STARK Session — Klevgrand

When Swedish freelance guitar player Tobbe Fall dropped by Klevgrand for a quick session, we had a coffee and chat about guitar sounds, mixing and what's important for him when he works. While Tobbe mostly records guitars from home, he's also a touring musician, producer and sound engineer, and he has a keen ear for musicality.

- I mostly use software amps nowadays. Still hardware mics, preamps and real amps from time to time. Most software amps has a look and feel to them that mimics "real world" amps like Fender and Marshall. I like the fact that STARK's interface is much simpler. I tend to use my ears a lot more.

Fitting the guitar in the mix

We had a chat about mixing and I asked him what he feels is the most important things you consider when mixing guitars?

- It's essential to fit the sound in the mix. You always need a direction - a position of a sound. Accomplishing a great sound that blends in can be quite difficult with virtual guitar amps because they don't really have a position. It's just a computer sounding. But STARK has features like different room textures, size control, a stereo widener for the cabinets.. and that makes it pretty easy to fit the guitar in the mix.

Can't you fit stuff in the mix with other tools as well?

- Of course you can do that with anything. You can build your own reverbs and rooms and stuff but using Stark is a simple way to do it and it sounds good, I even use it for reamping drums and keyboards sometimes.

Wide stereo soundscapes and pop rhythms

Our session continues with recording a French pop song - originally written and recorded by Klevgrand, for use in the launch of Luxe. He picks up his old Gibson ES-335. He says it would be cool to add a wide stereo soundscape, and starts recording.

- To make a blend I'll use a left-right-dub with a little more room on one side and a slightly different sound with a little less room on the other. And some chorus and vibrato to make that sound texture that slightly moves.

Together with this swirling soundscape he uses a single guitar track in wide stereo, with a clean small sounding amp for some ordinary pop music flavor.

- I want something that doesn't take that big of a part in the mix but with obvious definition. So some compression first, a short delay with the treble and bass roll off so it's just delay in the mid. And a slight reverb at the end.

Over the cliff - what gets you in "the vibe"

Our session drifts into some kind of rockabilly, country style and Tobbe starts talking about slapback delay.

– I think it should be around 155 or 160 ms. Maybe I've just been dreaming this, but I think the old echoplex delays, used in the 50's or something.. the tape going round it was like 150 ms from recording to the first tone head. I've heard it somewhere, I don't know if it's true. But it sounds good.

What gets you in "the vibe"?

– If you can take a clean sounding amp, and only with the boost and the output, pull it just right over the cliff, that's the way you want an amp to react. And I think it also depends on the acoustic environment for the amp. When I want a clean amp to be slightly overdriven, and still be able to control the character of the sound, I don't use distortion pedals, I only switch to the drive mode on the amp.

What if you want something more hell-raising?

– I would probably not use STARK for heavy metal guitars. I think it's not meant for those kind of extreme distortion sounds. I would consider it more like a pop guitar plugin. And you can tell that by the graphics layout. You won't find any dragons or vikings with swords. STARK is more naive, personally I appreciate that.

He starts playing and we loose him for a while to the jam.

Every song should have that surf bass guitar

When it comes to drama surf style, Tobbe uses his Jazzmaster for those bass notes with tremolo. He dials the vibrato so it goes in and out of phase - like a stereo widening tool.

- Of course there should be a tremolo, and some lush reverb on the end. Every song should have that surf bass guitar somewhere. Tobbe says with a smile.

Along with the first guitar playing bass notes, he adds a similar guitar playing some chords higher up. He uses a slightly other room and amp.

- On this one I also use the phaser to get this movement to the sound, ending with a big lush reverb. It sounds like those drama styled guitars. Beautiful to play slow things and let the harmonics ring.

On this one I also use the phaser to get this movement to the sound, ending with a big lush reverb. It sounds like those drama styled guitars. Beautiful to play slow things and let the harmonics ring.

- When you record guitars, wether you're the one mixing or someone else is, you want your tracks to fit in the mix. The things I need, Stark has them. So I use it a lot.

Written by Tove Gustafsson, Klevgränd