Nirvana´s Nevermind Reverb

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Hiperurano

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can anyone identify the FX Reverb used in the nevermind album, specially in the smell like teen spirit song, also i think it´s the same used in the live version of smells ( saturday night live ), anyone got this movie ? if it´s different can anyone says the booth piece of equipment ?
 
damn, if anybody can answer this, I will personally send them $5 via paypal.

cheers
 
this doesn't specifically mention the reverb, but you may find it interesting, nonetheless:


Recording of 'Nevermind'

"Nevermind" was recorded at Sound City, Van Nuys and Devonshire, North Hollywood studios. It was produced by Butch Vig and NIRVANA. With the monetary advance for recording the album the band had more money to choose equipment; Kurt bought "a bunch" of guitars and effects from Guitar Maniacs.

The guitars used were his competition Mustang, his Jaguar, and a new Stratocaster(s) with humbuckers in the bridge positions. Kurt purchased a bunch of Japanese Strats (had humbuckers installed in the bridges) and effects for this album from Rick King of Guitar Maniacs. Just prior to recording this album Kurt apparently developed a taste for Fender guitars. It has been said his main amp was a Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 but the recording setup was really similar, if not identical, to his upcoming live setup (purchased before entering the studio): Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp with a Crown power amp and a variety of Marshall cabinets. In live performances, his Crown power amp was eventually replaced with 2 Crest power amps, discussed in the "Amplification" section. He also used a Fender Bassman on about four songs and a Vox AC30 for some clean tracks. Four microphones were used to mic Kurt's speaker cabinet (he would pick which mic he liked best for each song and its signal was sent through the Neve console at Sound City): a Shure SM57, an AKG 414, a Neumann U87, and occasionally a Sennheiser 421. His main effects were the DS-1 Distortion and Small Clone. A ProCo Rat distortion pedal was also used on some songs on the album.

According to Vig, the Small Clone was the key to "the watery guitar sound you hear on the pre-chorus build-up of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and also 'Come As You Are.'" An Electro-Harmonix Big Muff fuzz box was used on "Lithium" for that "dark, thumpier sound." Vig recalls using the U87 mike on "Lithium" because it wasn't so bright and had a heavier sound.

"Polly" was recorded at Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin during demo sessions for "Nevermind" with his 12-string Harmony Stella. It only had 5 nylon strings on it that were never changed. Tuned down about a step and a half from E and recorded with an AKG 414 microhone (See "Guitars" section).



Tour Gear Summary

"Nevermind"-era: Initially only the 1965 Jaguar, '69 Mustang, and Japanese strats for guitars; later the sunburst Tele painted blue. Univoxes continually used occasionally. Dean Markley .010-.052 guitar strings and orange Dunlop picks. Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp, Crown power amp (evetually replaced with 2 Crest 4801 power amps), Marshall cabs (predominant speakers of this tour were Celestion 75's. Also tried a rackmounted wireless system for a bit. Boss DS-1 and the Small Clone chorus. Basically the same setup used for recording "Nevermind." Nick Close said everybody had the exact amount of things needed to play a show. If anything broke, they were in trouble. He tried to get them to have extra cords and pedals. Nick was always looking for a backup for his DS-1 (which opposes what Kurt said about going through 5 a tour). One time when the Crown blew up it took the speakers with it; Nick (and Kurt?) was in a music store looking for Marshall cabs and he saw the DS-2 and bought it. Kurt didn't seem to like it at first but then started using it after he broke his DS-1 in Hawaii. Nick got a small supply of replacement necks for Kurt's strats but soon he was replacing necks every night. He contacted Danny Ferrington in Los Angeles in late December of '91 to make replacement necks, but Danny instead offered to make a whole new guitar (the Ferrington). He also got an Echoflanger from Guitar Maniacs for $99 around this time.
 
interesting
but can´t you identify the reverb used listening the album ?
 
you think you can positively and accurately identify what brand and model reverb unit is being used on a record just by listening to it?
 
What does it matter to know what reverb was used? I suppose you could ask Butch Vig or Andy Wallace (who re-mixed the album) but I'm still baffled to WHY one would care.

