# Joey Sturgis Production



## statics (Jan 25, 2011)

Hey all,

Now I know the bands Joey Sturgis produces arn't really ss.org material, but you've gotta give the man props for his production values.

I'm not a fan of this sort of, commercial hardcore, but on listening to We Came As Roman's album, the production really is stunning.

The standout thing for me was really the (harsh/screamy) vocal sound.

So my question: does anyone have any idea what sort of stuff is used, to achieve that sound? I'm not on about the auto-tuney/vocoder-y cleans, but the harsh vocals. They have a size and depth that I really havn't heard anywhere else.

Discuss.


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## DrewsifStalin (Jan 25, 2011)

Gotta love that floor tom snare sturgis uses


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## statics (Jan 25, 2011)

Floor tom snare?!


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## Tree (Jan 25, 2011)

He posts relatively frequently on the Sneap forums, and has pretty much discussed everything he uses there.


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## Marmaduke (Jan 26, 2011)

Hey tom, I've actually been hugely into his productions recently as well. I know that he has some really nice preamps (API, Great River, etc) but that basically 'his sound' comes pretty much entirely from post-processing ITB. And I think he pretty much always uses an SM7B.


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## Rojne (Jan 26, 2011)

I thought all of his stuff was Pod, and that he just miced up the drums?!


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## thenickarchives (Jan 26, 2011)

statics said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Now I know the bands Joey Sturgis produces arn't really ss.org material, but you've gotta give the man props for his production values.
> 
> ...





Marmaduke said:


> Hey tom, I've actually been hugely into his productions recently as well. I know that he has some really nice preamps (API, Great River, etc) but that basically 'his sound' comes pretty much entirely from post-processing ITB. And I think he pretty much always uses an SM7B.





Rojne said:


> I thought all of his stuff was Pod, and that he just miced up the drums?!




here's what joey said on another forum. 


hey guys, joey here

i dont have a lot of time to comment or say much in response to what all has been said in this thread, but i will address a few things

when i started out i used a very minimal amount of poor gear, and to be honest the results weren't that great. now days this is the basics of what i have...

Mac Pro (dual 64 bit processors, 16 cores total, 8 gigs of ram, 2 terrabytes of storage space)
Pro Tools HD 8.0.3 cs2 with 192 i/o +A/D option card
API 3124+, Great River ME-1NV, Presonus DigiMax (for triggers) lightpiped
RME FireFace 800 (for interfacing with old cubase projects)
Mackie Onyx 800 (trying to sell this, actually haha)
Central Station (upgrading to dangerous box soon)
Adam A7's
and lots of other random shit

Most of my sound is achieved via editing and take no prisoners style editing. In other words, I really care about precision and execution as the forefront of my production. I dont really work with bands who have a vibe at all. A lot of these bands even start the whole song creation process with a sequencer and ez drummer, so its bound to sound programmed from the get go. With so many people creating robotic esque music, its hard for me to put any sort of natural feel into music that didn't already have it in the first place. I get the same complaints from a lot of people, and I've worked towards fixing them. Thing's I've already address

1. drums sound too fake, and too similair

First off, I allow every band to choose their samples. Some bands don't even know what they want so I choose for them. In blind listening shoot outs, a lot of drummers pick the exact same snare and kick combination. I also mic up drums at least once per record in my own willingness to find natural drum tones. and I also do this if the band wants me too. 90% of the time we don't come up with a sound that is satisfactory. This comes with the turf of recording in your home. Another thing that comes with that turf is the shear fact that most of the music these bands are making does not call for a natural drum tone type of sound. You can argue with me all you want there, but its true. Even fall out boy has replaced snare drum, people. And a lot of the people I work with would consider them to be a natural sounding rock band.

2. auto tune

I used to suck with this tool, I don't now. If you care to argue, I am willing to challenge you. It will greatly depend on the record of choice. This is because measures have only recently been taken to achieve the realism and natural sound of pitch. In the past, I've avoided the extra work. But now I put a lot of time into pitch correction, and my new albums show it.

3. Everyband sounds the same

This is not true. Alot of people take this shot at me from the view of 2 or 3 records only. Listen to my entire discography. You'll find LOTS of different sounding records. A few worth mentioning here:
1. Oceano - Depths
2. A Plea For Purging - Depravity
3. We Came As Romans - To Plant A Seed
4. Before Their Eyes - Untouchable
5. Lets Get It - Digital Spaces EP

all 5 of those sound completely different from one another.

My advice to beginners is to focus on getting great performances, and using editing only to make them sound as best as possible. Even natural performances can have editing to make them sound more in the pocket. People like Brady Barnett and Kenny Giora have shown this many times. Gear is only as good as the button pusher.


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## Tree (Jan 26, 2011)

thenickarchives said:


> Pro Tools HD 8.0.3 cs2 with 192 i/o +A/D option card



It's not too important but he has switched back to using Nuendo rather than Pro Tools since then.


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## ahjteam (Nov 23, 2011)

Sorry to bump an old thread, but just to clarify that he sold his Pro Tools rig and switched back to PC + Cubase rig. He also has his own forum nowadays on the Ultimate Metal forums (I'm a moderator there), but he rarely posts as he is busy with production and personal life, but when he does, he usually spills the beans when asked nicely, except about his POD patch  

Joey Sturgis - Ultimate Metal Forum


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