In One Ear and...

Richard Dodd's Top 10 Recording Tips

2008-04-01T19:32:00.002-04:00

I'm not one to recycle copy, but I came across this blurb in the Mix Magazine email and thought it was too apropos not to share with all of you.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

RICHARD DODD'S TOP 10 RECORDING TIPS
Nashville-based engineer Richard Dodd, whose career credits include artists such as the Little River Band, George Harrison, Joan Baez, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow, and many more, says that in recording, "There are no rules, as long as no harm can come to man or gear."

Here, Dodd offers his personal Top 10 recording tips:

1. Do no harm, step back and make sure that you are not getting 'in the way’ of a good 'sound.'
2. Change, don’t 'tweak;' no one hears 'tweaks.'
3. If someone asks for the vocal up 0.2 dB, laugh as if it’s the funniest joke you’ve ever heard, burst out laughing later, too, and quote the joke. Repeat as needed.
4. Don’t use 'brickwall limiting' on your mix for any reason other than you like it. A good mastering engineer can make it louder/better than you can, but they can’t remove an inappropriate decision.
5. If in doubt, don’t.
6. If it’s 'right,' do it.
7. Be ready: The 'wrong' gear choice that is ready beats waiting past the 'best available performance window.'
8. Share your knowledge.
9. Keep something secret.
10. Stop when you aren’t having fun anymore.

For more on Richard Dodd, watch for Eddie Ciletti's "Tech's Files" column in Mix's May 2008 issue.

Great little multi-tracker

2008-03-30T15:43:00.002-04:00

Here's a great little multi-tracker for a little less than usual due to a factory misprint!

Artists In Their Own Words

2008-02-28T22:08:00.003-05:00

Hey all,
I know I haven't posted in a LONG time, but I promise to get back to reviewing gear and giving you some great free advice soon.
In the mean time, check out my new video blog at: www.artistsintheirownwords.blogspot.com

The videos are of me interviewing the artists that come through the studio, finding out about why they make their music. I find it very interesting, although I am a bit biased...

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

SpiralFrog.com

2007-08-24T00:23:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note about the cheapest LEGAL music downloading site out there right now.
It's well-known that I'm a faithful eMusic.com and LaLa.com user, but my latest resource is the not-yet-public SpiralFrog.com.
I think it's by invitation only at this point, but I've been checking it out for the last couple of days. User interface kinda sucks, it's definitely annoying to download albums because you have to sit there and initiate each download as it finishes, and there are many holes in their catalog, but...IT'S FREE!!
The company and the artist get paid through paid advertising on the site. That's why the interface makes sure you sit there and look at the screen during the downloads. An interesting concept, I wonder if it will remain vital. I doubt it, but maybe...
One more downside is that the downloaded files are WMA with Windows DRM protecting them. So for iPod users like me, you have to strip the DRM and convert to MP3 to make any use. Just a couple of extra steps, but worth noting.
Now you have to ask yourself, is it worth the time it takes to get these downloads for free or is your time more valuable?

Right now I'm listening to the excellently funky and beautiful Feist album,
Let It Die. Downloaded from SpiralFrog of course :-)

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Another Construction Update...

2007-07-18T22:25:00.000-04:00

Got some good work done on Tuesday with the help of Dennis Hancock Sr. and Larry Lavelle.
The drywall is up in the iso booth and most of the large live room.
Thumbs healing. Looks like I'll keep that bit. Won't be as impressive, but probably better overall...

Don't I look like I'm having fun?

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Ceilings are done!!

2007-07-13T23:52:00.000-04:00

Alright!!
The first layer of drywall for the ceilings is done! Thanks to Bob McCouch for helping me start and finish.

Only one problem...I nearly chopped my thumb off!
On the very last cut of the whole thing, the knife slipped off the rule and went through my thumb. One trip to the doctor later, and I may or may not lose that bit. But who really needs the inside quarter of their thumb anyway? Here's a picture of it the next day after it's all fixed up. Now I can truly say that I put my sweat and BLOOD into this project!

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Studio Construction Update

2007-07-11T12:43:00.000-04:00

Still Under Construction...

