The Production Characteristics of Black Sabath and AC/DC

Black Sabbath are renowned for being the fathers of Heavy Metal, effectively creating the genre with their first album of the same name, Black Sabbath. Original lead singer Ozzy Osbourne even went so far as to say "We decided to write horror music.". The dark yet bluesy tones of the band were a result of many factors which resulted in the generation of what we now know to be heavy metal. The founder and lead guitarist of the band Tony Iommi had an accident in his youth at a sheet metal factor which caused his fretting fingers to get slit at the tips. In order to overcome this he de-tuned his guitar to make it easier for him to play, this created the deep guttural guitar tone that is a staple in the heavy metal genre. Black Sabbath also house some of the first uses of the dibolous in musica titrone in modern music; a musical feature once banned by the church for being 'evil'. Ozzy Osbourne also switches between a very ominous style of vocals and a very heavy style in order to add to the demoniacally themed music. This is shown in the first song of the album, also called Black Sabbath, when he often breaks vocals to scream 'please no' at the mic. Geezer Butler, the bassist instead of playing the wild melodic bass stylings of a lot of music from the time of the albums release, plays heavy striking notes along with Iommi to add to the massive sound. On drums, ward shows his jazz origins by holding the rhythm section together and giving Black Sabbath some of the structure that it needed. Bill Wards style is shown to be what is essentially jazz drumming being performed in hard rock suit.

All of this can be potently heard in their first ever album, Black Sabbath. This album effectively pioneered the genre of heavy metal, and one of the most amazing things about the album was that it was recorded in only one day. Often they would not run through a song more than once for each instrument, and had Ozzy sing along in a separate booth. They also did minimal overdubbing to save time, adding only some extra guitar parts and some special effects such as thunder cracking.

Tom Allom, the man who ran Regent Sound in London where the album was recorded said that the album was recorded using a basic equaliser and an EMT140 Reverb Plate using a resonating metal plate to create a smooth and lush tone when compared to the spring reverb systems. It also gives the album a more ambient sound when compared to more recent albums as they tend to use reverb plug ins rather than actual plates.  According to Allom he used two mics per amp cabinet and an ambient mic where possible abour 20 ft away to try and capture the raw sound. Tony Iommi has also revealed that he used a Laney Guitar Amp but was unhappy with the sound and so started using a Treble Booster to give a good amount of overdrive to add to the already thick sound of Black Sabbath.

One of the main appealing factors of this album is the sheer raw sonic force that Black Sabbath brings to the table in a way that had never been heard before. As time progressed however, technology began to become more advanced and pristine music became more a more sought after in all genres. In their newest album '13', producer Rick Rubin asked the band to revisit the sound of their original album to try and recreate the bluesy origins a the Sabbath sound. Andrew Scheps the man in charge of mixing the album said that he immediately understood the idea behind the album, but that making the album sound sonically similar to the first Black Sabbath albums would have been a mistake as due to technology advancing so much, the album would not have been popular. He said "They work because they're classic albums of their time, but it simply is not what records sound like today." Implying that the main reason the Black Sabbath album is so popular because it as revolutionary and influential, and that trying to recreate the exact sound would make '13' pointless and stagnant. With this combination of the original Black Sabbath sound (complete for the first time since 1979 with Ozzy Osbourne), and new technology to bring out the best in the high and low ends of the band,'13' as received very positive reviews. One of the main ways in which they tried to keep the same tones of the original album was to record and mix entirely on analogue with a Neve 8068, this gave it a very rich sound according to Scheps.

In their 2008 album 'Black Ice' AC/DC used some similar techniques to Black Sabbath's first album. The EMT 140 was used on drums and guitar. Mike Fraser the man in charge of mixing the album said that although the band wanted the drums as unaltered as possible, he felt they would benefit from using the EMT140 to add some decay to the sound. He also used it on guitar when lead guitarist Angus Young was playing by himself in order to fill out the sound, however the rhythm and bass guitars had no effects on them once again in order to retain the organic sound the band wanted from the album. In that sense there are even more similarities as 'Black Sabbath' also had minimal effects on their tracks. However as 'Black Sabbath' was recorded in a single day, this may have been due to time constraints rather than by choice. Mike Fraiser also used a Neve desk as he said he enjoyed the immaculate sound it gave. These factors contribute to how AC/DC and Black Sabbath both achieved the new/classic feel.

In our own recordings for our BTEC course we decided to try and recreate the way in which the guitars were recorded for the first Sabbath Album. We did this by using an electric guitar, with a heavy distortion and reverb on it in order to create a nice crunchy sound. We used a dynamic mic (SHURESM58) on the amp, positioned at an angle towards the side of the cone in order to create a thiker darker sound. We also placed and ambient mic around 20ft away as Tom Allom did in the original album recording in order to create a nice big room effect as well as add some extra reverb to the sound. We used a condenser mic for this as the SPL were much lower at that distance and we found that it gave a better sound. We did not have access to a Neve desk such as that which was used in the recording of 13/Black Ice, so instead we substituted it for a MACKIE1640I desk which we ran through straight into cubase which we used to save the recording. I have uploaded both mic tracks separately to show how each mic picked up the sound differently.
                                                                                                                                    

In order to find out more about my chosen artist and album I skimmed and scanned three secondary sources to find out more about the technical aspects of the recording style used on the album, and how that compared to other albums of a similar style. I annotated these sources to find key information that I could use to make my article more comprehensive and detailed on the subject matter. I found out not only the equipment set up of my chosen album, but also why that particular set up was chosen and how it affected the recording. I also found out about the inspiration behind the unique style of the album, and how that has affected other bands over time. I also discovered how the album I chose affected their other albums due to how heavily influential it was.

The purpose of my research was to allow me to accurately report how the album was recorded and why it was recorded in that way. This also allowed me to customise my own recordings in accordance to what I found.

Source	Relevance
Sound On Sound Inside Track: Black Sabbath 13	This source helped me to compare the way in which black Sabbath have evolved their recording style over their years of success. This article was particularly helpful as it allowed me to see the real technical ins and outs of the album. This source was particularly helpful as Black Sabbath were trying to recreate their original sound in this album. This was good as the main focus of the article was the first Black Sabbath album.
Ultimate Guitar Tom Allom: “The Sounds On First Sabbath Albums Could Have Been Heavier”	This source was useful as it allowed me to get some decent knowledge on how the first Black Sabbath album was actually recorded; this allowed me to then recreate this in my own recordings by using the same mic techniques. It also gave some information on the equipment used to record and create effects in the album.
Popular Music The Key Concepts Second Edition (Book)	This book allowed me to read about some of the factors that really make heavy metal, as well as how it relates to other genres. It also inspired me to compare Black Sabbath to AC/DC.
Sound On Sound Inside Track: AC/DC Black Ice	This album help me to see how AC/DC record in a technical sense, it also helped me to compare their style with Black Sabbaths recording styles; old and new. It also helped me to see which pieces of equipment they both use.
Music Radar Tony Iommi Interview	This interview with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi helped me to understand how the band achieved their signature doom like guitar sound. And also what pieces of equipment he used to make a sound that was original to him. It was interesting to see how they used the same techniques and equipment for a long time.
Louder Than Hell (Book)	This book allowed me to see some of the inspiration behind the Black Sabbath Origins, and what led to them creating the sound that we now know as heavy metal.
Guitar World	This Source allowed me to see where Black Sabbath recorded their first album and also some interesting facts about some of the unique ways in which the band used to record and create a unique sound.