That box of Crayons
It’s finally time to make it official. We have a new partner at the studio, and I really did bring out that old box of crayons. We have been working with Zena Conlin over at Wax Crayon Design Studio now for almost 4 months (or has it been more?) in an attempt to have her and her company take over our design initiatives. Well, three projects in, we couldn’t be happier so we’ve decided to make it official. Wax Crayon Design Studio Wax Crayon Design Studio is the natural development of Zena Conlin, who has over ten years combined experience in graphic communication, marketing & print production. I love colour! I love creative collaboration! I love small, local businesses! And I love long walks on the beach! That’s the reason The Wax...
New Studio Gear… Today is a Good Day
When we opened our doors in October of 2010, the studio was pretty bear when it came to equipment. Over the last 2 years, we’ve continuously upgraded almost everything… Here’s what this new year has already brought us… Guitar Amps… Recently acquired a Marshall 1960a Guitar Cabinet and a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier “Solo” Head. Microphone Pre-Amps… Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5024 and API A2D. Both make sources sound, well, better. Microphones… Most recently we’ve replaced our Sennheiser e604 drum mics with the more versatile Sennheiser MD421 mkii… in fact, Just this morning we acquired 2 more out of a studio in Regina that recently closed bringing a total of 4 of these great mics into our...
Why the gear doesn’t matter
Every once in a while I am reminded why I do what I do. Sometimes there’s a lesson in the reminder, and sometimes it is just a re-inspiration to smile. Tonight I had one of those moments. To sum up the long boring story, I slipped on the ice and spent the afternoon lying on my back in pain. Not uncommon. In an effort to still remain productive this evening despite no desire to sit at the mixing desk all night, I decided to pace while I ran the studio computer through a series of maintenance routines and stumbled on a couple of recordings I did over the summer. One in particular was a microphone test of the pair of old Sennheiser 441 mics we own, both of whom were built in the 70′s. The intention of the recording was to use those mics on as much...
Advice for Recording at Home
With widespread and easily affordable technology, more and more bands are trying to record at home. Heck, if it weren’t for digital technology I wonldn’t be able to do what I do. However, just because technology is cheap doesn’t mean the end user is going to make a great product. Patience and knowledge still play the most important role in recording. I mean, you could give Daniel Lanois a Shure 57, a Behringer preamp, and a dungeon and he’d still give you a great record. So, for those of you who’d rather tackle the processes of recording yourself, here is some advice to get the most mileage out of your recordings. Patience is your greatest ally. A good sounding anything will not come quickly nor will it come easily. Move...
Do Dynamics Still Matter?
Someone asked me via email recently, “How much do dynamics matter nowadays? I’ve noticed that with most songs on the radio you have to actually look for volume changes in order to notice them.” The following was my response, and I’d like to share it here for those. =============================== Dynamics is a tricky beast to conquer.. It is more than just volume levels, although radio intentionally kills volume by squashing music even more than it already is. My advice when listening for dynamics is DO NOT listen to the radio. Instead, listen to your favorite CDs or iTunes downloads. You’ll notice more in the way of volume changes between parts of songs. One thing that hampers music in the modern era is the listener’s lack of...
Three Questions Every Songwriter Must Be Able To Answer
This was something that came across my desk this morning and it is almost perfect the way it is… so here is the complete, yet short post, which can also be found HERE. The article mentions the Library of Congress, which does us Canadians no good. Instead, here’s the link to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office… http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca Three Questions Every Songwriter Must Be Able To Answer 1. Q. Is it OK to shop the same song to more than one person at a time? A. Yes. It’s expected throughout the industry that a song will be shopped to as many professionals as possible until it gets signed to an exclusive deal, which would no longer allow the song to be shopped in the future for a set number of years, or if its a non-exclusive deal,...
Liz Longley on Kickstarter
I’ve been following this young woman for about 6 years now. I have her first record (which was fantastic BTW) and have casually followed her move from coast to coast. Recently, like many, she’s jumped on the KickStarter Bandwagon. I’m not here to talk about KickStarter, I’m here to talk about her budget. Liz, unlike most of us, has the experience of making 3 records to this point. The most important thing she’s learned is that her team matters. Her and producer Gus Berry have put together a plan and a budget that Liz compares to $100,000+ record company budget. I want you to take a look below and tell me if you agree or disagree with the simple version of her budget she’s laid out here. Liz Longley on...