How In Utero Got The “The Albini Sound” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend | SiriusXM
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Producer Steve Albini explains how the production of “In Utero” involved him using “normal microphones in a normal room,” disproving Conan’s fantastical ideas about music production.
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How In Utero Got The “The Albini Sound” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend | SiriusXM
• How In Utero Got The “...
RIP Steve Albini. Engineered some of my all time favourite albums
In Utero, Rid of Me, Magnolia Electric Co, Ys, Surfer Rosa, Yanqui U.X.O. Steve really was a legendary engineer.
"You're too sensitive...people always say that about you" is such a genius off-the-cuff joke.
Shit seems like I missed something can you explain?
@@gefaehrlich Steve was worried Plant & Page said something mean about him, so Conan quips that he's too sensitive and also affirms that people DO talk about him behind his back (as a joke).
@@Sprtschkokay not that obvious also not thaaat funny haha thanks for explaining
@@gefaehrlichit’s actually genius because the timing was perfect and Conan boldly dancing on the line of being offense and funny and ends up being funny. Notice how quiet they were after sensitive
@@gefaehrlichit's funny because Steve Albini was famously NOT sensitive in most of his early career and had the complete opposite reputation (Band names like Big Black and Rapeman and saying whatever he felt like saying in interviews) he's mellowed with age
that santa joke was severely under appreciated
Bit obvious
I've never heard another person articulate any given point as well as Steve Albini. I just loved listening to him talk; loved the dry humour; loved his technical insights; loved the old stories from back in the day... and of course, love the iconic Steve Albini drum sound, and always will.
Thanks for all the music, Steve. Rest easy, my friend.
We need the Conan & Steve spinoff
100%
Conan and Steve make an album with Jordan Schlansky on Tambourine.
Underrated dynamic
seriously
No
Conan really needs to become a music journalist because his knowledge and love of music is evident throughout this interview.
In Utero will always be my favorite Nirvana album. Steve Albini is a legend. he's produced some awesome records. And what I love about him is that all his albums sounds organic; they all sounds how any band would sound if you saw them live.
Steve can take a band to a vast expensive studio and make a record that sounds like it is in a tiny shitty garage. After Nevermind it was a huge backward step, always open to other opinions though.
whatever.nevermind.
Bleach raw and rugged 💪💪💪
@@bradmodd7856Cause his records should be played on speakers. On headphones they sound a little small but on monitors it’s huge sounding. It’s the air
@@bradmodd7856thank you for having being honest. In Utero is dull as fuck. Do people have ears
Great laugh at the end from Albini “you’re too sensitive, people always say that about you”.
The jokes of Conan to Steve Albini were really funny 😂
But it's so painful WHY AREN'T THEY LAUGHING AA
@@ok9908🎅
@@ok9908cause he's not a good producer
@@J3TTXZhes a recording engineer not a producer. He states that himself.
@@STATE.38 same thing smart ass
Steve Albini recorded the first Usherhouse release on Cleopatra records. I was the guitarist of the band. We tracked at Chicago Recording Company (CRC) studio and then mixed at his house/basement studio. We recorded on 2 inch tape and he made some edits by slicing the tape. He is crazy fast. He does have a collection of really cool mics and knows how to get really honest/organic tone out of your gear. It was amazing.
I’m glad Kris retorted after Albini said “normal microphones”
Hilarious Albini said he was on everyone’s sh$t list after he made In Utero! One of my good friend’s band recorded with Albini during that time. I instantly sent him this and laughed! 😂
That's so cool, what's the band??
@@ok9908'Everyone's Sh$t List'
@@TheGreatIndoors1979 Good one!
RIP Steve Albini 💔💔💔
I'm pleasently impressed Conan's knowledge of the bands history ,and genuine curiosity about everything.very good interview .
Conan with Albini and Nirvana... What a bizarre combo yet it works.
Why is it a bizarre combo?
Why is it bizarre? Makes sense to me. Conan is kind of a cynical too-smart geek exactly
The kind of person that listened to Nirvana.
This was a great interview! Love Dave Grohl. This album takes me back to Seattle, 14 yrs old, visceral sound coming through some tower speakers hanging with good friends. It was a magical time.
