Was Steve Jobs Good for Music?

Was Steve Jobs good for music?

The Web doesn’t need another tribute, career retrospective, huzzah or think piece on his impact on the Local Group of Galaxies. His contributions to humanity and technology, and his genius for innovation aren’t in question here.

But this is the right forum to ask: Was Steve Jobs, and the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak – Apple Computer Inc. – good for music?

It’s hard to say.

Jobs’ brainstorms ultimately led to the three most music-transforming creations of the last 15 years. Can you imagine your own music production, distribution, and playback landscape without the advent of the Mac, iTunes and the iPod?

I mean, really, what would it look like? How would you record and mix your clients today if there weren’t a Mac in your workflow? Where would you envision the song ending up and selling 100,000 copies overnight? How would people listen to it on the subways, on the street, and in their homes?

Um…

Now’s the moment when a lot of people can stand up and point out that Jobs’ products decimated our product: Music recording and mixing went from the “natural” source that was analog tape to the “artificial” world of binary code. iTunes devalued the sale price of music down from the regal sums that CDs (and vinyl albums before them) commanded. The iPod sounds crappy!

So, OK, turn back the clock. Go ahead. The man behind the curtain is resting in peace – you can unplug your Mac and chuck it in the dumpster, remove your singles from iTunes, and then hit the street hawking Sony Walkmans, CD players and 8-track machines.

Why are you still here? Because just maybe the Mac is the greatest thing yet to happen to music. We can write, compose, arrange, record, mix, master and distribute far more efficiently today than we ever could before Apple arrived. Soft synthesis allows the invention and discovery of new sounds daily – an infinite universe of sonic sensations have been enabled by the Mac Pro, limited only by your DSP, imagination and time.

Riding the Timeline

When I’m visiting a studio today, I imagine Mozart sitting next to me. “This is all for making music,” I tell him in my fantasy, as he gazes wide-eyed at the array of gear, recognizing the MIDI keyboard, but ultimately transfixed by the dual 27” Cinema Displays. “OK,” he would reply, “tell me how!!” Imagine what might come next.

Would Apple and Amadeus have gotten along? Famously, I think — Herr Mozart would probably say that making things that make more music are, indeed, great for us all.

Steve Jobs, and all the tangled vines that have grown from his mind, did just that.

– David Weiss

Behind the Record: Mocean Worker’s “Candygram for Mowo!”

UPPER EAST SIDE/PHILADELPHIA/LOS ANGELES: Are you in the continuum? Moving musically through time? Next time you find yourself on a trip where vintage sounds and styles meld seamlessly with forward-thinking beats and production, you might just be with the MOWO.

Also known as Mocean Worker, also known as Adam Dorn, this is an artist too hyper to be defined, too diversified to sit still. MOWO first made a splash in 1998 as a Philly-to-Paris-to-NYC transplant with his imaginative drum & bass debut, Home Movies from the Brain Forest, which transfixed our ears with energetically beautiful revelations like “What’s Wrong”.

The evolution from there to Dorn’s latest release, Candygram for Mowo! (his sixth studio album), has been dramatic. Today, his sound identifies heavily with soul, circa 1930’s big band, jazz, ‘50’s hard bop, and yet even more styles, crystallizing in a charismatic collection that remains motivating after repeated listenings.

One source of MOWO’s rich internal collage is his bloodline, borne of the highly respected producer/A&R man Joel Dorn (Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Leon Redbone, Don Mclean, The Neville Brothers). But another may be the multimedia explorer energy that drives him – his tracks are heavily licensed, and he successfully maintains a parallel path as TV/film composer. Connecting it all is a massive aptitude for audio software and a desire to merge it with the most organic of sounds in the studio.

Recently relocated to LA, Dorn let us in on the deep journey that was Candygram: From the devastating loss of his father, to a cross-country trek, and embracing the limitations of a Philadelphia studio’s ancient Pro Tools setup, this album’s story has it all.

You had some serious inspiration for Candygram for MoWo!, connected as it is to your father Joel Dorn. What is your personal journey and artistic statement with this record?

This album was started on a very sour note. Sadly — and very, very shortly after starting the writing for it — my father passed away. Many of you may know him as five-time GRAMMY-winning record producer Joel Dorn. I knew him simply as “dad.” I really checked out for a minute as his passing was incredibly disturbing and sudden. I knew I had to make another record and it had to be special.

The title for the album is a nod to Mel Brooks — I know that sounds insane. I just mentioned my father passing away, and yet the album is a cheeky wise-ass nod to Mel Brook’s movie Blazing Saddles — what gives? Well, my father and I shared a strong love and passion for all things comedy. While he was an editor of sorts throughout my entire writing career up to the point of his passing, he also was just my best friend. We would work on music together from time to time, but really he was just such a strong supporter of what I did and a cheerleader.

He never said “do this” or “do that,” he just gave me an incredible set of ears to play music for. This album represents the first time I didn’t get to use his filter as it were. It took me about 18 months to get back on track and get out of the pretty deep depression I had fallen into.

That’s a heavy backstory. How did all this emotion start to come out in the sound of the album?

I don’t normally write dark music — at least not since my debut albums which were actually darker, jazz-influenced Drum & Bass. I knew that this album was going to have to be a continuation of the last two MOWO! albums (2004′s Enter the Mowo! and 2007′s Cinco de Mowo!) and that means a few things.

1) fun, funky music with a nod to past eras 2) uplifting non-pretentious tunes that folks can listen to in many contexts — this is not electronic music strictly for a club setting, in fact, it really strives at being home listening and headphone-oriented music — 3) obey rules 1 and 2 HA!

Simply put I could not make a dark sad album. I just didn’t want to. I wanted to do something that celebrated my old man, was fun, and was an extension of my previous work. So, I took a little while, reflected and got myself to a good place. It’s really an album based on love for looking at the bright side of things. It’s a positive album top to bottom.

You moved out of Manhattan halfway into the production process. Was it difficult shifting gears, location-wise, in the middle of making a record?

I really didn’t have a hard time shifting gears at all. I had started to get on a roll and I just kept it going. I have to say the hardest part of keeping on a roll was that I had set up a new writing environment and I just could not get a handle on what the room sounded like.

The problem with most writing rooms, or at least all the rooms I’ve ever had, is that they pretty much sound terrible. I battle this by writing at low volumes and just trying to keep things simple. I try not to clutter the stereo field at all. This is really hard as I’m often mixing old samples with new beats and live instruments and, well, it’s nearly impossible not to run into some conflicts doing that.

Once I had a vague sense of what my room sounded like I just forged ahead. By the time I started mixing I knew what I was dealing with, and it was what it was. In a dream scenario I will eventually write and always record in a room where I know what I’m getting. I haven’t gotten there yet. Maybe someday I will?

You said you made some interesting observations about long-distance collaboration in the process. What were some of the advantages and disadvantages of that workflow that you discovered as the project went on?

