Sennheiser Sound Academy To Host Live Production Workshop In Anaheim 1/17-18 – Register Now

Winter NAMM is coming… and like last year, the Sennheiser Live Production Sound Academy (LPSA) will again be held just prior to the convention out in Anaheim, January 17-18. Due to the overwhelming success of last year’s event, the live sound workshop has been extended to two days and will take place at the Anaheim Marriott.

Interested in learning the live sound ropes? This workshop covers the skills needed to successfully engineer both large and small live productions — including required elements for planning, configuring and operating a large-scale P.A. system.

And the course content is designed for a wide range of attendees including venue engineers, musicians, promoters, production managers, employees of audio manufacturers, service providers, students interested in sound and acoustics, or anyone else interested in live production.

Once again, Sennheiser will feature special guest instructor Robert Scovill — an industry veteran who has mixed over 3,000 events (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Prince, Rush) during his 30-year live sound and recording career. Sennheiser is also pleased to add Kevin Madigan (Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Smashing Pumpkins, Lucinda Williams), Marty Garcia (U2, Kelly Clarkson, Shakira, Zac Brown) and Raphael Alkins aka Raffie (Ricky Martin, Lionel Richie, Kenny G) to its esteemed list of guest presenters. Sennheiser’s own cast of audio veterans, including Chris Spahr, Kent Margraves, Eric Reese and Joe Ciaudelli, will also be on hand.

Event Coordinates

When: Tuesday, January 17 and Wednesday, January 18, 9AM – 5PM

Where: Anaheim Marriott, 700 W. Convention Way, Anaheim, CA

Cost: $299 per day or $498 for both days. Registration rate includes a continental breakfast, lunch and workshop materials and a special group dinner on Tuesday, January 17.

Call 860-434-9190, ext. 141 for student and group discounts or for more information on the workshop.

Click to register now!

Sennheiser Launches New Online Recording Sound Academy, Bo Bice Mixing Competition

Sennheiser is launching a new online Recording Sound Academy (RSA), designed to help aspiring producers and engineers create a great sounding mix.

Through a partnership with Steinberg, Sennheiser is providing recording enthusiasts with the opportunity to have their mixes reviewed and evaluated by award-winning engineers including Grammy winners David Thoener (Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie), Karl Richardson (Eric Clapton, Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand), Al Schmitt (Steely Dan, Ray Charles) as well as Tom Young (Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra), Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, U2) and Kool & Dre (Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Queen Latifah).

Through this entirely online, interactive program, aspiring engineers and producers get raw, individual pre-recorded tracks for three unreleased songs by a well-known recording artist, each recorded with Sennheiser and Neumann microphones.

To participate, users join the Recording Sound Academy ($129), download these pre-recorded tracks from the Recording Sound Academy website, mix them on their computers or home studios, and then upload a finished track to the site. After each mix is completed and uploaded, it is then individually critiqued by an award-winning engineer.

The first artist to be featured in the program will be American Idol star Bo Bice.

The online Recording Sound Academy borrows instructional elements from the live Sennheiser Recording Sound Academy, including tips and instruction on microphone selection and placement and recording techniques. All participants in the online Recording Sound Academy program are invited to participate in a series of live video webinars that feature the participating engineers who will explain how they created their version of the final mix for the songs.

The webinars, which include a Q&A session, presents an opportunity for program participants to learn about special techniques and methods of mixdown, as well as how Neumann and Sennheiser microphones were used to capture the tracks.

Participants are encouraged to utilize whatever DAW software they are comfortable with. However, the program will provide a complimentary copy of Steinberg’s Cubase LE 5 to all users. Additionally, once the program is completed next year, one participant with the best mix will be chosen to win a Neumann U87 Ai.

For more information and information on how to participate, please visit the Recording Sound Academy website at http://www.sennheiserusa.com/RSA.

“Walk This Way”: Rap & Rock Icons Revisit A Classic Track

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN: We bump into Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels in the elevator at Manhattan Center Studios. Though not exactly a shocking encounter, as we’re our way to visit his session in Studio 7, the meeting is no less thrilling: “You’re D.M.C.!” we gush. “Awesome!”

We’re about to flash back to 1986, the year of that famous Rick Rubin produced worlds-collide moment that is Run-D.M.C. doing Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

Inside Studio 7, as Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas greets D.M.C., Public Enemy DJ Johnny Juice is already going on the turntables – that classic “Walk This Way” beat and iconic riff pumping through the studio monitors.