2007-07-06T20:18:00.000-04:00

Here we are in the middle of July and we're still under construction. But I'm done waiting for contractors, woo hoo!!
Now it's all up to me. Drywall, drywall, drywall.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

If It Ain't Broke...Audio Recording and Windows Vista

2007-06-11T07:57:00.000-04:00

Hola y escuchame

I do a fair amount of remote work (recording and editing). You know, live concerts and such, and recently working with Dr. Pat Carrington (author of books like The Book of Meditation: The Complete Guide to Modern Meditation) on some of her EFT Meditation audio products. So I need a laptop that ALWAYS works and works well without glitches. I don't need a top of the line machine, just something that can record 4 tracks simultaneous (I usually use Cubase for this) without problems and something to run Wavelab for editing sessions. So I've been getting by with a used Dell with a P3 (that's right, less than a gig of processing power). And that's been fine. But during a recent concert recording, it started giving me troubles and then shortly thereafter the power cable started disconnecting randomly and I decided I needed a new laptop, pronto.
I checked around briefly and found a good price on a Toshiba Satellite A135-S2386 with an Intel Dual-Core processor and everything else I need (sans firewire, but let's not get greedy) for only $479. Problem: Windows Vista.

But really, I didn't see one laptop during my succinct search that was running XP, so Vista it is. I'd heard horror stories already about it but I figured it looks kinda like Mac OSX so how bad can it be? The answer: BAD.
I started up my new workstation and it dragged and dragged. Every time I clicked on something I got multiple boxes popping up asking if I really wanted to do that (even just running a program!) and God knows what was running in the background that I couldn't see! Not to mention that most of my audio hardware is not yet compatible with Vista.

So after a short affair with the "latest and greatest" from Microsoft, it was back to Windows XP for me. It was a pain getting the correct drivers for everything, but an evening of frustration is better than a year of anger working on a Vista laptop.

My suggestion to anyone thinking about upgrading just to get the newest thing: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I've been very happy with XP since I started using it about 5 years ago. Until my hardware requires it, I'm staying right where I am. Sorry Mr. Gates.

Studio construction is halted right now while I wait for the electrician to come in. I found a great guy to do the work, Terry Conrad of TL Conrad Electric, but these electrician types are BUSY! So I've just been doing what I can with running my audio cables between rooms and strengthening the frame-work. I may even get to putting a new exterior door in this week...stay tuned.

Right now I'm listening to a great album, Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast. Great melodies and great DIY production.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Framing is Finished

2007-05-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

Nobody Frames Like The Amish!

2007-05-02T18:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the first 'official' day of construction on Bobby Bender Studios V.
I contracted an Amish carpentry team to do the framing because, let's face it, the Amish do this right. Check out the video tour of the work completed on the first day:

They should finish tomorrow, then some finishing HVAC work scheduled for next week and some electrical installation. Then on to drywall!

Rock on!

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

MB Puncher Free VST Plugin

2007-04-07T12:52:00.000-04:00

Hey there gear junkies

Got another suggestion of a great free VST plugin for ya.
The MB Puncher is a compressor type plug with the typical controls, input, threshold, release, and output, but it behaves differently than others I have used. It's kind of hard to explain except that it does just what its name suggests, it makes the input "punch" through your mix.
I've taken to using it on drums that just don't seem to make as much of an impact in the mix as I want. I create a stereo buss for the drums (something I almost always do anyway) and throw the Puncher on it. Almost instantly the snare and kick bite right through the mix to give that bang that was needed.
Such a simple and easy plug to use and free (which is always good).
Get it here: http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2250.html

Studio construction update: Slow going. I was hoping this would be quick and exciting, but instead it's taking forever. I've got the water pipes covered with a mass loaded vinyl to cut down on noise from there, and I had heat/AC installed (thank God!). Next is framing which should be finished this month. Then electric...Stay tuned.

Listening to Naci Griffith's The Dust Bowl Symphony. Nice and quite for while my baby takes a nap...

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

W1 Limiter Free VST Plugin

2007-02-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Howdy huksters

I know, I know. It's been ages since I last posted. But I've been busy actually MAKING MUSIC! Imagine that. Making music instead of talking about it. What a novel idea. That plus taking care of a new baby and getting everything together to start the new studio construction.

But I wanted to take some time out to talk about a free VST plugin that I've been using for some time now and am very pleased with. Most free plugins are worth what you paid for them (that's nothing for those of you who don't quite get the allusion), but there are some out there that are worth their weight in gold. The W1 Limiter is one of the good guys.
I use the Waves L1 Ultramaximizer with nearly every mastering project I find myself working on because of its ease of use and utter transparency of sound. I won't even upgrade to the L2, L3, or the new L3-16 whatever it is, simply because they make it too complicated. All I want is a brickwall limiter that won't color my sound. So the L1 is great for that.
But I sometimes have to work remotely on projects (I ended up mastering 5 episodes of B. Original while on vacation in Hilton Head, SC last year) and work from an ill-equipt laptop. I run WaveLab Essentials from that machine (a stripped down version of Wavelab) but don't want to purchase another copy of the amazingly expensive Waves plugs just for these rare occasions. So I use the W1 and it does just what it says it will. It's got fewer options than the L1 (just dithering mostly), but works in the same manner with the same results.
So give it a go and if you like it, drop some cash to George Yohng for his kindness in making a great VST plug available for free. Thanks George!

