On the show intro I'll discuss YouTube's new streaming music service called Music Key as well as Gibson moving into the famed Tower Records building on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.
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Friday, December 5, 2014
Nashville Engineer Bob Bullock On My Inner Circle Podcast
Thursday, December 4, 2014
The Doors "Light My Fire" Isolated Vocals
Here's an inside look at the song that broke The Doors from a local LA bar band into the national consciousness. It's the isolated vocals from "Light My Fire," from the The Doors first self-titled album. Here's what to listen for, beginning at 0:13. The vocal picks up again after the solos at 5:34.
1. Jim Morrison's vocal is positivity drenched in a long reverb that's slightly delayed. This may seem excessive, but it helps fill in the holes between the fairly sparse doors instrumental tracks of just keyboards/bass, drums and guitar.
2. Listen for the vocal double on the chorus ("Come on, baby, light my fire") and again on the last verse and outro.
3. The vocal is compressed a lot and you can hear every breath. This is the type of thing that might be taken out if recorded today, but it helps to give the vocal passion and urgency.
1. Jim Morrison's vocal is positivity drenched in a long reverb that's slightly delayed. This may seem excessive, but it helps fill in the holes between the fairly sparse doors instrumental tracks of just keyboards/bass, drums and guitar.
2. Listen for the vocal double on the chorus ("Come on, baby, light my fire") and again on the last verse and outro.
3. The vocal is compressed a lot and you can hear every breath. This is the type of thing that might be taken out if recorded today, but it helps to give the vocal passion and urgency.
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Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Most Popular Song Keys
I was rereading some of my old posts from a few years ago when I came across this one. It's from a most fascinating study of 1300 popular songs on the Hooktheory site, and it attempts to determine the most popular song keys and chords. This is what they found:
- The most popular keys, in order, are C, G, Eb (that's a surprise), F, D, A, E, Db, Bb, Ab, B, F# and their relative minors.
- Next came the most popular chords. First, all the songs were transposed to the key of C for a common reference point. They then found that the most popular chords were G, F, C, Am, Dm, Em, E, D, Bb, and A.
- Finally, they looked to see what chord should come next after an Em. Surprisingly, the most popular chord was F , followed by Am, and Dm.
That said, you can't beat a surprise in a song to keep your interest. Let's hope that these results change soon.
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Tuesday, December 2, 2014
An Interview With The Great Eddie Kramer
Unquestionably, one of the most renowned and well-respected producer/engineers in all of rock history, Eddie Kramer’s credits list is indeed staggering. From rock icons such as Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Traffic and The Kinks, to pop stars Sammy Davis Jr. and Petula Clark, as well as the seminal rock movie Woodstock, Eddie is clearly responsible for recording some of the most enjoyable and influential music ever made. Here's an excerpt from the interview section of the The Recording Engineer's Handbook where he talks about his setups, technique and even a little Jimi Hendrix.
"When you started you were pretty limited by the number of tracks and channels available.
Definitely. You have to use your imagination and think really hard about how to plan it out. For instance, on Hendrix’s stuff, which is the classic example, it was done on four track. On Are You Experienced we used mono drums and mono guitars and so forth. We would fill a four track up then dump it down to another four track, leaving two tracks open, then you may have to do that again. On Axis: Bold As Love, I was recording stereo drums which made a big difference.
Was your approach different when you went to stereo?
Yes. When it was mono I just used a single overhead, a snare mic and bass drum mic. There might be one or two tom mics but that would be it. When I went to stereo I probably used a pair of 251’s or 67’s, I can’t remember which. I was just trying to get that left to right image when the toms would go left to right. I always record from the drummers perspective and not from the listeners perspective.
Has your approach to tracking changed when you do it today?
Yes, it has been modified in the sense that you don’t have to use an enormous room to record the drums anymore. In fact, bands today don’t want that huge reverberant drum sound that we used to love, so you can record drums in a smaller deader space and still get a big fat sound. Obviously I’m using more mics, multiple mics on the bass drum, multiple mics (top and bottom) on the snare, which I didn’t do before. I use a lot of mics on the guitar and then pick the ones that I like.