They’re all here to work on a “Walk This Way” remake to benefit The Felix Organization / Adoptees For Children, the charity D.M.C. co-founded with Sheila Jaffe. A new lyrical spin on the classic tune will help them promote the cause and raise the funds to send 200 foster kids to Camp Felix, the organization’s Putnam County summer camp.

Public Enemy bassist and producer Brian Hardgroove is co-producing the session with Douglas, the producer of the original Aerosmith track and the 1975 album, Toys in the Attic. Tommy Uzzo (L.L. Cool J, Method Man, Redman) is engineering. And we’ve got a front row seat on the action, as D.M.C. is freestyling with Johnny Juice on the decks.

“Man, the original sounds so incredible,” says D.M.C. “It’s funny, when we did this originally, we had never even heard the vocals – never heard it past the first guitar riff because the DJ would never let it play that far! Rick Rubin said ‘take the record, go sit in the basement, and learn the lyrics.’

“When we finally heard the lyrics, we got on the phone with Rick and said “Nah, you’re taking this rock-rap stuff too far. Africa Bambaata won’t understand one word he’s singing! But Jay knew what to do, he was like ‘Don’t do it like Steven and them, do it like it’s a rap written by Run-D.M.C.’ Me and Run, we weren’t getting it yet…”

And they weren’t necessarily sold on the idea. “We didn’t even know who Aerosmith was,” D.M.C. emphasizes. “I remember when we first met them in the studio, I was like “The Rolling Stones are here!” Because we knew who Mick Jagger was, but we didn’t know Steven Tyler.”

Listening back to the Aerosmith version in Studio 7, D.M.C. muses, “When you think about it, Steven is rapping on this song.”

Here, Douglas interjects, “Yeah, we didn’t know what else to do with it. We had the track and then we got the title from the movie Young Frankenstein. We’d all gone to see the movie one morning, and you know how the hunchback says [read in Igor voice] ‘Walk this way…’ Well, we came back to the studio and tried that line as the chorus! That’s how it all came together.”

Adaptation of a Classic: “Walk This Way” Anew

Referencing both the Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. versions of the track in Studio 7, Douglas, Hardgroove, D.M.C. and DJ Johnny Juice work out a slightly new arrangement for the Camp Felix-inspired take off. Then D.M.C. walks everyone through the Camp Felix lyrics before taking to the booth to lay down his verses, emphatic and strong.

Later, they track the musicians – including Andy Bassford on guitar, and singer Jean Beauvoir on the chorus – via the studio’s Neve VR console into Pro Tools. This is a highly capable room, with access to one of the largest tracking spaces in Manhattan (the Grand Ballroom) as well as microphones and gear of most every flavor.

Douglas notes, “I’ve worked out of Manhattan Center many times. I did the Supertramp record [Some Things Never Change] downstairs! We also mixed Aerosmith’s A Little South of Sanity here.”

With only one day to get the entire piece done in NYC, Hardgroove tracked the bass parts for “Walk This Way” ahead of time on his Pro Tools 9 system at home in Santa Fe. “I made the effort to get the bass as ‘classic’ sounding as possible,” he explains. “I used my Steinberger Synapse XS-1FPA-Custom with a little compression. When Jack and Tom Uzzo heard it, they dug it. No need to re-track it.”

When Hardgroove began producing sessions out of Manhattan Center’s Studio 4 (aka The Fuse Box) last year, he brought in manufacturer sponsors, including Sennheiser, to enhance the studio’s recording capabilities. So the mic cabinet here runs deep with Sennheiser and Neumann models – including Neumann U47s and 47 FET, U67s, U87s and TLM mics and Sennheiser 421, 441, MKH 8000 and 800 series and Evolution 900 series mics.

Tracking “Walk This Way,” Uzzo describes, “We used the Sennheiser MKH800 on D.M.C.’s rap, as a distance mic on the electric guitar, and to record the cowbell. We used a 421 as a close mic for the electric guitar. The singers (other than D) were recorded with a Neumann U-67, all through the Neve mic pre’s.

“The interesting thing about the session was the sound of the MKH800. I had never used one before. We compared to the U-67, and of course it sounded a little different, but the quality was very high, as you hear on D’s vocal. The pad also worked well, and didn’t destroy the sound, making it useful for the loud things like the cowbell.”

But gear aside, this session was about old friends coming together to revisit a classic track for a worthy cause.

Says Hardgroove: “This project is close to me for a few reasons: first, my parents adopted three girls when I was a young boy, second – back in the day, I could hear Run-DMC spinning “Walk This Way” in Jamaica Park (Hollis, Queens) from my bedroom and third, I got a chance to bring some of my best friends together to work for a terrific cause.”