Yeah, it was interesting going through an entire record where only one or two times did I find myself in the room with a musician playing on my stuff. It was surreal, as I’m really accustomed to being in the same room with someone overdubbing on my material, but I just didn’t have that luxury this time out.

The two musicians I happened to get to record with were Charlie Hunter (“Sho Nuff Now”) and Steven Bernstein ( “Shooby Shooby Do Yah! and “It Still Don’t Mean a Thing.”) I gotta be honest: I didn’t have much to say to them when I was in the room with them anyway. I knew why I had hired them, and I got EXACTLY what I wanted to get out of them and I got it. Those two sessions just ended up being incredible hangs where there was no need for notes. I have learned — and this album cemented this concept for me — that you know who you are hiring and what to expect, and 99% of the time you get what you need without much communication. It’s that situation where if you don’t know what you want, and you hire somebody you may run into a problem.

Nobody on this album was hired because I was just poking in the dark with a stick. Everyone on the album was a friend or someone I had worked with numerous times before, or lastly someone I had always wanted on a tune and knew their thing. An example of this is John Ellis’s solo on “Say Yeah Yeah”: I love his playing, have been wanting him for years to play on something but I just didn’t have the right song. This came up and he just nailed it. Bill Frisell is also an old friend and someone I’ve worked with on film scores, his records and my own recordings (ENTER THE MOWO!) so that was also a no-brainer. Seriously, once I had the tracks laid out it was so easy to just pick and choose who I wanted where. The table was set nicely. I can’t say enough about how everyone gave their time and creative energy to this record — just a really huge record for me.

I do have one posthumous collaboration, and that’s with (jazz multi-instrumentalist) Rahsaan Roland Kirk. This is a collab that’s happened on my last three records, and I have some Rah sitting around that my dad had recorded and I love working him into my tunes. He was my father’s favorite artist, and I really love having him in this context — I know my father loved hearing Rah this way, so I had to bring him back on a tune as a nod to my old man.

When I last interviewed you, you were really getting inspired by Reason. Is this still your main creative tool? How has your use of the program evolved along with updates?

OK, this is a very complicated question for me to answer. Sort of.

I have always and will always use Propellerheads software products to write. It’s ingrained in my soul. A little while into writing the album the props released Record and I fell in love instantly with its mindlessly simple interface. I love the software, but I can’t say that I really changed a ton in terms of how I use the products.

The MAIN way I changed everything is the use of the mixing console built into Record. It’s an incredible writing tool. I love the fact that I instantly had the ability to really EQ and write at the same time. The mixing desk, modeled after an SSL mixing console, really made me feel musical. Other sequencers offer you the ability to build a desk suited to your needs by adding plugins and building the signal path. Meanwhile, Record has a desk, its sounds amazing and it has that incredible master bus compressor just sitting there begging you to engage it. It’s just such a simple yet musical piece of software.

As of this moment Reason 6.0 is coming out and now Record is bundled into Reason. So I will see with the new devices how things change. I’m already LOVING the Alligator device like you cannot believe. I am a HUGE fan of the Rex file. It enables me to play samples and make music from records mine. I always find inspiration from it.

What are some cool Reason tips and tricks you can share – what’s a song or songs on “Candygram” where we can hear this in action?

I would say check out the tune “Out there In The Random” from the new album. There are some insanely tweaked-out samples in there – really, really odd things all put together and they make this weird electro lullaby odd little track. Its all Reason top-to-bottom, was mixed in Record, actually, and then touched in Pro Tools a bit.

It’s a vibe not often associated with my sound. I’m proud of it because it sounds simple, but its construction is not simple at all: It’s a bevy of sounds delayed to death and tuned to be in sympathetic keys. It’s a very sing-songy sounding thing with an ‘80′s bent but its based all on totally unrelated samples and the synths built into Reason. It’s a rare example of my actually using the synths in Reason which I do not do very often.

As it was coming together I kind of hated it and loved it at the same time. It’s a strange puzzle but it’s MY strange puzzle. Lots and lots of filtering, reverb and delay went into it. No real trick, just a lot of experimenting.

Why did you find yourself tracking/mixing on a really old version of Pro Tools in Philly? How did the limitations of that platform eventually benefit the final result?

Well, I was introduced to this amazing and insane character named Paul Atkinson, a Brit living in Philadelphia near my house at the time. A close friend named Clay Sears, who plays guitar with Janet Jackson, suggested I check him out. I went into his studio — a complex in the basement of an industrial building in a working class neighborhood. I was not sold at first, and he pushed me for the gig saying, “Just give me a tune and we can take it from there.”

I have a weakness for Brits. I think they are much better at sound than we are. My favorite records are mostly made in Britain, and I find far more influential movements in electronic music coming from there. So, he had at a tune and he kind of nailed it. Over the course of the next five weeks we tweaked and messed with every song multiple times and got things just sitting in such a nice tight funky way.

This was not material he was accustomed to dealing with and I wasn’t used to working in Pro Tools 5.1…..oh did I mention that? We were mixing in the box on an old Mac running OS 9. What was I thinking? It really freaked me out at first, since I hadn’t messed with OS 9 since the year 2002, I think. It felt so ancient but he just got great sound and I slowly over the course of a couple of weeks just trusted him to nail it down. He did! I think he did an amazing job.

That little piece of software time travel is fitting for Candygram, we think! Now, along with the album, you’re scoring for “Weight of the Nation” on HBO. Why is scoring a natural extension of what you do?

I mostly write instrumental music. I’ve always been told my music lends itself to picture. Over the years I have really been blessed to have many of my tunes licensed for films, TV show and commercials — NEVER with the intention of them showing up there. I guess I just write a certain style and it works.

I really have never had a design on it but Id be lying if I said at this point I didn’t expect some licensing here and there. The track record has been incredible with spots for Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Kraft, Marriott, Crayola, Honda, Miller Genuine Draft and Chicos to name a few. I just love that something about my music continues to resonate with music lovers, film makers, advertisers and hipsters and absolute non-hipsters. Just in general, I make my living having music end up in things, having it licensed. I don’t tour, I don’t show up on talk shows. My living and my artistry is funded by all of these things so I sincerely hope it continues.

The “Weight of the Nation Project” is a documentary series about the problems with eating disorders, and food in general in the United States. It’s a four-part series being produced in conjunction with the US Government, so it’s a huge honor to write music and lend music to that cause.

My goal in the next portion of my career is to do more scoring. I have been insanely lucky enough to score films along side Brian Eno, John Cale, Hal Willner and peripherally Danny Elfman — a Disney film called Meet the Robinsons where I scored a nice scene and Master Elfman, one of my heroes, did the rest of the amazing score. I just think that’s the direction things are headed in. Folks know me as MOWO! for sure, but I’ve also scored about five films and documentaries and have had my Mocean Worker music in about 25-30 feature films. I’d love to get the chance to continue doing this alongside my MOWO! career.

That’s a music-for-picture track record that just about any artist would want to achieve, no question. Back on the tech tip for a second: You’ve said you recently started incorporating Logic into your workflow. How has changing DAWs been helpful to you, and in what ways is it a difficult transition?