Is your setup the same all the time?
Pretty much. I will experiment with different microphones as they come in. The [Shure] KSM-27 is a great guitar amp mic. I love the new KSM141, which is a cross between a 451 and a KM84, on hat, percussion, acoustic guitar and underneath the snare. The SM91 and SM 52 are my bass drum mics of choice, and I use KSM44 on overheads, but I still use vintage mics like 47’s, and the new Neumann TLM 103’s, 147’s and 149’s. To me a microphone is like a color that a painter selects from his palette. You pick the colors that you want to use, so the mics are my palette. In the end it doesn’t matter to me too much. Whatever is available, I’ll just look at it and think, “I wonder what this will sound like on the guitar, or bass or whatever instrument.” I know what my standard stuff is and if I need to do something really fast I’ll always go back it, but I’ll often experiment with whatever happens to be in the studio.
Do you tailor the mic preamp to the microphone? Do you have certain combinations that you like?
No, just blanket it with vintage Neve modules, either 1033’s or 1081’s. I like the 1081’s because of the four band EQ so I can carve things out particularly when I’m recording bass drum. Lately I’ve been using the new Vintech X81, which is a copy of the 1081.
So you’re EQing during recording?
I always do. I have done so my whole life. If I hear a sound that I like then it immediately goes to tape. If it’s a guitar, then I’ll print the reverb as well on a separate track so the sound is there and locked in. I usually have an idea of what it’s going to sound like in the final analysis so the EQ and compression is done right then and there. I think if you bugger around with it afterwards you have too many choices. This isn’t rocket science, it’s music. Just record the thing the way you hear it! After all, it is the song that we’re trying to get and the guy’s emotion. We’re becoming so anal and self-analytical and protracted with our views on recording, I think it’s destructive and anti-creative. It’s bad enough that we have to be locked into a bloody room with sweaty musician (laughs).
Recording music should be a fun filled day. To me, making a record should be about having a ball because it makes the day go quickly and yet you’re still getting what you want on tape. There’s a friend of mine that has a bar in his studio and after the session is finished everybody has a beer and relaxes. What a wonderful thing! I think artists today have a tendency not to do this. You cut to a bloody click track, go to Beat Detective, do a lot of overdubs in Pro Tools, and then spend a lot of time searching for the right plugins to make it sound cool.
But the track has to move and breathe. Listen to all the great songs and albums that have been recorded the last 30 years. The ones that really stand out are the ones that breathe and move. With human beings, their tempo varies. I do admire what can be done in Pro Tools, but if there’s something that wrong, you should have done another take and maybe chop things together.
What’s the hardest thing for you to record?
The toughest thing to record is a full orchestra. Getting the right room and properly placing the microphones is really tough, but it’s also so rewarding. The other thing that’s tough is the artist that can’t get the right feel so you have to go through a lot, changing microphones and instruments and placement, to make it work. That can be boring.
I like to think that going into the studio is a challenge. What usually happens is that the artist, unbeknownst to himself, has done a brilliant job on the first take and it all goes down-hill very rapidly after that. The reverse can also be true in that the first take is weak because the person is just getting used to it and they build up gradually to point where it “is” great.
Didn’t you tell me once that “All Along The Watchtower” was take #27?
That’s a great example of an artist of Jimi’s stature starting from square one with a very difficult arrangement. He’s yelling at Mitch [Mitchell, drummer for the Experience], “C’mon. Here’s how you do the rhythm part,” then Mitch eventually gets it. Then he yells at Dave Mason because he can’t get the secondary rhythm guitar part. Eventually he gets it and Jimi keeps going at it and going at it. At one point Brian Jones walks into the studio drunk out of his mind and starts to play piano. Jimi politely lets him play, I think on take 20 or 21, and then excuses him by saying “No, I don’t think so, Brian.” Then by take 25 it’s a 4 star, take 26 is good but take 27 is the master, you can just tell. Everything is perfectly placed and has the intensity that Jimi wanted, so the song evolved because it had to. There was no time for rehearsal, this was something that had to be learned in the studio. It’s not the way you want to do it, but because he’s a musician of that stature, you don’t mind if it takes 30 takes."