Manhattan Center chief engineer Darren Moore was gladly on hand to assist. “This is putting me back in junior high school in Brooklyn,” he said. “I totally remember the first time I heard this track. The first time hip-hop went pop.”

For more information on The Felix Organization / Adoptees For Children, and to donate to this cause, visit www.adopteesforchildren.org.

Studio Sweet Spot: EastSide Sound

Facility Name: EastSide Sound

Website: www.eastsidesound.com

Location: Lower East Side of New York, since 1972!

Neighborhood Advantages: The LES is the heart of live music; there are musicians everywhere, rehearsal spaces, venues etc so musicians are very familiar with the area and feel right at home… no uptown traffic hell and office scene…plus EastSide Sound is in on the ground floor and right in front of a park so you can avoid elevator gear load ins and you can go take a break surrounded by greenery, shoot some hoops, throw a football or kick a soccer ball in the nearby courts.

Date of Birth: We’ve been in business since 1972 when Lou Holtzman opened the original EastSide Sound on Allen St. In 2001 Lou Holtzman partnered up with Fran Cathcart and we moved to Forsyth St, just a few blocks away.

Facility Focus: We are primarily a tracking and mixing facility although we occasionally do mastering sessions and we do have a production suite often used as a writing room. We are also set up for audio post and to sync audio to video for film/TV work.

Mission Statement: EastSide Sound believes that your music and your vision come first and we are committed to working hard until you are satisfied with the results. Many Gold, Platinum and Grammy award winning records have come out of EastSide Sound which shows how many artists have made EastSide Sound their home.

Clients/Credits: Gold and Platinum records, 5 Grammy Awards; clients include Les Paul, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Santana, Sting, Joss Stone, Eric Clapton, Pat Metheny, Jeff Beck, Laurie Anderson, Luther Vandross, Sevendust, Mariah Carey, Cindy Lauper, John Leguizamo, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Keith Richards, Joe Perry, Goo Goo Dolls, Edgar Winter, Chico Freeman, Peter Frampton, Beyonce, Herbie Hancock, Toni Braxton, Hanson, MeShell Ndegeocello, Joe Claussel, Steve Torre, Robin Eubanks, Isaac Mizrahi, Randy Brecker, Frank London, Violent Femmes, Twisted Sister, Gravity Kills, System of a Down, Leela James, Lila Downs, Estelle, MTV, VH1, HBO, BBC, Comedy Central, Target, Grupo Latin Vibe and many, many more.

Key Personnel: Lou Holtzman (owner/engineer/the oracle), Grammy-winning Fran Cathcart (owner/producer/engineer), Grammy-winning Marc Urselli (producer/chief engineer/studio manager), Eric Elterman (producer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist)

System Highlights: EastSide Sound is the perfect hybrid between analog and digital. We believe in and offer the best of both worlds. We have a fantastic Harrison Series Ten B board, a warm and punchy sounding 96 channel true analog board with total digital recall and full automation (no converters, the sound stays analog but you can automate anything and everything: faders, EQs, sends, inserts etc). The Harrison is complemented by a 64 output Pro Tools HD system and by a vast amount of analog outboard gear (LA2, LA3, LA4, 1176, Altec’s etc) and pre-amps (API, Neve, Trident, Ampex, Universal Audio, TF Pro, Summit, Altec’s etc).

We have analog reverbs (Lexington 480′s, 300, MasterRoom II, Demeter, PCM60) and of course have loads of plug-ins for any need and any sound. Our mic collection spans from the early ’50es to today’s best microphones (Neumann, Coles, RCA, Sennheiser, Telefunken, Microtech Gefell, Shure, AKG, Rode, Oktava, JZ Microphones, Electro Voice, etc).

We also have a beautiful 1977 Steinway B grand piano, a Fender Rhodes electric piano, vintage Rogers drums, bass and guitar amps, guitars and basses available for anyone to use.

Distinguishing Characteristics: The single most distinguishing characteristics of EastSide Sound is the fact that we are the only studio in NYC and, to our knowledge, the only or one of very few studios in the world that has 6 isolation booths in addition to a good sized live room which means we can have up to 7 musicians (or just their amps) completely isolated, with good line of sight and headphone mixers in every booth. If the musicians want to all play live in the same room that is also possible. The studio is cozy and welcoming, with comfortable chairs, a lounge, a fridge and freshly brewed free coffee all day!

The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it?