Right now I'm listening to John Prine Pink Cadillac with the click clack of my daughter's swing in the background as she takes an afternoon nap.

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Pizza Hut Rap Song

2007-01-26T16:47:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is write and record ridiculous songs with my friends.
I recently completed the newest edition to this list that includes "The Fred Song" about the former UNH strength coach Fred Domowitz, "U Can't See Me" which is a battle rap between myself and CJ "Chesta the Molesta" Parsons, "Puzzo Road (Thunder Puzzo)" which is essentially Springsteen's "Thunder Road" with almost all of the nouns replaced by "Puzzo."
"The Pizza Slut" is the most innovative yet and includes break-neck production (by me) and intense lyrical delivery by Benny B (me) and Steff "Screwcap" Kelsey.
"The Pizza Slut" is an ode to our love of the Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet. You see, back in my college days at the University of New Hampshire, I was a javelin thrower on the track team (see my profile). Steff was also a javelin thrower and had a mutual respect for PHLB as we like to call it. So every Friday, we would both go to either the Dover or Newington Pizza Hut and just get wrecked on pizza before track practice.
But the PHLB is about more than just pizza. It came to define us a students, as javelin throwers, as friends, and really, as men. Listen to the song and you will understand.
Hear it at www.myspace.com/javboyrecords and hey, while you're there add me to your friends.
Good day and happy Lunch Buffet

Click Play - The Pizza Slut

Right now I'm listening to Paul Simon's self-titled album. One of my favs.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

New Studio Design

2007-01-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

Salutations Soundmen (and women)

Big news!
After working in my new space, Bobby Bender Studios V, for about a month now it's become painfully obvious that my plan of starting construction on a 'real' studio in a couple of years is no longer feasible. It has to happen now!
Really exciting.
I've been conversing with the very helpful folks over at www.johnlsayers.com and getting some design ideas and have setttled on a design by Glenn (gullfo). Thanks Glenn!

Now I'm just waiting on the recording studio construction book that everyone suggests when building a studio, Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros by Rod Gervais.
I've got a thread over at johnlsayers.com and will be posting a construction picture diary.
Yeah!

Right now I'm listening to The Allman Brothers Band An Evening With The Allman Brothers Band

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

DIY Gobos

2007-01-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

Aloha Audiophiles

Ok, it's been over a month since my last post. But in the mean time I moved my home (and studio) and had a baby in the midst of the holiday season, SO GIVE ME A BREAK!
Not that my email box was full of faithful readers begging for more of my musings...

Let me tell you about a little project I did last week. I just moved into a new studio space and the new place is like 6 times bigger than the old one. Like Bobby Bender Studios IV, BBS V is a basement facility that is basically concrete and cinder block construction. In IV I remedied the inherent sound problems caused by such construction by covering all the surfaces with deflectors and absorbers, but because the new space is so much bigger, there's really no way to do that without dropping a bunch of cash. My solution was to get some gobos to give me the effect of having a moveable booth. But rather than break the bank for some store-bought barriers, I built them myself as is my nature.

What I did was go to Home Depot and get three sheets of plywood (5/8") and some castors. Couple that with the 2x4's I already had, plus the ugly window treatments my wife pulled off the windows of our new house and that's all I needed. I cut the plywood sheets down to about 47" x 70" just so I could fit them in my car (yep, I got three of those to fit in the Vibe!).
Here's what I did:

#1: Lay the plywood flat on the floor
#2: Use a heavy duty staple gun to staple the curtains (and I threw in some carpet padding for good measure) to the plywood
#3: The 2x4's will be the 'feet' of the barrier, so cut these down to the appropriate size. This will vary depending on how tall your plywood sheets are. I tried everything from 4" to 18" and I think 10" worked the best for my 70" sheets. You also may want to cut one end at an angle so to give you better support. You want four feet for each sheet.
#4: Attach some castors (wheels) to the 2x4's. Put them on the end that will be furthest from the plywood to give you better stability. I used 2" castors.
#5: Attach the 2x4 feet to the plywood and VOILA! you're done!

Try different dimensions and materials to suit your needs. This effectively reduced the flutter reflections in my new space and gives me something to work with until I get the 'real' studio built.

Right now I'm sitting with my in-laws and my wife and new baby as they watch Law & Order. What a rockin Friday night!! Woo hoo!