To read additional excerpts from The Recording Engineer's Handbook and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.
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Monday, December 1, 2014
4 Steps To Dealing With Nightmare Clients
Since most musicians, artists, bands, songwriters and people in the music business in general are independent contractors, we all get the occasional nightmare client. Here are some tips for dealing with them and mitigating the aggravation.
1. Set the ground rules at the outset of the project.
The best way to stop a nightmare before it starts is to establish what the client's expectations are before you even begin. If you're mixing, state up front that there's only 1 free revision (or whatever number you choose) and that you get paid for each additional. If you're getting hired to play a gig, state up front the number of free rehearsals that you're willing to do. If you're getting paid by the song, define exactly when the time spent begins and ends so you don't end up doing a dozen different versions. Most problems can be avoided by just establishing these kinds of ground rules first.
2. Really listen to the concerns and complaints.
Sometimes the problem comes from being defensive about your work rather than listening to the actual complaint that the client has. Many times a client just wants to vent, or is really asking for help, but we overlook the real source of the complaint by focusing in on the wrong thing. Listen before you speak and then really dig to find out what the major concern is. It may not be about you at all.
3. Help find a solution.
Once you get any tempers that have flared to cool down, look for a solution together. This might require some flexibility on your part, but a pro is more than willing to do that. After all, when it comes to music, the client (the one hiring you) and his/her project comes first. You're just there to facilitate their vision.
4. Be prepared to fire the client.
We've all run into people who become totally unreasonable about their expectations for you or their project. Once it goes beyond the point where you're comfortable working with the person, you have only two choices - grin and bear it until it's over, or fire the client. You can quit in a huff and burn a bridge, but the better way is to just say, "I'm not able to deliver what you want or need right now, so I'm very sorry, but I'm not the person for the job." The cooler you stay under an uncomfortable circumstance, the better you'll end up looking to everyone else in the project, which might eventually get you another gig down the line.
We all work for someone in this business, and you want to be ab;e to work for that person again in the future. Keeping any problems to a minimum is essential for that to happen.
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Sunday, November 30, 2014
Bobby O Cyber Monday Specials
It's time for some Cyber Monday Specials that can help the career of any musician, songwriter, artist or band.
Have you ever wondered why your band doesn't sound as good as you think it should? Every wonder why your band isn't as good or work as much as the best band in the town, city or region? How To Make Your Band Sound Great is the only book on the market that will answer those questions and get you on the path to sounding better than you thought possible. Yeah, it really works.
Amazon Special Deal - Print Edition Deal or Kindle Edition Deal
Amazon Special Deal - Print Edition Deal or Kindle Edition Deal
Using social media is not the same thing as using it as a promotional too and Social Media Promotion for Musicians shows you how and why. This is a great manual for optimizing your personal or band's brand, your website, email list, and YouTube channels and videos, as well as all other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit.
Special 30% Off The Retail Price (you must register on the Createspace ebook store). Use code 4T9VLP26
The latest edition of Music 4.0 Internet Music Guidebook takes us into the world of streaming, as it lays out just how artists and songwriters get paid in this new evolution of the music business, as well as covering the new movers and shakers in the business, as well as the latest in the battle between DIY and traditional record labels.
Bobby Owsinski Courses on Lynda.com. The Black Friday deal continues with a free 10 days of unlimited access to check out all the video courses (there's over 3,000 of them) on the platform.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Engineer Francis Buckley On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
In the intro of the show I give you the 3 basics for online promotion, and we'll talk a little about musical instrument and amp powerhouse Peavey restructuring.
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Thursday, November 27, 2014
Black Friday Special
If you're not hip to Lynda.com, then you really should be. It has over 3,000 video courses that cover essential training for software like Final Cut, Photoshop, Pro Tools and more, as well as how-to courses in social media (like the ones I authored), marketing and business.
Here are my lynda.com courses to check out.
Audio Mixing Bootcamp - If you just can't seem to get the hang of mixing (and it really is an art) or want your mixes to be better, then check out this video course. It covers just about everything you need to know to step up your mixing game.