Is this a trick question? Of course I will risk my life throwing water, milk, coffee and juices at the fire to save everything! …but if in the fire I were to spot a wild dragon running at me I guess I’ll grab the hard drives with all the sessions and get the hell out!

Rave Reviews: When people keep coming back, record after record, it must mean something, right? John Zorn has made hundreds of records and the last 30 or so were done at EastSide Sound. He also said that his records have never sounded so good, and others have said the same thing.

Everyone that comes by EastSide Sound always comments on what a cozy and relaxed vibe there is and everyone that records at EastSide comes back for more. They love the ability to choose between recording in the same space or being isolated in different booths so that they can later edit all the tracks without leakage. They love the ability to have total recall to instantly continue working on something unfinished a month later, with no downtime. They also love our professional, award-winning, cool and down to earth staff. And last but not least they LOVE the sound we get!

Most Memorable Session Ever: Too many… but one I recall is when Les Paul was over for some tracking and we were about to order in some pizza and he said something like “1947, Corona NY, First Pizza: I was there!”

Session You’d Like to Forget: The no-shows, the guys that think they own the world and arrive 4 hours late, the singers who can’t sing for the life of them but think that Autotune and capable audio engineers are an excuse for them to attempt a career in music anyway!

Dream Session (if you could host ANY session with any client, living or dead, what would it be?): Some of my personal favorite sessions are the ones with John Zorn, an incredible composer, genius and fantastic personality. Every session is always populated with incredible musicians.

Living or Dead? Would love to have worked with Hendrix, The Beatles and a… how about a Led Zeppelin reunion? But I guess we can’t complain considering many of the other giants have worked here (Les Paul, Eric Clapton, Sting, Lou Reed and many others). – Marc Urselli

Visit www.eastsidesound.com for more information and to get in touch!

Equal Sonics (NYC) Launches, Providing Full-Service Mobile, In-Studio Music and Audio Production

NYC-based audio engineer/mixer Matt McCorkle announced that he has officially launched Equal Sonics, a full-service audio and music production provider for both studio and mobile situations.

“We encourage people to embrace the recording and mixing process,” McCorkle says. “Our mobile recording studio is the bridge between high-end recording rooms and the home recording studio scene. We saw a need for high-quality audio anywhere, not just in recording facilities.

“We created our mobile studio around the latest cutting edge digital platforms, while still retaining a high-quality front-end with professional microphones and pre-amps. Equal Sonics is here to provide exceptional quality with recordings and service for your productions, no matter how big or small. Whether you’re cutting a record, mixing a voice-over, capturing a live performance or recording rain in the wilderness, the business of getting it completed can often be confusing. Equal Sonics encourages clients to start where all productions should: pre-production.”

Equal Sonics’ mobile recording studio is a full-feature recording and mixing platform, equipped with an Apogee digital clocking and converter system, and a front-end made up of API, Grace Design, Audient, Avedis Audio, and Shadow Hills pre-amps. AKG, Shure, Sennheiser, Heil, and Neumann microphones are all available, along with an 8-channel cue system for custom headphone mixes.

The company is available for clients in NYC, nationally and globally.

Sennheiser Introduces MK 4 Large-Diaphragm Studio Microphone

At NAMM, Sennheiser introduced the new MK 4, a large-diaphragm true condenser microphone. The cardioid microphone is Sennheiser’s first large-diaphragm side-address microphone, providing a powerful yet warm sound that is both direct and tight with accurate treble resolution.

The affordable MK 4 was developed for professional users in project studios, but is equally well suited for other recording environments and has the durability for stage use. According to Sennheiser, it resolves sound structures extremely well, and sound coming from the sides is picked up without coloration and does not change the overall sound quality. In addition, the MK 4 has a very harmonious presence, with vivid mids and detail in the bass range, while typical cardioid cancellation is relatively frequency-independent.

The MK 4 has a large 1-inch diaphragm precisely spattered with 24-carat gold, with a sturdy metal housing and elastically mounted capsule. The internal capsule mount provides excellent suppression of handling noise, which can be further improved by the use of an optional elastic suspension accessory.

With its open-fronted suspension mount, the MK 4 can be positioned close to the sound source. In addition, the microphone has a maximum sound pressure level of 140 dB, and its self-noise of 10 dB(A) is extremely low, making it highly versatile for vocals, acoustic guitars and grand pianos as well as for strings and wind instruments, guitar amplifiers, drums and percussion.

The MK 4 will be available following NAMM and comes complete with a microphone clip and a protective pouch. Optional accessories include an elastic suspension, a foam windshield and a popshield.

