Recorded In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel’s second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea , was produced by Schneider, and was recorded from July to September 1997. Schneider used new recording techniques to capture Mangum’s lo-fi preferences. Mangum liked having a layer of distortion over the music, but Schneider did not use standard effects equipment such as Big Muffs or distortion pedals . Instead, Schneider used heavy compression and placed a Bellari RP-220 tube mic pre-amp close to Mangum’s guitar. Schneider then ran the sound through a mixing console , and maxed out the sound on a cassette tape. This process was done for nearly every instrument used on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea . Schneider claimed that the nonlinearities of microphone distortion gave the album its unique “warm” quality.