Man, Logic is a mixed bag. I love it for its stability while running many AU plug ins. I’m using Logic an enormous amount for the HBO ““Weight of the Nation” project. Inside of Logic I’m using Native Instruments’ Komplete Ultimate 8, and the full compliment of Spectrasonics plugs with an emphasis on Omnishpere and Trillian.

I’m also, as always, using Reason 6 for some tunes where a little something different is needed. I’m sure I could just easily run Reason inside of Logic but it’s just a pain in the ass. Id rather just get what I need out of Reason and print stems for importing. I’m lazy. If someone has a nice tutorial for me to watch , please….send it along!

Pro Tools is factoring in less and less. I just ran out of patience. The lack of stability with soft synths just wore thin on me. I have Pro Tools 9 and according to many producer and composer friends it’s far more stable now. I just kind of use it for mixing now when I need to and some other kinds of editing. I don’t feel quite comfortable enough yet in Logic yet to do MOWO! material, but I’m sure as time goes on I will find it to be second nature to do some stuff.

So there you have it. I use three DAWS. I know that sounds insane. It’s just each program offers a specific thing I love.

You’ve just moved to L.A. What are you seeing are the advantages/disadvantages of being based out of there as a musician/engineer/producer, as compared to NYC?

The weather. That’s the only advantage thus far. All of my work is still based in NYC and back on the East Coast. I’ve only been here about 10 weeks at this point, so I would check back in in a couple of years and I think that that will be a different story.

I’m finding things to be different out here so far. Everything is great, but I’m seeing some advantages to the brutal honesty of NYC. They both have upsides and downsides. I love both places but my heart is in NYC, not gonna lie about that. I did 25 years there and will come back as often as I can. That energy only exists in a few places on earth — London, Berlin, Tokyo as well — and I need to feed off it from time to time.

You’ve said that Candygram will “complete a thought” for you musically. Can you explain what you mean by that?

I’ve made three albums under the “MOWO!” moniker, or rather with the word MOWO! in the title. Its sort of a character MOCEAN WORKER turned into. These last three albums I can say without a doubt or reservation I have really feel like I’ve invented something that I can call my own.

Candygram for Mowo! is the last in this installment, I think. I think I said what I wanted to say with the old jazzy thing. I want to start exploring other things a little. Having said that I might find that, “HEY……this is what I do” and can continue to explore this sound. But I remember starting off making drum and bass music, and then taking a really insane hard turn into house/breaks which turned into what I’m doing now.

Enter the Mowo! was delivered to my former record label and handed back to me as a failure. It was discarded as a mistake and the end of my career. I knew that wasn’t the case, self-released it, and haven’t looked back now over the last three albums. It’s been insanely difficult and a make-it-up-as-I-go process. I was DIY when it was SO not cool to go your own way — now everyone is joining me because the business is falling apart.

However, I don’t think it’s falling apart. I think it’s settling in and back to a thing that sort of existed in the ‘50′s: I know that might sound weird, but its kind of a Wild Wild West again, and I think I’m gonna be OK. I think planning success is important, but some things have to also happen on their own and find their cracks and crevices.

So, I say it completes a thought on these types of titles because I might not have a ton more to say. Meanwhile, shit, I just took four years to make an album after losing my father and going through such tremendous change. Moving out of NYC, meeting a wife and becoming a step dad. I think the MOWO! train is still chugging along – it’s going to change, morph and become new and exciting things.

– David Weiss

Candygram for Mowo! is available digitally and physically now.

MOTU Shipping 896MK3 Hybrid Firewire/USB2 Audio Interface

MOTU announced that it is shipping the 896mk3 Hybrid, an enhanced version of its 896 audio interface.

USB is always a great option to have on hand, and the system now provides flexible connectivity to Mac or Windows computers via the original Firewire or high-speed USB 2.0. This versatile-looking package includes eight XLR/TRS “combo” style analog inputs with high-quality preamps, ten XLR analog outputs, a total of 28 inputs and 32 outputs, 192 kHz analog operation, signal overload protection, a 32-bit floating point DSP for digital mixing and effects processing, two banks of configurable optical I/O, and support for time code synchronization.

In the back, the rear panel of the 896mk3 Hybrid provides both Firewire A (400 Mbps) and hi-speed USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports. Users will be able to connect the 896mk3 Hybrid to their computer using either format for full-featured operation and ultra-low bus latency.

The Firewire jacks on the 896mk3 are 9-pin Type B jacks, but they can be connected to any Firewire jack on the computer (6-pin Type A, 4-pin Type A “mini”, or Type B) using any standard Firewire cable that has the necessary connectors on it.

Other feature updates for the system include computer-controllable pad and 48V phantom power switches for the eight mic inputs.

The 896mk3 Hybrid is now shipping at the same price as the original award-winning 896mk3 (MSRP: $1250). According to MOTU, the 896mk3 Hybrid includes all the features from the earlier Firewire-only mk3, including:

• CueMix FX — flexible 28 input/16 bus mixer with on-board DSP effects, including reverb with sends/returns, plus EQ and compression on every input and output.

• 28 inputs / 32 outputs (at 44.1/48 kHz) — there’s no channel sharing in the 896mk3; the mic inputs, AES/EBU I/O, S/PDIF I/O, headphone out and main outs are all handled as separate channels.

• Front-panel control — access any setting in your entire 896mk3 mix directly from the front panel.

• Stand-alone operation — users can program mixes at the studio and then bring the 896mk3 to a gig — no computer needed. If they need to tweak the mix, they can do it on site using the back-lit LCD and front-panel controls.

• Multiple CueMix FX mixes — for example, users can create different monitor mixes for the main outs and headphones. Or add send/return loops for outboard gear with no latency.

• Eight rear panel combo jacks provide 1/4” guitar/line input or XLR mic input with phantom power, pad and plenty of gain.

• Clip protection — input limiter prevents digital clipping and distortion from overloaded signal levels up to +12 dB over zero.

• Eight 24-bit 192 kHz analog inputs and outputs on XLR jacks.

• Precision Digital Trim — Digitally controlled analog trim on all analog inputs provides accurate adjustments in 1 dB increments. Users can fine-tune the balance of the analog inputs and then save/recall trim configurations.

• Flexible optical I/O — 16 channels of ADAT lightpipe, 8 channels of SMUX (96 kHz) or two pairs of stereo TOSLink. Mix and match formats between the two banks.

• Expandable — add additional interfaces for more I/O as connectivity needs grow.

• Separate XLR main outs and front-panel headphone jacks, each with independent volume control.

• Stereo 24-bit 96 kHz AES/EBU in/out.

• Stereo 24-bit 96 kHz S/PDIF in/out.

• Word clock in and out.

• Foot switch input — conveniently located on the front panel; connect a standard foot pedal switch (sold separately) for hands-free punch-in and punch-out while recording. Or map the pedal to any keystroke function in the host software.