Band-Made: Bellevue’s Finest Self-Produce Eponymous EP

Kips Bay, Manhattan: NYC indie synth-pop band Bellevue’s Finest self-produced their latest, eponymous EP in a variety of environments on a range of gear — bouncing between Mboxes and Neve consoles, laptop Logic systems and full-blown Pro Tools HD rigs. The modern indie band’s secret weapon is its production savvy and Bellevue’s Finest has a built-in producer/engineer in singer Frans Mernick.

A recent graduate of the selective Sonic Arts Center at the City College of New York, Mernick produces the band’s catchy pop songs in gritty electro-punk style — combining digitized analog synths and programmed bits with live band performances captured in rehearsal and recording studios around the city. Recording and production concepts are intrinsic to this band of self-proclaimed “gear heads,” who cite 70s era David Bowie and modern electro-pop a la Passion Pit and Hot Chip as influences.

The new EP, out today, began on Mernick’s laptop and grew in layers as the band — including guitarist David Fell, synth/keyboardist David Haken, synth/keyboardist Adam Sontag, bass player David Glickstein and drummer Keenan Mcrae — got together in the studio.

Named for the Kips Bay neighborhood where these guys came up, in the shadow of Bellevue Hospital, Bellevue’s Finest is in its finest form on the new EP — a four-track serving of energizing indie-pop of the cool, danceable post-punk variety. Here, we talk to the band about their evolving sound and the methods applied on this latest release, Bellevue’s Finest (downloadable here):

Bellevue’s Finest released its first EP, 10010, in early ’09. Tell us about your earliest sound and how that’s progressed to your new EP, Bellevue’s Finest?

Frans: A lot of the inspiration for the first EP, 10010, came from my fooling around with Pro Tools for the first time years ago. In fact, our growing knowledge of audio technology has directly influenced our direction as a band.

Our first EP had a very lo-fi, distorted feel. It was a concoction of influences, incorporating chaotic distorted drum samples, heavy guitars and robust vocals.  I remember a good friend once said, “If Spencer Krug, Frank Black, and Julian Casablancas put their seed into Kylie Minogue – your EP would spill forth from her womb.” I never quite understood that, but I love it.

Since this first EP, we’ve gotten a bit less punk and a bit more indie-pop.  Our sound is much more spontaneous and live on this new record. I made a point of capturing live performances this time around, whereas on our last EP, we never had any two people playing simultaneously.

And tell us a bit about your songwriting and production process — how does a Bellevue’s Finest tune come together?

Frans: Sometimes a song starts out with our guitarist (David Fell) working out the progression on his guitar and singing along some lyrics, but recently most of the time, the songs have started on my laptop in Logic.  I have been compiling an extensive collection of analog synth sampler instruments in Logic’s EXS-24. I basically take vintage analogue keyboards, find a sound I like, record every note of that sound, and import it into a digital sampler.

Using these sounds, I start piecing together songs on my laptop. When I bring these songs to the band, everyone generates their own parts, and we work together on the arrangement.

David Glickstein: Once we’re in the studio, we have a good idea of most of the parts that need to be laid down, though there are always spontaneous overdubbed rhythm and synth parts, and last-minute guitar lines. But before we actually record, we like to mess around with the different equipment that the studio has to offer. This is where our music gets some legs. Flux Studios, the studio where we recorded the majority of our EP, has a bevy of analog synths, tube amps, tape delays, and all sorts of other goodies that appeal to gearheads like us.

Flux is top-notch! Tell us a bit about the recording process and equipment setup in the studio?

Frans: The process of making this record was definitely a modern one in the sense that we recorded and wrote anywhere at anytime, wherever we could. We started by tracking drums and bass live up at City College’s Sonic Arts Center in Harlem. They have a nice setup there with smooth-running HD rigs.

The general mic setup was fairly standard — AKG D112 inside the kick, the outside mic changed from session to session, Sennheiser 421’s on the toms, Shure SM57 on snare top and bottom, stereo matched AKG C-414’s as overheards and some Royer 122 ribbons as room mics. Aside from the room mics, most of the microphones were heading straight to API 3124 preamps. The 3124′s sound fantastically clear, but maintain some nice API character, and they are my go-to preamp in a lot of situations.

I ran the room mics into Pacifica pre-amps, which then ran through a pair of stereo Distressors, where I would adequately crush them before Pro Tools. I like compressing my room mics on the way in — it assigns a specific vibe to the drums I’m recording. With Bass, I usually took a DI signal straight into an API preamp, and then also had a 421 on a vintage Ampeg flip-top, heading into a Universal Audio 6176 pre/compressor joined. I would never compress the bass too drastically during tracking, just enough to get some character out of the outboard.

