Introducing our very first album release, Daddy Was An Outlaw, available on CD and vinyl records as well as all of your favorite streaming platforms.
Bandcamp
, Spotify , Apple Music , Tidal
, Soundcloud , and Youtube.
About the Album, Song Lyrics, Song Details, and Production
Little Willy Bitter (aka Alfred Mürrle)
lead singer, guitarist, banjoist, BVs, hell-raiser
Bobby Joe Bitter (aka Andrew Robins)
lead singer, drummer, harmonica, musical saw, ukelele, BVs, holy-roller
Holly Jean Bitter (aka Holly Carrington)
lead singer, accordionist, BVs, doyen of harmonic-joy
Alex Bitter (aka Alex Hills)
violinist, expert mistress of melodic leads and musical embroidery
Bully Bitter (aka Duncan Nairn)
double bass, BVs, rhythm-master, leader of the primal deep
Recorded at Red Roost Studios, Wellington, New Zealand, 2024
Sound Engineer – Laurence Diack
Produced by Micheal Young and Alfred Mürrle
I’ve gone through each song specifically to make sure we have all the tracks that we wanted, basic song construction, and timing of all of the layers/elements. We did use a metronome throughout, yet the drummer had some difficulty with this and the bass player as well and I’ve tried to fix up as much as possible so that we wouldn’t have to re-record anything. We were very religious about getting the guide track spot on with the metronome at the very least, so that the drummer or whoever could use this track for their timing cues. Although not ideal, I have done rather extensive editing, patching bad notes here and there, adjusting very occasionally, and a quite a bit of shifting and time stretching. I’ve been intensively going through this process the past few weeks and reviewing everything with all of the band, taking notes when anyone has found any inconsistencies and tried to address them as well as I could, so everyone is happy. Of course, let us know as you go through this stuff if there is anything that really sounds terrible and that you think would merit recording any new takes. I’d like to avoid this, but we will do what we have to do if it comes down to it. Nothing has been really EQ’d, mixed, or balanced properly, so we are hoping that you can lend your skill and ear to try and pull out the best out of these tracks and assemble a nice balanced mix. As you’ll find the drums were generally captured with a kick mic, a snare mice, hihat, and 2 stereo overhead condensors. The bass was captured with a DI and a mic on the bass. I generally prefer the more organic, acoustic, old-time sound of the upright bass and I realize that the capture isn’t always the best with some bleed in a few cases, but I’m hoping that you can find a way to lean into these bass mic tracks if possible with EQ or any necessary gating or compression, rather than the more rock and roll feeling of the DI bass tracks.
Although not always apparent in each project, we tried to get two good takes of everything, for performance and safety, but also to allow for the option of double tracking some vocals and other instruments. Also, all the vocals, guitars, and instruments have been captured completely dry so that you have total control over how much reverb or any other filtering you might want to add. I think the vocals could use some reverb or presence and some of the guitars and other instruments, but that is the seasoning that we are relying on your taste and judgement to add or not. We definitely want as pro and clear a sound as possible, happily using all the tricks and gadgets, while not being too over-produced in the end. It all depends upon the song of course, some being more old-timey and some being a touch more refined, with there being a certain amount of roughness, or rawness that might offer a stronger mana to the song.
With a couple of exceptions, there is a guide track for every song, which is pretty cool to hear, soloing and then muting from the full production, it might sometimes be a useful track maybe, or at least good to hear the original one take stripped back version compared with the fully tracked out production of the song.
For the most part these songs are not being given as a complete intention for the final product, sometimes the bass is too loud or the vocals are too low, or whatever, but I will add details of our intentions as well as various options that we’ve given that you can have a play with and make some choices over what you think sounds best for different parts of some of the songs here in these production notes.
Our recording sessions were held at Red Roost Studio in the Wellington CBD. We gathered and put bits and pieces together within this studio space to record our individual instruments in separate tracks, starting in December 2023 and concluded sometime in February 2024.