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

The End of Bobby Bender

2006-12-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

It's official. Bobby Bender Studios 4 is no more. I just finished shutting and tearing her down a couple of hours ago.
It made me pretty sad, actually. Although this was the fourth iteration of Bobby Bender Studios, it was the first where it was a 'real' studio. A dedicated and treated space that was all my own.
I did a lot of work down there and made a lot of music that I'm very proud of.
So "Goodbye Bobby Bender 4. Thanks for the memories"

Stay tuned...Bobby Bender Studios 5 coming very soon!!

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

More beat fixing techniques

2006-11-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Hello all you rhythmically challenged folks

Another Beat Detective alternative today. Can you tell I've been working with nothing but drums for the last few days? It's all for Larry Lavelle's project, Level on the Line, that should be finished in the coming months.
Today I was working on a song were I am replacing some simple fake drums with some simple real drums with nearly the exact same pattern. (Larry, if you're reading this, the song in question is "Up To The Sky"). So instead of wasting countless hours using Beat Detective to make all my mistimed hits sound right, after recording a few takes to get my best performance, I simply listened to the track I recorded and the programmed fake drums at the same time and adjusted the offending hits when I heard them. Turns out I'm a better drummer than I thought :-)
This whole process took just an hour and a half, far less time than the arduous process of fixing every single hit in Beat Detective.

On another note, I released a new album today. Get it here: www.javboyrecords.com/home.htm

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Beat Detective - a short cut

2006-11-28T00:02:00.000-05:00

Hey there slicers and dicers

I am not a drummer.
That being said, I do a lot of drumming. This happens mainly because I'm an independent producer who works with artists (and on my own projects) with miniscule budgets so hiring a session drummer is usually out of the question.
What this means is that I spend a fair amount of time working with Beat Detective in ProTools LE. I haven't yet made the move to the Music Production Toolkit (upgrades you to 48 audio tracks and multi-track Beat Detective among other things), so I have to be creative when using Beat Detective across multiple drum tracks. When I record drums I'll have anywhere from 3 to 10 tracks, so keeping everything together using the lite version of BD is a process and I tend to use the method described by Shan on the DUC (see post here: Beat Detective Workaround).
But right now I'm working on a project with Larry Lavelle (Level on the Line, Larry's first album will be done soon! Check Javboy Records for updates) and the drum parts required are a bit more complex than I usually play. This is fine, but Beat Detective doesn't really like complex beat patterns.
Necessity is the mother of invention, right? So to simplify things a bit I started using BD in a new manner. Instead of cutting up and syncing each hit (all the way down to 64th notes), I tried just chopping at the quarter notes (sometimes half notes) and moving those into place and leaving the in-between hits alone. They tend to fall into place, I mean how far off can you really be on a 64th note? This method takes less time and maintains that real drummer feel.
So just use Shan's method, but don't cut the beat up so minutely. Just get your main beats.
Simple, effective, brilliant. Ok, maybe not brilliant, but give me a break!

I'm moving the studio this week. Pretty exciting! Then construction can begin!!
My new album is coming out this week too. Check it out Javboy Records

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

The Recording Process (Formation of a Song)

2006-11-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

I received an email yesterday that reminded me of why I wrote the following article. So often people have no idea of what it takes to make a record or a song and it just makes the whole proces difficult for all parties involved because of unreal expectations.
The following is an article I wrote last year to help combat such problems.

Formation of a Song

By Ben Blakesley

As industry insiders, we sometimes forget that when discussing the recording process, the rest of the world really has no idea what we are talking about. Hopefully this will provide an explanation of the song formation process in layman’s terms so that there may be less disconnect between the professional and the consumer.

As with any creative process, there is no absolute hard and fast procedure that must be followed stringently, but there is a logical development that all recordings must go through, which includes:

Composition

Arrangement

Recording

Editing

Mixing

Mastering

That being said, this is an explanation of that general process and what takes place during each of these steps.

Composition

Composition is really where a song or piece is born. Preceding this step may be brainstorming and idea formation, but the song actually begins to take a real form and become an entity in itself during this stage.

This is what separates ideas and melodies floating around in the air from actual well-formed songs. There isn’t a whole lot to be said concerning Composition, other than it consists of forming a melody (and often basic accompaniment) that flows chronologically from a start to a finish. Lyrics (if applicable) will also likely be written at this time.

Arrangement

Arranging is taking the Composition that has been created and determining what instruments will be used for the recording, writing the parts that those instruments will play, and the tempo (speed, beats per minute) that the song will be played in.

