Mon, 7 August 2006
Big news, a short Gear Review, we tweak The Stupid Knob, Big Al's Gear Conundrum continues and we answer a boat-load of Viewer Mail.. News:
Digidesign's Free Plugins - Signal Tools Secrets Of Songwriting E-book Special iZotope Updates "Vinyl" The mini amp that plugs directly into your guitar! Crosstalk: Big Al's Gear Conundrum Continues! Viewer Mail:
Brainspawn's Forte VI Host Ed Bradshaw's Gaelcast RocketSounds.com Ryan Smyth - Guitar & Drum Trainer See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer ssl solid state logic gaelcast |
Mon, 31 July 2006
Big news, an expanded super Viewer Mail segment and the second half of a fantastic interview with Brian Stephens from the Music Pro Show. News:
VstNotes - Free Plugin Ryan Smith from RenegadeMinds.com wins the Best Application Using .Net award at the Shareware Industry Awards Banquet in Denver, Colorado US again this year for Guitar And Drum Trainer. Later, Ryan also received the Silver Faucet award for 2006. Free Drum Loops From BetaMonkey Music Questions answered from Dave Criddle, Rick Kovars, Tim Burgess and Stuart Winkleman. Here's a picture of Stuart and his wife, "The Rocket" and the jet Stuart pilots (Falcon 900) while listening to the show! Celebrity Interview: Brian Stephens is a music business veteran. As a freelance drummer, he has backed such diverse artists as The Drifters, The Coasters, The Crystals, Blueground Undergrass, Jimmy Hall, and Wet Willie. As a producer and engineer, Brian has worked on projects for Warner Bros., Verizon Wireless, Fox Sports, and 20th Century Fox as well as CD projects for indie artists such as Mike Martin, Amber Brooke, Tentilfour, Magno, and Ocean Street. As an educator, Brian has performed drum clinics all over the country, written for magazines like Modern Drummer and Performer Magazine, and given personal instruction to thousands of drummers, audio engineers, and other music business professionals. He's also the host of a fantastic podcast called The Music Pro Show and the author of Stickin' It Out - The Anatomy Of A Professional Drummer. This is part two of a nice chat we had with Brian about playing and recording music at all levels, from the home studio to the mega commercial facility.
Stickin' It Out - The Anatomy Of A Professional Drummer MusicProShow.com BonzoTunes.com OceanStreetMusic.com Brian's MySpace Profile Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer ssl solid state logic sweetwater roger nichols digital duy the drifters the coasters the crystals blueground undergrass warner bros fox sports verizon wireless ocean street music pro show myspace |
Tue, 25 July 2006
Big news and a fantastic interview with Brian Stephens from the Music Pro Show. News:
Solid State Logic (SSL) Listen Mic Compressor Plugin http://PumpAudio.com Contact: Andy Diekroger at Sweetwater (800) 222-4700 Ext. 1273 DUY Magic Spectrum Strike - The Ultimate Virtual Drummer from Digidesign Celebrity Interview: Brian Stephens is a music business veteran. As a freelance drummer, he has backed such diverse artists as The Drifters, The Coasters, The Crystals, Blueground Undergrass, Jimmy Hall, and Wet Willie. As a producer and engineer, Brian has worked on projects for Warner Bros., Verizon Wireless, Fox Sports, and 20th Century Fox as well as CD projects for indie artists such as Mike Martin, Amber Brooke, Tentilfour, Magno, and Ocean Street. As an educator, Brian has performed drum clinics all over the country, written for magazines like Modern Drummer and Performer Magazine, and given personal instruction to thousands of drummers, audio engineers, and other music business professionals. He's also the host of a fantastic podcast called The Music Pro Show and the author of Stickin' It Out - The Anatomy Of A Professional Drummer. We sat down and had a nice chat with Brian about playing and recording music at all levels, from the home studio to the mega commercial facility. See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer ssl solid state logic sweetwater roger nichols digital duy the drifters the coasters the crystals blueground undergrass warner bros fox sports verizon wireless ocean street music pro show myspace |
Mon, 17 July 2006
News, a great interview with project studio owner Stewart McClellan, some Viewer Mail regarding patchbays, Big Al's Gear and Studio Upgrade Conundrum continues, we tweak the Stupid Knob and we have a new contest! We'd also like to thank this week's Big Tipper Aaron Griffith! News:
Live 6 Interactive Tour Airspun.com Combo Mac OS X Updates Compatible With Pro Tools 7: Mixing With Your Mind Stewart McLellan is a project studio owner in British Columbia. He also used to work for TC Helicon developing and testing cool new gear, which he still does on occasion as a consultant. We caught up with Stewart a couple of weeks ago and had a chance to chat about his approach to making music in his studio...AND even getting paid for some of it!