After receiving the stems for all of the recordings from the sound engineer, Laurence Diack, we had a period of organization and adjustment, fixing any problematic glitches in timing or pitch in some tracks, making sure we all the parts for each song and the timings of all the instruments conformed, so that the producer had a good clean set of everything to begin the process of mixing and mastering.
The following is a brief diary example of the discussions and progress of the production process, which was conducted remotely between me in Wellington and Micheal Young in Auckland.
Apr 9, 2024
I know this is a long time coming, but we are finally ready to deliver our goods for you to help us develop the recording project that we have been working on. I hope you still have some time and bandwidth to give us for this project. There were a few delays trying to get all of the tracks recorded, scheduling the various band members as well as Laurence’s availability. Then it took a while to get the projects and stems from Laurence, but we finally got everything about a month ago and I’ve since been diligently going through it all and sorting through the song assemblies and making sure all of the tracks we wanted are there, all are aligned properly in time, along with occasional patch fixes, so you can have a good starting point.
Apr 27, 2024
Comments on one of the proposed mixes…
All of the instruments also feel like they are all bunched into the centre. We could have more spatial separation, taking advantage of the stereo separation that we have available to work with, keeping the voices in the center, which I think are working really well. You could have the voices center, the bass and the kick also either in the center or more left with the guitar panned farther left, or the guitar takes split DI left and the mic guitar right, then the violin and the snare panned farther right. Just a way of creating spatial separation and instrument separation, rather than the typical faux pas I’ve done myself in the past just making this or that louder and louder and louder.
I look to the early stereo recordings from the 60’s and the ‘headphone’ mixes from the 70’s that created such a cool spatial experience, with say all the drums in the left ear and all the bass in the right, etc. I’m not sure we need to go that far, but that is just my sense of a way to try and create a dimensional space and feeling of clarity between the instruments, at the same time being totally open for you to tell me why this is a bad idea and what is better. Maybe you are already doing these kinds of things and I’m just not hearing as much? I fully admit that I’m not a professional and I don’t have the best ear, so I speak from my impression and my gut feel.
May 11, 2024
Hi Alfred,
Just wanted to let you know that i’ll be focusing on your project starting 17 May and hope to get back to you with the tweaks you suggested before then.
It might be helpful if you could find an example recording of a band similar to yours in which you really like the sound of the sound.
May 18, 2024
Hi Micheal,
Thanks for the message and sorry for the delayed response, but I’ve been thinking on your question quite a lot and have put together a playlist of songs that have a sound that I really like I think it will be difficult to establish a one-size-fits-all template for all of our songs on this recording, but there are elements here that we might be able to choose from to inform how different songs can be mixed, or what sound can be achieved. I really appreciate your time and patience.
I’ve been listening to your mastered mix and it does sound really good, I just think it could use some slight tweaks here and there along the lines of what I wrote previously.
Anyway, listening again to this playlist I’ve created, here some thoughts around songs that might help inform how we approach the Bitter Brothers songs in production. Going on this journey, I fully realize the difficulty of incorporating drums into country music in general, with them not being a traditional part of old-time acoustic musical arrangements, with the mandolin/banjo chop taking on the role of the snare/hi-hat backbeat, the bass thumping to try and fit the role of the kick drum or tom. And I wonder if I am after something that hasn’t really been done, conjoining an old time feel with modern drums and technology, without compromising the feel of an old time sound. I’m kind of on the fence, but these are the kinds of issues that I’m engaging with my thoughts around this. There are other songs though where I am purposely playing the electric guitar and the rules change there to some extent.
Many of these selections have very specific things that I’d like to try and emulate of reproduce, but others also offer more of a sense of influence and feel. Sorry if this is all too much, I’ve just put a lot of thought into our sound and how to answer your question.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1kP2NH3KHAYdsIuLeDqp7P?si=3c1ca2197318411a
I Could Drive You Crazy – Sierra Ferrel
I love the aural separation of instruments here, the guitar panned way left, the violin kinda center but panned more right, vocals center, with a nice natural sounding reverb, the different drums feeling as if they are pan/spread across the left/right stereo field.