• Includes native 32- and 64-bit drivers for Mac OS X and Windows 7/Vista, including ASIO, WDM, Wave, and Core Audio. Supports all popular Mac and Windows audio software.

• 100% compatible with all host-based effects processing in today’s popular audio programs.

• Includes AudioDesk full-featured sample-accurate workstation software for the Mac with recording, editing, mixing, real-time 32-bit effects processing and sample-accurate sync.

• Front panel volume control for monitoring. Stereo, Quad, 5.1, 7.1 and user-defined surround monitoring setups available.

• Two front panel headphone jacks with independent volume controls.

• Comprehensive front panel metering for all analog and digital audio I/O.

• Dedicated front panel clock status LEDs.

• International 100-240V, 50-60 Hz auto-switching power supply.

AKG Adds NYC Producer/Engineer Steve Pageot to Endorser Lineup

AKG announced it has added GRAMMY-winning engineer and Platinum producer Steve Pageot as the latest endorser of its professional microphone line.

The NYC-based Pageot (Aretha Franklin, Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, MTV) is an expert multi-instrumentalist on guitar, piano and jazz flute, playing and engineering/producing in multiple genres from classical to hip-hop. Pageot makes frequent use of the AKG P820 tube microphone for recording vocals and instruments.

Learn more about Steve Pageot and his recording techniques here.

Behind the Release: Fountains of Wayne “Sky Full of Holes”

WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN: Don’t get too comfortable. When your band is a model of rock song consistency like Fountains of Wayne, there’s only one way to keep your fans on their toes: Make those album releases few, far between, and well worth the wait.

With the release of Sky Full of Holes this week, FOW plays out their strategy to a T. The latest collection by songcraft experts Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger follows the group’s last album by a full four years, giving their followers 13 more of everything they’ve been longing for: 13 hooks to get addicted to, 13 characters to get intimately acquainted with, 13 more three-minute stories to get gloriously absorbed in.

Their fifth full-length release since their 1996 inception, Sky Full of Holes continues on FOW’s tradition with the original lineup of vocalist Collingwood, bassist Schlesinger, guitarist Jody Porter, and drummer Brian Young, smashingly intact. Also on board for a return trip at the Neve 8068-endowed Stratosphere Sound was engineer Geoff Sanoff and mixer John Holbrook, both of whom were fundamental in shaping the sound of classic FOW albums like 2003’s Welcome Interstate Managers.

Schlesinger is the unassuming force behind the band and a laundry list of high-stakes cultural cornerstones. He’s written the star songs of the films That Thing You Do and Music & Lyrics, dozens of TV themes, collaborated on the Cry-Baby Broadway musical, and produced for the likes of America and Tahiti 80. With so many balls in the air, you’d think having a band like FOW to come home to would be a beautiful thing to one of NYC’s master craftsmen – and you’d be right.

This is FOW’s first new studio album since 2007. Does that feel too long, too short, or just perfect?
It seems to be the amount of time it always takes us. There’s no easy answer as to why. There’s always a lot of stuff that gets in our way, sometimes professional, sometimes personal.

What’s gone on for you as a producer in that span of time? How did that change the way you approached putting together Sky Full of Holes?
I did Tinted Windows — that was kind of a year making that record. I did that Broadway show Cry-Baby, and I did a lot of random productions for TV. I’m drawing a blank right now! I don’t know if those projects influenced our record. I think you learn stuff from every project, whether you realize it or not.

Working on this new record, Chris and I had a few discussions about keeping it a little more organic and open-sounding. We wanted to hear more space in the mixes, not just a wall of guitar. And we had gone out and done an acoustic tour — we liked the idea of having just a little more focus on acoustic guitar and piano, which are the instruments that we tend to write on.

What was different about the way FOW approached the actual recording of this album at Stratosphere?
I don’t know if our process changed so much. But I think we’ve gotten better at having a looser quality, not totally ironing out everything to perfection. There are songs on the record where you can hear us fucking around in a good way. “Acela” has a bluesy groove, and that was a loose, improvisational take. We left a lot of that initial looseness there.

The first track, “The Summer Place,” we had done an earlier version of that song, and then played it live as part of the acoustic tour. When we listened to the recording after that, it felt lifeless and stiff. We threw it out, and the subsequent version we came up with breathes a lot more.

It sounds like there’s a lesson in that – what do you find out about songs from playing them live?
That is something new for us. We never did that before. I think, that a song evolves after you’ve played it for a while on stage. Things happen on stage that you can’t predict when you’re writing it.

Some of the songs from the new record we still haven’t played live. We’re just in rehearsals this week, trying these songs for the first time on these upcoming shows. We usually find that there’s a handful that work great live, and others that don’t work live — then we just never play them. I think we know going in which will be the hardest to pull off. But we’ve also gotten looser about finding a good live arrangement and not having it match the song on record.

What do you predict will work well at this point? Got an idea yet?
We’ll see. I think “Action Hero” will be a little tough. We cheated in the studio, moving the capo around recording the different parts, so I don’t think you can play it through the way we do on the record! But it’s got a lot of texture that I like…by this afternoon I may change my mind.

In addition to the band lineup staying unchanged for 15 years, you’re obviously also in a groove with your in-studio collaborators, Geoff Sanoff engineering and John Holbrook mixing. What’s the benefit of keeping the team together for each album? Is there any danger to this approach – can consistency lead to complacency, or a lack of risks?
With those two guys, they just know us so well, and they’re easy to communicate our ideas to. We all have similar tastes as well. It’s a good team. Chris and I have definitely worked with people in the past, where we’ve had a tougher time establishing that easy communication. So when you find someone where you’ve got something that works, hold on to that.

Hey, there’s a song in that Adam! How did you and John collaborate to meet the stated objective of “getting more space in the mix?”
By the time we got to John, a lot of that was a function of the arrangements. But we did also talk to him about not feeling the need to have every song punch you in the face with compression and treble – which really isn’t his style to begin with.

What new bands, artists, or producers are out there now that are inspiring you?
That’s always changing for me. I listen to all kinds of stuff. A lot of it has to do with what I might be working on at the time. I’m a fan of Greg Kirsten, who’s in a band called The Bird and the Bee. He’s a great producer. He’s worked with Lily Allen, and a lot of other very cool pop records — very sophisticated and always very groovy.

This has nothing to do with any music that I make, but Die Antwoord is a South African group that does this crazy rap performance art thing. On paper it sounds like something I would absolutely hate, but it’s awesome and funny and you would really have to get into it to understand it.

What are the other projects you’re involved in now/recently, outside of FOW?
Ivy has a record coming out in September – the first Ivy record in six years. That’s big for me, and we’re very excited about that record. I’m also doing some songs with Emmanuelle Seigner, she’s a very famous actress and singer in France, and she also happens to be married to Roman Polanski. She was looking for a change of direction, and I was recommended by some people working with her.

That’s great – to get calls like that.
I’ve always been a collaborator at heart, and never a front person. One of my favorite things is working with a new singer, figuring out what they can put across, and put myself in their head.