http://www.harmony4.blogspot.com http://www.tc-helicon.com/default.asp?id=2895 http://www.tc-helicon.com/default.asp?id=2349 Answer To Last Week's "How'd They Do That?" Q: David Bowie’s Vocals On "Heroes". Bowie's voice starts dry and then has this huge reverb that develops deeper as he sings stronger and then automatically becomes more intimate and up close as he sings more softly. How'd they do that? A: Here's the answer straight from Tony Visconti, the man who came up with the idea. "I set up three microphones. We only had two or three tracks left, and I needed one of these for backing vocals. I couldn’t even bounce down, and so we’d snookered ourselves. "Therefore, even though I would have ideally loved to put each mic on a separate track – enabling us to capture the whole room when he sang loud, and just that one mic right in front of his face when he sang quietly – I put gates on mics two and three. Mic number one was in front of him with fairly heavy compression, because I knew beforehand that he was really going to shout, and it all went down to one track. This was recording by the seat of your pants, and Bowie was thrilled with the idea that I wanted to do something unique. He thrives on anything that’s different and someone else hasn’t thought of yet, and I just thought ‘Let’s do this live,’ because he’s a great singer and he could always sing it again if I made a mistake. That’s the luxury of working with him: he’s consistently good when he sings. He’s in tune, he’s passionate, and he delivers an arena-type performance every time. "Mic number one was a valve U47, and with the other two on gates I made sure that number two, an 87 placed about 15 feet away from him, would go on at a certain level, while the third mic, another 87 that was all the way at the other end of the room, didn’t open up until he really sang loud. That reverb on his voice is therefore the room itself, none of it is artificial, and it’s his voice triggering the gates. What is really great is that the sound of the opening two verses is really intimate. It doesn’t sound like a big room yet, it sounds like somebody just singing about a foot away from your ear. The whole idea worked, and what you hear on the record is probably take three."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/“Heroes?_(song) Congratulations to Austin Moore from Manchester UK for getting the answer exactly right! He's also a Music Technology Lecturer at the University Of Huddersfield and a dance music producer. Check out his sites: ShaFunkers.com & Musictech.hud.ac.uk Austin takes home a free copy of Guitar and Drum Trainer from RenegadeMinds.com! Also coming in with the correct answer just after Austin was Trevor Thornton and Ben Wells from Tasmania. We also have a couple of Honorable Mentions. These were both great guesses and actually interesting and usable techniques in their own right! Lloyd Murphy “I think Bowie’s voice was sent to a buss which had a gate followed by a verb on it. Singing quietly would allow for a dry, intimate vocal because the gate remained closed. However, when the singing got loud, the gate would open allowing the signal to go through the verb effect.? Andrew Brierly from the Home Recording Odyssey Podcast “The most low tech way that I can think of is to use real reverb, i.e. a room with great reverb characteristics, then sing back from the mic for the loud section were the reverb will show up and sing close and personal for the quiet parts were the reverb will be far less noticeable.? See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer andy gagliano ssl solid state logic duende sweetwater digidesign studio projects studio projects c3 studio projects c1 neumann u87 tony visconti david bowie home recording odyssey ableton airspun.com michael jackson |
Mon, 10 July 2006
Hot industry news, Big Al's Gear Conundrum continues, we catch up with Oscar-winning key frame animator Jeremy Bolan, we hear our final beginners tips and tricks from Andy Gagliano and another How'd They Do That? News:
John Lennon Songwriting Contest http://www.AmpTone.com Audio Impressions London - 70 Piece Orchestra Plugin Al's Gear Conundrum - The Dreaded Upgrade - Part #2
