Sleep producer Billy Anderson talks about the recording of Dopesmoker

Billy was gracious enough to recount the recording of Dopesmoker for me - specifically what amps and mics were used to get that tone. He's an incredibly talented guy with a silly list of albums and bands he has worked with - including producing all of Sleep's recorded material. Check out his website for a comprehensive list - http://www.billyanderson.net

Hey man-
Thanks for the kind words...
That was a long time ago, but..its still really clear in my
mind what was used because that album was such a struggle and
achievement...Anyhow, for basic tracking (I'm pretty sure this
track was used throughout the mixing process as a center track,
except for the "scratch" solos..) we used a Green Matamp with a
Green 4x12 cab, mic'd with an Sm57 and a Beyer M88. For the
main guitars, we used two full stacks, one stack driven by a
Green Matamp and the other driven by a Green Matamp Combo amp
(I think it had 2x12" speakers) on the front end and a Slave
Unit power amp on the back end...Each stack was mic'd close
with SM7 and M88 with a room mic (probably a large diaphragm
Neumann U67) and all mics summed to one track on tape. This
setup was used to double the main guitar. So at that point we
had the original live track and two performances of the setup
with 2 stacks, equalling three tracks total.
THEN--on certain parts of the song, for texture and dimension,
we did an additional rhythm track using a fucking Pignose amp,
open halfway with an AKG 414 in figure 8 pattern inserted into
the open amp...Fucked up, right?
After that, solos were done with the 2-full stack setup or the
Pignose depending on which solo...Clean guitars were done with
the Matamp combo at low volume with a ribbon mic close up and a
room mic...
Does this help you? Thanks for the compliments. One day I/we will write a book
about that recording---it's an amazing story!!!
Be well, riff on..
BA

Sleep - Live at Kennel Club - 2-22-1994 - San Francisco, CA

1) Intro
2) From Beyond
3) Dopesmoker
4) Aquarian

"We're Sleep, and we like NyQuil."

'From Beyond' is one of my favorite Sleep tracks and yeah, it sounds great when you are definitely high, but the best part of the track here is the second half, which starts in just before the 11-minute mark - powerful, hard riffage leading into a great solo. Here, Pike really nails it - one of the better solos I have heard from him. Both Al and Matt sound great and distinct and the Green Matamp thing is most definitely happening.

'Dopesmoker' is again the early version and its actually a great version on its own. Some of the riffs that ended up on the record are there in their infancy, and the song definitely feels unfinished and kind of dies at the end. 'Aquarian' is also killer, with Al in full voice and you can feel the power with which they are playing - slow and loud and backed up by some amazing tone.

The crowd is decently enthusiastic, but sounds sparse - what sounds like 20 people. You can almost hear individual people in between songs.

It's amazing to think of them at this time as Holy Mountain was out and doing well, but they were still mostly an underground phenomenon.

Sleep performing Dopesmoker at Hornstulls Strand Sweeden

A bitchin' video I wanted to share - and I am still looking to add this show to my collection! Matt's playing through his Blackstar amps (he's an endorser through High On Fire) and still getting that awesome overdriven Green sound. Fantastic stuff. Great sound quality and lighting so its easy to see what's up.