Sonic Valentine

Back in the day it was a different studio every week for me.  These days I am at my studio mixing most of the time.  I love of working at my own place and having all of the things I find necessary at my finger tips.  When you are traveling to different studios though you don’t always have that luxury.  I took to keeping the trunk of my car filled with gear in order to get me out of a jam every now and then.  Many times these items saved the day.  Don’t you want to be the guy who saves the day?

Extra Cables - Just today I dug into my trunk to pull out two extra xlr cables.  My trunk used to always have (2) xlr cables, (2) tt-xlr adapters, (2) 1/4″-xlr adapters, (2) guitar cables, and one speaker cable.  I know this seems like overkill but I was working at different studios all the time and you never knew what their supply of miscellanious cables would be like.  If you are bringing in extra gear this is even more important because many studios just keep enough cables to hook up everything that they have and might not have extras to accommodate your extra gear.

Any microphones you can’t live without -

You would be amazed by the number of Shure SM57s I can use on a tracking session.  I used to work at a very expensive studio that never felt the need to buy more than four of them.  I would post signs all over the place saying “you need to buy more 57s!!”.  The bathroom, the refrigerator, the owners office, everywhere I could.  I myself owned 12 at the time and here I am paying $1,200 to use your room and you have 4.  So I started keeping a few in the car.  Since then I was amazed by how many times it came in handy elsewhere.  A few times I went somewhere to watch a band and wound up loaning them a few microphones and cables to get them through the gig.

These days I travel with my go to vocal mic, a couple of 57s and a Shure SM7.

A pop filter –

It astonishes me what high dollar studios try and pass off as pop filters these days.  They usually only have one that is broken and dirty.  Many times I will ask for a second one to put over an acoustic guitar mic (yes it is necessary at times) and they don’t have an extra, so I bring one just in case.

Drum Accessories –

This is especially important if you are working with bands (i.e. not studio musicians).  Many drummers might not have various accessories because they have never needed them.  But you are trying to make them better… and better sometimes means that they need to do things differently.  A pair of cheap brushes is a must, not to mention maybe some multirods and mallets.  I even went so far as to have a soft kick drum beater in my trunk because drummers rarely have them and they really can make a huge difference.  If you are feeling really frisky throw a tambourine in there too, trust me you will wind up needing it one day.

You would be astonished how many drummers forget to bring a drum tuning key.  Even more surprising is how many drummers don’t know how to tune their drums.  That is another post altogether.

Guitar stuff –

Even though I have already mentioned guitar cables and an extra speaker cable I feel the need to mention them again.  Many guitar players only have enough cables to hook up their gear.  If you wanna run a spare DI (like Joe Gilder mentions) or need to hook up another pedal you are gonna have to dig into your box.  I also always have a tuner on hand.  Many acoustic players use a pedal tuner but in the studio you might be using a non acoustic/electric guitar and having a decent tuner with a mic really helps out.

Before I go into a studio with a band I tell them to get extra strings, and most of the time they do.  They never ever seem to have a string winder though so add that to the list.

Tools –

A flashlight and a leatherman or gerber multitool are a must.  I don’t even think I need to explain this one.  They are just good to have in your car anyways.

Personal Stuff -

If you are an assistant engineer a good book is nice to have on hand.  Go ahead and be well read while you are staying perfectly out of the way but perfectly available at all times.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant are an absolute MUST!!  There are going to be days that don’t end.  You might as well be as well kept as you can for your sake and for the sake those around you.  I can’t begin to count the number of nights (or days) that I had to grab a couple of hours worth of sleep on a studio couch only to get up and start the day all over again.Oh, don’t forget an extra t-shirt and an extra pair of underwear.

Last but not least.  Keep a camera with you.  Hopefully you will be lucky enough to witness some pretty amazing things and you will want to have some pictures to remember the moments.  I finally went and got a really good camera because my cellphone wasn’t cutting it.  Sure I have a picture of Billy Gibbons playing slide with a bottle of tabasco sauce (it was the only thing we could find) but it was a crappy cell phone picture.  It doesn’t have to be an amazing camera or anything but something that doesn’t make you mad every time you see the picture on your screen saver will work.

Well let’s say every six months. I am about to finish up all of the work I currently have and I have nothing to do but wait for work to come it.

Back in the day I used to freak out every time this happened. No more. The past few years I have learned that the work will come in and worrying about it won’t make it come any faster.

So what does that mean for you, the loyal Sonic Valentine reader? Well, expect more posts. Yes, I don’t post too often when I am busy. I work at the studio all day and sometimes the last thing that I want to do is write articles about work when I get home. For that I am sorry but that’s the way it goes. I realize this website will never get a truly strong following until I update on a regular basis and I am going to try my best to make that happen, work or no work.

So here is a list of articles that I have started and you will hopefully be seeing soon.

-What Every Engineer Should Have In Their Car Trunk

-Pro Tools LE or HD?

-Are Converters Really Worth The Money?

-Thoughts On Recording Schools

Hopefully many more as well.

I also want to get started sampling more of the instruments I have lying around.  On the weekends the wife and I love to go to weird junk stores and flea markets and I wind up buying my fair share of oddball instruments.  The problem is many of them are too out of tune to use effectively in a track.  So I sample them, tune them and load them into appropriate sample software.  I plan on giving many away and selling some as well.

