Hirsh Gardner, drummer for the Boston-based band New England, has seen it all during his career in music.
After being discovered by Kiss’ manager Bill Aucoin, the band New England started with Paul Stanley and Mike Stone, a producer known for his work with Queen, producing a debut album.
New England’s first album, which was released in 1979, reached number 50 in the Billboard charts on the strength of the singles Don’t Ever Wanna Lose Ya, which reached number 40, and Hello, Hello, Hello/ Encore, which reached number 69.
After the three records and tours with bands such as Kiss, AC/DC, Triumph and many others, the band New England broke up. [related]
Remaining active in the Boston music scene since the breakup, Hirsh Gardner has consistently recorded and toured.
Reuniting with his bandmates John Fannon, Jimmy Waldo and Gary Shea, the classic rock band New England has also played selective dates throughout the 2000s.
Earlier this year, Hirsh Gardner released his latest record My Brain Needs a Holiday, which he recorded in his private studio.
Hirsh Gardner has a studio which emphasizes efficiency over pretentiousness through his investment of $80,000 worth of acoustical design and a careful choice of microphones, mic pres, monitors and other equipment.
Taking some time to explain how he recorded his latest record, Hirsh Gardner takes Commercial Integrator inside his recording studio.
Let’s talk about your new album My Brain Needs a Holiday. How did you create that layered backing vocal on “Love Is? ”
“Love is” was an experiment. It wasn’t going to be a song. I love acapella and always have.
The idea of multi-tracking vocals I first learned from Mike Stone who produced Queen. Freddie and the boys had that multilayered sound.
Click here to see a slideshow of products Hirsh Gardner used to record My Brain Needs a Holiday.
I started layering all these vocal parts. Each part has a five-part harmony. I have about 16 voices on each part. If you have a part that says “love is … love is” that means is you sing that 16 times, and you bring each part up. Each one goes up another dimension.
I didn’t know if I wanted to leave it as an acapella or bring in the band. Kicking in the band is always the way to go. For an experimental song, it ended up being a favorite song for many people.
When you write songs, do you have specific goals, or do you simply allow nature to take its course with the songwriting process?
I let nature take its course. Love is a classic example of building a song from something simple and building something more complex.
How much of the production was done in your studio and what was the process for recording the album? Did you write and rehearse in the studio, or did you go into recording with the song structures and arrangements pretty much set?
I have a home studio and this studio. My home studio has pretty much the same gear, but it doesn’t have the same room (design). I do most of the recording in this room.
I didn’t go into it with completed songs. I may have gone in with a guitar part and played that to a click track. If I record something at home, I may record a verse and chorus and bring that to this studio and lay down some lyrics/vocals until I can say what I want to say with the lyrics.
Sometimes, I’ll record 20 minutes of drums at home. I’ll experiment with different drum and keyboard parts. My Brian needs a Holiday is a good example of how I started like that. I wrote it with Jimmy Waldo, my keyboard player from the band New England.
I started with a shuffle, then a synthesis loop I found in my library, and then I sent it to Jimmy. He came up with an organ track. I still didn’t have a melody, it was just a groove, and I started working on other aspects of the song.
Coming into the studio is fun—it’s like a vacation. Whenever I come in the studio it’s like a holiday and that’s where the song came from. I had spent a total of about a year in the studio.
The cover of ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ came out nice with the backing vocals and keyboards underneath and spread out over the soundstage. How did you decide to cover this song and on its arrangement?
I think that when I’m mixing, the drums are going to be stereo in the room. I put about 1.8 seconds reverb [on the drums]. The vocals and bass are in the middle.
The instruments like the Hammond organ are spread out to keep clarity for the vocals. For example, the bass drum and bass guitar, you’re about 100Hz, I may boost 80Hz for the kick drum and scoop 80Hz out of the bass guitar or I may add 120Hz to the bass guitar to get that definition.
What type of console does your studio contain, and what did you use for monitors?
I love my Yamaha HS80 monitors. They are the baby brother of the NS10s, which is the monitor that people like Bob Clearmountain and Mutt Lange used. Yamaha has come out with the amplified HS series and that is what I use. I also have Event reference monitors.
The console is an Avid C24, it’s basically a conduit for the sounds and Pro Tools HD. There’s not a lot going on with outboard, I wanted to keep it as pure as I could.
What type of studio tools such as equalization, limiters, compressors did you utilize for the recording? Do you prefer certain mics for guitar, vocals, drums, piano? Do you have preferred mic pres?
The electronic drums are always ready to go. I can mic up my drums whenever I need to.
I’m an in-the-box type of guy. I have an Avalon 737 mic pre, and as far as microphones. One of the mics I use for vocals is the Shure SM7B, it’s inexpensive and it’s killer.
I also have a Rode classic from the early 2000s. It’s a couple of thousand dollars, but I prefer the Shure right now. The Shure handles my voice well. For drums, I love Sennheiser 421s on toms and kick drums. On snare I use an SM57. I use AKG451 small diaphragm microphones for cymbals.
Click here to see a slideshow of products Hirsh Gardner of the band New England used to record My Brain Needs a Holiday.
If I were recording in a larger studio, I’m sure the engineers would have a mic choice from hell. I think it’s more about the player than the mic.
These days, you can substitute any sound. I typically tune my snare high, but I can always add a snare or substitute a snare with more bottom end. I am not a purist in that way.
Did you record to Pro Tools?
I only use Pro Tools.
How do you feel about recording digitally versus analog methods? Where do you stand on the quality debate in the audiophile community on the differences between 16/44 and 24/96?
I don’t record to 24/96 because of the memory it requires. [Hirsh Gardner is in the midst of upgrading his Apple computer and Pro Tools software]
It’s been so long since I recorded to analog. Analog does sound good, it’s got depth, it’s amazing. If I owned a facility that could facilitate 2-inch 16-track with Dolby SR and I could sync two of those together and link them to get 32 tracks, that would be the ultimate sound.
I have some nice plugins too. If I need a compressor I’ll use the Pro Tools BF76. It sounds great. I don’t have a lot of time to waste. I just want to get it done and rely on quality products that sound good.
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Where can people see you live and find you and your recordings?
You can find my recordings and more about the band New England on my website.
I’ve toned it down for Christmas. In January and February I’ll be in the Boston area, and I also have a gig on Jan. 20 in L.A. Red Oaks. I’ll be playing with Denny Lane and members of Wings. It’s a Beatles evening, and I’ll be doing Maybe I’m Amazed.
Later, I’m hoping to go back to the Regent Theater, Tupelo Music Hall, Blue Ocean, which are local venues.