This is so great to have Steve Albini here now he is no longer with us. Thank you! And rest well in peace, Mr Albini
Thank you Conan putting this together. You did a great job with the interview 💯
It's great watching Conan reel back from Albini's authenticity only to then come back and rib him over it. Great interview approach. Conan is completely engaged without getting in the way of the stories. Kind of a watershed moment for his evolving interview skills.
"Yeah I talked to you outside, it was awful" 😂
Actually snorted out loud at that bit. Stone cold delivery from Conan.
Now we need Conan with Butch Vig
And Jack Endino
"Is there a Santa" - dead silence.
The answer is in the silence :.(
There is a Santa if you believe...
But not really. It's actually kinda messed up that Santa gets all the credit for what your parents worked so hard for you to have.
Strange that no one’s ever seen Santa and Steve Albini in the same room.
@@radioactivehalfrhymelmfaoo thats why he didnt laugh
RIP Steve Albini 🖤🔥
In Utero is legendary.
Legendary in bordem
Albini is the GOAT
Can get enough of these anecdotes and stories from my childhood heroes ❤
I remember when In Utero came out critics gave Nirvana hell, like how can you follow up to the greatest album of the decade?! In Utero was so good! I think Kurt took this criticism personally on top of his own demons. Shame on critics. They did not help.
Someone needs to tell Steve Albini about the wonders of the Multi Pen
Two legends and a drummer
To be fair to Cannon Falls, it isn't actually *that* isolated. It's a short trip down 52 from St. Paul (about 30 minutes) and has quite a few gas stations and antique shops and parks and trails and whatnot. I'd say it's a fairly average semi-rural midwestern town.
Mind you, my best friend is from Eveleth and I have extended family in Evansville, so my idea of "middle of nowhere" might be a bit skewed.
These are great. Love Albini, great guy, brilliant engineer, but funny he chose to go after stories about Page talking about mic placement as an example of all stories about recording being bullshit. No doubt the vast majority are pure hooey, but the hallmark of Albini's technique is largely mic choice/placement; what set him apart from other producers early on was his approach to getting the sounds right on tape and using room ambience, rather than processing and reverb-ing and tweezing everything after the fact, just like guys like Glyn Johns and Page used to do.
yeah, that was a real bummer comment from him. particularly because it doesnt even seem true at all. of course different people do different things in the studio. that just seemed like something a 20-some year old punk would say lol
maybe he meant it in some other specific way, but yeah of course special things happen
It felt like it didn't click with him that Conan's a musician (with that type of knowledge base, curiosity) and not just a fan boy. At least Conan's quick follow up about Page's pre-LZ session work, gave me that feeling.
RIP Albini :(
nirvana is boarderline canadian
These guys should form a band and call it Conirbini.
Cornibi
I love that Grohl is like “fuck you” to Robert Plant.
Thanks guys....watched every one of these and loved em
4:10 - Grohl is right. Walking into Clarksdale was 1998.
As someone who has followed the Chicago music scene for over 40 years, I find the fact that Steve Albini was worried about someone being mean to HIM to be hilarious.
I mean, like he said, he was on everybody's shitlist after he engineered In Utero.
I'm pretty sure planty literally said he personally disliked albini in the interview Dave is referring to lol which he then immediately qualifies by adding how good an engineer steve is. I'm sure plant would've changed his tune a bit had he seen Steve's growth the last 10~ years
As someone familiar with Cannon Falls in the 90s, they're 100% dead-on. It's a nice town, not much there though and you're about 30 minutes from St Paul where there's everything you'd want from a metropolitan city. Cannon Falls is basically just outside the suburbs of the Twin Cities, it's not even remotely in the boonies.
no BS producers like Albini are my favorite lol need this full convo
Lol "i talked to you outside and it was awful"
Rip Steve.
Foo Fighters should record an album with Steve Albini
Surprised they haven’t yet
They would still suck
not worth albini's time
I guess they recorded a track together during sonic highways maybe
They recorded a song at Electrical Audio, but ironically it was Butch Vig who recorded/produced it, and not Steve Albini.
krist is the bassist omg :D
It’s rare that you would get frostbite in MN walking 100 yards that time of year. You have to be massively under dressed and huge winds. Even when it’s 15 below.
Yes, he exaggerated but it doesn’t take much longer than that at those temps, also most people don’t dress proper for the cold anymore because most people aren’t stuck in the cold for long so they don’t think about the danger of being stranded in the cold without warmth..and he did say you “risk” frostbite.
