My everyday essentials.

I wanna dedicate more posts toward what I do day to day. I dont do as much freelance site to site as much as other guys having a pretty steady client for the last 1 and a half, but there are things I still like to have with me when I head out to a session. I usually carry the same bag with all these things in it. Most thigs I use every day, others are for just in case circumstances.

I always carry a portable drive for tons of reasons. While recording Here I Stand, it was important to keep several backups for mix uploads, making Mp3's for the label, or those awesome 4am sessions all over Atlanta. I guarded this drive with my life while tracking all those songs, after the album dropped I exhaled and immediately did a backup of this drive and erased it. Hence the "Instant Death" written in sharpie on it.




An extra set of headphones can be a lifesaver and just a generally good thing to have if ur ever doing ruffs in an unfamiliar place. These 7506's are pretty standard sets around the world, Im pretty used to them and know exactly how they sound.




I Stay on MLK, nuff said.



Any engineer who is worth their day rate owns a few " Go To" plug ins. For such things these ilocks contain the licenses for said plug ins so they can operate on any computer you decided to install them on. I own a couple joints, not as many as some but they are very valuble to me none the less. Master X, Melodyne, SSL, and Filter Freak to name a few. I also keep a couple of jump drives for quick transfers and backups, and my Logic 7 key.




Hands down the most important thing I take with me besides my harddrive is my laptop. I would lose my mind if I didnt have my lappy with me on most writing sessions that occur at the 2 spots I work at. I have most of my LIFE on this thing. I always back up my itunes and the entire HD for that matter using time machine, which is great cause we all have had a drive go bad one time or another. Im currently graphing my joint out, I need to go ahead and hit up SK8TIQUE for some stickers and finish it off.




Now this I cannot front is probably pretty silly to most guys. So instead of keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the studio Im working at would have one ( doppler never does lol) I just decided to keep one on deck at all times. Now dont get it twisted, I'll track with anything but I prefer to have this joint simply for the side to side scroll action and it being so easy to carry around.




My manuals. Now i dont refer to these all that much but I do believe its important to always be up to date with the latest programs and staying in the loop so to speak with the standards set by our industry. Miles turned me onto Melodyne and is a must for R&B sessions though its kinda time consuming to use during a session i usually wait till after the client leaves to break it out and start tuning vocals.