Black Friday For Musicians

We all love a deal and Black Friday is the day for it, so I decided to put together my own BF list especially for musicians. Here are some cool items that make great gifts for any musician or engineer (and the prices are great as well).

Social Media Promotion For Musicians - If you don't have the online presence or response you think you should, then this book's for you. Covers Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious, your website, blog and mailing list. Take 20% off  on the print version today only by using code 2HJQXWBT (the Kindle version is already discounted).

Blocklite - This goes under the category of "Why didn't I think of that?". Blocklite is a simple LED add-on to any 9 volt battery that turns it into a flashlight that's perfect for checking all those dark spaces during a session or show. Cheap too at only $3.54 each.

Monoprice 8323 Headphones - Tired of spending big money on replacing trashed headphones? At $32 you won't find a cheaper and better sounding replacement.

Mixing Engineer's Handbook 3rd Edition - Are your mixes not sounding the way you think they should? The latest version of the Mixing Engineer's Handbook (written especially for the home or small studio) to the rescue. New interviews and a new "advanced" chapter make it a must have for any musician who records.

Etymonic Research ER20 Earplugs - The best earplugs on the planet, they reduce the volume but don't change the frequency response. I don't know what I'd do without them. You'll use them more than you ever thought. Only $12 a pair.

Shop Amazon - Countdown to Black Friday Deals in Musical Instruments

Lynda.com - Have you ever wanted to learn a piece of software, but hated the "how-to" videos you found on YouTube with bad audio and lighting and people that barely know what they're doing? Try Lynda.com, with more than 1500 courses with super high production values by experts and in small digestible bites. Check out my courses, and get 7 days free of unlimited access to lynda.com.

Tascam Vocal and Instrument Trainer/Recorder - This is a unit that I wish I had when I was starting out. It allows you to slow down an MP3 or a recording so you can figure out exactly what's being played. At 44 bucks it can't be beat. There's a dedicated Guitar Trainer as well.

Recording Engineer's Handbook 3rd Edition - Not sure how to mic a tabla, marimba or fiddle? Here's the book that will show you not only one, but multiple ways how as well as the principles behind getting a great recording every time. Invaluable to the recording musician.

Pyle Pro PCT 40 Cable Checker - The average studio or sound system today has so many different types of cables that troubleshooting can sometimes be difficult. Enter the PCT40 cable checker, about the most comprehensive unit that you'll find, testing all the audio connection flavors as well as USB, Ethernet and Speakon. A steal at $35.

Snark SN-1 Guitar Tuner - We've all gotten used to using software guitar tuners, but when you want to tune as fast as possible, this is the best tuner I've found. It clips right onto the guitar so you don't even have to plug it in. At $7.99 each, it's unbeatable.

Shop Amazon - Black Friday Deals in Electronics

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

A Review Of This Year's Lists

We all love lists and this blog has had a lot of them over the last year. Here's a review of all the lists posted in 2013 in case you missed a few.

10 Must-See Studios Before You Die

5 Mic Placement Techniques For A Bigger Sound

5 Practice Tips To Improve Your Musical Skill

15 Steps To A Better Mix

5 Tricks For Adding Delay To Vocals

Top 10 Most Misquoted Song Lyrics

2 Tips For Bigger Sounding Background Vocals

6 Tips For Tweaking Track Timing

My Top 10 Compressors

4 Vocal Mic Placement Tips

10 Tips For Better Effects Layering

The 10 Most Significant Amps Of All Time

Top 10 DAWs For Songwriting

12 iPhone Apps For Recording And Editing Audio

Happy Thanksgiving!

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

Lifting The Veil From Your Recordings

As many of you know, I'm a big fan of lynda.com, not only because my video courses are hosted there, but because I use it so often myself. Musicians and engineers have to be resourceful, and there are times when you just have to learn a little Photoshop or Final Cut to help with your personal marketing. You get the most comprehensive training on lynda.com because all of their more than 1500 courses are presented by experts in their field, the production values are sky high, and the info is divided into easily graspable chunks. It sure beats those blurry how-to videos on YouTube by a mile (like that DIY mic stand video posted here yesterday).

