How They Made a Platinum Record with an Empty Room and an SM58

With nothing more than a PA system, a drum kit, and a live taping, Rage against the machine recorded one of the most iconic first albums in music history. Here's how they did it, and what we can learn from it.

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(Please note these rankings represent my subjective tastes. These lists would change with different applications, so this is a bit of an oversimplification.)

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TOP THREE BUDGET DYNAMICS:

TOP THREE CONDENSERS

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TOP yOu CaN'T pUT mE iN a bOx MIC:

[andrefludd]

As a huge Rage fan, I really needed this video to end my week. Im going to watch it a second time full screen when I get home. Really really love this direction.

[satevo]

As a 14 year old in 92, I had my guitar with me at a friends house and was playing some Metallica and random punk songs when his older stepbrother came in with a tape and said "hey, can you play this?" He knew I played and learned by ear and put on Rage, Bombtrack. The song blew me away and I'd never heard music like that before. Within an hour I had it "mostly" figured out and from that day on his older brother was feeding me music I'd never heard before and had a funny kind of respect for me that I never got from him before.

[Lyander]

I AM SO FUCKING STOKED TO HEAR THAT THE DRUM REVERB WAS NATURAL. I've been in contention with a bunch of folk about that for ages and this is vindicating. One of my all time fave albums after a long day, didn't know this about the album's production! Many thanks man, always a pleasure seeing one of these deep dives from ya

[MobiusMinded]

I worked briefly on their first album. That “room” was Sound City. Not just a “room.”

[johnskerlec]

Great post man. I love how you encourage people to draw from their influences to create their own sound. This is what made the great bands that much more great, RATM included.

[Defensive_Wounds]

I had no idea this album was recorded this way! I always loved how it sounded and had a feeling some bits were live but not the entire thing... This is what all my music has always been too! Every song of mine on Spotify or YT or any other streaming service was recorded by me on one 8 track recorder in either a dingy tiny basement garage or a small rehearsal room with a lot of bleed that I tried to hide by covering mics with the jumpers we were wearing on amps that are very close to the drums without any barriers to protect it from bleed that way. I also set up one room mic to add low into the mix. No click track metronome, all raw one take. Minimal editing and after effects. As basic as you can get, 3 guys in a small room playing songs live in one take (sometimes the 3rd try is the one we used for the album o single) but still one take.

[mypal]

RATM really got me to push as a guitar player. And having funk as an element with their music is always a banger!

[ethanparr]

I had no idea it was recorded like this. This is so cool. Fantastic video yet again man! Loving this content.

[eujune]

Dude, I just found your channel and I feel compelled to drop a comment and let you know how hard you’re killing it on these. Extremely quality content, KEEP IT UP MAN absolutely can’t wait to see you blow up more

[MercyNoMore]

This was great man, can't believe I didn't know they recorded this way. Such a tight band.

[henrikpetersson]

It's the same processes that Deep Purple was striving for when they went to Montreux with Rolling Stones mobile studio to record "Machine Head".

The first RATM album wasn't really the low end recording that some like to picture it however. Sound City is an awesome studio with good sounding rooms, lovely boards and gear. And it was mixed on a great console as well.
But they certainly managed to capture that live energy from the band. That album is so raw and energetic. And to me it is really timeless. It doesn't feel aged like so much other music from that era.

[davewestner]

Have done this kinda thing several times, although would always put the amps in the room with the drums and PA because I feel the need for bleed.
Can't beat a killer band playing live together in a room.
And man, I swear musicians play better when they don't have to rely on headphones to hear themselves or communicate with each other.
To quote Glyn Johns, recording has definitely become a case of "wagging the dog", and it's nice to get back to having people actually playing music together.
Thanks for doing this video man. I didn't know anything about how this particular record was made.

[rocket]

Also don't forget the legendary Neve console used and the mixing engineer Andy Wallace!

[AL.N-music]

4:00 Using Dynamic mics the likes of SM57 and 58 would make a lot of sense in this kind of recording situation. It's the best way to isolate bleeds from all the other sound in the room.

[Drivertakeabreak]

I wish more bands recorded live like this. One of my favorite bands the Rx Bandits have almost exclusively recorded their albums live, and I think it has always lead to better performances.

[Dwolfmusic]

Artificial reverb was used on the drums and bass guitar. Also (although very minimal) guitar parts were overdubbed too. Other than that you are pretty much correct.

Another funfact: tim commerford used his nipple ring to ground his bass to stop it from buzzing 😂

[LeonardoSparta]

That pause thing was really genius work. Hahaha. I thought you are talking to me and its surprise me.

[willudallmusic]

such an incredibly unique band. also don't forget the consistency of ALL their albums.

[siriusfun]

This was recorded live off the floor at Sound City on the same Neve console Nevermind and a slew of other huge albums were done on. Mojo for days!

[JourneysEnd]

Hey man I’m really digging these new doc videos. Really inspirational and helps remind you not to become too much of a gear head. Do you think at some point you could make a video on how Springsteen recorded his “Nebraska” album with only 2 SM57s and a TASCAM 4-track recorder in his house? I feel like there aren’t too many videos that dive into his recording process and the story of that album. Anyway, keep it up man, I love what you’re doing.