I can hear. But it's quite obvious it was recorded in some world class studio, not a back room 4-track with only a bunch of sm57.

I would figure that given the pedigree they would have recorded in "state of the art" studios around London, and given the classical gravitas they would have been going to digital multitrack in the first wave of the technology.  It would have to be talented engineers using the best available recording chains.  The album credits should be available, yah? 

It sounds like the tracks are written not jammed and played by real talent so they spent on great studios what they saved in studio noodling time.
Mike

Kingston said:

I was about to write that the above "quality production starts with quality players, that above all else is what makes a great recording" is just about the laziest answer one can give. But then again it doesn't seem to me there's a whole lot going on recording-wise.

Click to expand...

That was kinda my point in a roundabout way.  Just pure clean no hype recording.  Obviously someone who knows how to capture a very organic performance.  Though I'm sure they had the best facilities money could buy, that too is an obvious answer.  Not too many people recording to digital multi-track or 2inch in their bedroom at this particular time in history.

I am lazy though 

-Casey