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I've been recording reggae/ska in GarageBand, using a combination of:

  • Voice through a condenser mic
  • Electric guitar and bass using GarageBand's own amp simulators and effects
  • Drum patterns programmed using GarageBand's kits
  • Software organ

I play all the parts live, and avoid quantising.

It sounds OK, but a bit sterile. Listening to classic ska tracks that influence me (say, anything from the Trojan Ska boxed set) what seems to characterise the sound most is a benign fuzziness, presumably distortion that engineers tried and failed to avoid using what equipment a 1960s Jamaican studio could afford.

Question one is: how can I replicate that sound using the equipment I have

Question two is: how can I achieve that feel without going so extremely lo-fi.

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  • You use programmed drum patterns and then ask about feel?
    – leftaroundabout
    Jan 11, 2012 at 0:59
  • Drums are a whole 'nother problem; but let's put them aside for the purposes of this question.
    – slim
    Jan 11, 2012 at 10:12

2 Answers 2

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Part of the vintage feel of those old records is in (1) the kind of mastering that was done for cheaply produced vinyl records, and (2) the wear-and-tear that they have sustained over the years. Even if you have only heard "remastered" digital versions, if the original was on a fly-by-night Caribbean indy it may have been remastered from the best available vinyl rather than the master tapes.

Mastering for vinyl rolled off a lot of low frequencies and compressed/limited the dynamic range. Age and multiple plays of a record start rolling off the highs and adding noise.

So a mix buss comp/limiter, roll off lows below 100 Hz (experiment), highs above 5k (experiment), and add a "vinyl noise crackle" plugin if you feel like it. It ain't "vibe in a bottle" but it might be interesting.

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  • Thanks. I hear some fuzzy resonance on the higher horns and vocals. My synaesthetic side wants to say it "blooms", like a bloom filter on a photograph. Any idea where that comes from / how to replicate?
    – slim
    Jan 12, 2012 at 11:13
  • tubes and tape.
    – datageist
    Jan 13, 2012 at 21:18
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Garage Band has a couple of Fuzz Pedals. They're intended to be used as guitar effects, but you might be able to tweak them to get the sound you're after.

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    A Fuzz Pedal is a particular type of extreme distortion, usually used as a guitar effect. Not likely to be useful to apply to an overall mix in this context.
    – Bill Gribble
    Jan 11, 2012 at 21:48

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