Found "that guy".
There are some videos from Krist's camcorder, Dave was wearing long johns and shorts, so I'd say he was underdressed for the weather.
I remember seeing in Sonic Highways that they said that Steve was a dick and a smart ass. So it's awesome seeing him laughing at the shit talking and sarcasm from Conan and thoroughly enjoying it.
I like that the foo fighters guy was quite for some of this one.
I don't agree with Steve about the "magic" being bullshit with Jimmy Page moving a mic and getting the huge drum sound. In the 70s, bands and producers were always fucking around with ideas to get different sounds and techniques.
Ya I'm not sure where he was going with that. That's literally his job. I think he just has.a hard time taking a compliment.
He was talking about tons of phony stories and urban legend about legendary bands in the studio. Not sure why he said all that in that moment but he’s right, it was just a strange time to say that lol
Conan was literally just saying moving the mics makes a different sound. Steve albini is just not understanding what Conan is saying
The funny thing is Dave Grohl even brings up mic placement later when he was talking about interviewing Jimmy Page, I don't know what Albini thought Conan was going to say but what he _did_ say was very clearly valid...
I’ve been doing it for year and it makes drastic differences just like how hot it is.
To be fair, Albini did start saying that was probably true about Page. However, I don't know why he had to go on about the "magic" being bullshit when Conan's question wasn't about that.
these guys are cool
The short answer is: Microphone choice and placement.
Feeling Minnesota Looking California
LOL why does Steve have SO many pens in his shirt pocket?
Maybe they are vape pens I knew a guy who quit cigarettes & kept a few like that
Novaselic was a bit pissed off with Dave Grohl always interrupting him and changing the topic he was trying to develop. That's LSD, the "Lead Singer Disease", it's the me, me, me, I, I, I syndrome.
@luke5100 Don't agree with you. Musicians usually take between 70 and 100 years to mature as normal human beings.
There is a guy on UA-cam dedicated to figuring out the sound of nirvana sound it's pretty cool.
I think I'd rather hang out on Steve Albini's channel than a 4th party outsider. I'm sure he has some great insight, but I doubt he has the technical acumen of Albini.
“Krist Novoselic - BASS guitarist for Nirvana”. There ya go.
How many cases of beer did they have delivered before they got there? And was Kurt sober or did he bring plenty of his own medicine? I'll be honest, as an addict, these are the things I think about. Because I've recorded in studios many times, and that was the most important thing I was worried about. "Do I have enough drugs and alcohol to do my job?"
Cobain wrote about his addiction. He was a cyclical addict. He would binge for days or weeks at a time, and then pretty much quit cold turkey. At this time while making the record he was clean.
thats not good man
@@somenothing7914 that was a very long time ago.
@@satevo462 oh, well thats good :)
"You're too sensitive, people always say that about you." Conan is a funny man. Also, Grohl doesn't like Plant? Plant's a good guy.
Do you always take everything at face value, or do you posses some critical thinking skills? He was obviously joking. How did you not get that?
Where did you get that idea about Dave? He was just slagging Plant for blocking his tech nerd conversation with Jimmy.
When is the full interview released? ://
The full audio is already up on a bunch of streaming services and a google search.
@@kwizzehwe want the video though.
Yeah, release the full video!
@@kwizzeh thanks, but for this one, I would like to look at their faces
The making of this album would be a good movie
Owen Daniels as Kurt
Ben Stiller as Dave
Will Ferrell as Krist
also starring: Benicia Del Toro as Pat Smear.
and
Matt Damon as Steve Albini
Where is the full interview!
Krist was the bassist of Nirvana
Conan cracking himself up. No response.
Great Robert Plant impression from Dave. Love that guy.
David Bowie! It must be real!
Aaron Rash is the in utero sound
What about the story of Metallica putting mics behind the amps? I always thought that sounded weird.
The thing with Jimmy Page and John Bonham was true though lmao
Novoselic was actually the bass guitarist, heads up
When did Nirvanas Bassist become a professional pastry chef?
You'd forget Krist exists in this interview.
Conan should front Nirvana
2:00 wtf is Steve rambling about? 🤣 "bRo eVeRyThInG yOuVe eVeR hEaRd iS a lIe!"