To best illustrate this point, think of the song “What a Wonderful World.” The most famous version of this song is arguably the one sung by the great Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Compare this to the Ramones version of the same song. Both are based on the same Composition, but with entirely different results based on the fact that they are Arranged differently using very contrasting instrumentation and are at vastly different tempos. (You can use any number of examples to illustrate this principle; “Yesterday”, “Happy Birthday”, etc.). Arrangement, as with Composition, may range anywhere from informally assigning parts to instruments to drafting the parts using musical notation, all dependent on the preferences of the arranger and the formality of the project.

Recording

Now we start to get a little more technical.

The term Recording is often used to refer to this and the following three steps as a whole, but for simplicity’s sake, the term Recording is used here to mean “putting performances to tape” (or as is the case now, a digital format). This is also referred to as Tracking, Cutting Tracks, etc.

Recording Studios have long been somewhat of a mystery to industry outsiders, but basically what takes place during Recording is microphones and various (expensive) sound altering equipment are used to capture a sound being produced in an acoustically tuned room or environment and storing that sound information onto some sort of media (be it magnetic tape, a computer hard drive, or, in the old days, acetate discs).

Generally, a process called Multi-Tracking is used for commercial recordings in which each microphone (and hence, each sound, be it vocals, guitar, or cello) is printed discretely to the storage media to be manipulated at a later time.

To simplify it a bit, the ‘normal’ stereo recording that a consumer would hear is comprised of two tracks or channels, the Right and the Left. During the Recording or Multi-Tracking stage, there are virtually innumerable quantities of tracks or channels that can each be controlled separately from the other tracks. For instance if you have recorded a vocal part on one track and a guitar part on another, because they were recorded discretely in a Multi-Track setting, the volume of the vocals can be increased or decreased without affecting the sound or volume of the guitar track whatsoever.

In a typical session, what you would be left with after completing the Recording stage is any number of discrete tracks each containing an instrument. An example of a track listing for a rock song might be:

Track 1: Kick Drum

Track 2: Snare Drum

Track 3: High Tom

Track 4: Low Tom

Track 5: Overhead Left

Track 6: Overhead Right

Track 7: Bass Guitar

Track 8: Electric Guitar

Track 9: Acoustic Guitar

Track 10: Keyboard Left

Track 11: Keyboard Right

Track 12: Lead Vocals

Track 13: Background Vocals

Meaning that each of these tracks had a microphone assigned to it for the specific purpose of recording the desired source. (Notice that tracks 1-6 are for various parts of a typical drum set).

Also (not to complicate things further, but…) these instruments need not be recorded at the same time. The bass guitar player could record his/her part on Thursday, and the vocalist might lay down tracks a week later. Basically, because they are on separate tracks, the musicians do not have to be playing at the same time or even in the same place to create a finished product that sounds like they were looking right at each other. This also enables a multi-instrumentalist to record all the instruments themselves and create their own ‘virtual’ band where they are the only member.

Editing

Had this exercise been written 15 years ago, I would not have included Editing as its own section as it generally takes place during Recording and Mixing on an ‘as needed’ basis. But with the evolution and general industry acceptance of digital and non-linear recording formats, Editing has become a much more important and functional stage in the creation of a musical work.

Simply put, Editing consists of changing the original recording by way of altering the timing, pitch, or speed of an individual track, or tracks to change the performance. One such common practice is referred to as “comping.” Comping is the idea of recording multiple takes of one instrument with the intent of compiling all of the takes into one cohesive take for the purpose of eliminating errors or creating a ‘perfect’ take.

For instance, a vocalist may sing the same part over and over again making mistakes in different parts on each take. Rather than continuing to search for a complete perfect take, or settling for the best take and having to live with the mistakes, the recording engineer (the guy turning all the knobs J) will choose the best take and then after identifying each mistake within that take, pull the line, phrase, word, or even syllable from another take where the mistake did not occur and paste that into the correct spot on the best take essentially eliminating the mistake and making it sound like it was performed and recorded without it.

Digitally, this process is simple and can be completed with just a couple of mouse clicks. Using analog tape, it becomes much more cumbersome and requires a series of meticulous tasks to record to a third track while muting and un-muting the source tracks, or pulling out the old razor blade and slicing away.

This is just one example of the use and purpose of Editing. To go into the virtually infinite uses would be long and redundant as the editing limits in the digital domain are nearly limitless.