Trouble And Woe – Ruth Moody
I love this mix, the reverb really works nicely, the banjo sounds so good here, the variable level of volume and aural separation of the different instruments over the course of the song. This one really gives me a sense of old time country music expressed through modern sound equipment and style
If It Hadn’t Been For Love – The Steeldrivers
I really love the productions on this band’s songs in general. This one offers that great spatial aural separation between the instruments, the banjo panned way right, the guitars way left, an excellent bass sound in general, natural, prominent vocals.
Blue Side of the Mountain – The Steeldrivers
Great acoustic guitar sound, not too treble, great, great vocals, then when everyone joins in, wow the fu7llness of the sound with clear spatial separation of instruments, similar to the last song, but each instrument very clear and prominent when they need to come forward. This might be the one that matches more closely to what I am after. But it has no drums, so…
Heaven Sent – The Steeldrivers
Again great aural, spatial separation of instruments, just the right amount of reverb in general, and super strong vocals.
East Kentucky Home – The Steeldrivers
Same as above.
Les Yeux Noir – Pomplamoose
We play this song occasionally in our set and this is just here to represent more of a feel that we try to achieve. One thing worth noting here is how bassy the general EQ is, which I think is rather nice. And it also strikes me how it’s likely they recorded this all I the same room at the same time with a variety of close and condensor mics and how I kind of ironically want to achieve that feel of everyone around one or two mics in a room, but having the control we can have by having it all tracked out separately.
San Joaquin – Molly Tuttle
This one is here primarily for the general feel. Maybe not as spatial as some of the others, but there is good separation between instruments and generally good EQ spread from bass to treble, maybe a touch too mid.
Helpless – Molly Tuttle
And this one is cool for the drums. The voices and other instruments here feel huge, very expansive and dripping with reverb, yet the drums are cutting through really well without being too much.
Everybody’s Talking – Harry Nilsson
Really beautiful old school stereo separation of instruments, drums all the way right, bass all the way left, vocals strings in the center.
Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell
Excellent mix with drums, stereo separation, yet full giant sound, but prominent natural, up close vocal.
Gentle On My Mind – Glen Campbell
Same excellent mix, stereo separation of instruments, more reverb on the vocals but doesn’t sound too indulgent somehow.
Whiskey – Horseshoes and Handgrenades
Generally cool mix, more traditional, less produced sounding. Maybe the far end of the old time/traditional spectrum for us, not as primitive as Alan Lomax field recordings, but not as overproduced as a lot of top 40 country.
Wade In The Water – Ramsey Lewis
Just a great mix, great EQ, and a great example of stereo separation. There is so much going on here, yet you clearly hear each instrument and they’re not all munging together into a muddy ball of sound.
Stuck In The Middle – Stealers Wheel
Another great mix, great EQ, and cool stereo separation.
Mama’s Eyes – Justin Townes Earl
Excellent mix with great guitar and bass sound. Good EQ, full spectrum bass to treble.
Rather Low – Nick Shoulders
Good reference for sound of drums and bass. We’re currently working this one up for our latest set.
Mama Tried – Merle Haggard
Excellent old school production, great stereo separation and mix, maybe a touch too treble in the general EQ.
Black Creek – Brent Cobb
Excellent acoustic guitar sound, not too treble or mid, nice amount of bass response, and cool drums.
I’m Not Free – Albi and the Wolves
Really nice guitar sound, EQ, loudness, mix! The violin is a bit too effected for us and the reverb might be a touch much for the Bitter Brothers in general, but maybe for the right song(s)
Wayfaring Stranger – Albi and the Wolves
Excellent mix, excellent EQ. Some nice aural/spatial separation of instruments. The bass sounds really cool here. And Albi’s voice is really nice here. I often do a double take thinking that I’m listening to Glenn Frey singing there is such a similarity. In general, I love this sensibility, old time classic translated through a jazzy lens using modern techniques and equipment.