It sounds very psychological.
That’s a big part of it. There’s the technical part of it, but there’s also trying to imagine being them while being you. You have to be true to both of you: I want to write something I like, but also something they like and want to put across.

With all the music that you make, why does FOW continue to be an important outlet/expression for you?
Well, I think at the risk of sounding egotistical about it – Fountains of Wayne is a great band! That’s something I don’t take for granted. It’s really hard to find a great band, and it’s really hard to find that chemistry between people. Even though we sometimes fight a lot and don’t see each other for a long time, we all appreciate that it’s a good band. If we don’t do it for a while, we all start to miss it.

Sky Full Of Holes was released on August 2 by Yep Roc in North America, and by Warner in Japan.

– David Weiss

PreSonus Announces AudioBox VSL Series Interfaces

PreSonus has announced their new AudioBox 22VSL, AudioBox 44VSL, and AudioBox 1818VSL audio interfaces.

The AudioBox VSL line offers a compact, rack-mountable USB 2.0 interface with tightly integrated software that provides the dynamics processing and EQ of a StudioLive-series mixer. Very low latency allows users to record and monitor with dynamics processing and EQ in real time.

All three cost-effective AudioBox VSL-series interfaces have Class A XMAX preamps with 48V phantom power; 24-bit, 96 kHz converters with 114 dB dynamic range; and a loud (150 mW), clean, clear headphone output. All three models also provide MIDI I/O and zero-latency monitor mixing.

In addition, reverb and delay effects are delivered with dedicated effects buses and the same Fat Channel compression, limiting, 3-band semi-parametric EQ, and high-pass filter found in PreSonus’ new StudioLive 16.0.2 mixer. With the AudioBox VSL, however, the processing is done on the user’s computer, using bundled PreSonus Virtual StudioLive (VSL) software, with extremely low latency.

As a result, users can monitor while recording with real-time effects. VSL also provides complete editor/librarian functions, and over 50 professionally programmed Fat Channel processor presets are included for enhancing instruments and vocals.

The new AudioBox VSL-series units ship with PreSonus Studio One Artist DAW (Mac/Windows) and support Core Audio and ASIO, so they work with virtually any recording software.

The AudioBox 22VSL will be the first to hit the market. It is bus-powered, offers two combo mic/instrument inputs and two balanced L/R main outputs, and is housed in a steel case. The included VSL software provides two stereo effects buses with reverb and delay and Fat Channel dynamics processors, EQ, and high pass filter on both inputs and both DAW returns. The AudioBox 22VSL is expected to be available in August 2011 with an anticipated street price of $199.

For small bands and home recording, the 4-in, 4-out AudioBox 44VSL offers the same audio quality and basic features as the AudioBox 22VSL and more. Using the included VSL software, the AudioBox 44VSL gives users an 8×4 software mixer with low-latency, Fat Channel processing for each analog input and DAW return, plus two stereo effects buses with reverb and delay. The ½U rack-mount interface offers two mic/line inputs, two mic/instrument inputs, two balanced main L/R outputs, and four additional balanced line outputs. The AudioBox 44VSL is expected to ship in September 2011 with an anticipated street price of $299.

Lastly, the new AudioBox 1818VSL has 2 mic/instrument inputs and 6 mic/line inputs, all with XMAX preamps; 8-channel ADAT I/O (4 channels at 88.1 or 96 kHz); stereo S/PDIF I/O; MIDI I/O; and word-clock output. With the included VSL software, the AudioBox 1818VSL provides a computer-based 26 x 18 (22×14 at 88.1 or 96 kHz), ultra-low latency mixer with two stereo effects buses for the reverb and delay plus the Fat Channel processing from the StudioLive 16.0.2. The 1818VSL can be used as an onstage mixer, controlled from the user’s laptop while sending Fat Channel effects directly into the P.A., while recording. The AudioBox 1818VSL is expected to ship in September 2011, with an anticipated street price of $499.

Summing Up: Quad Launches Studio Q1

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: Blink, and you might miss it. The action in the NYC studio scene right now is raging fast and furious, with noteworthy new rooms opening up at a pace almost too fast to keep track of.

The latest big-time addition to the cityscape: Q1 at Quad Recording Studios. The flagship revision to this storied facility, Q1 represents the latest evolution in NYC’s world-class studio offerings for artists, producers, mixers, and songwriters in search of new creative options and inspiring surroundings.

With its arrival, the fascinating timeline of 723 7th Avenue gets yet another update. The seeds of this new room were sown in Quad’s 2010 sale of its 8th floor — emerging lean and mean, Quad President Ricky Hosn and his staff embarked on a $500,000 overhaul of its remaining territory, the 3500 sq. ft. 10th floor.

Ask Hosn about the current NYC studio climate, and he’ll readily admit that navigating the scene is more challenging than ever. “It’s kept us on our toes,” he says, “and restructuring the place was essential for us. Quad was five floors at one point, but the market won’t sustain that anymore. We had to reinvent ourselves, to move in step with a changing of the times — we feel we have the right formula now.”

Making the Update
The results of the remake are as easy to see as they are to hear. Visitors step off of the elevator directly into the atmospheric Qlounge, complete with a pool table, bar and a carnivorous fish tank (show up for feeding time – if you dare). Those familiar with the powerful audio pod previously known as Studio D – now Q2 – will be happy to know that that room remains intact, although it is equipped with a new lounge that flanks it to the left.

Also with a brand new lounge is the latest addition Q1, a space designed to make all kinds of waves. At 320 sq. ft., the comfortable Larry Swist-designed control room may seem slightly compact, but once the advanced functionality and exhilaratingly loud and accurate acoustics have been experienced, size no longer matters.

To the contrary, Q1 is already making a big impact with its extreme flexibility, both in workflow and capabilities. “In the past a studio would have a mix room, a production room, a tracking room,” Hosn explains. “We said, ‘Let’s put all three together, and make a room where any producer, engineer or artist can walk in and feel at home.

“That’s the approach we took. There’s a producer’s desk in the back where you can sit, listen accurately, and work. The producer or artist is never sitting too far from the controls and the engineer. It’s geared around the artist and production, and that’s the trend we see: A lot of producers are handling the whole project, and we built it around that reality. It’s the same principle we had with creating Studio D five years ago, but we made this a bigger format, with better gear and a much bigger live room, so you really can handle any kind of music project.”

Outfitted with oiled walnut wood appointments, Swist’s pleasing design employs generous views to the outside and the adjacent control room, providing Q1’s users with an expansive experience while they work. “Windows were essential: You’re in Times Square so take advantage of it,” Hosn says. “Both the live room and control room have windows out to Times Square, and the window between the live and control room is bigger than most windows in the city. You feel like you’re right next to the artist — it just feels like one big room between the control and live room.”

