12/20/11

I'm currently tracking guitars with Eli Santana from Holy Grail. I'll be uploading a video of our guitar set
up in the next day or so.

 

4/22/11

I strongly recommend to anyone who has even a passing interest in Prince, and who also may be of the tender age whereby they have never had the chance to see a show of this caliber, to check him out for one of his 21 shows he will be doing at The Forum.

This is a real live show with real musicians. Very little in the way of backing tracks, no auto-tune, no lip -syncing. Just incredible performances by amazing musicians.

3/24/11

The best thing for me about the modern era of recording is being able to work at home. I love that i can work on a mix for a few hours, take a break or switch to a different song or project, and be able to get right back to where I left off. I try to seperate what i consider to be the non-creative tasks from the creative ones. I will invest 4 or 5 hours into completely seting up a mix project for an album so that all the songs are layed out to a certain point. Then I can come back fresh to do the actual creative work of mixing without being burnt out.

This sure beats the days of having to spend a whole day on one song with the goal of having a perfect mix when you walked out the door at the end of the night. You were almost guaranteed to be recalling the 1st few mixes of an album and the studio time spent resetting the board wasn't cheap.

The way i have my mix setup organized today, I can print any stem or mix version of any previous mix that I've done in minutes. I have mangers and A&R people calling me all the time at the last minute for stems , instrumentals, B-sides and alternate versions. they always need stuff ASAP and I am able to accomidate them without all the stress.

The other benefit of working at home is the added productivity. I regularly find myself working on about five projects at any given time. This was something I could never have pulled off in the past.

2/23/11

I spent most of December working on EPs for two new bands, and another band that I made a couple records with in the '90s. The two new bands are "3000 Realms" and "Tangent Transmisssion". "3000 Realms" has a sound that is reminiscent of Alice In Chains and early Sound Garden, but with an electronic element and a progressive flair. "Tangent Transmission" has a very unique and whimsical, almost cartoon soundtrack-like sound, with a fantastic vocalist who sometimes evokes a Jeff Buckley vibe. The third EP that I am currently working on is for my friends Chalk Farm. The had a song called Lie On Lie that charted in the 90's. Their sound is generally a mellow, acoustic-based pop-rock with atmospheric guitars and always grooving bass lines. :

10/10/10

While I was in Finland this summer, producing Children Of Bodom, I was able to do some traveling because of a break in the recording schedule. My wife and I traveled to Prague and Budapest, where we hung out with the Monster Magnet guys when they played the Siget Festival. Here is a "in the studio" clip from COBTV :

7/19/10

What do you pack when you have to go out of the country for two months to make a record? How about 20 microphones : 2 414 EBs, 6 451's, 1 e602 2 KM 84s, 2 Coles, 2 Royer labs R161, 1 441, 1 NS 10 Woofer, 1 SE Titan, 1 Green Bullet, and an SM7. A Little Labs PCP Distro, An MW-1 Studio Tool, and some assorted pedals, including some very cool items from Analog Man, (his DOD OD-250 with the MOJO mod) and Godlyke's Triskelion, which is based off the awesome Systec Harmonic Energizer

5/21/10

I've spent the last couple weeks in vocal tracking mode. I've been using the vocal chain that has worked well for me on many rock albums with a male singer. The mic is an SE Gemeni II, the pre amp is a Urei 610, the compressor is an LA-3. No EQ.

4/17/10

Well, due to events beyond all human control, I find myself stranded on the other side of the world. Anybody in europe need a producer/mixer? Let me know!! Fortunately, I happen to love Finland and have made some great friends here during my work with The 69 Eyes and now Children Of Bodom, who are some of coolest people and best musicians I've ever had the pleasure of hanging with.

2/06/10

I've just returned from New Jersey where we've been tracking the latest Monster Magnet album. It was one of best times I've ever had making a record. A lot of Rock and a lot laughs. I took a ton of pictures and video that I will be uploading in my spare time. For starters, here is a video Phil made of the guitar tracking setup in the live room at Shorefire Studios in Long Branch, New Jersey:

1/09/10

Pre Production with Monster Magnet

Right now we're dealing with tempo, key , arrangement, and guitar tunings. We'll be in this mode for a week or so over at Jim Bagalino's rehearsal space. I'll try to upload some footage of us arguing about shit...just kidding... but I will try to upload some video, so stay tuned...

 

1/07/10

I'm in Red Bank, New Jersey starting another Monster Magnet epic. We're currently pouring over Dave's demo's at Phil Caivano's apartment/studio. This is the 1st time I've had the chance to check it out.