SSL Duende Focusrite Liquid Mix Demo Video PreSonus Eureka Mic Pre Focusrite VoiceMaster Pro Mic Pre Jeremy Bolan, Oscar-winning Key Frame Animator stops by to update us on his carreer since winning the Oscar for his work on King Kong. Jeremy Bolan Transformers - The Movie Jeremy's Credits At IMDB Rhythm & Hues Animation Studios George Lucas - Industrial Light & Magic Feature Story: We've had quite a few requests for some more beginner oriented material once in awhile so we got our friend Andy Gagliano to give us a hand over the last few weeks. He's an independent producer, audio engineer and sound designer for film and television. He's worked with several independent musicians in the studio, covering a huge range of genres from rock to hip-hop, acoustic to orchestral. This week Andy stopped by to discuss his last topic in this series, Helpful Hints On Post Production In The Studio. Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question Q: What's David Crosby's real name? A: David Van Cortland! This week's only the first person to correctly answer was Stewart McLellan! Honorable mention goes to Patrick Abbas. Congratulations guys! Best Musician Joke Contest: The winner of the joke contest is Joven Kerekes from Ireland. It's based around players of an Irish instrument called a bodhran (BOW-ron). It's a type of hand drum. And, the winning joke... Q: What’s the difference between a bodhran player and a dead rabbit lying in the road? A: The rabbit might have been on it’s way to a gig. Congratulations Joven! You are the proud winner of a free copy of Guitar And Drum Trainer from Ryan Smith over at RenegadeMinds.com. See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer andy gagliano ssl solid state logic duende sweetwater digidesign focusrite studio projects studio projects c3 studio projects c1 neumann neumann tlm103 neumann u87 john lennon focusrite presonus garfield king kong george lucas industrial light and magic ilm transformers david crosby bodhran bodhran |
Tue, 4 July 2006
On this week's show, some Viewer Mail, hot industry news, Al agonizes over a gear upgrade, some tips for getting the low-end mud out of your mix, another guest segment by Andy Gagliano and a new contest! News:
Digidesign Pro Tools 7 Quick Tip Videos aM Plugz Amplitube Uno - Free Plugin! Sound Toys Native McDSP Announces New Native Product Line Crosstalk:
Solid State Logic Duende Waves SSL 4000 Heil PR40 Microphone Mojave Audio MA 200 Tube Microphone Studio Projects C1 Microphone Studio Projects C3 Microphone Neumann U87 Microphone AKG 414 Microphones The Studio Projects C1 Microphone Shoot Out Raw .wav Files From Mic Shoot Out Massey Plugins Feature Story: We've had quite a few requests for some more beginner oriented material once in awhile so we got our friend Andy Gagliano to give us a hand. He's an independent producer, audio engineer and sound designer for film and television. He's worked with several independent musicians in the studio, covering a huge range of genres from rock to hip-hop, acoustic to orchestral. This week Andy stopped by to discuss part two of his helpful tips on preparations before going into the studio. Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question Q: What famous rock band got their name from watching news coverage of the LA riots after the Rodney King verdict? Their debut album went to #1. A: Porno For Pyros! There were no correct answers this week so we're giving the free copy of Guitar And Drum Trainer to one of this week's tippers, Mr Tom Rushton. Congratulations and thank you Tom! This week we have a new contest with a free prize. Listen in and find out how to enter! See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons digidesign guitar and drum trainer bob heil joe walsh andy gagliano ssl solid state logic duende waves sweetwater digidesign amplitube sound toys mcdsp focusrite heil sound pr40 mojave audio mojave audio ma 200 studio projects neumann neumann u67 neumann u87 akg akg 414 porno for pyros tip jar high pass filter |
Mon, 26 June 2006