Mixing

The Mixing stage is necessitated by the differences in the format that is used in the Recording stage and the format that the end consumer is able to use. If you recall, when we finished the Recording stage, we were left with (for example) 13 different tracks, each with it’s own instrument. Each of these tracks by now has been edited to contain the best possible performance during the Editing stage, but they are still individual tracks and not one cohesive song that a consumer can pop in the CD player. For argument’s sake, we will only discuss Mixing down to stereo and not touch upon surround sound, 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, or any other format as stereo is currently the most generally accepted format (for now…). Mixing is the process of taking all of these individual tracks (in our example, 13) and by way of using sound altering effects, changing volumes, and manipulating perceived position Left and Right (panning), creating a stereo (two track) recording. Think of it in terms of a funnel. The individual tracks are the wide end, and they must be brought together to form two tracks (the narrow end).

Again, we will not go into the intricacies of Mixing in practice, but in order for all of the tracks to sound good together (play nice kids…), they must be twisted, manipulated, affected, squashed, and combed so that they sound just right and like they are all playing together in one space just for the listener instead of all separately and in padded booths like they actually were.

Once this is accomplished, we are left with a stereo (two track) recording with all the instruments sounding great together and the song is nearly finished.

Mastering

This is the final and most often overlooked step in the song creation process. In fact, if you were to ask a group of musicians what mastering is, chances are a good portion would not be able to tell you what it is and why it is so important.

Essentially, Mastering is preparing the final stereo recording for commercial consumption by pumping it up to a usable volume and making sure that the song will sound good on any sound system it plays on, from a home theater system that costs thousands of dollars, to your little tiny, terrible laptop speakers.

Mastering is most important if you have multiple songs and are creating an album or if you are preparing your recording for commercial release. This is because when the Mixing stage is complete, the stereo recordings you are left with were mixed to sound good on the speakers that they were mixed on regardless of how that sound translates to other spaces and speakers. Also, in the case of making an album, you don’t want Song #1 to be a whole lot louder than Song #2 or even Song #15. Have you ever listened to a CD where you were constantly adjusting the volume just to maintain a consistent pleasant playback level? This is a CD that has not been mastered (or was mastered poorly). The same applies for making the songs sound like they belong together in that you don’t want one song to sound ‘tinny’ (a.k.a. too much high end equalization) and another ‘boomy’ (a.k.a. too much low end).

So that explains why Mastering is important for album, but what about commercial releases? Imagine if your un-mastered song were on the radio between two wonderfully mastered songs. You would get swallowed up. Your song may be too quiet, or have too much low end and basically just sound unprofessional by comparison.

As mentioned before, Mastering will also make sure the final product sounds good no matter where it is played or what system it is played on. When making a presentation of your final product to a client, record label, or even friend, you don’t want to say, “Sorry, I can only play this through Yamaha NS-10 speakers.” And you certainly don’t want to be taken by surprise and find out that it sounds bad everywhere but in the studio.

So there you have it. The real deal on how a song is created from Composition to Mastering and now the final product. No more mystery and technical jargon. So now that the cat is out of the bag, everyone can do it all on his/her own right? Wrong. Just knowing an automobile works on an internal combustion engine doesn’t mean you can start building your own cars. Audio professionals have spent years learning what to listen for and how to make things sound ‘right.’ Not information that can be gained in a four-page discourse. Contact your local audio professional to get your project started, but at least now, you’ll know what you’re in for.

THE END

Right now I'm listening to an Arlo Guthrie bootleg from 1966 in preparation to go hear Arlo at WXPN's Free At Noon concert this Friday with Lavjaveler Productions owner, Steff Kelsey.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

DiskFaktory

2006-11-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

Hey there creative kids

Being a small studio, most of the projects that I work on end up getting duplicated (not replicated; there is a difference) in the end for small runs of CDs, usually between 100-300 copies. This being the case, I've done a lot of searching and trying and comparing to find the best quality at the best price for this sort of service. Allow me to share my findings with you.
Easily the number one company in my book is DiskFaktory.com. You may have seen them if you've ever visited the Guitar Center website or MusiciansFriend.com as they are partnered with them. Now let me get this straight, they're not number one because they have great customer service. I have needed customer service on numerous occasions as almost every project comes down to the wire and needs some special attention to make the deadline. I have never been able to talk to someone on the phone, but have had a more than a few live chat sessions with reps to work out an issue. Most of the time they were not helpful and said something to the effect of "That's not my department, let me transfer you."
But they are #1 because of their prices, quality of their work, and the ease of getting set up. They offer a few different short run packages that give you different artwork options. That being said, they are totally inflexible with the packages, which I assume is due to automation of the process. But the automation of the process is what makes it so easy to get the project going. Amazingly, this is the only duplicator I've used that has a way for you to upload your artwork and see what it will look like immediately. It seems like such a simple idea, I don't know why other companies don't do it. So I usually upload my artwork and mail a master audio CD. You can also upload wav files (which I have done and takes forever!) or upload mp3 (which I had to resort to once and it honestly turned out pretty well all things considered).
So check them out for your next short run of CDs.
Another company that I have used and like is ESP. They had great quality and customer service (thanks Deb!). Their prices were ok but not for anything under 300 copies.