It Ain’t Easy – Albi and the Wolves
Excellent mix and EQ. The kick drum sound works so well and your spatial separation with the banjo panned all the way right, guitar chops all the way left, bass/voice/kick in the middle. Really good and great ear worm!
This Is War – Albi and the Wolves
Excellent mix, EQ, spatial separation. Big sound, but nothing gets lost, each component is clear.
Out on the Weekend, Heart of Gold, Old Man – Neil Young
Excellent stereo separation, excellent drum balance.
I really love these Albi and the Wolves cuts and this is partly why I approached you in the first place to try and help us with our production.
I guess in the end we could try for something in between the Steeldrivers and Albi and the Wolves, with maybe a touch of 50’s/60’s Bakersfield sound or maybe a dash of Tom Waits depending on the song. Stereo, aural separation of instruments, clear drums, kick and snare and double bass, and a mind to offering a fuller spectrum of EQ, not biased too much to either the treble or bass end. Bringing instruments into the foreground as they feature in spots then receding into the general background mix when not, kind of as one would stepping forward to the condenser for their lead break in a traditional old time one mic set up then stepping back so the vocalist can get back in front, etc.
May 23, 2024
From Micheal:
Regarding your playlist – i too am a big fan of the sound of that first Steeldrivers album. I typically have about a thousand songs that i play in shuffle mode and whenever one from that album plays it really stands out from a “sound of the sound” perspective. I reckon not having drums allows for that sparse and intimate but full sound. I’m glad you also like the AATW production. The One Eye Open album was all me, i worked with another engineer, Scott Seabright, on the This Is War album.
As far as evaluating mixes, i reckon it’s best to work with unmastered mixes and get them to sound as good as we can. Mastering is like adding the final finish to a woodworking project – the better the surface preparation the better the final result. Of course we can still tweak the mastering when the time comes but it shouldn’t be to fix mix issues.
One of the mix challenges with this song is trying to get the kick and bass to live in the same space. The way that the bass is played and miced gives it a very strong attack sound. This can be a positive when there are no drums as that attack serves very well the kick role. In this recording the bass attack overwhelms that kick. I used some sidechain compression from the kick to the bass to give that kick a chance of having any impact.
I may have gone a bit too far forward with the rhythm section but maybe you like it this way so keen for your feedback. I could also invest some time in volume leveling the bass track – there is a lot of variation there.
Is this guitar tone closer to what you want? Very nice picking by the way!
Actually, comments on the tone of all the parts is welcome. Apart from the stereo separation, I’m trying to carve out a sonic space and a beautiful tone for each part to live in. All the parts have to play together nicely in mono as well.
I look forward to your feedback.
Cheers,
M
May 24, 2024
This is excellent! Thanks for the kind words, feedback, and explanations. It was a really fun, but also useful and educational exercise for me, being asked to listen to various mixes to assess and communicate how we could sound for this project. I really like quite a few of your songs as art as well as their technical production. You have some great ear worms there, I’ve had It Aint Easy and I’m Not Free on repeat in my head for a couple weeks now. 🙂
We had a listening party of Hero Of The People before band practice last night. I wanted to get everyone else’s impressions first, before I put in my thoughts and it seems we’re all in alignment which is good.