I first started working with the good folks at lynda a few years ago, which has resulted in courses that mirror my books, like Audio Mixing Bootcamp, Audio Recording Techniques, Audio Mastering Techniques, 10 social media courses (based on my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book), and now the latest - Music Studio Setup and Acoustics.

Music Studio Setup and Acoustics is based on the popular Studio Builder's Handbook (written with engineer Dennis Moody), which tries to take all the mystery out of why some rooms sound good and others don't, and what you can do to greatly improve your room (and therefore your recordings) for as little as $150 (less than a piece of gear). Dave Pensado thinks this is the best book I've ever written, and hopefully you'll find this video course just as useful. There's a quick sample of one of the videos below.

I'm happy to be able to offer 7 days free of unlimited access to lynda.com so you can check this and other courses out. Enjoy!

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

Make A Mic Stand From A Coat Hanger

We've all been in a situation where we needed just one more low mic stand for a guitar amp or kick drum. Here's a video that will show you a quick way to make a desktop stand with only a coat hanger.

The video isn't the greatest, but you'll get the idea of how to quickly make a stand to bail you out the next time you run out of stands.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

New Music Gear Monday: UVX-10P Polyphone Synth Plugin

We all love the sound of those old vintage synths, but boy do we hate lugging them around and setting them up. Synth plugins today go a long way to recreating them, but not all of our favorites have been emulated. Now the sound of three of Roland's most beloved sythns, the JX-10, MKS-70 and JX-8P has been captured by the UVX-10P by UVI.

The UVX-10P was a 12 voice 24 oscillator synth that needed an external controller in order to be programmed. That controller is emulated by the plugin, which also features a library of 150 patches and wave samples so you can create you own programs. The UVX-10P is $99 and available in VST, AAU, AAX, and RTAS for both PC and Mac.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

Jimi Hendrix "The Wind Cries Mary" Behind The Scenes

If any of you caught the recent American Masters show about Jimi Hendrix on PBS you know that there was some great seldom-seen interviews that made that documentary one of the best. It seems like there was a lot of footage that didn't make the program, and here's some of it, describing the making of "The Wind Cries Mary" from Jimi and The Experience's first album Are You Experienced.

In the video you'll hear Jimi's late manager and producer Chas Chandler (once the bass player with the original Animals) describing how the song was cut in 20 minutes including 5 guitar overdubs (obviously everything was first take). Then you'll hear my buddy the great Eddy Kramer (you can read part of his interview from The Recording Engineer's Handbook here) isolate some of the guitar tracks from the song.

Sorry, but you'll have to sit through a 15 second commercial first, but it's worth it.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

10 Must-See Studios Before You Die

The garden surrounding Conway Recording

I was talking to a friend about the studio business in Los Angeles the other day when the conversation drifted to a very famous studio that was slowly being phased out (guess which one below). That got me thinking about some of the great studios that I've worked in over my career as well as some others that are on my bucket list. I decided to make a list of the 10 studios that I believe everyone connected with recording should visit at least once.

Actually there were many more than 10, but these are what I consider the top 10 that come to mind.

1. Abbey Road (London) - The center of the recording universe for decades, the studio that everyone most wants to visit, and what many feel has always represented the epitome of recording excellence.

2. Capitol Records (Los Angeles) - All you have to do is walk down the hallway and see the huge pictures of Frank and Dean and the realization of the studio's history hits you. Great sounding rooms, not to mention the famous echo chambers. Major construction in the area might seriously affect the studio in the near future.

3. Sunset Sound (Los Angeles) - One of the first independent studios anywhere, it's been the home to hit makers since the early 60s. I went to the 25th anniversary party a number of years ago and they played the hits that were made there in the background for four hours and never repeated one.

4. East West (Los Angeles) - Once part of Bill Putnam's United Western (also one of the first indie studios), the studios have remained basically the same since Bill designed them.

5. Oceanway (Los Angeles) - The other part of United Western and until recently, owned by Allan Sides, the studio is now owned by Gower film studios and its future is in doubt. See it while you can.

6. Electric Lady (New York) - Jimi Hendrix's personal studio. His vibe is still there. Enough said.

7. The Record Plant (Los Angeles) - It's not at the original location anymore, but it's still a legend just for the who's-who list of clients.

8. Henson (Los Angeles) - The former A&M Studios located on the old Charlie Chaplin film lot, Henson is one of the few large facilities left. Once again, the home of legends.

