New in ProTools World

So....first off, let me say, J I know this took way to long to come up with, but I hope it's up to par.  I know you doing ya thing out in vegas...just like my dude here:



To everyone else, what's really good....this is Miles Walker.  I'm also an engineer based out Atlanta, GA.  I'm a self proclaimed gear head and full on studio rat too, and have been given the opportunity to share on my biggest homie's blog, so I hope I do it all justice.  For those that don't know me, I think an ichat convo between me and my homie AJ pretty much describe how J and I are linked in the universe...



I've felt the key to a good blog is to keep it short and sweet, and have a lot of pics.  I hope I can meet those requirements....

It took a while to come up with a topic I wanted to hit the mean streets of gridlock with, but it's something that will undoubtedly become a part of all our daily engineering and production lives.  The newest version of ProTools...version 8.   Most all studios have not yet upgraded to this version, while I only know of a few comrades that have upgrade the LE rig.  I decided to NOT go my usual route on this one and get all the facts in and go ahead and upgrade to PT HD 8 for my personal rig.  There is a lot to be said about this update.  The most obvious is the HUGE interface  update.  The visual is completely different than older versions and takes a good deal of getting used to.  Things off hand that jump out are the change of pan sliders to pan knobs, additional 5 mix insert points (10 plugins per track, not 5), and improved audiosuite/disk performance.  Here's Killface holding a channel strip:

Some things that don't jump right out, but are also nice changes include: DRAMATICALLY faster session load times, backwards compatibility without saving as a different session type (you do lose a few features however), as well as the option to load a session without plugins (for quick references), Some really nice bus and I/O listing options (as in, when you use a bus it is now color coded and easy to see) New included AIR effects plugins ( all kinds of distortion, modulation, filter, verb, etc), as well as AIR synths (piano, organ, drum mods, etc).  I think these upgrades are in direct competition with Logic, as the MIDI tracks and sequencing is also improved.  I'm not going to delve into that faction too much on this post, but trust....for a producer looking to use a software sequencer, I would have never recommend ProTools 7...but the more time I spend with 8, i'd consider it. 

Well...i'm going to cut it short there for my first big outting...but if you guys have any particular questions about PT 8...just hit me on my beeper

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The Trip so far...

So i decided i should put up a lil update of my trip here in vegas. I absolutely love the studio here at the palms casino. I cant stress how cool the assistants and studio staff are here. The funniest guys ever work here and they stay on top of orders and client demands. I dont care for vegas the city as much but I havent really had a chance to get out and see what it has to offer. If failure or broken dreams had an Olympic games, lets just say vegas would be the front runner to host the event. Other than that ive had a pretty good time hanging with Drew, pharrell and chads engineer, and getting to know P himself who is just about the most humble and down to earth guy ever. Super funny and talented at that, a rarity in this industry. Weve tracked several songs at this point and I dumped my regular setup as far as pre amp and compressor's go, and opted to use The avalon 737, which is what Drew uses from time to time on P. We still rented a M1 and the studio has 2 tube tech CL1B's which I used to cut the first days record with. We have 2 Sony C800's setup just in case we cut vocals in seperate rooms. This is pretty much what i use as far as vocal chain when I work with Ush, on the road or back in Atlanta. About the coolest part so far has been watching the guys make beats and them writing songs together. This week will be no different, 2 very huge artists are on there way here as we speak to do songs with Ush, stay tuned for updates!

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Another day, another star

So today in the studio was especially cool. We had all sorts of people come through the yo to visit with the guys. Micheal Rapaport came through to interview P about A Tribe Called Quest, which I totally missed cause I was watching the game but I was around when Adam Levine from Maroon 5 came in to visit not knowing we were working. Really cool guy and super animated. He played guitar on one of the tracks we were doing and it came out hot. enjoy some pics and check back for more updates.

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Studio At The Palms: Usher and Neptunes Sessions

I love the studio here. Definately one of my fav's so far. Awesome staff and great amenities, this studio is ran near perfect. The assistants are always good for a laugh and know the rooms very well. If your ever in town and working make sure you ask for Conor or Ryon, their they best. Working here with The neptunes has been great. Ive learned alot just watching them work with their engineer Drew Coleman on the several songs theyve done so far. I will definately remember these sessions for years to come and would like to share some of my photos from the day. Make sure you check out my flickr page for the rest of the joints and updates.

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VEGAS!!!

So im finally in Vegas and getting used to the new city since I've never been here before, let alone to be working with some of my favorite producers ever at the same time.
I met with my couz and we kicked it over at the bar downstairs, which i might add is crazy enough with all the gambling going down, was fun and enlightening. This city will leave you broke from what I hear and ya boy aint even having it so dont worry, ill be leaving with more money than I came with lol. Heres some pics I did shoot some vids but I wanna put some more stuff together before I do all that, stay tuned!

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Enjoy Some New Photos...

So I finally got the camera Ive been obsessing over today, The nikon D90. Now im new to this whole photography thing, but its been something Ive wanted to do for a while now. This camera is sick, shoots HD video and shoots photos with 12.1 megapixels. Stay tuned for some new HD vids of us in the studio working or chilling and just some more artsy joints of gear and whatever i see that looks cool.

Chilling At Patchwerk from J Stevenson on Vimeo.

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JD And Trey Songz Living The Life

If you dont keep up with JD's Youtube page and his Living The Life series, you should. For him to actually stay taping and posting these vids with an inside look at his process is amazing. I wish I had this when i was younger, JD being one of my fav producers ever and one of the reasons I even moved to Atlanta in the first place. Dope vid check out the rest of his series via youtube.com/jd1472

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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.

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I fucks Wit Luda Lol

I love this song, produced by the big homie Cannon!. Love the video and the concept, alotta local industry heads in this joint, Luda is one of the most underated creative people period. He's a dope actor awesome rapper and takes a hand in everything that comes to the table whether it be movies music or his own video's, ya gotta respect it.

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JD back on his grizzy via Youtube

Love his channel on youtube, always ome interesting stuff on there from the parties, to the behind the scenes footage of him working in the studio. Glad he actually keeps up with his vlogging and giving the fans some insight on what goes on in the yo. Check him out as he cooks up some heat and then producing vocals with his artist Dondria.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JD1472

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