The Mojave Collective have spent recent weeks recording a studio version of Won't Let You Down. You can download it free here.
The track was recorded and produced by the band. And written by Mark. The inital inspiration was from western movies such as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and The Wild Bunch. "I wanted to write a song about a villain that you could sypethise with. Peckinpah is a master at this in his movies. " - Mark
The recording began very muted and the idea was to have be a very sparse but spacious arrangement. As soon as the Steel and Cello were added it began to sound more anthemic. With all of the tracks recorded, the main challenge was mixing the dampened kit, recorded early on, with the more dynamic instrument sounds that were added later and maintaining overall continuity.
Info about the recording:
Mark: Lead Vocal & Acoustic Guitar
Tom: Electric Guitars & Harmony Vocal
Chris: Bass Guitar
James: Drums
Pete: Pedal Steel
Jay: Percussion
Nicole: Cello
The Ludwig kit was recorded first. The drum kit consisted of a floor tom, (as a bass drum) rack tom and snare. Moon gels were used on the cymbals and snare to make them less lively. A couple of Rode overhead mics where used and close mics on the snare, tom and bass drum. The drums were of course played by James.
Chris put the bass down in a different studio and, by the powers of modern technology, was able to email the bass track over. What you’re listening to is actually an MP3 bass track! Chris used the trusty 70s Fender Jazz D.I.ed.
Mark played a Guild jumbo acoustic miked with a vintage Electrovoice 635a.
Tom played a Gibson SG all the way through and then brought a Gretsch 6122 in on the last choruses with a tremolo. The amp was a Fender Hot Rod deluxe and miked with a Sennheiser 609a. He sung backing vocals through Electrovoice 636a.
Pete used the MSA Super Sustain II on this, but there was a lot of crackling from the volume pedal but doesn’t come out too much on the track. This has a much smoother sound than the Fender that was used on previous recordings. 10 steel tracks were recorded and a single composite was created from them all.
Like the steel, Nicole recorded a number of Cello tracks; four of them. All takes where used but the Cello dips in an out over the course of the song. This was recorded with a Rode NT1 through a tube preamp.
The percussion was laid down in a separate location and are also MP3s. Triangle, Congas, shaker and hand cymbals. These sounds were inter-dispersed within the track.
The lead vocal was recorded with a HDW ribbon microphone through the Tubetech. Doubling was done using the NT1 straight into a Mackie pre.
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