Once clients get settled into the welcoming environment, things get increasingly interesting. While the ICON control surface won’t raise any eyebrows, the Pro Tools HD 4 Accel 9.0 system is to be expected, and the comprehensive list of plugins is de rigueur, where the signal can flow from there is unique: three different summing mixers – a Chandler 16 x 2, SSL X Logic 16 Channel, and a Manley 16 x 2 Custom mic/line – flanked by a who’s who of outboard gear.

“We had the opportunity to go with a typical analog desk, but we said, ‘Let’s do something different and get creative with the equipment,’” Hosn says. “We focused on summing, with three summing mixers to give the engineer more of a choice for the sound. This is the best of the summing world: Chandler comes from the old EMI consoles, SSL is the industry standard, and we have something different in the Manley mixer, which is amazing on vocals. As far as outboard gear, we went for — not vintage, but brand new — Chandler, GML, SSL, Manley EQ/compressor, and of course the Universal Audio units like the 1176 and LA-2A.”

For monitoring, a pair of Augspurger Dual 15” main monitors, custom built by Professional Audio Design, supplemented with 2 subwoofers, throws down the gauntlet for mega volume listening in NYC. In a recent visit listening to hip hop, pop and rock through these speakers in the tight, well-tuned room was a sonically exciting experience, revealing extremely high levels of full-frequency detail cleanly across the stereo field. For those who need to craft, check or just feel their mixes at massive SPL’s, Q1 may well become a mandatory stop on the way to the mastering lab.

Design Assignment
According to Swist, whose credits include Tainted Blue, Premier’s Studio E, Eastman School of Music, SUNY Fredonia, and The Lodge, the directive for Q1 was to create a warm but contemporary look and feel. “We used a lot of sharp lines, and the sound has got to be there — the acoustics need to be spot-on because people are going to mix in there,” Swist notes. “The challenge today in an NYC facility is that you don’t have the cubic footage you used to, so you have to spend more time in the design phase ensuring that the room will translate in the outside world, especially with bass response. It also has to have a broad sweet spot. It’s easy to make it work right in the middle, but to make the room work for the producer standing next to you or in the back is a challenge.

“Most live rooms have an idiosyncratic quality to them: The great engineers find its good characteristics, the right places for the drums and mics, and use gobos,” Swist continues. “My approach is to keep it a relatively active room, and then you can come down from there. So Q1’s tracking room sits in a relatively live place: It’s good for drums, but reverb times can be cut down with gobos and more acoustical absorption. I think the live room is larger than most. It’s not huge, but then again most people are just putting in booths in a production suite today. This offers the ability to actually track a band. A lot of those rooms are going away, and this fills that void.

“Overall, the studio is something fresh, and you do have a really good initial emotional reaction to it. It’s positive creatively, and that’s what we were striving for. It’s like, ‘Wow, it feels nice and it sounds nice. We have a good combination there.’”

Under the Hood
Cleanly integrating Q1’s three analog summing mixers and outboard gear with the ICON was no plug ‘n’ play operation. “We wanted to do something focused on an easier workflow, quick mix recalls for engineers and easy accessibility for producers,” states Alessio Casalini Operations Manager and Chief Tech for Quad Studios NYC/Halo Records. “This improves the possibility to change little things fast and maintain top quality in terms of outboard gear and technical components like patchbays, wires, and connectors.

“The wiring of the whole studio and the patchbay’s layout were designed by Glenn Baughmann and myself,” continues Casalini. “We brainstormed in order to find the best result to yield a simple layout, one noted example being: The three summing mixers normalled to the multitrack outs, and the outs of those mixers normalled to the Stereo inputs of the (ICON) XMon (monitoring controller), and dedicated computer output to the XMon. Even the TV is on the bays.

“We started with the best quality wires and connectors, and used only two DB25 patchbays for connections with XMon and audio interfaces. All the other patchbays are soldered by hand and split to DL connectors panels.”

Connectivity in Q1 is obsessive: Every wallplate in the live room, control room and in the lounge are equipped with SpeakON plugs, Ethernet, instrument, MIDI, and BNC. “The goal being,” says Casalini, “to give the engineer every possibility, without trying to find a way around what he has in mind. In this scenario the artist, producer, and/or engineer will have everything accessible in the clearest way possible.

“New York City studios are looking to the future, and retaining our experience from the past. We expect that our careful planning yielded a room ninety percent ready for anything — with the client left only to decide the direction of the last ten percent.”

In Action
Online since June, Quad has quickly been breaking in Q1. Sessions include Engineer/Producer Andros Rodriguez (Shakira, Oh Land), Music Producer Rico Beats (Justin Bieber, Niki Manaj), and Universal Music Artist Stephen Marley. One frequent visitor has been the NYC engineer Stuart White (Alicia Keys, K’Naan), who’s gotten to know the room via mix sessions for the artists Borni, Fumibella, and Sunny.

“The mains are really smooth,” he says. “They sound good and balanced. The ProAc monitors I use a lot and they’re dialed in, very smooth on the top end. Having three different summing boxes gives you three different colors. The Chandler is really punchy, with a lot of transformers in it: It’s got color to it, with some punch when you drive it hard. I typically use that summing bus. The Manley is all tubes, which provides a fat tubey sound, and the SSL is a different color.”

According to Stu, Q1 met Quad’s objectives in smoothing out the NYC studio continuum. “I think in a lot of ways Q1 is bridging the gap between the old-style, large-format console style way of working and the new summing bus-style way,” Stu adds. “There’s not a large format console, but still a plethora of analog gear so you can mix with the speed of what we need today. You have clients that expect you to mix in the box for speed, but at the same time Q1 makes you and the analog purists happy by being able to sum in analog gear.

“I think it’s a new breed of room in that sense. A few years ago, most engineers didn’t want to mix on an ICON, they wanted a large format board. But Tony Maserati is working exactly this way, and he’s the one who kind of inspired me to do it: You’re mixing with faders, and tactile controls, so you can stay creative and not use the mouse so much. But if someone wants to come in and change the song, it’s very easy to pull your mixes back up. It bridges the gap between the older generation rooms and the newer ones that are all digital.”

Cue the Q
As New York production possibilities continue to morph, at least one thing is clear: As previously noted on this site, a subtle sense of cooperation is weaving itself into the intensive competition between NYC studios. Facilities are avoiding blatant duplication in favor of an overall sense of regional integration, where each new room creates a fresh niche, rather than further crowding an existing one. “You don’t want to build what’s already there, and then compete against the same thing,” Hosn says. “The key for us was to make it a top notch room at an affordable price.”

As Ricky Hosn points out, the big winner in the friendly NYC studio arms race are music’s avid listeners, whose insatiable appetite for new sounds are increasing yet again with the availability of Spotify in the U.S. “Who knows what the next big record will sound like?” he says. “There’s a lot of opportunity to come up with something that hasn’t been heard yet.”