The separation is working much better, I really like the guitar tone. It could come up a touch in volume during the main body of the song, or maybe just allowing a little more treble through so the picked bass notes come up a touch more and those higher offbeat strums shine a little more. Also, there is this noise from my fingernails on the guitar during the end tag on the guitar break that I think is only present in the mic track of the guitar, so you could lean into the DI track just for that tag to get rid of that clacking of my nails. I totally get what you are saying about the bass and the drum. Everyone doesn’t think we really need to take the time and expense to normalize the bass attack as you suggested. It seems alright, bit the bass does feel a touch too forward and could be pulled back a little bit. It feels a little intense, but I think the way you’d mixed and eq’d it, you’ve covered up it’s inconsistencies rather nicely. The drums though feel like they could still come up in general and/or have more treble presence on the snare, bringing it almost to the same level as the violin. This is true in general, but especially so during the guitar break and the choruses. I’m not the best or most confident lead guitarist and so the drummer is always backing me up or holding me up, where he is almost another equal part of the melody of the guitar break. There is a dynamic where he sets me up, hits the drum then I follow with a phrase, or he sometimes in mimics my phrasing with his drum, so there is almost a call and response that happens and this works especially well live (more so in other songs) when I might miss a note he covers for me with a beat. This interplay though is kind of getting lost by how receded into the bg the drums are with the guitar coming forward during the break. For this song too, the drums are playing this sort of martial almost marching band roll on the snare, which should pop out more, particularly during the chorus, conceptually kind of a funny contrast between the lyrics singing of a spiritual principle while driven by a marching, patriotic, militaristic beat. Don’t want to go overboard, but that’s the gist of it. Holly also felt that her harmony vocals were a touch too loud almost as loud as the main vocal when they should be more augmenting the lead vocal, but I don’t mind it too much, maybe just bring her down a tiny bit.
I’m finding that I definitely need to listen to these mixes in many different places. Always starting with the classic car stereo test. 🙂 And although I tend want to go with my gut reaction, after a bit of time and consideration and several re-listens, I end up liking everything you’ve done more and more. I get that you are carving out specific sonic places in the EQ spectrum for each instrument as it should be done, which is excellent, so I understand if you have any push back on my notes if any of the tracks start to stomp on each other carrying that same 10k, or 12k frequency or whatever. In summary, a little more treble on guitar and presence during main body of song, More volume and/or treble on the snare, bring drums more present during the guitar break and the choruses, bring bass down a tiny bit, and bring Holly’s bv’s down a tiny bit.
A couple of notes yet, but I think we’re close to having this one. I don’t want to spend too much more time on this since I fear the bill is racking up, but hopefully the next ones will go a little easier/quicker.
Overall, I think this is going really well and everyone is really happy, thanks again. Can’t wait to hear any of the other songs as you get to them.
May 31, 2024
I’m loving those new mixes! I’ve added some notes in the spreadsheet and closed out Saviour Blues. I need to sit with those new ones for a little while and get feedback from the others, but it would be cool if you get a chance to action any of those notes this weekend. Hero is so close, I’m just not sure about the guitar. Loved that ending on Burn It All Down! 🙂
June 9, 2024
Hi Micheal!
This is so good! I have been watching over the weekend as you added a version of these different songs. There is a lot to unpack, so I need to ruminate and listen some more.
I really like what you’ve done with the guitar on Daddy. That song is somewhat of an homage or send up to Marty Robbins gunfighter ballads and we are all thinking that this will be the title track, naming the album after this song. I have some thoughts on this mix that I need to get clear on with myself before I break it down into the spreadsheet notes, but the general sense for me is to try and emulate in the mix something like Marty Robbin’s Big Iron, or Lefty Frizzel’s She’s Gone Gone Gone (without that dumb farty guitar effect 🙂 ), TE Ford’s 16 Tons, or Merle Haggard’s Mamma Tried, big spatial stereo separation between the instruments, reverb on the lead vocals and the BV’s a little more filled out ala the Jordinaires, maybe possible with some reverb and double tracking Andrew and Holly. The current BV’s you have sound like they are perfect for a more old timey Trouble and Woe as opposed to the slicker pop country sound of the late 50’s, early 60’s that I think we should try to go for.
Sea Shanty is very close, but there are a couple of things more around pans and trying to create more dimensional aural space with all that is going on. This is pretty much everyone in the band’s favorite song.