The reverb won't get you that album's sound because there are too many variables involved in the 'sound' of an album. Chances are if they used a 'verb processor there was still some coloration from the room recorded in, the console, the mics, the guitar, whatever data handling methods they used afterwards, complicated by the fact that the album was remixed an possibly another 'verb unit was used.

To me the album sounds pretty dry--chances are the reverb you hear is the chamber. I know that Territorial Pissings' guitar part was recorded thru a Pro-Co Rat Pedal direct to the mixer (to Vig's ultimate horror) by Cobain. So I suppose start with that and compare it to the other tracks.

Something In The Way vocal/guitar was recorded in the control room.

If I had to guess on the unit I'd guess a Lexicon PCM70 because of their prevalance at mid to high end studios and the fact that they were a standard of that era.

Was this any help?
 
very thanks !!!!

yes, i am really interested in the vocals sound, it´s looks great athmospheere, i would like to create in my studio something near as possible
 
Vocal sound on Nevermind is fairly dry. A touch of reverb from any TC Electronic or Lexicon processor should do the trick. Try about 2000ms of reverb with 120ms of pre-delay and no early reflections (or very light). Keep the vocal 95% dry with only about 5% reverb.

This should get you into the ballpark. If you are using presets aim for a medium hall type of ambiance.

Most of the success of vocals on Nevermind was pure Cobain. He managed to sound great on the low budget Reciprical recordings with Jack Endino (no offense to Jack Endino--the purpose of Reciprical was to bring studio recroding to smaller budget bands). When Cobain did some sessions with Fisk he still sounded great, so keep that in mind.

Proof that you don't need 50,000 dollars of tube gear, a U87mic, Avalon and Manley compressors, Neve preamps, a SSL or Trident console and Massenburg producing to get a great performance. If you want a great performance get a great vocalist.
 
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i like really the neverminds sound ( burch vig ), not like other albums ( jack andino )
 
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Well, depending on the era of Nirvana it could be any of a number of people. Jack Endino did the Bleach sessions and most of the early Nirvana stuff (as well as Soundgarden, TAD, etc...). Before Nevermind was recorded Cobain and company recorded with Stephen Fisk (Even In His Youth most notably), then they moved on to Butch Vig for Nevermind (remixed by Andy Wallace and, as Cobain later described, a "candyass" sounding album). Finally, In Utero was done by Steve Albini and then later remixed.
 
what model of lexicon reverb would you suggest for me if i want this kind of sound ? ( Nevermind )

another thing, do you have a mpeg or avi video with nirvana playing smells like teen spirit in SNL ( saturday night live ) ?

it interesting, i think it´s the same reverb used in the recording of the album.... what do you think ?
 
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I doubt it because the SNL sound stage was already pretty muddy sounding in the early 90's. Almost everyone sounded terrible there.

Honestly, ANY reverb set correctly should get you in the ballpark. The sum of an album's sound is usually not just one small little thing.
 
one more thing, especially the teen spirit song, is there any other effect on the voice ?
 
Based on what I know and can hear I would say your typical compression, EQ, touch of reverb and it is probably doubled in most of the places. Songs like "Lithium" the YEAHAHEEEYEAHHAH part is probably 5 tracks of yelling at least.
 
there isn´t any flanger or chorus in the part " Hey " of teen spirit ?
 
Well I'm not Butch Vig and I wasn't there, but judging by what my ears tell me and compared to live performances of SLTS I would say that it was unaffected.

Cobain was big on using FX (mostly EH Small Clone or Polychorus pedals) for guitars, but cut his vocals very effect free. His performance was the effect and it was brilliant.
 
The Polychorus is sweet, but expensive. I have a Small Clone I use for many of my chorusing needs (along with a Boss CE300--total classic chorus rack). For most Nirvanaesque guitar escapades the Small Clone suffices, except maybe some of the really wild atonal stuff on In Utero.
 
I really think the key to this album is the compression. I am most curious about the outboard compression/limiter effects used and what the settings may have been. Anyone have any details? The guitars and most of the parts are way to fat to be simple tracks.. they must have been stacked and heavily compressed.
 
It was a professionally done album so compression is a given. It's all standard settings I imagine, nothing too fancy.
 
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