Audio Recording Techniques - This course shows you the basic techniques for recording just about any instrument, including strings and horns as well as drums, percussion, bass, keys, guitars, vocals and background vocals. Watch a song being recorded from the basic tracks to overdubs right through to the rough mix. 
Music Studio Setup and Acoustics - Sometimes your recordings and mixes just don't sound right not because of your technique, but because of your room! Regardless if you're mixing in your bedroom or recording in your garage, this course will help you improve the acoustics of your room in no time as it shows you how to build your own bass traps and acoustic panels.
Audio Mastering Techniques - Mastering is something that we'll all forced to do ourselves in one situation or another. Now you can learn the techniques used by the pros.
Mastering For iTunes - iTunes has had a high-resolution audio program for a couple of years now as it slowly builds its hi-res catalog. Here's everything you need to know about it, as well as all about the tools and how to use them.
Remember, you can also use the 10 free days to check out all the other lynda.com courses too. Enjoy!
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Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Cream "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" Isolated Lead Guitar
Here's another bit of Eric Clapton genius with his isolated wah track on Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses," a cut from their great Disraeli Gears album. I've also included a very cool "making of" video that gives you some behind the scenes of the song. Some cool things about it:
1. This was one of the first songs to use the then-new wah-wah pedal, which would go on to become a standard piece of gear for every guitar player afterwards.
2. Clapton is rocking the wah back and forth in time with song during the verses, which not many players do, but it works very effectively here.
3. Be sure to watch the "making of" video, which provides some revelations about the song. One of the big things is how the riff was stolen from the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City" and how big an influence the Spoonful was on Cream!
For those of you in the US, have a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving!
If you're going to partake in any Thanksgiving or Black Friday Amazon sales, please consider entering Amazon through this link to help support his blog. Thanks!
1. This was one of the first songs to use the then-new wah-wah pedal, which would go on to become a standard piece of gear for every guitar player afterwards.
2. Clapton is rocking the wah back and forth in time with song during the verses, which not many players do, but it works very effectively here.
3. Be sure to watch the "making of" video, which provides some revelations about the song. One of the big things is how the riff was stolen from the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City" and how big an influence the Spoonful was on Cream!
For those of you in the US, have a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving!
If you're going to partake in any Thanksgiving or Black Friday Amazon sales, please consider entering Amazon through this link to help support his blog. Thanks!
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Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Making A Great Guitar String
Jim D'Addario, the CEO and chairman of D’Addario & Company, Inc. (the world’s largest maker of musical instrument strings), describes what makes a great string as well as some of the differences between the way manufacturers make their strings to help you make a choice next time it's time to buy strings."What do you think makes a great guitar string?
Certainly, that’s a matter of opinion. It comes down to what tone you are looking for, however there are some common denominators that are key ingredients for making a great string. The most important things are consistency in diameter, shape, and the mass of the string from one end of the vibrating length to the other. If there are fluctuations as you’re winding or making the string, and the mass of the string varies at any point along its length, the intonation is going to be horrible and the harmonics will not be true.
As we developed the expertise to design and build our own machinery in the 70’s, we developed ways of controlling the variables that are involved with the manufacturing process. One of the most important variables is the tension that you put on the wire as you wrap it around the core. I would say it’s one of the most critical variables in string making. Because we use soft temper wires you can actually elongate the wire significantly during the process and end up with a completely different diameter finished string. Tension is a critical aspect of making a string!
What are some of the innovations you came up with in string manufacturing?
Twenty years ago we developed a closed loop system where we actually measure the tension on the wire just before it goes on the string. Utilizing a load cell and a digital control that adjusts the tension, we always maintain perfect tension specifications. You can’t do that when you wind a string by hand, and you can’t do that with a mechanical tension device. It has to be closed loop and digital. It’s really very similar to an autopilot in a plane. Our machines are constantly making minute corrections to hit the tension target.
The other breakthrough innovation we developed was a way of tracking the angle that the wire was being fed onto the core, which is also extremely critical. Many competitors are still using machinery with mechanical drives that feed the wire, but back in 1979 we developed a system that tracks the wire feed angle and makes adjustments on the fly to ensure the windings are perfectly spaced. It is one of the reasons why our strings are so consistent. We designed this in 1979. You can imagine how expensive the electronics for that was back then.
