• Fire and Rain •
The Chamber at Sunset Sound, Studio 1, gives Russ Kunkel’s tom fills a delicate but somehow thunderous sound. — a perfect reverberant touch for his expressive performance using brushes.
The lead vocal is sent to the same chamber, adding a bit of width and resonance while preserving an intimate, close-miked sound. The upright bass masks the sound of the chamber on the vocal much of the time, but you can catch it between words and at the end of some phrases. The chamber is revealed nicely right after “know” and “gone” in the first line. The Point here isn’t to hear a lead vocal soaked in reverberation, rather the chamber perceptually blends with James Taylor’s voice, contributing to the timbral richness of his voice.
- Artist: James Taylor
- Album: Sweet Baby James
- Label: Warner Bros.
- Year: 1970
- Producer: Peter Asher
- Engineer: Bill Lazerus
- Studio: Sunset Sound, Studio 1, Hollywood, CA USA