After we finished tracking the drums and bass, I would usually mix them until they were suitable reference tracks for recording, and bounce them. I would then bring my laptop to our practice space, where I would connect an M-Audio MIDI controller, and have Adam control some of my analog synth samples. It was liberating:  We were able to use MIDI within Logic to control sounds of such classic synths as Moog Opus, Korg Delta, MiniMoog, Korg Poly-800, Moog Prodigy, Korg MiniKorg…the list goes on for days.

After that, I’d import these new synth tracks into the session, and head downtown to Flux, which in addition to a Neve console, extensive outboard gear and a nice tracking room, has the best collection of guitar amps I’ve seen in New York City.

We always gravitated towards one: a Vox AC-30 from the early 1970′s. It had that perfect, subtle grit that we were looking for on this record. I would throw a 57 and Neumann U 47 in front of it, David would plug in his guitar, and everything just sounded like butter.

I ran both of these microphones into a stereo set of Mercury pre-amps that they have in Flux. They have output attenuation, allowing me to add some grit from the pre itself, which always gets a warm, classic tone, without having to hit tape.

From an audio engineering perspective, what do you think was most challenging/ compelling about this project?

Frans: The most challenging part of the project was definitely in the mixing stages, because we recorded these tracks using so many different systems, spaces and gear. It definitely was a challenge to make the songs sound like they were coming from a single place. In the end using a variety of plug-ins, as well as the help and guidance of amazing mixer and mentor Fab Dupont, we were able to make the mixes sound natural.

Did you guys master the record yourselves as well?

David Fell: When it came time for mastering, we went straight to The Lodge without any second thought. Joe LaPorta is a great engineer and down-to-earth guy — he was willing to sit with me for as long as it took to go through endless, subtly different options until we got exactly what we were going for. His trustworthy ears and outsider’s perspective were invaluable.

After working on a track for as many hours as we did each of these, you start to doubt what you’re hearing and what you want to hear, and Joe always reassured us at the end of the process, with honest feedback.

What was your sonic objective, or objectives, and give us a couple examples of how you achieved those sounds.

Frans: We wanted to keep a vintage, organic feel, while using modern recording techniques. When recording with Pro Tools, it’s tough to get everything to sound like it’s in one place. I very much relied on subgroup compression. For example, I would take the drums and the bass, and compress them together; for the synths and the guitars I would do the same. This helped the tracks mesh much better than they would have otherwise.

Also, a little bit of synthetic reverb can go a long way with synths, especially ones that were recorded direct.

What’s a highlight track for you on the record, one that — in particular — you feel really captures the sound, energy and/or experience you wanted to produce?

Adam: Our newest single, “Wannabe,” is a song that manages to capture where we’ve come from and where we’re going as a band. While its mellow, wandering synths bring a layer of electro sheen, they’re happy to cede to thumping, anthemic rock n’ roll. But then, the driving bass and the shouting dudes relent, creating, as Frans sings in the second verse, a “world of dichotomy.” All the while, the drums are never quite willing to let you stop shaking your ass. It’s like a pop song, only with a dense, creamy center. Plus, anything we can do to associate ourselves with the Spice Girls is probably a net positive for us.

Listen to “Wannabe” here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Who’s another artist/producer you can name that you see doing great work in the studio, and in what ways does that influence or inspire you?

Kevin Barnes has been a big inspiration for us in terms of combining intellectual songwriting with outrageous catchiness. He has a unique ability to weave unconventional chord changes and melodies into a familiar, yet evolving aesthetic. The charts are infested with epic synth-pop tracks created by guys like Dr. Luke, and we also aspire to emulate their sonic swagger. (And success.)

What’s your band’s plan with this EP – how will you promote yourselves? What are your hopes and dreams for the next year?

We have an awesome, animated video for “Wannabe” that’ll be released with the EP. We’re already back in the studio, at the beginning stages of a new record. Most likely, we’ll take a similar approach to what we did this time around, where we release a series of singles followed by a full EP come next Spring.

This is our self-titled EP, so we want to get as much Bellevue’s Finest to the people as possible. We plan on attacking the college scene, on the ground and through the airwaves. They will acquiesce! It’s 2010, so we do all that social media jazz.  Not because we think we’re cool or anything, but just because it’s the only way to do it these days on the cheap.  We’re reserving our band fund for a blockbuster ad at Super Bowl XLV.