If you control the basics, core tension, wrap tension and feed angle, then it’s a question of designing the string properly. Here’s where we create your choices for string tone. A flat wound string is very mellow sounding, a half round string is a little brighter and a round wound string is even brighter. A nickel-plated steel round wound string is bright; a stainless steel string is a little brighter, etc., etc.
It’s like going to a restaurant and looking at the menu. What flavor would you like? You want the chef to do a great job at cooking all the things on the menu, but you want to be able to select the flavor that you’re looking for. Picking and designing the materials that should go into the strings is like picking what you like off the menu. Personally, I like very bright sounding strings. I like uncoated phosphor bronze strings on acoustic, but because I have so many guitars and can’t change strings often enough, I use coated EXP strings. I actually like our 80-20 coated strings better than coated phosphor bronze. I don’t know why, but I do. Over the last ten years we’ve gotten the coating process on our EXP’s down to be so thin that I can’t even hear the difference between a coated and a uncoated string anymore.
EXP is a micro coating on the wrap wire that’s only 2/10,000ths of an inch in thickness. What it does is seal it from the environment so it doesn’t corrode and doesn’t get affected by your body chemistry. Those are the key elements that break a string down and make it lose its tone prematurely."
To read additional excerpts from The Ultimate Guitar Tone Handbook and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.
Here's a great video from the How It's Made program showing the making of a D'Addario string.
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Monday, November 24, 2014
A Look At Abbey Road Remastering Iron Maiden
With vinyl albums coming back in vogue again, most legacy bands are reissuing their catalog on good old fashioned 12 inch records. Iron Maiden is no exception, and recently went to Abbey Road Studios to have their entire collection remastered. Here's a video that shows you a bit of the famed studio's mastering suites as well as the story behind the project.
Anyone that's really into Maiden can find the boxed set here. It makes a great Xmas gift for that metal head or vinyl junky in your life.
Anyone that's really into Maiden can find the boxed set here. It makes a great Xmas gift for that metal head or vinyl junky in your life.
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Sunday, November 23, 2014
New Music Gear Monday: AEA Nuvo 8 Ribbon Microphone
Ribbon mics have made quite a comeback over the last 10 years to the point that most new ribbon mics that you buy are better than ever. The problem is that you have to go beyond about $1k to get a quality product. That barrier has recently been broken by Royer with its R101 and the AEA Nuevo 22. Now AEA takes the N22 one step further with a phantom powered version with the introduction of its new Nuevo 8.
The N8 uses the same Big Ribbon TM technology used in its famous R44 (the excellent reproduction of the original RCA 44) and couples an internal preamp to increase the output, so there's no need for a special hi-gain preamp that's often needed to raise the output of a ribbon mic up to a usable level. And it can take a ton of SPL without distortion, topping out at 141dB!
The N8 also utilizes a new sleeker design with a matte finish that's a lot less obtrusive than AEA's traditional mic bodies, so it's perfect for video shoots and getting into spots that aren't available to larger mics.
The AEA Nuevo 8 comes with a storage case and sleeve and has a street price of $1098. Check out the AEA website for more information.
Here's a great demo using two N8's as drum overheads and an R44 on the kick (just like the famous John Bonham setup).
The N8 uses the same Big Ribbon TM technology used in its famous R44 (the excellent reproduction of the original RCA 44) and couples an internal preamp to increase the output, so there's no need for a special hi-gain preamp that's often needed to raise the output of a ribbon mic up to a usable level. And it can take a ton of SPL without distortion, topping out at 141dB!
The N8 also utilizes a new sleeker design with a matte finish that's a lot less obtrusive than AEA's traditional mic bodies, so it's perfect for video shoots and getting into spots that aren't available to larger mics.
The AEA Nuevo 8 comes with a storage case and sleeve and has a street price of $1098. Check out the AEA website for more information.
Here's a great demo using two N8's as drum overheads and an R44 on the kick (just like the famous John Bonham setup).
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