Saturday, September 20, 2008
LIVE updates from the Audio Studio
We will be posting pictures of the Ed Sarath session happening today, engineered by Professor Jason Corey, with help from Dave Fienup, Peter Raymond, and Michael Kim. Here's the first batch!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Update on Listings (Right Side of the Blog)
Things have changed on the right side of the page. We now offer 3 different listings -
Recording Engineers
Assistant Engineers
Session Musicians
Each one is a listing of those services offered. In other words, there is no "needed" listing anymore. If you need an engineer, assistant engineer, or session musician, you look under the appropriate field and get in touch with whoever you need.
We'll try to spread the word within the School of Music, so that students can list themselves as session musicians, and so that when they need recordings for auditions, etc., they can contact certified users.
Recording Engineers
Assistant Engineers
Session Musicians
Each one is a listing of those services offered. In other words, there is no "needed" listing anymore. If you need an engineer, assistant engineer, or session musician, you look under the appropriate field and get in touch with whoever you need.
We'll try to spread the word within the School of Music, so that students can list themselves as session musicians, and so that when they need recordings for auditions, etc., they can contact certified users.
Follow the same steps as before (see previous post) to get listed.
This change is made because of a suggestion made by a user, so please keep them coming!
-Tomek
P.S. I checked out this show this weekend called "Live from Abbey Road" on the Sundance Channel - they're live sessions of current bands from Abbey Road Studios. Great music, but it was also very cool to check out mic choices, setups, etc. (ever tried an SM-7 on a snare? I haven't.... yet!) You can buy the "Best Of" Season 1 on iTunes, or if you have access to Comcast Cable, one episode is available free "On Demand." Check it out...
-Tomek
P.S. I checked out this show this weekend called "Live from Abbey Road" on the Sundance Channel - they're live sessions of current bands from Abbey Road Studios. Great music, but it was also very cool to check out mic choices, setups, etc. (ever tried an SM-7 on a snare? I haven't.... yet!) You can buy the "Best Of" Season 1 on iTunes, or if you have access to Comcast Cable, one episode is available free "On Demand." Check it out...
This Week in the Studios...
9/20
Professor Jason Corey will be in the Audio Studio recording with Professor Ed Sarath (www.edsarath.com). Professor Sarath is writing a musicianship textbook called Improvisation and Music Theory and will be recording tracks for students to improvise over. He will also record a number of excerpts from compositions as well as a few intact compositions.
Instrumentation includes saxophone, piano, bass, drums, and flugelhorn.
Dave Fienup will be assisting.
Want to be added to the listing? Email us at dudestudiosblog@gmail.com
Professor Jason Corey will be in the Audio Studio recording with Professor Ed Sarath (www.edsarath.com). Professor Sarath is writing a musicianship textbook called Improvisation and Music Theory and will be recording tracks for students to improvise over. He will also record a number of excerpts from compositions as well as a few intact compositions.
Instrumentation includes saxophone, piano, bass, drums, and flugelhorn.
Dave Fienup will be assisting.
Want to be added to the listing? Email us at dudestudiosblog@gmail.com
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
DON'T FIX IT IN THE MIX! Just get it right the first time
Something that I keep finding over and over again in mixing, is that there are holes in the tracking process. I have found that it is really hard to get a mix right if it hasn't been tracked right. I used to say "No biggie, I'll fix it in the mix." Its an awful attitude. You can have the musician just play the part again and take two minutes or you can try to edit a bunch of crap together and could take you hours and hours. It will also almost never be quite right.
Even beyond that - something can be tracked with a good technical performance but not the right capture from an engineering standpoint. This is just as important for mixing later on. Just because the take is good, does not necessarily mean that it was captured correctly for the song. Every song calls for something different.
Lets take an example: Do the drums you are recording have the proper depth for the song you are recording? Anyone can set up a pair of overhead mics, a set of room mics, and a number of close mics for the snare, toms and kick. But more importantly, is the way the mics are set up appropriate for the mix later on with the other elements? Maybe all those close mics are not necessary because it is not a true representation of how the drums sound in an actual room. Is there space in the mix for the bass guitar based on how the kick drum is mic'd and TUNED. Do the drums have space or do they feel cramped? Do the drums need a feeling of space, or do they need to feel cramped? Does the song call for the drums to be big and far away or in your face? All good things to think about. Also, this is just the drums. You would still have to consider every other element as well. It is a lot harder than it often seems.