– David Weiss

Sear Sound Sessions: Donald Fagen, Classical Frank Zappa, Lulu Gainsbourg

Sear Sound has been a beehive for several highly intriguing projects this summer. Highlight sessions include:

NYC denizen Donald Fagen tracked in Studio A on the 8038 Neve with Michael Leonhart producing and Charlie Martinez engineering for Warner Bros. Records.

eONE Music was in Studio C, reportedly “classisizing” Frank Zappa songs for a new release.  His original songs were rescored for classical orchestral instruments and tracked on Sear Sound’s famed custom Avalon/Sear console.  The sessions were produced by Susan Del Giorno from eONE with GRAMMY-winning engineer Silas Brown working the board.

As he works on his upcoming new self-produced album, Lucien (Lulu) Gainsbourg continues to track in both Studio A and Studio C, depending on the orchestration. Jeremy Loucas is his engineer for his new upcoming album.  Lucien is the son of the internationally acclaimed French singer Serge Gainsbourg.

Engineer/producer Stewart Lerman tracked in Studio C for the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire”.

eONE MUSIC was at Sear Sound again tracking and mixing a new album with international artist Sophie Milman. The project was tracked in Studio C on the Avalon/Sear console and mixed in Studio A on the Neve  8038. In these intensive sessions, Milman began the recording sessions with an ensemble of 20 musicians and the vocalist all playing together, at the same time. Chris Allen was the tracking engineer and James Farber served as mix engineer. The project was produced by Matt Pierson.

Producer/engineer Gary Maurer tracked an ensemble of 22 musicians for his upcoming HEM album in Studio C. He will reportedly return to Sear Sound shortly to mix a 24 song double album.

And finally, Universal Classics of Japan tracked in Studio C for their international artist/pianist Makoto Ozone. The album was tracked by engineer James Farber and produced by Makoto Shinohara of Universal.

“Insert Scene” by Erin Barra: Creating a Vocal Chain in Ableton Live

SonicScoop readers, say HI to Erin Barra and the first edition of her series, “Insert Scene”. Geared towards those who seek a higher sonic standard without a high price tag, Erin’s blogs cater towards producers, engineers and artists at the novice/ intermediate level.  Always a strong supporter of the idea that EVERYONE and ANYONE should be able to capture the intangible, here you will be met with no pre-conceived notion of prior knowledge or experience (or judged for a lack thereof).

Who is she? Well, put it this way: If Alicia Keys and Nelly Furtado collided with Daft Punk and Esthero in the vast circuitry of an Akai APC 40, you’d probably end up with an experience as rich and soulful as Erin Barra. Joining the likes of MNDR and Tokimonsta, Erin is part of a brave new digital audio live performance armada of female artists riding a tech savvy wave of musical and electronic innovation. Currently on the ‘Dn’A’ Tour (Digital n’ Analog), her new power trio is crossing the US in support of her sophomore album, Illusions which is distributed by Meryl Music Distribution, Blackheart Records Group’s third party marketing and distribution company. Erin also runs Ableton Live User Groups and Workshops across the country. So without further ado, let’s kick in.

Creating a good vocal chain is not the easiest thing to do, especially as a beginner and with limited tools, but it’s also not rocket science.

Most blogs and articles you find online will be from big-time engineers who have been working FOH or studio settings for a decade or more and have access to fancy outboard gear and tools that perhaps you and I don’t. So I’m going to take you through my own vocal chain and also the general components of how to generate a more-than-decent sound using only digital plugins via Ableton Live and a $100 mic.

Not to say that anything we’re potentially working with here is subpar, but this process of taking something like a dry vocal and turning it into gold records is often referred to as Turd Polishing… WARNING: this may require gloves, but I promise to hold your gloved hand the entire way : )

FIRST THINGS FIRST
For those of you who learn visually, please refer to the accompanying video where I take you through the ‘point and click’ step by step of creating this particular vocal chain.

There are general rules as to what order a vocal chain should be created in, but as they say, rules were meant to be broken and I highly suggest and promote experimentation.  If you wanna try throwing three different types of reverbs onto one vocal chain, more power to you my friend — just please, use your ears. Playing it safe never got anyone a GRAMMY, but for the sake of clarity, I’m going to show you how I would go about creating a very straightforward and universal vocal chain in Ableton Live 8.

Usually when you’re capturing audio in a studio setting you go through the recording process first and then into postproduction, but with the use of Ableton we will be using digital plugins to create a LIVE vocal chain, which will be somewhere in between creating an optimal situation for the studio and the stage.

These tips will also be useful in a studio setting, but since you cannot undo compression or other audio effects when you record through them, most engineers would prefer to capture a dry vocal and then tweak everything afterwards (or put the effect on a monitor bus that the vocalist can hear but isn’t being recorded).  This really depends on your knowledge of the tools and the tools themselves. I will be using all the universal options for each Ableton audio effect, meaning I’m dragging the entire folder onto the audio track rather than choosing from the drop down menu under each digital audio effect.

MEET YOUR MIC
Let’s start with the mic itself, since this is an important variable to consider. A typical live vocal mic is an SM58, but the more resources you have, you may want to experiment with some different options. If the vocalist (perhaps this person is you) maintains a generally consistent distance from the mic while performing you can choose something with a tighter pattern to it which won’t pick up as much stage noise.

Conversely, if you’re got someone who likes to move around a lot you need a mic with a wider pattern.  This obviously will pick up more leakage, but it’s somewhat of a tradeoff at a certain point — I personally have major issues trying to compete level wise with my drummer. He is invariably louder than I am, at which point I turn up my volume and then it just picks up more of the drums… it’s somewhat of a vicious cycle and one that you should try to avoid.  Additionally, each mic has it’s own gain needs and keep in mind that if you’re using a condenser mic you’re going to need an interface with phantom power.

SET THE COMPRESSION
After you’ve got your mic all set up, the next obstacle is getting a good level and proper compression.  When you initialize a new ALS (Ableton Live Session) you will automatically be given an empty Audio and MIDI track. Either choose to run your vocal through this Audio track or create a new one (“Apple T”).

When you’re running your live vocal through an audio track in Ableton, this means that it’s also going through your interface and most likely a DAW or two.  All of these “middle men” have meters, which will give you a general sense of how much or how little signal you are sending/receiving.

However, these meters are not always an accurate indication as to whether or not you’re peaking.  This could be because you’re metering after the plugins or because certain instruments — like keyboards — distort inside themselves if their output level is more than ¾ of the way up.  For instance, my Nord is notorious for distorting even though all of my meters tell me otherwise, and in that particular case it’s up to my ears to lead the way. Get as close as you can to a good amount of signal without distorting before you add any compression.  The human voice is highly dynamic and in order to get the vocals to compete in a live band or electronic setting, tasteful and intelligent compression is key.

From there, let’s begin our digital vocal chain with Ableton’s universal compression.  Generally speaking all compressors work the same, but their appearance will differ from program to program and plugin to plugin.  Compression isn’t the most straightforward of concepts, but for the sake of simplicity I’m going to break this down to a few easy rules of thumb:

1)    Basically, you want the volume of your vocals to be audible and clear throughout your set, whether or not it’s a loud or soft song.  To achieve this we have to even everything out, meaning that the softer phrases will need to come up and the louder ones need to remain below certain threshold.

