John Hampton: Ardent, Gin Blossoms, Memphis

I became a friend of John Hampton's when he recorded my sister-in-law (Gail Elise Clifton of the Klitz) in 1986 at Ardent Recording Studios in Memphis, Tennessee [ Tape Op #58 ]. His production skills were clearly at work while producing a fine sounding demo that may someday see the light of day! With a background in electronics, John started at Ardent as a studio tech in July of 1977; eventually working his way up the studio staff ladder to become the industry-respected producer/ engineer that he is today. John has been awarded 23 gold and platinum records, several Grammy nominations and three Grammy wins. He's also worked with Alex Chilton, the Gin Blossoms, The White Stripes, Travis Tritt, Jimmy Vaughn and many others. 

Which do you prefer: the producer role or the engineer role?

The producing role, if you want to call it that. Although I've been producing records since '87, I don't think I've really been producing records until the last five or six years, because all the pieces are finally together and assembled. I finally have a vision and I see it all. It took a while. Years before Ardent, I was driving home one day from work and heard "Honky Tonk Women" on the radio for the very first time. I heard that cowbell and then Charlie [Watts] come in — I pulled over and rocked out to the whole thing. When I started working here I got engineer ears; I started nitpicking everything. Slowly, but surely, the nitpicking became the captain of that ship. After working in the studio for a while I heard "Honky Tonk Women" again and I thought, "That sounds like crap." I had engineer ears now. Then it hit me one day that I used to love that song and now I don't like it. Has the song changed? I've changed, not the song. So I slowly started what turned into a ten-year venture. I turned that boat around, falling back in love with music instead of in love with technology and how it gets put together. The only way that I've been able to do that is by making what I do, the engineering part of it, so easy that I can do it with my eyes shut. It's all in the background

So it's like the engineering is second nature?

Yes. That way I can focus on the band and the song. Now I need an assistant [engineer] — somebody to watch the meters and all. I'll be listening to the performance, not watching the meters. This is especially true with digital recording.

It's the "new" technology.

I don't like to watch those meters. To be honest with you, I'd rather be on all analog tape. And what's strange is it's all coming back. I grew up listening to records and then when I had CDs I thought, "It must be better, it's digital." It's amazing how people will buy the next new hot thing, whether it's doing us any good or not.

Are you seeing artists come in who prefer using analog?

Yes. Going back to analog is making me a happy guy. Although we have the best console for a digital audio workstation on the planet, it's also really good for analog tape. It controls a Studer analog tape machine as well as it records; and it controls Pro Tools too. But, for performers with analog it's, "Guess what dude, you have to sing it." I'm not going to cut and paste your vocal. You have to sing it...

The performance comes back into play.

Yes, thank you. I get to listen to a performance again, and the artist has got to play it right and has to play it well. I've got a new MacBook Pro — have you seen that new GarageBand? My goodness, it's like it's almost that (points to the Studio C SSL console). It's almost Pro Tools; it's an amazing amount of technology. You sing a word too short or in the wrong place, no problem. Just nudge it or scoot it around; or get it in tune or Auto-Tune it if it's a little flat. You can make crappy music bearable. Everybody's making recordings that way. What's out there to me is 85 to 90 percent crap. These kids are getting these laptops with all the recording technology and then isolating themselves and not collaborating. There are no Lennon and McCartney's, no Jesse [Valenzuela] and Robin [Wilson], of the Gin Blossoms. No back and forth collaboration — none of that. They're all by themselves, making crap and then wondering why people don't like it. How come nobody likes it?

You can record it on an iPhone.

Don't get me started on that. This is a bad dream, right? Good luck getting dynamic range out of a 1.7 volt battery, because you won't. I mean this thing's (points to the console) got 36 volt rails — +18 and -18.

Your background is electrical engineering, so you have all this electrical knowledge.

Yeah, I do, unfortunately. And I'm kind of sorry about that...

When you set up a band, what is your process to cut basic tracks?

I'll build a picture. I'll balance the recording out so you can hear it all. It doesn't have to do with a band personality-wise; it has to do with my understanding of recording their sound. I like to hear air molecules banging into each other. If I were to record a symphony out there [in Studio C] right now, I wouldn't put a bunch of mics on each individual instrument. I'd take one big giant picture of the whole performance and let the musicians get their balance. I would probably have some close mics on the sections, in case I needed a little emphasis for a moment. It's a similar thing with a band. I always have a mic close on a guitar amp and close mics on the drums. But on the drums, the mics are only there to add to what I have in my overhead picture, which is really getting the drum kit. If my mic isn't hearing enough of this floor tom, I may have to bring it in a little to even it out so you can hear it. I'm going more old school.

What about click tracks?

To harness a human drummer to a click track: are you serious? That's how I feel about it now. I used to do it myself; I'd be playing drums on a track and I could feel it with the kick. But when I wanted to give it a little more energy, a little more edge, I couldn't because something was holding me back — the clock that's banging in my head. I hated it because it's not music. There's a natural thing that people do when they're playing music, and tempo is a big part of it.

What do you listen to at home?