Check out Bellevue’s Finest and download their new EP at www.bellevuesfinest.com. Catch their EP release show tonight at Cake Shop.

John Agnello: Dinosaur Jr. & Sonic Youth Producer On New Indie Rock Sounds, Classic Techniques

JERSEY CITY: In 1979, a Brooklyn teenager and avid record collector named John Agnello landed an internship at one of Manhattan’s most prominent music studios. Thanks to some hard work and genuine affability it wasn’t long before he found himself assisting on major releases from contemporary heavyweights like Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper and Twisted Sister.

It’s an unexpected beginning for a Producer most known for his involvement with classic Indie Rock darlings, many of whose records still pepper the favorites lists of young fans. Success on early releases with Dinosaur Jr, Screaming Trees and Buffalo Tom made way for work with The Breeders, Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady and Nada Surf.

We grabbed a quick bite with John near his Jersey City home between sessions with Kurt Vile at Williamsburg’s Headgear Recording Studio.

Looking through your early discography, we see you listed as an assistant on some pretty mainstream releases. It’s interesting to see your credit list take a left turn in the early 90s toward more bold and unique artists, branded back then as “Alternative Rock.” It looks like you’ve never turned back. I’d like you to take us through that journey a little. How did you get your start?

I started assisting at the Record Plant in ’82, and started engineering in ’84. I was engineering for a long time, all through the 80s and into the early 90s. It took a while to really get considered to produce records. And with good reason! (laughs) I wasn’t really a “Producer” at first.

What changed? Were there any seminal records that acted as a turning point for you?

The first Dinosaur Jr. record was a really great experience. I was credited as an engineer, and I wouldn’t say I was a “producer” on those records. But I definitely helped J. [Mascis] get to a different sonic level. When we worked on together, Dinosaur Jr. records started to sound like classic records, not just gnarly discs with great songs covered in “Ka-Kssshhhhh” (makes sound effect of gnarly midrangey goodness). Once those records were doing really well and A&R guys noticed what I was starting to contribute to the process, things began to change.

How does your approach as a producer differ from that of your engineering days? Is there a learning curve?

Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what a producer can do, and pushed the envelope a lot more. When I started producing, it was in the middle of this Indie/Alternative Rock explosion. Things were really open.  What a producer had to do was create a vibe, get the bands to perform, and let them do their thing. You might help with an arrangement here or there, but that was it. Bands were being signed because somebody somewhere liked them.

The attitude was: if a band like Spacehog or Nada Surf or Jawbox hit the charts, great! And if they didn’t… they didn’t. In that way it was a totally different world.

Today, I spend a lot more time in rehearsals with bands really working through arrangements and giving them actual direction. Things these days are so much tighter. There are so many records coming out, indie-wise at least, and it’s so much more competitive because everyone posts their songs online.

For an unknown band to have a chance of getting noticed, it’s really important for the record to be concise and bring out the best of what they do. Sometimes we’ve got to leave out all the extra filler that makes listeners go: “Boring!” Attention spans have gotten to be…miniature.

So do you find yourself working more as a musical gatekeeper than you would have in the past?

Absolutely. I’m in pre-production rehearsal with bands right now, and you have to bring these things up: ”The song’s too long, let’s cut the chorus here in half here,” or “The key’s not right for your voice, let’s try modulating there.” When you’re making good suggestions, bands are really receptive. And it’s fun too. You feel like you’re even more a part of the band and a part of the record. It’s great to notice: “Hey the verse… It’s really this song’s chorus, isn’t it? Let’s build around that.”

Let’s face it: anyone can be an engineer these days. That’s no slight against the guys who are great engineers, because there are some really good ones. The point is: Any one of these bands *could* stay at home and make their own record. These days just being an engineer isn’t enough to separate yourself from everyone else out there. You’ve got to bring something else to the table.

So here you are being hired for your ability to filter and to make perceptive musical choices… but you didn’t even start out as a musician?

No, not at all!

How did that happen? Did you become a player as things wet along?

I didn’t. That’s another thing that’s interesting to think about: when I first started assisting, I really had no concept of pitch. I was just a kid who loved listening to records. I wasn’t a musician, I wasn’t trained. I had to learn to listen and understand what pitch was and to focus on it. It’s just another one of those things that you learn to do well through repetition.

You’ve done a lot of work with promising bands as they’re discovering their sound. But you’ve worked with established artists as well. The last two Sonic Youth records you’ve worked on have featured some really masterful sounds.

Considering how long they’ve been around and how long I’ve been around, it’s been really great to finally work with them. It made me feel really good about my station in life, to be able to make two really wonderful records with a band I’ve always loved.