If you look at Ableton’s digital compressor, the threshold adjustment is on the left and the lower this setting is the more it will boost up the softer frequencies. So if there’s a part of a song that you’re singing softer than the rest, or you don’t get as much projection from the lower end of your range, this will even everything out (and sadly, also whatever leakage you have on stage).  The output will raise the all-around level.  When you raise the output you should raise it to a reasonable level and always err on the side of subtlety since it will easily distort if you’re not careful, and digital distortion is not a good thing 90% of the time.

2)    Another thing to be aware of is that over-compressing live will potentially result in more feedback.

3)    Also, you want to avoid over-compressing your vocals because one of the beauties of the human voice is how dynamic it can be, and if you take away too much of it’s best quality, you’ve done yourself a huge disservice.

CUE THE EQ
Next we will add Ableton’s EQ 8. An art form in and of itself, proper EQ is where your ears really and truly come into play.  I’ve been told that in general, when EQ’ing a vocal, it’s a very vague rule of thumb to cut the lows and boost the highs. This is definitely not always true and I would think of that statement as a good place to start rather then an end all of quick EQ.

In order to properly EQ a vocalist, you have to listen to the quality of their voice and try to supplement them wherever necessary. For example if you have an aggressive singer, you may want to watch the high mids when they really get ripping, or if your dealing with a female with a lot of power up top, you might want to cut some of the highs. Also, take into consideration that every single room you play in will sound different, so if you really want to get nitpicky with this, you’re going to have to address this EQ issue every time you hit a new stage.  This may be a slight pain in the ass, but totally worth it for overall quality.

SET THE FX
After the EQ let’s add some reverb. Reverb is one of those things that is very subjective and definitely needs to be adjusted from room to room. Depending on the shape, size, walls, materials and amount of people in a room the natural amount of reverb could be anywhere from drenched to completely dry.

The two parameters I would generally pay attention to with this plugin would be the Dry/Wet ratio, which will determine how much reverb you’re adding, and the Decay Time, which dictates how long each sound will take to ultimately cease.  For my live set I like to go a little crazy with the reverb during some of the more Dub influenced tracks and also for a spacey dream-like feel.  One of the beautiful things about Ableton is that you can adjust these parameters live and use the audio effects as another form of expression.

As they say, “a little delay will take you a long way” and I absolutely stand by that statement.  I use Ableton’s ping pong delay pretty much across the board and am generally very happy with the results: Speaking from a vocalist’s perspective it makes me feel like I’m singing better, which may or may not be true, but anything you can do to enhance the way someone’s voice sounds in their own ears, the better.

I run all my delays through a return so I can send them to each individual track depending on when and where I need them. For instance, I use the same delay send on my vocal that I do on my Moog when I’m ripping a sweet solo, or even a bass part that I’ve pre-recorded into my session. This approach will also save you CPU.

SAVE IT
After you’ve created your own personal vocal chain I suggest you SAVE these settings to an audio effects rack.  This way each time you start a new session you already have your vocal sounding great. Also, if you’re using Ableton in conjunction with an APC 40 or a Launchpad you can selectively MIDI map certain parameters you wish to adjust live to corresponding knobs.  This is when we begin to truly separate the boys from the men…

EARS ON TOP
At the very end of the day, all of these suggestions are just that, suggestions. Each and every producer/engineer has their own special tricks and magic settings they have stumbled upon at one point or another, as you will soon discover.

But when it comes down to it, the most important tool and priceless piece of hardware in your possession are the two receivers on either side of your head. Using your ears and critical listening are the two things will make the most difference in sound quality — and also are the first two things most people overlook.  When you’re sound checking I suggest pressing “record” and then listening back a few times as you adjust your chain.

I hope you find this helpful in your journey to creating your own vocal chain.  If you follow these few guidelines you’ll be sounding like a semi-pro even though you don’t have the sicky outboard gear and years of experience.  Please feel free to continue the conversation in the comments section below.  Best of luck and happy days!

ERIN BARRA:  Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Multi-Instrumenatlist/Ableton-Enthusiast/Nationally-Touring-Aritst. Also visit her on Facebook or Twitter @erinbarra.

Premier Studios Hosts Sessions with Will.i.am, Amber Riley, Wiz Khalifa

Premier Studios in Midtown has seen a plethora of action recently, with its SSL J 9072-equipped Studio A, and SSL J 9000-equipped Studio B, plus writer studios E and F hosting a number of sessions. Projects at Premier have included:

Hollywood Records artist Demi Lovato was in on a project for Disney Pictures. The song was produced by superstar producer Sandy Vee, with piano overdubs played by Mikkel Eriksen from Stargate. The session was engineered by Sam Giannelli.

Geffen recording artist Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas produced tracks for Lil Wayne. Engineered by Mike Cadahia with Kevin Geigel assisting.

DefJam artist Ace Hood, produced by DJ Khaled, recorded vocals and mixed. Engineered by Ben Diehl with Colin Rivers assisting.

EMI Artist MoZella, with producer Scyience, has been mixing with engineer Anthony Daniel.

DefJam artist DJ Khalid tracked and mixed with GRAMMY Award-winning engineer Chris Conway, with Colin Rivers assisting.

Cash Money artist Lil Wayne has been in doing several dates, writing and recording vocals. The sessions were engineered by Mike Cadahia, with Kevin Geigel assisting.

Atlantic Recording artist Wiz Khalifa has been in recording vocals, engineered by Josiah Hendler with Colin Rivers assisting.

Sony Epic Recording artist Oh Land recorded vocals with producer Dave McCracken. Engineered by Andros Rodriguez, with Sam Giannelli assisting.

Columbia Recording artist Amber Riley from GLEE cut vocals with producer Adam Black. Sam Giannelli engineered, and Chris Melendez assisted.

Warner Bros Recording Artist Rich Hill has been in Premier recording vocals and mixing with Engineer Ari Raskin. Kevin Geigel assisted.

Universal Motown artist Lil Twist came through to do vocals, with Ari Raskin engineering and Sam Giannelli assisting.

Sony Roc Nation artist J. Cole recorded vocals with producer Brian Kidd. Engineered by Mez, and Colin Rivers assisting.

Epic Recording artist Alice Smith mixed with Producer Scyience. The mix was engineered by Push Buttons, with Colin Rivers assisting.

Berklee College of Music visited with their Student Ensemble, directed by Eric Abreu. Engineered by Tony Black with Sam Giannelli assisting.

Shark Media GRB showed up with production team the Berman Bros. The mix was engineered by Christian Berman, with Sam Giannelli assisting.

Musical Arranger Douglas Gibson tracked a 16-piece Orchestra and Piano for an upcoming major film soundtrack. The session was engineered by Andros Rodriguez, and assisted by Sam Giannelli.

Last but certainly not least, Jamaican recording artist Joneal was in to mix. The sessions were produced by Phillip Forrestor, and the mix was engineered by Anthony Daniel.

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