Right now I'm finishing up a project that will be an even shorter run of 50 copies so I'm talking to a few companies about it now. It's for my own EP You and Me, which will be out by mid-December. I'll post my final choice and the verdict after that all goes down.

Listening to Calexico Garden Ruin right now.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Info Product Blueprint

2006-10-25T22:54:00.000-04:00

Hey there movers and shakers

A slight departure from the norm for today. I want to tell you about the Info Product Blueprint. It's an information product by Ken McArthur and essentially what it does is it takes all the experience Ken has as a successful internet marketer and gives you a step by step process for developing, creating, marketing, and selling a product on the internet. It's pretty great. I know this because Ken tapped me to work on it with him. Now I'm no internet marketer (although I did have a marketing concentration with my business major in college), I was simply editing and mastering audio for the project. But now that it's finished and 'out there' I've already started working through the package myself and am developing a product of my own. Anyone with any ambition can use this package to successfully create, market, and sell a product on the internet.
It's got me pretty excited because it takes the guess work out of it. It tells you exactly what you need to do to run a successful launch. So if you've ever thought about selling something on the internet, get Info Product Blueprint.

Right now I'm listening to Jeffrey Foucault Ghost Repeater. It's pretty good, but if you've never heard Jeffrey Foucault, get Miles From The Lightning. That album is beautiful.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Lexicon Omega

2006-10-18T16:39:00.000-04:00

Howdy Humbuckers

While I'm on the topic of giving bad reviews...Let me revisit the Lexicon Omega again. If you will recall, I purchased this to up the ante on my remote recording rig so that I could record 4 tracks simultaneously to my laptop for live records and such. My experience with the Omega has only gotten worse and I find something distasteful about it every time I use it.
Right now my biggest complaint is the noise floor. To put it bluntly, it sucks. Every recording I do with it has some kind of hum or buzz lying underneath that I have to use a denoiser to remove. I'm currently recording some teleseminars for internet marketing big-wig Ken McArthur and as if telephone recordings weren't bad enough, the Omega adds its own noise to make it worse.
So add that to the unusable hum this unit gives with phantom power engaged, and it's a pretty frustrating piece of gear. Which is too bad because if everything worked correctly, it would be a nice unit. Drop it to 2 stars out of 5.

Right now I'm listening to the sounds of the world through an open window on an unseasonably warm Philadelphia day. But soon I'll probably hear the sounds of my wife snoring while taking a nap next to me ;-)

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Audix D6 Kick Drum Mic

2006-10-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

Hey there kick drum thumpers

(Note: After you read this negative post, read on for the addendum added a year later...)

Something I've noticed with reviews on the internet (and in the media, etc.) is that the reviews are usually favorable. I realize that I am not exempt from this as the reviews I've put on here have all been good for the most part. I think sometimes it has to do with purchase validation and in the cases of paid advertising, it's good business not to piss off your customers. But I have no problem writing about a product that I own and falls short of expectations. That is this post in a nutshell.
I'm talking about the Audix D6 Kick Drum Microphone. I've had this piece since June (so about 4 months now) and I've used it numerous times because I'm convinced that I just haven't used it right or something. But now I'm willing to read the writing on the wall. This mic sucks. It's touted as an excellent kick drum micing solution and I've heard nothing but good things about it which is why I tried so hard for so long to like the sound it was giving me. But it's really been nothing but a headache.
The first time I used it, I used only the D6 to mic the kick (inside the shell, no outer head, pointed towards the beater, about three inches away) only to end up having to EQ the hell out of it to get anything but mush. And of course you can't salvage a good sound from mush if you EQ all day so I just ended up with a dull kick. Dull really is the best word to describe it. The mic has no high end response and the low end is just mushy and undefined. I thought that maybe this was just the sound of my kick, so I tried the D6 on a bunch of other things too including a guitar amp, figuring that if the highs don't come through there, they won't come through on anything. Again mush. Bummer.
Maybe I have a defective one. But I doubt it. Maybe I'm just used to the fantastically crisp sound of the AKG D112 (which incidentally costs the same as the D6, about $200). Now I guess I'll try craigslist or ebay and try and trade it for a D112 which I know sounds great. Just another reason to never try new things.
So Audix D6? 0 out of 5 stars. That's right, zero. It has no redeeming qualities in my book.
Alright, that's not true. It seems to be made well. Quality metal casing, cool look, nice adjustable clip. But that don't mean squat if it sounds like crap, and it does.
If you want a more technical description of what it sounds like, email me at ben@javboyrecords.com
I'm too annoyed with it to go into any detail right now.

