Max Norman Interview On Working W/ Randy Rhoads!

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CROWLEY
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Max Norman Interview On Working W/ Randy Rhoads!

Post by CROWLEY »

Hi Everyone,

The following is a interview with producer Max Norman Who worked w/ Ozzy and Randy on the albums Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman and helped mix the Tribute album.This article was printed in the Guitar World May 1992 issue.Hope you all enjoy it.

GW-WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH RANDY?

NORMAN:Unbelievable! He had a vast knowledge of music theory, and his ability to orchestrate and embellish with overdubs was second to none.He rarely needed to experiment, since he could already hear the overall result in his head!There aren't many musician's blessed with that gift.Granted, it's not tough to imagine what one or two parts will sound like, but Randy had the ability to hear four or five.Also, some of his chordal progressions were as intense as hell, thanks, in part, to the weird and wonderful inversions he would throw in.Actually, some of the chord shapes he drew on were so odd and dissonant-sounding that most people wouldn't be able to make them sound good through a cranked-up Marshall.But Randy never had that problem-he could take the most unlikely chord and make it sing.

GW: HOW QUICKLY DID RANDY GET HIS PARTS DOWN ON TAPE?

NORMAN:He was fast!yet he was also a perfectionist in the truest sense of the word.If he made the tiniest error in a section, he would always insist on doing the whole thing over, rather than punching it in or out.Also, he walked into every session totally prepared.Some artists waste hours and hours of valuable and very expensive studio time trying to find their next part, not Randy.

GW:YOU MANAGED TO RECORD SOME GREAT GUITAR TONES ON BOTH BLIZZARD OF OZZ AND DIARY OF A MADMAN.

NORMAN:I'm really proud of both.On the first record Randy played most of his parts on his old polka-dot Flying V.That thing had an unreal high-frequency response.When we needed a thicker, chunkier sound, we used his cream colored Gibson Les Paul.We used the same old 100 watt Marshall head for both albums, and we always ran it through two stacked 4x12 cabinets.The studio was built in a old barn and we managed to get a really big sound by experimenting with speaker and microphone placements-and a lot of volume.One of the recording area's had concrete walls, wich we used to great advantage.We place Randy's stack about three feet from the back wall- faceing the wall-opened the sliding doors that partitioned this area and let the sound funnel it's way into the main studio.I miked his set-up in this fashion: I put a shure 57 on each cabinet, and a shure 87 on the steps just outside the sliding doors, and finshed off by placing two Neumanns in the middle of the main studio.

Randy always had his famous old pedalboard in line and he'd kick in various boxes from time to time during his solo's.God, was that contraption noisey! Ozzy used to jokingly refer to it it as the chip pan, because that's what the wretched thing sounded like when the Marshall was on 11.Along with the chip pan, we used some out board effects to help shape certain sounds.We used a old Lexicon reverb from time to time.But the unit we used most had to be an AMS 1580 digital delay.If you set one of those babies correctly, it's possiable to achive some true weirdness.The incredible rhythm grind to "Crazy Train" is a great exsample of what can be accomplished with the aid of the AMS.

Because we were happy with blizzard, we approached the guitar sounds on the DIARY album in pretty much the same way.The only real difference is that Randy performed most of his parts in the control room, as opposed to playing in the recording area while wearing headphones.Since the recording room at Ridge Farm is situated above the live room, were Randy's stack was set up, we ended up feeding his guitar signal to his Marshall via the recording deskvia the recording desk.By adopting this approach we were able to alter his tone
a lot merely by compressing and/ or EQing the signal before it reached the Marshall head.That technique turned out to be quite useful in certain instances.

GW: DIDN'T RANDY DOUBLE OR TRIPLE TRACK MANY OF HIS RHYTHM PARTS?

NORMAN:He certainly did.His accuracy was incredible:some of the things he pulled off amazed me.He was able to change an already complex part quite drastically and then duplicate it immediately.Most of his rhythm tracks were duplicated three or four times in order to add to the fullness of the song. He did alot of subtle, but effective orchestral overdubs in certain area's as well.They're the sort of things that don't exactly lep from the speakers and grab you, but you'd sure as hell miss them if they weren't there.

GW: WERE MOST OF HIS LEADS TRIPLE TRACKED AS WELL?

NORMAN:Yes. In truth, most of them were triple tracked- that's why they sounded so bloody big.If you listen very, very intently to some of his leads through headphones, you'll hear the main track in the center, backed up by two other, identical takes that have been pulled back in the mix and panned out hard left to right.For the benefit of cynics, I must stress that none of this was accomplished through the electronic wizardry of ADT or "artificial" harmonizing.Randy did it all himself cause he was so very good at duplicatinghis parts identically, over and over again.He could makes three passes sound like one, and that's something that is incredibly difficult to accomplish.

GW:EVERYTHING YOU'VE SAID SUGGESTS THAT THE BULK OF RANDY'S SOLO'S WERE PRE-ARRANGED

NORMAN:Yeah, in most cases he a very firm idea of what he was going to do.On a few occaions, Randy decided to make slight alterations to his pre-arranged leads.But, as I said earlier, whenever he did this he was able to duplicate the new version without any rehearsal.It was almost as if he had a photographic memory of what ever he played.In a few instances, Randy didn't start composing a solo until all his rhythm tracks were completed, at wich time he would ask me to loop a tape of the solo section.Then he'd take the night off to work out exactly what he was going to play.The great lead break in "Flying High Again" was one such solo.

GW: WHAT MEMORIES OF WORKING WITH RANDY ARE MOST VIVID IN YOUR MIND?

NORMAN:Some of my favorite things were the unplanned momments-the spontaneous stuff that sounded good, we had to leave them in.Like the noises at the beginning to "Believer", Randy was goofing around one day and I just happened to roll the tape.When we both listened to the results, we looked at each other and said "God! that's sounds great, let's keep it!".

GW:WHAT DO YOU THINK RANDY'S PLAYING WOULD BE LIKE IF HE WERE STILL WITH US TODAY?

NORMAN:In a word, frightening.Most definitely frightening.In addition to being a very talented guitarist, Randy was an incredibly dedicate dmusician who worked on his playing and music theory knowledge all the time.The improvments he made in his playing in the relativley short period of time between recording the two albumswas nothing short of stonishing.While we were making both records, all Randy did was play and chain smoke.If he wasn't recording, he would be locked away somehwere working on a new part or practicing.By no means was he anti-social-it was just that studio time was of a premium and he wanted to make the most of it.I mean, if we we badgered him hard enough, he would occasionally take a break from his beloved guitar and join us in the bar for a rum and coke or two.

Phenomenal as his studio performances were, he was even better live.On stage he seemed to totally come into his own.The first time I ever saw him play a gig, I was completly blown away.because he somehow managed to make it sound like there was alwaysat least one other guitarist up there with him. As far as I'm concerned, he wasn't even vaguely close to achieving what he was capable of, musically, when he died.
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RR-ElectricAngel
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Post by RR-ElectricAngel »

That was great--Helps me a lot on the project I am currently working on.
To be a teacher you must never stop learning yourself...
frank
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Post by frank »

wow.
Stiltzkin
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Post by Stiltzkin »

Great read :D
mj_patrick
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Post by mj_patrick »

Great read indeed, and an inspiration no doubt.
evoleye
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Post by evoleye »

Nice, never read anything from him surprisingly... thanks for a good read.
Let's go crazzzyyyy!!!!!!!!
James UK
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Post by James UK »

Very, very interesting read mate!
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Geo Sav
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Post by Geo Sav »

I remember reading that back in the day. Thanx for whipping that out again.
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