9. Conway (Los Angeles) - Mostly under the radar, Conway has been the home to music celebs for decades. You can't beat the beauty of the tropically themed grounds around the studio, which makes it one of a kind.

10. Avatar (New York) - Formerly the Power Station, Avatar has been the home to East Coast hit makers for decades, as well as the place where many of today's most influential engineers got their start.

That was an easy 10, and we didn't even get to Nashville, Memphis and the rest of London, as well as some of the famous studios that are now museums like Motown, Sun and RCA Studio B. Plus it was very LA-centric. Forgive me, my studio friends, if I left your favorite off the list. If you guys like this one, I'll post a second one soon.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

The Secret To Finding The Pocket

I came across the video at the bottom of this post about find the "pocket" of the groove and it reminded me of something that I wrote in How To Make Your Band Sound Great. Here's that excerpt as well as the video (which takes a little while to get to the point).

"The phrase "in the pocket" is used to describe something or someone playing in such a way that the groove is very solid and has a great feel. When a drummer keeps good time, makes the groove feel really good, and keeps it up for an extended period of time while never wavering, this is often referred to as a “deep pocket”.  It should be noted that it’s impossible to have a pocket without also having a groove.

Historically speaking, the term "pocket" originated in the middle of the last century when a strong backbeat (the snare drum striking on beats 2 and 4) came to the forefront of popular music.  When the backbeat is slightly delayed creating a "laid back" or "relaxed feel", the drummer is playing in the pocket.

Today, the term "in the pocket" has broadened a bit, suggesting that if two musicians (usually the bass player and the drummer) are feeling the downbeats together and placing beat one (the downbeat) at the exact same time, they are said to be "in the pocket." Whether you are playing ahead (in front) of the beat, or behind (on the back) of the beat, or right on top (middle) of the beat, as long as two musicians (i.e. bassist and drummer) feel the downbeat at the same time, they'll be in the pocket.  

In terms of bass and drums locking to create a cohesive part, there are three areas of focus for me. You have to know where your drummer is most comfortable in terms of the beat. Is your drummer very "straight," playing right on top of the beat (which can sound like Disco music or a machine)? Is he or she laid back, sitting in that area way on the back back of the beat (like Phil Rudd does on AC/DC’s Back In Black, anything by Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, or Clyde Stubblefield on James Brown’s Cold Sweat or Funky Drummer)? Does your drummer's playing have that urgency of a musician who plays on top of the beat (like Stewart Copeland of The Police)? This is crucial to know because the bass and drums have to function as a unit. You don't have to play everything the same, but you have to know and understand the way the other thinks and feels.

Getting the rhythm section to groove with the rest of the band is much more difficult than you might think since guitarists don't always listen to the drummer, a keyboardist may have metronomic time yet have a difficult time coordinating his/her left hand with the bass player, and vocalists will often forget that there's a band playing behind them altogether.  The key is for everyone in the band to listen to one another!

Many people feel that the question is not so much what the pocket is as much as how you know when you've achieved it, yet I guarantee that you’ll know it when you feel it because the music feels like it’s playing itself.  It feels as if everything has merged together with all the rhythmic parts being played by one instrument.  Whichever definition you choose to go with or use, having a pocket is always good thing!"

You can read additional excerpts from How To Make Your Band Sound Great and other books on the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

How Tape Delay Works

Many delay plugins today are either trying to directly emulate tape delay or have a tape delay setting. Setting up a tape delay used to be one of the first things you learned how to do when you started in the studio back in the day, since there was no other way to accomplish the task (this was before outboard digital delays came into widespread use).

Today very few studios have a tape machine, so most engineers, producers and musicians don't really know how the real things works. Here's a short excerpt and diagram from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 3rd edition that describes tape echo.


"In the analog days delay was accomplished by using an outboard tape machine. The delay occurred because the playback head was located after the record head, which created a time delay (see the figure on the left). As the speed of the tape machine was changed, so would the delay.

For example, a 15 IPS (inches per second) tape speed would result in a delay somewhere in the 125 to 175 milliseconds range (it would be different with different models of tape machines because the gap between the heads was different for each), while it would be double that, or around 250 to 350 milliseconds at 7 1/2 IPS. 

