Sir Needs To Mixalot

The version everyone knows goes like this. December 1970, Headley Grange, John Bonham’s brand new Ludwig kit set up at the bottom of the stairwell, and engineer Andy Johns hanging two Beyerdynamic M160s a couple of floors up. All true, but it leaves out the part Johns himself kept bringing up.

He ran the two mics through a pair of limiters (Vintage King’s write-up says they were Helios F760s in the Rolling Stones’ mobile truck) and then sent the drums through Jimmy Page’s Binson Echorec. In his MusicRadar interview he’s pretty blunt about where that lurching “ga-gack” comes from: “It was the Binson that made him sound like that.”

The song was also recorded at a different speed and slowed down afterwards, which goes a long way toward explaining why the whole track feels like it’s wading through mud. Rick Beato made a video a while back arguing the stairwell gets more credit than it deserves. His comments section did not take it well.

Why the M160? It’s a double-ribbon hypercardioid that’s been in production since 1952. The tight pattern means a pair hung high picks up the kit and the space without turning to mush, and it’s dark enough that the cymbals don’t get nasty once you start leaning on a limiter.

Trying it at home

You don’t need a stairwell. Put one mic well away from the kit (a hallway works), hit a limiter hard enough that you can hear it breathe, and print a short tape-style echo underneath. Then play slower and heavier than feels right. Johns said it himself: for the rest of it, you really need Bonzo.

Watch and read

• MusicRadar: Andy Johns on the Levee drum sound
• MusicRadar: Andy Johns on recording Led Zeppelin IV
• Vintage King: Recreating the Levee drums, with video
• Diffuser: Chad Smith and Roger Taylor play the Headley Grange stairwell
• Wikipedia: Beyerdynamic M 160

Most of the problems on a new mix have nothing to do with how the song was recorded. They’re file problems. Here’s what makes the first pass go well.

• Export every track from the same start point (bar 1, or zero) so everything lines up when it’s dropped in. Even the tambourine that only shows up in the last chorus.
• Keep the session’s sample rate. If you tracked at 48k, send 48k. 24-bit WAV or better.
• Turn off everything on your master bus. Limiters especially.
• If a plugin is part of the sound (the amp sim, the weird delay on the vocal), print it, and send a dry version too.
• Name things like a person will read them. “Gtr L crunch” beats “Audio 14_03”.
• Consolidate your comps. We don’t need all 30 takes, just the one you picked.
• Send your rough mix. It’s the most useful file in the folder, because it tells us what you’ve been hearing for the last six months.
• Write a few lines about the song. Reference tracks help. “Like this, but not that part” helps even more.

About loud roughs

If your rough has a limiter on it, the first mix back can sound smaller next to it even when it’s better. Turn them to the same level before you judge. Loudness gets set in mastering.

If you’re not sure about any of this, send what you have and ask. It’s easier to sort out before the mix starts than after.