Behind: Slingshot Babies - Rattlesnake Kiss

Martin F.
30. juli
4 min lesing

An 80s-Inspired Rock Production Breakdown

This track is rooted in a clear creative goal: attitude, grit, and sonic weight, with a production style that pays tribute to the unapologetic rock of the 1980s. Every decision, from mic placement to arrangement, was made to serve that vision—tight rhythms, punchy drums, and defined tones.

Let’s walk through the approach.

Arrangement: Groove First

The arrangement was built around the kick drum as the foundation. Bass lines were written to lock in tightly with each kick hit, and guitars followed suit—chugging precisely in sync with the rhythm section. This “all hits together” approach creates cohesion and impact, making the mix feel more powerful before any processing even begins.

The Aesthetic: Embracing the 80s

The production style leaned into classic 80s techniques: doubled vocals, harmonies, layered textures, reverse effects, and a deliberate focus on separation and definition. The goal wasn’t to reinvent the wheel—just to burn rubber with it.

Guitars: Minimal Setup, Maximum Effect

Amp: BOSS Katana-100
Mic: SM57
Pickup: DiMarzio ToneZone

The SM57 was positioned near the edge of the dustcap, capturing a balanced tone from the amp’s "Brown" setting. Gain was dialed just high enough to introduce saturation while preserving pick attack. EQ settings were kept moderate to maintain clarity.

Bass: DI + Amp for Clarity and Grit

Amp: EBS Classic Session 60
Mic: sE Electronics X1A
Direct Input: Clean and full-range

The amp provided a touch of drive and articulation, while the DI ensured a solid low-end foundation.

Vocals: Warm and Centered

Mic: Neumann U87

Selected for its warmth and smooth top-end, the U87 helped the vocal sit naturally in the mix with just a touch of EQ.

Drums: Precision with Personality

Capturing the right drum tones was central to the sound of the track. Most elements were recorded live, with particular attention to phase, mic choice, and room control.

Kick Drum:

AKG D112: Positioned 10 cm from the resonant head, aimed at the beater. This placement offered a more open tone with a clear top-end click, avoiding the "beach ball" effect when the mic is inside the kick.
Royer R121: Placed off-axis on the side of the drum, 45° angle, same distance as the D112. It added low-end fullness and complemented the main mic. The positioning ensured phase coherence and protected the ribbon from high SPLs.

Snare:

Top: AKG C480B, 4–5 cm from the head
Bottom: SM57 on the snare wires. The snare was tuned low for character. These close mics provided a dry, controlled sound that would later be enhanced with ambient elements.

Toms:

Mics: SM57s, 4 cm from the heads
Enhancement: Layered with Simmons-style samples for that punchy 80s tone

Overheads:

Mics: Audio-Technica AE3000s, placed approximately 1.3 meters above the kit and phase-aligned with the snare

Additional Mics:

Hi-Hat / Floor Tom: Sennheiser e906s for focused capture

Room & Ambience: The Creative Touch

Mono Room Mic:

Mic: Beyerdynamic MC740 (omnidirectional)Placed upside down near the floor, 4 meters from the kit. A nearby wall was used as a physical high-frequency baffle to reduce cymbal spill and capture more of the snare and kick shell tone. This mic became a kind of tonal “glue” for the kit.

The mic MC740 is all the way to the right on the floor

Hallway Ambience Mic:

Mic: KMA P48. When the studio room size limited the natural reverb, I took a simple approach: gently tossed a mic into the hallway and popped open the door. This gave me clean, natural ambience—about 13 meters away from the source—for the snare and kick. To avoid cymbal bleed, I recorded isolated samples of both drums and used those as the kick and snare ambience tracks, providing full control without the need for gating. For perspective, that distance equates to roughly 39 milliseconds of pre-delay—ironically, about the same as what many 80s engineers dialed into their reverb units predelay.

Mix Strategy: Defined, Dynamic, Controlled

The mix approach mirrored the tracking philosophy: capture great sounds up front and preserve them in the mix.

EQ: Maag EQ for air; Pultec EQ on guitars (Beau Hill-style)
Compression: Subtle mixbus compression
Reverb/Delay: Minimal use to avoid smearing; plate with a phaser on it was used creatively before the solo section on drums, and delays for other elements.
Tape Emulation: Studer A800 plugin across most tracks for cohesion and warmth
Drum Support: Low snare tuning was reinforced with a sample from EZDrummer2 (Gretsch kit, dampened)

Automation: The Unsung Hero

Automation was used extensively to bring life into the mix:

Ride cymbal emphasized by boosting the hi-hat mic bleed (only when the hi-hat wasn’t playing) because i didn't have any close ride mic.
Bass articulation and vocal effects were fine-tuned throughout Every fader ride served the energy of the arrangement. The goal was expression—not just balance.
Snare and kick ambience and effects comes and goes in different sections.
Guitars were automated to bring out the pick attack and emphasize certain strums or lines.
Generally, many effects were automated to hit with power only where needed.

Conclusion: Intentional from Start to Finish

Plan. Track. Layer. Automate. Refine.That was the workflow. With the right ingredients captured from the beginning, the mix became more about enhancing than fixing.

Thanks for taking a peek behind the curtain. If you’re into sonic detail and production nerdiness, I hope this gave some insight. And if you're not—well, at least you now know it's possible to build a huge 80s rock sound by throwing a mic in a hallway… gently.

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1XqpwhSpqrpVYuBJJyUEuH?si=e94c3e3d83dc423d

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578716104923