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.