Conan asked a simple question about how he captures the ambient drum sound of a room and Steve starts talking about Cocaine on tape.
Right. If it was so easy all you had to do was mic up the drum kit and get out of the way then why wouldn't the band just do it themselves? Why do they need Steve? Must be some sort of expertise involved here. It's not like Conan brought up the cocaine on tape story...
And it took two seconds for kris to actually answer the question, "he uses vintage german microphones"
Lot of sensitive people in the comments who probably never produced any records
@@windwaker01 very apropos of nothing, thanks for your useless contributions to the conversation.
Albini's talking about the fact that engineers and producers like to make things up to make them sound as if they have some "secret sauce" that makes their careers indispensable because if people realized that all you need to make a great-sounding record is a room with good ambient sound and some good mics, they wouldn't be paying engineers and producers a ridiculous amount of money.
Dave is the exact opposite of what nirvana was
I find it fascinating where Steve Albini and I differ on what kind of credit is owed to a sound engineer. If a band wanted to record a live album then yes he's 100% right in that neither the producer or the sound engineer should be paid "like a plumber" and recieve no album royalties. But for an LP or EP recorded in a studio away from the band's usual playing environment I feel the circumstances are different.
1) Most bands go to a recording studio to make an album precisely because they want a different sound from their live sound. 2) Most bands what a [insert record producers name here] sound. Once that happens it's no longer just the bands creativity anymore. 3) A band might want to have a record producer help develop their sound in a new direction. All of these points I feel warrant the inclusion of a sound engineer (producer is a bit different but Steve Albini was odd in that on In Utero he served essentially as both a sound engineer and album producer) as receiving royalties. A super small percentage, but still a percentage. To reiterate those 3 points a last time it's because the sound is being changed outside of the bands usual sound which I feel warrants inclusion of royalties.
But I'm guessing that Steve Albini's perspective is that only idiots want to allow outsiders to muck up their sound, and that the "Steve Albini" sound of recording isn't really due to him adding anything but simply making the band sound as live as possible. But again a lot of bands don't want to go into a recording studio to sound like a live band. A lot do in the Punk and Indie scenes, but I personally think that those bands cannot have an authentic sound inside a recording studio without causing some kind of musical ideological contradiction. It's not too dissimilar to how most Nordic Black metal bands like their Death Metal on the low end recording side because to them clean death metal is too contradictory for them. Like oh we're in a zombie apocalypse but somehow everything is in 4K allowing us to see the shitty seems of the masks and makeup.
Consider this: When a band decides to engage a producer, they've often spent years honing their unique aesthetic and sound. This extensive effort goes beyond just crafting an album but involves years of refining their musical identity. How do you evaluate the value of a mere two weeks of a producer's work against the backdrop of a band's lifetime commitment to creating an exciting, original sound and a catalogue of exceptional songs?
Steve's got pretty strict but totally logical ethics he follows. He let's the band play their stuff and get's it on tape. That's what he's known for and that's what the bands want when they go to record with him. With that attitude, it seems reasonable that you'd charge for the service and not get a percentage. I think he fancies himself kinda like a plumber - you get them to do the piping but you don't pay them extra every time you flush the toilet.
Now, if a band should want outside creative input from a producer, then surely they would want to work with someone who's comfortable with that, and let them have percentage, why not.
Btw, really big chunk of the og norwegian black metal was recorded in a very real studio within the concert hall of the Bergen philharmonic orchestra.
"Most bands go to a recording studio to make an album precisely because they want a different sound from their live sound".
Yeah, and most bands suck, so..
Dwayne Johnson and Dave should make a west coast music drama called, “Rock and Grohl”
Dave will always find a way to make the conversation about himself. “The Storyteller” oh brother…🤦🏻♂️
Yeah, no shit. It’s like, give it a rest already.
True, and then you have Krist, who just kills the conversation every time lol
@@shugarbageThat never happened
1:23 burp
Was this producer the guy from the goonies?
?
👍🏻
Conan seems to know more than them, its so weird.
He's probably has got a team of researchers.
they had severe trauma so they probably would have problems remembering everything directly before and afterwards
He said radio friendly shipping unit
@@yassaito... It's still wild that any interviewer, even interviewing Nirvana and Steve about In Utero would even mention THAT song or be aware of it, even if they botched 1/4th of the name.