Some cool news, another special feature from Andy Gagliano, Viewer Mail, part two of an interview with legendary rock gear-head Bob Heil, and a new piece of gear from SSL that you might actually be able to afford! News: Feature Story: We've had quite a few requests for some more beginner oriented material once in awhile so we got our friend Andy Gagliano to give us a hand. He's an independent producer, audio engineer and sound designer for film and television. He's worked with several independent musicians in the studio, covering a huge range of genres from rock to hip-hop, acoustic to orchestral. This week Andy stopped by to discuss helpful preparations before going into the studio. Spotlight: The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio, presenters of the Technical Excellence and Creativity (TEC) Awards, has announced the 2006 inductees to the TECnology Hall of Fame. The 2006 TECnology Hall of Fame inductees include:
1933 Fletcher-Munson Loudness Curves Harvey Fletcher/Wilden Munson/Bell Labs 1935 Lansing Shearer Horn 1953 Hammond Model B-3 tonewheel organ 1955 Ampex Sel-Sync 8-track recorder 1958 Telefunken Ela M 251 microphone 1967 Neumann U87 microphone 1967 Time-Delay Spectrometry—Richard Heyser 1971 Thiele-Small vented enclosure parameters A.N. Thiele/Richard H. Small 1976 UREI 813 studio monitors 1979 Lexicon 224 digital reverb 1979 TEAC Model 144 Portastudio 1983 Sony PCM-3324 digital multitrack 1983 Yamaha DX7 FM synthesizer 1987 Sonic Solutions NoNoise Mark Jensen from PodSqod.com recently attended the National Association Of Broadcasters (NAB) convention where he had a chance to sit down with rock & roll gear legend, and creator of the famous Heil Talk Box, Mr. Bob Heil. Mark was kind enough to offer these clips to us so that you'd have a chance to listen in. Gear Review:: Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question Q: Simply tell us the name of the band featured in the picture below. There was also two bonus questions. 1) What classic Little Feat song was covered by Garth Brooks? 2) What famous top ten country artist was in Pure Prairie League? The answers are Dixie Chicken and Vince Gill! Congratulations to John Demetre! He got all three questions right and won a free copy of Guitar & Drum Trainer courtesy of Ryan Smith over at RenegadeMinds.com! Also receiving the same free prize this week is Tim Burgess. He's visually impaired and wrote us a very creative letter about how he couldn't compete since he couldn't see the picture! Honorable mention goes out to Brian Stephens from the Music Pro Show podcast who wrote in to say, “If any drummers are listening to your show and didn’t spot Richie Hayward right way, they need to turn in their sticks immediately!? See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons the beatles paul mccartney digidesign guitar and drum trainer bob heil joe walsh andy gagliano podsqod mark jensen little river band little feat nitty gritty dirt band pure prairie league music pro show brian stephens richie hayward garth brooks vince gill ssl solid state logic duende fxpansion waves sweetwater felicia collins the late show david letterman digidesign |
Sun, 18 June 2006
Some cool news, a new special feature, a celebrity interview with Bob Heil of Heil Sound, a gear review, and another chance to win a free prize! News: Two FREE Plugins! Feature Presentation: We've had quite a few requests for some more beginner oriented material once in awhile so we got our friend Andy Gagliano to give us a hand. He's an independent producer, audio engineer and sound designer for film and television. He's worked with several independent musicians in the studio, covering a huge range of genres from rock to hip-hop, acoustic to orchestral. Recently he came on the show to talk about MIDI and Soft Synths in the studio. Mark Jensen from PodSqod.com recently attended the National Association Of Broadcasters (NAB) convention where he had a chance to sit down with rock & roll gear legend, and creator of the famous Heil Talk Box, Mr. Bob Heil. Mark was kind enough to offer these clips to us so that you'd have a chance to listen in. This is part one of two. Gear Review:: Drums On Demand My Co-writer Song Starters Released!
Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question Q: What was the B side of Billy Preston's Nothing From Nothing that later went on to become a top five hit for Joe Cocker? A: You Are So Beautiful! Congratulations to Jim Farley, who was the first person to answer correctly and won a free copy of Guitar & Drum Trainer courtesy of Ryan Smith over at RenegadeMinds.com! And Patrick Bonier too! (He actually bought the single!) Honorable mention goes out to Paul Riggins, Stewart McLellan, Bill Camarata, John Demetre who all had the right answer, just a little too late. DOH! This week we're offering, once again, a free copy of Guitar And Drum Trainer to the first person to correctly answer this week's trivia question! This week, the trivia question is a little different, something we call Name That Band!. Simply tell us the name of the band featured in the picture below. If you listen to this week's show we give you four names to choose from to make it a little easier. Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons the beatles billy preston digidesign guitar and drum trainer drums on demand nothing from nothing bob heil joe walsh the who tape op prince izotope andy gagliano midi podsqod mark jensen yamaha little river band little feat nitty gritty dirt band pure prairie league rad monkey the grateful dead digital music mag |
Mon, 12 June 2006
A few cool news items, PSN correspondent and 5-time Emmy-winner John Davidson, an interview with music software developer Ryan Smith and a few great surprises! First, on a sad note, Billy Preston is dead at the age of 60. He began playing piano while sitting on his mother's lap at age three. He collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including The Beatles, Sam Cooke, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Clapton, Sammy Davis Jr., Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, The Jackson 5, Quincy Jones, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones. He was the only person to receive a credit on a Beatles single, playing the electric piano on Get Back as part of the rooftop concert. Here are some other quick facts:
News:
BBE Acoustimax Instrument Preamp Glyph Online Disk Space Calculator Thanks to Frederic Phan from France for a generous donation to the show this week! PSN correspondent John Davidson is a 5-time Emmy-award winning audio post mixer. We hadn't heard from John for awhile until last week as he's been on hiatus enjoying his lovely new baby boy. This week he returns for the second part of his report on interesting facts, tips and tricks regarding the art of surround sound. Celebrity Interview: Ryan Smith of RenegadeMinds.com is the creator of Guitar And Drum Trainer. If you're serious about your music, and you think there's room to improve your playing, then GDT is for you. It's the ultimate musician's MP3 audio player, trainer and transcription aid. We had a chat with Ryan to talk about this cool practice tool. Answer To Last Week's Trivia Question Q: What famous performing musician dominated record sales for three entire decades in a row; #1 in the 50s, #2 in the 60s and #13 in the 70s? A: ELVIS! Congratulations to John Demetre, the only listener to answer correctly! This week we're offering a free copy of Guitar And Drum Trainer to the first person to correctly answer this week's trivia question! (You'll have to listen to see what the question is.) See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr creative commons emmy surround sound dolby the beatles sam cooke red hot chili peppers eric clapton sammy davis jr sly stone aretha franklin george harrison the jackson 5 quincy jones bob dylan the rolling stones saturday night live miles davis billy preston with you i'm born again digidesign elvis guitar and drum trainer syreeta wright |
Sun, 4 June 2006
A few cool news items, we welcome back PSN correspondent and 5-time Emmy-winner John Davidson, we have a mini gear review of EZ Drummer and Charles Dye pokes his head in for a second with a special surprise for us! Pro Tools Available For Intel Macs! All McDSP Plugins Coming For Intel Mac! New Massey L2007 Plugin Released Celebrity Interview: PSN correspondent John Davidson is a 5-time Emmy-award winning audio post mixer. We haven't heard from John for awhile as he's been on hiatus enjoying his lovely new baby boy. This week he returns with more interesting facts, tips and tricks on the art of surround sound. Featured Performance: Last week we enjoyed the final part in a four-part series with Charles Dye. In that last segment he talked about some of his recent projects and mentioned an independent artist he was working with that really impressed him, John Ralston. We play you one of the recent cuts from John's project that Charles worked on, a song called I Believe In Ghosts. Charles pops in for a quick introduction. Gear Review:
EZ Drummer Drum Track Creation Plugin Price EZ Drummer At Sweetwater!
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Featured Studio: This week we're featuring a couple of shots of Mike Finley's home studio. We found Mike on the Frappr Map and have enjoyed learning about his setup. This is all contained in a second floor space and is a designated "Man Room".
Q: What legendary rock guitarist (a pioneer of the hard rock and metal genre) was a session player on Tom Jones' hit record It's Not Unusual? A: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Congratulations to Ronnie Marler and Aaron Griffith for submitting the correct answer. Ronnie kicked it up a notch by adding this tidbit: AC/DC drummer Chris Slade also performed on the track! Way to go Ronnie! See you next week! Tags: music recording studio home studio project studio mixing protools plugin digidesign frappr charles dye grammy creative commons sweetwater sound emmy john ralston tom jones jimmy page chris slade led zeppelin ac/dc it's not unusual surround sound dolby pro logic the cure bowflex |