So there ya go.  I can’t be much more up front than that.  When you notice I am not posting as much it isn’t because I don’t love writing and teaching my readers new things.  It is just that I am lucky enough to have work and I am probably learning more things that I can pass on to you guys.

Four cheap plug-ins I used everyday. from The Sonic Fedora on Vimeo.

Who says that plugs have to cost a lot of money? Well… Waves does. I have succumbed to spending a fair chunk of money on many of plug-ins. Many of them I hardly use or worse yet I don’t use them at all. On the other hand there are four plugs that I use on 98% of my mixes that can be had for little to no money at all. Here they are.

Aptrigga – Apulsoft $55.73 – VST/AU Mac and PC

I can’t say enough about the value of this plug-in.  For less than sixty dollars you get a sample accurate sample trigger.  Sure it may not have as many features as drumagog ($199 for the basic) but it does everything I ask of it.  Normally I trigger a couple of samples and to separate tracks and mix them in with the originals so I don’t need drumagog’s “stealth mode”.  As for Digidesign’s Sound Replacer… it is pure crap and I refuse to even talk about it.

ADT – vacuumsound $0.00 (yup… free) VST/AU Mac and PC

With 9 out of 10 free plugs you are getting what you pay for.  Not so with vacuumsound’s ADT (Automatic Double Tracking).  If you haven’t read Geoff Emerick’s Here There And Everywhere get it now.  In the book he talks about the ADT box at EMI studios.  Well… this plug does just that.  It is free… you have no excuse… check it out.  It kills Waves Doubler.

PSP PseudoStereo – PSP Audioware part of the $49.00 Stereo Pack – RTAS/VST/AU Mac and PC

I use this plug on everything from background vocals to acoustic guitars, drum rooms to keyboards.  It takes and mono signal and using comb filtering makes it stereo.  Phase is rarely an issue with it if used properly and it just flat out sounds great.  After watching my demo video (above) on my laptop I couldn’t hear the difference, but listen on a good set of speakers or headphones and it will sell itself.  Honestly the whole PSP stereo pack is great but this plug alone is worth far more than the measly $49.

PSP Vintage Warmer 2 – PSP Audioware $149.00 – RTAS/VST/AU Mac and PC

My go-to plug for a killer bass tone.  PSP Vintage Warmer is the most expensive on this list but it is still an incredible value.  Mean and dirty is the name of vintage warmer’s game.  I know people who use it as a two buss limiter but it is to tough sounding for me.  Killer on drum busses and to kill the hell out of loop.  Honestly though, I don’t know if I would ever want to mix a bass track without it again.

Recording engineers are just about the only people who work on records non-stop. Most artists make a record once every 1 or 2 years. At most producers will generally make six records a year. A good recording engineer will be working on records non-stop… year round. Recording engineers will work with many producers and even more artists, watching them each make unique mistakes.

So here is my list of the most common mistakes I am forced to watch artists make… over and over.

1 – Not being ready to make a record – Just because you have written ten songs does not mean you are ready to make a record. By all means… go ahead… but don’t expect something that is going to stand the test of time. Many think that they know who they are as an artist, they think that they have a grasp of their artistic voice. Let me tell you, chances are if you have just started writing songs, just started playing live, you really don’t know what you have to say or even how to say it. Think of your first recordings as demos or experiments and try to budget accordingly.
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My second page of apps.

I am obsessed with my iPhone.  I don’t even try and hide it.  My wife would probably throw it in the ocean given the chance… that’s why I had to get her one… so that she could “get” it.

If someone asks me if I like it or tells me that they are thinking of getting one I tell them that an iPhone will change your life.  If something happened to my beloved friend I would go out that day and get another one… no doubt about it.  It not only changes the way that you interact with people it changes the way you do things.  I have two computers, my macpro at the studio and a macbook at home.  The macbook probably sees thirty percent of the use it once saw.

There are probably about fifteen apps that I use everyday.  I am only going to cover the apps that I use frequently as an audio engineer.  Some of them I use everyday.  Some of them I use once a month but they save the day every time.

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I received an interesting email the other day from a friend of mine.

hey ben… how’s it goin man? got a question for ya! is that entry level pro tools, that sells for about $249, good to get your ideas and songs together on? for about 4 years i been usin this fostex unit that’s a bitch to use.
i want somethin easy to use and a computer based program.
thanks man,
m

Instead of responding directly to Merrol’s email I decided it was about time I write another article.

I met Merrol about three or four years ago when Dan Baird and I recorded his band Miles From Nowhere. Merrol was the lead singer, lead guitar player, main songwriter. Very, very talented “salt of the earth” kinda guy. Can I imagine Merrol getting along with pro tools or some other program equally as good? Short answer… not at all.

It isn’t because I think Merrol is dumb or anything. Merrol is the type of guy who wants something to do it’s job and not get in his way. I think Merrol is one of those people who would have loved a couple of ADAT’s and a Mackie mixer. Can I recommend to him that he gets ADATs… no way. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But there is something to be said for their simplicity. Arm the tracks… hit record… play… done. I have a friend who used to make very good recordings on his ADATs. One day he hired me to come over and set up his pro tools rig, show him how to use it and basically get him up and running. Have I heard one recording he has done since that day in his home studio? Nope, the technology got in his way.
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