@@yassaito...Lol The ghost of Frances Farmer
Someone should ask Dave the truth on how he came up with the name Foo fighters. 3 clues is Nebraska truck stop, cb radio, and Kurt Kris and Dave talking trash, 1990
I remember really digging this cd when it came out. Put it on a few days ago and thought it sucked... Nirvana just flat out sucks to my old ears 😂
Sad!
Id like to hear these guys thoughts stories not on Conan. Nirvana has such a monumental legacy u know dave Krist don't wanna say anything that'll tarnish it
sounds like Steve Albini was downplaying his role as producer. hmmm I wonder why there's so much talk about the Albini' Sound' ...like why do you even need a producer, I know Jimmy Page produced all of the Led Zep Records that we loved so much. There's more to producing than Albini 'lets on'. RIP to a great man and an excellent Producer, whether he thinks mic placement isn't important or not. 😁👍
Ha ha f’Ng Conan
There’s a recorded interview of the engineer and producer spilling “cocaine” all over the console during Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. It’s not ALL bullshit Steve. Albini hyperbole in service of justifying his totalitarian aesthetic
And he's right, cocaine isn't magic dust
Dave’s ego is incredible. He will not let anyone finish. He cuts off Krist, Steve and Conan. The way he tries to downplay his ego by mentioning seemingly innocuous things and then tying in his kids is, on the surface, what he thinks people want to hear.
So sad this came out shortly before Steve Albini died on his couch like a dog.
Conan was totally right about the microphone placement. I don’t know why Steve Albini had to be such a sourpuss about it.
Exactly.
Because people were already toying with mic placement. It's not like mics and putting them in different places didn't exist before Jimmy Page. The book writes about Page doing it like he was reinventing the process with the care and skill of a Renaissance artist. Albini's take on production is like a plumber. You put the damn amp down and then place the mic where it needs to be for the sound you want. Albini always enjoys demystifying bullshit rock lore, which is why he freely shares his techniques on his amazing UA-cam channel.
I think Conan's smart enough to know a bullshit story about "studio lore" and not. Albini did something similar at other parts of the interview and just came off like an ass.
He's not an ass. He's just honest. A lot of engineers and producers are full of bullshit and try to spin nonsense about "techniques" in recording. Albini's absolutely right. It's all about the room and which mics you use. That's it. There's a reason why his records sound fantastic - he just records the band, when too many other "producers" get in the way of what's a very simple process. It's why most records sound like garbage these days.
@@redadamearth That's the thing, though; mic choice/placement and using the room were exactly what Page was talking about. Out of all the "Dave Davies poked holes in his speakers to invent distortion" hogwash stories out there he picked something that's central to his own approach to go after. Love the guy but that was just...curious
In utero is 80 % K Cobain´s art, 15% high reverb drums and 5 % support bass
Not on my Albini Mix double LP.
Albini never answered the question! Conan asked how to get The Albini Sound and Albini just went on this odd rant about how "every store you hear about the studio is BS"
the actual answer to the question would have been overly technical...that's why you hear Grohl say "Oh, god" when Conan asks it. Albini is letting the audience off easy by explaining it's not magic, it's technical work.
I mean, Electrical Audio has a great UA-cam channel where they tell you how to get the sound, so...
Dave talks a little too much
He’s into himself
I would like the drummer to talk less
“Kurt wrote simple songs” lol
Thank you!
Dave keeps hogging the show. Chris just sits and barely says anything.
Ya I wonder if he is wondering "why am I here"?.... Krist was actually an integral part of the band's secret sauce, and his bass rifts are much underappreciated. He founded the band with Kurt. He is a legend. But seems Kurt gets all the credit, like a grunge Jesus.
Which you wouldn't have expected back during the Nirvana days. Back then Krist was always the one talking to the audience in live concerts, with Kurt chiming in here and there. Dave always spoke the least.
@@StarryStarryNocturneThe good old days when Dave was the quiet one
They stole it from a Sesame Street song, as is Grohl’s pathetic habit. He’s really just a Dracula
Sorry that Steve died today, but he's wrong about the studio stories. I'm sure there is truth to some of them, it's not completely made up. In the case of Zeppelin, Page himself and Andy Johns confirmed the mic placement
Steve should go back to his fedora hat…
Look at Conan glad-hand this disgrace
the bush record, thats better than utero