On the other hand, it is important not to go overboard either. Don't be so picky about the technical aspects of a recording that you miss the point of the recording: THE MUSIC. My personal philosophy is that if a song is good, it almost doesn't matter at all how good or bad the engineer is because the song can carry itself. That is not to say that an engineer can not be held responsible for screwing up the presentation of a great (or crappy) song.
I think the solution to this problem is to simply think about how the mix would unfold before you track it, not just before it is mixed. Obviously, you get better at this with more experience. Also, I have clearly fallen victim to this problem with different levels of severity and still do. I guess it is just important to think, plan and experiment and eventually you will gain an intuition to this kind of thing (at least I hope!)
my thoughts on this subject for now. I would be interested in hearing what everyone thinks about this too, so feel free to comment and get a discussion going.
-rishi
Even beyond that - something can be tracked with a good technical performance but not the right capture from an engineering standpoint. This is just as important for mixing later on. Just because the take is good, does not necessarily mean that it was captured correctly for the song. Every song calls for something different.
Lets take an example: Do the drums you are recording have the proper depth for the song you are recording? Anyone can set up a pair of overhead mics, a set of room mics, and a number of close mics for the snare, toms and kick. But more importantly, is the way the mics are set up appropriate for the mix later on with the other elements? Maybe all those close mics are not necessary because it is not a true representation of how the drums sound in an actual room. Is there space in the mix for the bass guitar based on how the kick drum is mic'd and TUNED. Do the drums have space or do they feel cramped? Do the drums need a feeling of space, or do they need to feel cramped? Does the song call for the drums to be big and far away or in your face? All good things to think about. Also, this is just the drums. You would still have to consider every other element as well. It is a lot harder than it often seems.
On the other hand, it is important not to go overboard either. Don't be so picky about the technical aspects of a recording that you miss the point of the recording: THE MUSIC. My personal philosophy is that if a song is good, it almost doesn't matter at all how good or bad the engineer is because the song can carry itself. That is not to say that an engineer can not be held responsible for screwing up the presentation of a great (or crappy) song.
I think the solution to this problem is to simply think about how the mix would unfold before you track it, not just before it is mixed. Obviously, you get better at this with more experience. Also, I have clearly fallen victim to this problem with different levels of severity and still do. I guess it is just important to think, plan and experiment and eventually you will gain an intuition to this kind of thing (at least I hope!)
my thoughts on this subject for now. I would be interested in hearing what everyone thinks about this too, so feel free to comment and get a discussion going.
-rishi
Monday, September 8, 2008
This Week in the Studios...
Next week we'll be starting a feature, "This Week in the Studios," which will come on every Monday, and will preview what's going on that week.
The feature is meant for users to let others know about exciting projects, artists they're working with, sounds they're designing, etc. If you want to let the community know about what you're working on (we all want to know!), email us by the Sunday before, and we'll throw it up for that week.
(Engineer of the day - Tom Dowd)
The feature is meant for users to let others know about exciting projects, artists they're working with, sounds they're designing, etc. If you want to let the community know about what you're working on (we all want to know!), email us by the Sunday before, and we'll throw it up for that week.
(Engineer of the day - Tom Dowd)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
News from the DMC...
Audio Facility User Meeting 9.10
WHAT:
The DMC is sponsoring a meeting of all Audio Facilities users...
Topics to be covered include changes to the Audio Studio, EMS renovation plans (A concept drawing of the studios is posted outside the EMS studios, this is not a final design. Also, the consoles have been selected and purchased for the rooms. Come to the meeting to learn more about what is going on).
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 10 from 5- 6:30 pm.
WHERE:
Audio Studio
WHAT:
The DMC is sponsoring a meeting of all Audio Facilities users...
Topics to be covered include changes to the Audio Studio, EMS renovation plans (A concept drawing of the studios is posted outside the EMS studios, this is not a final design. Also, the consoles have been selected and purchased for the rooms. Come to the meeting to learn more about what is going on).
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 10 from 5- 6:30 pm.
WHERE:
Audio Studio
Friday, August 22, 2008
How to get listed for Session Help Needed/Offered
Log into gmail with username: DudeStudiosBlogUser, password: APIVISION. Click on the link above pertaining to your need, and click on "edit this page." List yourself, or delete your post if you've already found a match!
*** Make sure you hit "publish" after you've saved the changes, or the edit won't be updated on the link!***
*** Make sure you hit "publish" after you've saved the changes, or the edit won't be updated on the link!***
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