I did a record in '96 for a band called Spot, a three- piece kid band from Texas; the best band you'll ever hear. I listen to them and I listen to mainstream radio a lot to see what's out there. I hear something good every now and then. They're fishing back to the '70s too. I like listening to cultures combine, like Rihanna and Eminem. I really liked Eminem a lot when he first came out. I thought, "This guy is a genius." There's another band I just found and they've got a record out now; they're called The Demos, from New York. They're like 10cc revisited — neat stuff. They understand melody, but they've added an edge that 10cc didn't have. It's fabulous.

Do you listen to vinyl?

Oh yeah. I listen to vinyl all the time. I still have my old record collection. I still have the Aura Records [a European label] release of Big Star's Third (Sister Lovers) album. I like that record. I like records from Europe because they have a different equalization than records in America. I like to listen to vinyl amplified by tube amps. Some of the best stereos ever made were McIntosh. It's not rocket science to make a tube play back exactly what went into it. Now what goes into it may be a little different than what you thought you were getting, because of the transformer. Transformers are usually on every input; and they're generally there to make sure impedances, like high and low impedance, are the most effective, at the maximum power. A transformer is there to make sure that the circuitry has only the audio and not all the baggage the audio is hauling around with it, like the impedance. Transformers are there to get it all where it wants to be so the amp can perform. But transformers have their own idiosyncrasies and they color the sound. The biggest and most obvious example to me is called "ringing," which produces a square wave. Square waves are harmonically related to the music. They're like 6th and 4th harmonics. A lot of reed instruments, like an oboe or a baritone sax, are pretty prone to square waves. Because of this, horn sections with power guitars work well together. George Martin did that all the time.

In the studio are you going for a flat signal to modify in the mix, or do you modify it during the recording?

As my knowledge of microphones has progressed, I equalize to tape less and less. I've learned slowly, very slowly, through the years that this mic will sound good on that tom-tom, or another on a snare, without the necessity of equalizing. But I'd prefer it to sound good to me, so I have to "carve out." For example, say goodbye to 580 Hz on toms, because 580 Hz on toms is the sound of hitting cardboard. I don't want drummers to sound like they are hitting cardboard. But, at the same time, the original, classic Buddy Rich drum sound is loaded with that cardboard sound. All engineers did then was stick those mics up in the air and record. They worked to get a faithful recording. There's this sound in the snare drum that's this "click" that I hate. And its location varies for different top head tightness, so I have to find it by searching somewhere between 400 and 800 Hz. I don't want to ruin the rest of the drum sound, so I take these digital equalizers in Pro Tools and cut them in very, very narrow bandwidths

Do you strictly record to Pro Tools, or are you recording to the analog tape machine?

I'll do what Jim Dickinson [ Tape Op #19] and I kind of pioneered — recording digital and then re- recording the session onto analog. The signal that's on Pro Tools is so pristine that I can put it to the tape and get the analog tape compression I like, but I can also control it now.

I recall, a long time ago, recording at Ardent with you and how at ease you made me feel.

The recording studio is a different environment than playing live, and what I want to be getting is that performance I fell in love with live. Getting that on tape in the studio is such a task — it's so incredibly hard. My secret is to have fun. Any time I'm checking out a band live, I also check out the fun factor. Are we going to have fun making a record? If I get that vibe going after a couple of takes of the first or second songs, then by song three everyone is relaxed and playing well. Compliment the guitar player and give them confidence. Get them to want to play for you. That's hard to do. As Mr. Jim Dickinson said, "Fun sticks to the tape." If you're not having fun, that sticks to the tape too. I try to make sure everybody's in their vibe, which makes me a chameleon.

You worked with Travis Tritt.

Yes. Greg Brown, Travis's producer, came to me one day after I finished John Kilzer's record, which he liked. In Nashville they'll do a single first, and end up with an album down the line once they have the singles. He put out this song, "Country Club," and it was a smash hit. But Greg didn't like the Nashville sound, at the time. It was all midrange, with nothing in the vocals; the recordings didn't have any balls. He asked if I could make Travis's records sound like Kilzer's record. We did; and once that record came out, it sold a couple of million copies. That's when people looking in the trades saw country music going gold and platinum. Then everybody in L.A. — the producers, the engineers — started moving to Nashville. They want a nice place to raise their kids. When they were younger, L.A. was the thing. Now they're older; they want to move to Nashville. It's all a 'who's who' of the music biz over there now. I'm fine right here and always have been. I like the culture and the climate.

You also worked with Jimmy Vaughn?

Yes. I remember when he first quit drinking, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to create anymore. I said, "Yeah, you will" and he did. It turns out he also had a couple of kids and, for the first time in his life, he liked his family life. He didn't like going on tour. He didn't like making records, although he could and is good at it. But he didn't like it as much as Stevie Ray [Vaughn] did. But I could tell they loved playing music. That is something that impresses me, when musicians can play like that; you don't see those people everyday. But when I get one, recording them... you call it work? You call this work? Really? I think you're nuts. If you ever call this work, you're crazy.

I totally agree with you! What are you up to next?

What am I doing? I'm about to go mix a record. I love it. It's not work! I had to cut down a tree last night. Now that was work!