Listening to a Ray LaMontagne bootleg, 2005-05-05 Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Rock on (but not with the D6).

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com

Addendum added December 4, 2007:
I hadn't thought of this post for a long time, but I just received a comment from a reader about it so I thought I had better update what was written.
The Audix D6 is NOT a terrible mic. Apparently it's just terrible on ME. All of the test I did with it before writing the above post were on projects where I was playing the instruments. Since then, I've used it on other people's kick drums and bass cabs to much better success. I still end up EQing a good bit of low mids out of the kick, but it does sound much better than my previous uses. I should mention I also started using it further away from the beater; just barely inside the shell.
I think I wrote in another post somewhere that I did have better luck with the D6 on people who have a heavy kick foot (mine is pretty light), so that may be part of the difference.
So I hope that sets the record straight. D6 gets 3.5 out of 5 stars. (it's still no D112...)

FXpansion VST to RTAS Adapter

2006-10-07T16:08:00.000-04:00

What's up, bit crunchers?

Sorry it's been so long since my last review, but things have been crazy and I've been out of town.
Anyway, I'd like to talk about a piece of software that doesn't do anything. Ok, so it does something, just not the usual something (process audio) that other audio programs do. It's the very popular FXpansion VST to RTAS Adapter. This plugin/program/wrapper has been around for quite some time but has recently been updated to v2.0 to work with VST v2.3 and ProTools 7 (MP, LE, and HD).
I've been hearing about it for the longest time and heard mixed things about it's functionality and stability. Enough that I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger and spend the c-note to buy this "do nothing" program. But then I just got the urge to have about a million new plugins and VST instruments to play with so I gave it a couple of hours' thought and finally decided to go for it. And am I glad I did! This thing is fantastic!
So I bought it from the FXpansion website and was able to immediately download and install it without a hitch. Then I read the manual to make sure I was setting it up correctly (imagine that, RTFM!) as I have nearly 500 VST plugins and instruments, not all of which are good or even worth having in PT's list of plugs. It was easy to figure out how to set it up, simply start the program, indicate which folders your VST plugs are in, and have it search them to populate a master list of available plugs. Once it identifies them, it give you info such as manufacturer, type (effect, midi-enabled effect, or instrument), I/O, and location. Then you manually choose which plugs you want to be 'wrapped' and appear in your RTAS list in ProTools. Couldn't be simpler. Well actually, it can be. They give you the option of automatically wrapping everything so no work is required at all. But as I said, there are a lot of bad VST plugs out there (and on my computer) so unless you're completely computer illiterate (why are you working on a DAW?) I wouldn't suggest it.
That's it. Start PT and you're off and running. So I went through and tried a bunch of plugs that had never before seen ProTools on my system to see if I'd have any new 'staple' effects and instruments in the arsenal. The biggest plus are the instruments, as there are some really good ones out there and until Digidesign had not provided any freebies of any worth. There are some good resources for finding free VST plugs. Try KVR and one of the DUC's superusers spkguitar's site for starters. But remember, there are A LOT OF POOR plugs out there. So to avoid cluttering your system, try them out one at a time and just deleting them if they're not up to par. I'll try to remember to post some good ones as I come across them.
The biggest concern I had with the wrapper (and one of the main reasons I didn't buy it sooner) was that I thought it would use CPU that I couldn't spare and it would be unstable. Wrong on both accounts. It's virtually transparent as far as CPU usage and I have yet to experience a wrapper-based crash. Only two things that have been annoying since I got it: 1) When certain plugs were included in my wrap list, when starting PTLE I would get an appellate that said something like 4CC ID. It didn't mess anything up; you just click "ok" and it continues loading, but it's a small inconvenience. I think it refers to a display problem?? 2) When using plugins from the Kjaerhus Audio Classic Collection (Classic Compressor, Master Limiter, etc.) sometimes I lose the GUI and have all but an empty plugin window. That's kind of annoying because I like that effect series for certain apps and I don't really want to use them if they're unstable.
But that's it. For under $100 I now have a lot more effects processing and virtual instrument options. Kudos to FXpansion for making a great product that does its job simply and effectively.

Other big news...Javboy Records is moving! By the end of the year I'll be in a new place in Douglassville, PA, still about an hour from Center City Philadelphia but now within a few minutes of the Reading, PA community as well. The studio will be bigger, better, and ready for business!

Right now I'm chilling out to the sounds of Tim Buckley Goodbye and Hello.

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com