Okay...well, maybe it isn't that, but this is a shot of the writing room my client and I sometimes work when we aren't in Silent or PWR...
This is a small PT based rig that I put togther so we could do some demo song ideas. Kinda hard to tell from the garbage pic, but the studio is equipped with my mic, mic pre, compressor, converters, candle, cup of coffee, but most important is visible....Killface.
LOL at goes to the nearest Sonoco. Funny as hell. Another night at PWR.
Yessir...the work up here continues...as it's been going well writing and getting some ideas together. I'm still slipping on getting my camera game up to par, so please forgive me for now....
This was our set up when writing with Eric Hudson. Dude is crazy talented, and is fun to record, because he doesn't sequence anything, he plays it all live...the closest thing you're going to get to rocking with a live band these days! He doesn't use any software synths (which I tried to help him get up on, cuz he travels a lot and his rental bill is SUBSTANTIAL), but uses the Fantom for a lot of horns, and the motif for a lot of stings and stuff. It was a good hang, and got some cool ideas put down.
I'm not going off on a rant here, but to all the folks out there recording...PLEASE keep those sessions well organized and labeled. There is nothing worse than working on a session somebody else recorded and see the tracks labels audio 1-97. Come on man....we are professionals here, this is our science. Scientist label shit. End of story.
Stopped by the office the other day for a nice biz transaction with Ben Allen...results to be posted shortly during my gear extravaganza post...and saw Monica and Brad and the Milk Money mascots Juno and Coltrane!
Well....that's what's been up for a few days....I'm working up that nice gear post....but will probably hit up some ridiculous topic like favorite studio foods first to balance out my nerdom. Hollertreezaleeezy 9000.
Mixing classics like the ones Tony's done in his career should be of topic whenever he does a mix related interview. Fantasy by Mariah Carey? come on that mix is incredible. Here in this part 2 of 4 series as he speaks on his influences and mixing back in the day.
Another night at Patchwerk, but what makes this night different is the fact I actually got a picture with me, Les and Mike in it. And it only took 4 years and some change but hey, it happened lol. Ima look back at this pic and wonder what the hell we were actually doing but as always pretty much nothing. Me and les are a lil out of focus but still cool, peep my hoodie...fresh
Gotta say shout out to Leslie for letting me get a few days in 9K....Always happy to work over there (and I dropped the Master Trim on the 2 Bus so my client can't beat up on the mains quite so much!). We've just been steady in here writing songs for various heads the past few days....it's been going really well. I'm actually very happy with how well my boot drive has been performing. Handy to have my version of ProTools up and roaring just like the home rig.
Snotty was also getting it in over in 995 working on some hot beats for the streets....making a hot hook too, shit should be my ringtone....here's me trying to jump in the chair so I can get some credit when it becomes a #1 smash world wide...
Working lots of places is one of my favorite things about being an engineer. I don't wanna get to lame sounding with it, but I think different studios have different vibes and different energy and can make creativity come in different forms. For a writer it could be new melodies, for a producer a new keyboard sound, and for engineers maybe different tracking or mix ideas. With all of that said, I like to have a few things that are always the same. (IE my boot drive and rack gear). I'll do another post soon about my choice outboard...but I also meant like having a vibe set up. Something I like doing is having my little collection of stuff around at different studios....BEHOLD!
I'm always bringing stuff like this around and setting it up....Not really for anybody other than me. Some clients kinda like them...some are freaked out by them....but its just my thing I like doing when I'm working. Well, that's about it for now...more to come soon. Shout out to Obama, like him, i'm trying to get mine in the '09
Being back in The ATL is great. Kinda missed being around and seeing my friends and all. But Im back lounging and what not till we get back on it later this week, hopefully here in Atlanta.
I get asked all the time whats my GO TO vocal chain. Well as of late Ive had the urge to kinda change it up so to speak, I picture myself as a minimalist, if thats even a word. I try not to impede or impact the source signal too much, if I dont have to. I love the way things sound natural, without any coloring, unless it needs it. Ive worked for the same person for almost 2 years now. I know his voice pretty well. I can tell when he has had the right amount of rest, or when he hasnt slept at all. I can hear when hes coming down with a cold or if his voice has been worked too hard with rehearsals and late sessions. Ive stopped him before to let give him a break because hes not sounding his absolute best, thats what Im there for ya know? He has such an awesome tone he doesnt really need much help in that department. What i use i consider a very clean and transparent Mic Pre and Compressor.
Alllllright! Legit Engineering post! (but only cuz J was trying to one up me with the Tony post....shout outs to Tony to, I know he's a regular to the blog). Got it in the other day up at Patchwerk 9000 working on some song ideas for a few peeps out there....Here's some low rent pics (you guys are just gonna have to get your deal with it on, J dropped a gem on a fly camera to make his post crispy cream, I dropped a jem on software that i'm using in the super lowfi iphone pic...)
...a bit hard to see in the pic, but I"m actually running ProTools 8 as I was talking about in my previous post. Most all studios (at least in ATL right now) aren't on 8, but i've gotten used to it, and have all my plugins are presets save on my home computer....so what I did was actually CLONE my internal hard drive from my rig, and carry that cloned drive to studios and boot off that. So in essenece, i'm only using their work rig for processing....all the software (OSX 10.5.6, ProTools 8, ALL MY PLUGINS, Logic, my personal itunes, etc...) is all off on my boot drive. So that's pretty cool...and handy.
Here's another in action:
this one you can also see something new i'm trying out...I'm having all the artists we work with sign my gear rack...only a few on there now...when it gets respectable I'll hit a proper pic then....
Alright team....that's about it for now...but I'll holler back with more soon......let's goooooooooo!
Finding the focus when it comes to mixing is something im sure every engineer struggles with from time to time. Here Mr. Maserati talks about what is or will peak his interest during mixing and what he thinks will be the most compelling part of a track hes mixing. Great series on youtube that I will post the entire 4 series episode in the next few days. Heres part 1, enjoy!
Aight...another lenient post about engineering...but I was hanging out with engineers all night!! My homie J got back in town, so tonight we had to kick it up at 6 feet under and get our scrimps on. After that is the obligatory return to patchwerk to hang out and watch a game of madden between Leslie and Snotty pop off....the proceedings:
yeah...sorry J, ya boy isn't rocking the Nikon D90 mark II beta lense phase omotoper camera....straight iphone status. Which adds the hot mysterious effect, no extra charge. Shit was proper. Well....that's about it, but more to follow. Actual work post tomorrow. Ya boy is back on the blog tip J! Only took 6 months! But we're back Mortamer, we're back!
(am I more like randolph in this pic?)
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