In this digital age of software such as Reason, Pro Tools, and even Garage Band the idea of a single person recording and engineering a song is a very common occurence. Would you be as shocked as I was to learn that this was the very case for one of the most iconcic songs of 80’s popular culture. If you want to get a song recorded and mixed at the very last minute you should be calling Ray Parker Jr.
It is nice to know that procrastination does not stop at college and continues on to the Hollywood level of filmmaking. That was the story behind how Ray Parker Jr. landed the gig of recording a song for the classic 80’s film Ghostbusters. Parker's old friend Gary LeMel came to him and asked him to see if he would watch this film Ghostbusters and write a song for it. The only catch was that he only had two days to get this song to him. Talk about pressure. Nearing the deadline by hours Parker was finally struck with inspiration on how to apply the word Ghostbusters into a song. Only problem was with this being so late there was no time to call in any band members, he would have to play all the instruments himself.
What I love about this mix, espeically after reading about how it was gestated, is just how busy it sounds but the same time it is very simplistic in terms of tracks. A great quote from Parker Jr. about the instruments played is “It sounds big, but it's really just one rhythm guitar part, one lead guitar part, a horn keyboard [synth] part, one bass part, one drum part and some synthesizer overdubs. Then I overdubbed the sax later.” None of the tracks are even doubled up, each instrument is just it's own track. I would really just love and feel relieved if I ever had to deal with just a 9 track song like this one.
It is nice to know that procrastination does not stop at college and continues on to the Hollywood level of filmmaking. That was the story behind how Ray Parker Jr. landed the gig of recording a song for the classic 80’s film Ghostbusters. Parker's old friend Gary LeMel came to him and asked him to see if he would watch this film Ghostbusters and write a song for it. The only catch was that he only had two days to get this song to him. Talk about pressure. Nearing the deadline by hours Parker was finally struck with inspiration on how to apply the word Ghostbusters into a song. Only problem was with this being so late there was no time to call in any band members, he would have to play all the instruments himself.
What I love about this mix, espeically after reading about how it was gestated, is just how busy it sounds but the same time it is very simplistic in terms of tracks. A great quote from Parker Jr. about the instruments played is “It sounds big, but it's really just one rhythm guitar part, one lead guitar part, a horn keyboard [synth] part, one bass part, one drum part and some synthesizer overdubs. Then I overdubbed the sax later.” None of the tracks are even doubled up, each instrument is just it's own track. I would really just love and feel relieved if I ever had to deal with just a 9 track song like this one.
All of this is a result of everything being down to the wire, but it actually turns out to be very effective. Trying to actually pinpoint when each instrument would pop up sometimes would drive me nuts just because they all play off of each other so well. It was part of the reason why I was having such an issue trying to replicate it in Reason.
Even with all the synth parts that appear, there is no fancy mixing effects to be heard. This could be either due to the fact time was of the essence but Parker Jr. recalled "It was one of those days when everything came together — bang, bang, bang — and it didn't seem like I could do anything wrong. The bass part sounded great, the drums were big. Everything sounded fat." Knowing this really inspires me that my work doesn't always need to rely on plug-ins to get something that is studio caliber. Sometimes you just got to put that effort in the raw recording and get it right before you hit any hardware. If I look at it this way in terms of trying to replicate, as long as I had the raw recordings I would have the song Ghostbusters sounding perfect.
Instruments: Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Bass, Drums, Synths: Korg Poly 61, Jupiter 6, Horn Keyboard
Mixing Board: MCI -24 and MCI Multitracks
Engineer: Ray Parker Jr. and Steve Holquist
Studio Recorded: Ameraycan
Studio Mastered: Ameraycan
Mix Analysis:
Rhythm guitar starts to play an emergency vehicle sirenesque rhythm and continues throughout the song, there is some panning to the right in the beginning (00:00- 1:00)
What I believe to be some of the horn keyboards start to play their first part (00:02 - 00:11)
Lead guitar makes its entrance into the song with an echoy strum to set up the main beat (00:06 - 00:09)
Snare drums start off a rhythm that transitions into the main drum beat (00:10 - 00:12)
Drums, and both guitar parts continue a beat throughout the remaining of the song (00:12 - 1:00)
One of the synth keyboards plays a part at (00:12)
Synth returns with one of the main lines at (00:20 - 00:28)
First vocal part of the song appears with "Ghostbusters" being yelled (00:26)
Ray Parker Jr. has his first vocal part (00:29 - 00:34)
Second apperance of the "Ghostbusters" shouting (00:35)
Ray Parker Jr. has his second vocal part (00:36 - 00:42)
Third apperance of "Ghostbusters" vocal (00:43)
The horn synth keyboard line begins to play (00:45 - 01:00)
Ray Parker Jr. vocal of "I ain't afraid of no ghosts" (00:51 - 01:00
Ray Parker Jr has also recorded with such artists as Barry White, Stanley Turrentine, Tina Turner, Boz Scaggs, Herbie Hancock
Research: http://mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_ray_parker_jrs/index.html
Great analysis!
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