Guitar Tricks Insider June/July Edition | Page 38

COVER STORY
associate who also happened to be the guest lead vocalist on Pink Floyd ’ s “ Have a Cigar .”) “ When it started up , I remembered exactly what the circumstances were .” Page continues , “ All the subtleties and how intricate it is – I was very keen to do something along the country blues aspect of things . It started off that night with experiments like double-tracking the harmonica through my amp – that thing with the vibrato where it ’ s really eerie . And then I just got the guitar and said , ‘ Well , we ’ ll do a blues .’ I started the intro , and we just locked into what you hear .”
Robert Plant used his own connection to blues to take “ Harper ” even further . “ It really just goes to show how in sync Robert and I were , you know ? It ’ s got its moments . Again , it ’ s that sort of approach to the blues that isn ’ t the way other people would do it . I was really pleased doing things through the amplifier because it really worked . And Robert is singing so brilliantly around the vibrato effect , isn ’ t he ?”
Taking an honest approach with the final mix has always been one of Page ’ s calling cards as a producer . “ All of these mixes are of the time . There ’ s no jiggery-pokery . It ’ s all the real deal , man . What you hear on ‘ Whole Lotta Love ’ – that ’ s the sum of one night ’ s recording when we did it in London . That ’ s the original vocal on it . As far as the drums go , well , there are extra things that go on in the middle with the percussion and everything . It ’ s the same with ‘ Heartbreaker ’ [ the blistering Zep II track ], as well – that guitar in the middle of it is what was done on the recording straight off .”
As Zep ’ s longtime sonic caretaker , Page has the right sources on hand when it comes to the remastering : “ I have a huge collection of quarter-inch tapes from all the sessions . It ’ s because I was the producer of the band ; so consequently , I have far more tapes than anybody else did . The original recordings were analog tape ; and they were done for vinyl during the late ’ 60s and the ’ 70s . The CDs that were put out of that material came from copy tapes – and they weren ’ t very good to be honest with you . That ’ s why the original tapes were brought back out again – the master tapes
– and they were remastered . I knew it was going to be a huge , epic task . But I wanted to make sure it was all really superb and was going to hold up . That ’ s how I was driven .”
While there are many ways to experience the Zeppelin catalog these days , Page is adamant about his own preferences . “ The best way to listen to Led Zeppelin is off the analog tapes . But unfortunately I can ’ t invite you around to listen to them ,” he says with a chuckle . “ The vinyl masters of all the studio albums you know quite clearly are going to be the best ones . Personally , I never let go of vinyl even when CDs came onto the scene . But what I would recommend to you is that you don ’ t listen to Led Zeppelin on MP3s . That ’ s for sure .”
Page , the master of light and shade , understands that technology progresses . So to that end he mixed and mastered “ really , really high-resolution files for whatever system comes next .” And that ’ s Jimmy Page ’ s Led Zeppelin directive for you in a nutshell : Making sure the song remains the same for eager listeners and appreciative guitar players for generations to come . ■
Mike Mettler writes the weekly Audiophile column for the Digital Trends website and is also the music editor of Sound & Vision . He interviews artists and producer about their love of music and its creation on his own site ,
The SoundBard ( www . soundbard . com )
38 DIGITAL EDITION
JUNE / JULY

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