Sessions for Aerosmith’s new album has them collaborating again with producer Jack Douglas, who helmed sessions for the band’s classic 1970s LP’s Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic and Rocks, and indicating that the band is trying to capture an old-school, classic vibe on the new set.
Helping Douglas, engineer Warren Huart and the band achieve the right sound is an Endless Analog CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) system, which integrates analog tape into the digital audio workstation environment. In fact, they are using four CLASP units on the sessions.
The band began sessions in July at two Aerosmith-affiliated Boston-area studios: Pandora’s Box, which the band owns, and the Boneyard, guitarist Joe Perry’s personal studio.
Two CLASP units are present at Pandora’s Box – one connected to a 16-track two-inch Studer A800 analog tape machine for recording drums, and one connected to a 24-track two-inch A800 MkIII for recording everything else.
At the Boneyard, another CLASP is connected to an additional 24-track two-inch A800 MkIII for overdubs.
A fourth CLASP will adorn a yet-to-be-announced Los Angeles studio when sessions move to the west coast later this year.
Douglas, who, aside from his tenure with Aerosmith, is noted for his work with John Lennon, the New York Dolls, The Who and other classic acts, states, “CLASP is revolutionary. We’re sticklers for big, fat analog sound, so this CLASP system was just perfect for us. And we’re so happy that Chris (Estes, CLASP inventor) came along and was able to hook us up with the stuff, and we really love it.
“The album’s gonna sound amazing,” Douglas continues. “It has that rich, fat sound of analog and we have the convenience of being able to edit in Pro Tools, so we really love CLASP and what it’s let us do. Normally, if we were using tape, we’d be using reels and reels. But CLASP lets us use the same reel over and over again. And then normally we’d have to break for a few days to dump everything into Pro Tools for editing, but CLASP allows us to do real-time transfer. And we can record at any tape speed we want.”
Huart, best known for his work with top-selling acts like The Fray, Augustana, Kris Allen, Better Than Ezra and many others, adds, “The reality is that recording with tape just makes things sound better. Every single piece of digital equipment you buy tries to make it sound like tape. CLASP is fantastic because it does what digital is trying to do for you by actually using real tape. It’s been a godsend in the studio as Aerosmith is capturing such a powerful, classic sound.”
Brad Whitford, one of Aerosmith’s two guitarists, notes, “Absolutely amazing sound, the CLASP. You forget what it sounds like to hear these instruments actually going to tape. It’s the only way to go. You hit that tape, and you get all those rich harmonics. People are going to hear this album, and they’re going to say, ‘There’s something different going on here,’ and the difference is CLASP. CLASP all the way.”
Aerosmith’s upcoming LP is slated for release in spring 2012.