Because of the analog nature of magnetic tape, it has the characteristics of wow and flutter of the tape path, plus a rolled-off high frequency response and increased distortion with each repeat, which most tape delay plugins try to emulate."

You can read additional excerpts from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 3rd edition on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

If you've read this book and enjoyed it, please leave a comment on Amazon. Thanks!

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

New Music Gear Monday: Neumann TLM 107

To many, Neumann mics have always been the gold standard for recording, and you can never go wrong with any of the old classics. Neumann's newer offerings haven't quite been accepted in the same manner, but that could change with the new TLM 107.

The 107 has a totally new capsule that's designed to reduce the affect of moisture and humidity, but the cool thing is that it sports a new "navigation" switch that allows you to change the pickup pattern, attenuation, and rolloff. It's also a multi-pattern mic with omni, sub-omni, cardioid, hypercardioid and figure 8 available. The frequency pattern looks to be really flat with a high-end bump, but some engineers who prefer their mics with more color won't find that attractive.

The price is pretty good though, coming in at "under $2,000" according to Neumann. The TLM 107 is available at the end of November.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

Van Halen "Running With The Devil" Isolated Guitar

When Eddie Van Halen came on the scene in the late 70s, the guitar world was literally rocked with a new sound and new style of playing. EVH had a skill level and dexterity that hadn't been seen before, but the songs were good too, which soon put the band at superstar level. Here's the isolated guitar track to "Running With The Devil," the first song from their first self-titled album. The song still gets lots of airplay, and the album has gone on to sell over 10 million copies. Check out:

1. The lone guitar element in the song. There's only one guitar at any time during the song, mostly because the band was so used to playing it this way, as it was a staple of their shows before they received a record deal.

2. The guitar sound. It's a trademark of early Van Halen records where the rhythm guitar is panned on the left and a big delayed reverb to the right.

3. The guitar solo is dryer and panned to the right.

The song begins at 30 seconds in.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

The Secret To Great Drum Recordings

The drum kit usually gets the most attention in most sessions because just about all modern music is rhythm oriented and highly dependent upon the drums for song’s pulse. In fact, in most rock, pop, r&b and country music, a wimpy sounding drum kit equates to a wimpy track, and that’s why we’re dedicating an entire chapter just to recording drums. Here's an excerpt from the newly released 3rd edition of The Recording Engineer's Handbook that unveils how to obtain a reference point of how the drums sound in the room, along with some general drum miking considerations.

"As a general starting point before you even begin any complex drum miking, it’s important that you get a good picture of what the drum kit sounds like. To do this, try the following:

1. Go out into the room with the drums and have the drummer play the song that you’re about to record. Note the tone of the drums.

2. Place a single mic eight to ten feet in front of the kit at about the same height as drummer’s head. A large diaphragm condenser will work nicely for this. 

3. Record the kit for a minute or two.

4. Listen to the playback. Is the set balanced or do one or two drums or cymbals stand out? 

This will give you an idea of what the drum kit sounds like and what the issues may be when you begin recording, which now allows you to compensate by drum tuning, mic selection, or placement.

General Considerations

Here are number of things to consider that generally apply to just about any drum miking setup. 

• Microphones aimed at the center of the drum will provide the most attack. For more body or ring, aim it more towards the rim.

• The best way to hear exactly what the drum sounds like when doing a mic check is to have the drummer hit the drum about once per second so there’s enough time between hits to hear how long the ring is.

• Try to keep any mics underneath the drums at a 90 degree angle to the mic on top to keep the acoustic phase shift to a minimum.

• Most mics placed underneath the drums will be out of phase with the tops mics.  Switch the polarity on your preamp, console or DAW and choose the position that has the most bottom end.

• Try to keep all mics as parallel as possible to keep the acoustic phase shift to a minimum.

• The main thing about mic placement on the drums is to place the mics in such a way where the drummer never has to be concerned about hitting them.

• The ambient sound of the room is a big part of the drum sound. Don’t overlook using room mics where possible."

To read additional excerpts from The Recording Engineer's Handbook and other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com. For a more detailed video version of the book, check out the Audio Recording Techniques course on Lynda.com.  Get 7 days free of unlimited access to lynda.com

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.