Down To The Sea is super tricky I know. I tried recording this myself 2-3 years ago and failed pretty badly. It’s always the drums for me, where Andrew likes to push and pull with the timings, which can be a cool dynamic live, but not so much when you are recording and need to be consistent. I have a few things on this one too, but I’ll look through your notes on the specific bars and phrases to get some clarity on how we might fix it up.
These last few songs are somewhat complex in their elements with a variety of different changes and layers, so I’m not surprised these are taking a bit more time to wrestle through. This Road and We’d All Be Lost should be a little more straightforward though.
June14, 2024
Further work on the song Daddy Was An Outlaw:
Sorry, I can’t really make a case for a single song that gives an exact guide, but it’s more about the style or vibe, the wetness of the lead vocal and the bv’s and how each instrument is panned, so you get that snare 2 4 chop all the way in the right but then the guitar is all left. I like what you’ve done with the guitar tone a lot, I’d just punch it up a little more and then play with bringing the drums, that hihat/snare way right and punched up, kick drum and bass in the middle, fill out the bv’s more and add some wetness.
I think these songs are just a good point of reference. I don’t know that we want to emulate them exactly, or would really want to do a duplicate, but just try to capture a little bit of that vibe. Daddy was conceptually inspired by Marty’s gunfighter story ballads, so good to have an echo of that in there.
Big Iron – primarily as an example of wet lead vocal treatment, BV’s, and instrument pans
https://open.spotify.com/track/0AQquaENerGps8BQmbPw14?si=066b2e58e1804ef3
Mama Tried – primarily about the instrument pans having that snare 2 4 chop all the way in the right, guitar all the way left, but then the electric guitar coming in loud and center for that one guitar phrase. This could be a good way to handle the first guitar break, but then the second guitar break could ping pong left and right, with the drums all the way right, then the guitar answering all the way left.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1FTlLpP6V05yJWmcIg0rlK?si=2fb3f6ae323e4b8f
June 18, 2024
Further discussion about the songs in general…
The thing to consider with us in general is that we often are hopping from one sound or genre to another. Most of these songs are somewhat individual and don’t lend themselves to a stock template or treatment; Saviour Blues trying to invoke a form of an Alan Lomax Chain Gang capture, Burn It All Down a somewhat old timey vibe, Chilies a more Roma jazz sound, Daddy a 50’s/60’s pop country sound, Sea Shanty kind of a Tom Waits or maybe Tiger Lillies cabaret vibe, Nobody Knows kind of an alt-country Cowboy Junkies sound, This Road more of a straight country acoustic guitar song ala Tyler Childers or maybe early Sturgil. We’re always trying to hop from one sound to another to keep it interesting and entertaining.
June 22, 2024
Hi Micheal,
Just wanted to say I really appreciate all of your patience and effort producing these songs and working remotely. It definitely has it’s challenges, but I’m hoping that my detailed input and my mostly clear vision has made this easier than it could have gone down. It’s too early to bust out the champagne, since we haven’t finished just yet, but I have to say that I think we’ve done some phenomenal work together, really lifting up some of these songs. I really appreciate you and your time and am ever grateful for your help and feedback.
June 22, 2024
Hi Alfred,
It has been interesting doing this remotely, especially the more complex songs. It’s been great having your detailed input and your vision and knowing what you want. I don’t mind the back and forth as long as we are making it better and i’m really happy with the evolution of the songs. It might have been more efficient if we could have sit side by side but this way has caused us to be more considered in the possibilities for each song, making it better than it otherwise might have been. Nobody Knows is a challenge for sure.
Let’s keep up the good work.
Cheers,
M
There was a short pause for a month or two while Micheal toured in Australia with AATW. Then went through refining the mixes of the last few songs, then went through the process of creating masters for digital streaming, with a little back and forth with some slight adjustments of the mix as well as the EQ and compression. And then generating the DDP for CD production, then vinyl masters before pressing our vinyl record at Holiday Records in Auckland.