Sonic Youth are a band known to have a lot of vision and often share production credit on their records. How is your role different with a band like that?

Oh, they know what they’re doing. A big difference between working with a Thurston Moore or a J Mascis and all the other bands we’re talking about, is that you don’t need to tell either of those guys anything about songwriting (laughs). What’s the point?! What a band like Sonic Youth really requires is that we’re on time delivering the record, and I can help keep them on track while they have so many other projects going on.

Rather Ripped in particular made some waves for helping put the band back on the map after some rare time away from critical acclaim. That album took a distinctly punchy and muscular sonic direction compared of their prior records. The guitars in particular command an unusual amount of power and clarity. Can you tell us anything about your approach there?

Rather Ripped (2006) and The Eternal (2009) both have Lee on the left and Thurston on the right. That’s how they stand on stage. I just love the clarity of stereo. It’s great to hear each dude doing their part, and it’s really cool to hear that in headphones, especially when one part steps out a bit from either side.

Definitely. It leaves a lot of room for power in the drums too. I hear that kind of spread on one of your newest releases as well. Dead Confederate’s Sugar came out this past month, and in some places the guitars are also really wide, but much more textured and layered sounding.

They have a cool sound. I joke that’s almost like “Freedom Grunge.” You know? Like Freedom Rock + Grunge, with some shoegaze mixed in. It combines a lot of things I like.

I’ve heard you tend to use the same mics a lot on guitars: a classic combination of [Shure] SM57, [Neumann] U87 and [Sennheiser] 421 mixed together. Is that true of those two records, even though they have such different sounds?

Yeah, a lot of it comes from the amp, and the player. That’s the first place to change things. If there’s something that ties those sounds together it’s that I really like my guitars close-miked, even if they have a lot of effects on them. If your amp is really blowing and you have the mic right on it, that’s where you get a lot of intensity. If you start to move it back, sure you can get some more air and some room maybe, but you sacrifice that intensity.

When you use a blend of mics like that, which mics are you listening to in the control? What about the players?

I’m old school. I’ll blend them together and print it to tape or to Pro Tools. If I’ve got a great sound that’s moving me, I don’t want to have to think about how I got it ever again. When I’m producing, I want to shut up the Engineer-guy in my head as much as possible so the Producer-guy can take the wheel. Sometimes I’ll even print my snare top and bottom on one track.

What about kick drums? Some of your records have a powerful-yet-organic sound you don’t hear a lot these days.

I think both those Sonic Youth records and a lot of the Dino stuff is a double-headed kick drum, no hole. It’s really hit-or-miss though. If you put a mic up on either side and it sounds good, you’ll have an amazing sound. If it doesn’t, you could struggle with mics and anything else for hours and you’ll never get there.

What else are you excited about? I hear you’re in the studio with Kurt Vile now, making a record for Matador.

He’s great. Really quirky, unique stuff while also being classic and beautiful. My daughter Bella is in love with him and sings his songs in the car all the time!

Have the digital and home studio revolutions changed the way you work much?

Not a lot in my niche. Every once in a while I’ll get a record to mix that was recorded by a new band at home. You wouldn’t get projects like that years ago. And sure, I use Pro Tools and edit digitally, but other than that, I pretty much work the same way.

I feel like you can’t make the same record all the time, and each album should be unique, but I use the same tools a lot.  I pick my favorite studios like Water Music, Headgear and Magic Shop because they have tape machines that work and the monitoring is great. It’s almost embarrassing to admit, but I’ve been using the same stereo bus compressor for almost 24 years! (Laughs.)

— Justin Colletti

For more on John Agnello, visit his website at www.johnagnello.com and follow him on Twitter @John_Agnello.

Justin Colletti is a Brooklyn-based audio engineer and music producer who’s worked with Hotels, DeLeon, Soundpool, Team Genius and Monocle, as well as clients such as Nintendo, JDub and Blue Note Records.

Studio Sweet Spot: Sundlaugin * Mosfellsbaer, Iceland

Facility Name: Sundlaugin Studio

Website: www.sundlaugin.com

Location: Mosfellsbaer, Iceland

How to Get Here from NYC: JFK to Keflavik Airport, then 40 minutes drive towards Reykjavik.

Where You Can Stay Once You Get Here: Hotel Laxnes, five minute walk from the studio. Or any hotel in downtown Reykjavik which is a 15-minute drive from the studio.

Neighborhood Advantages: Sundlaugin is literally one of the last houses before you hit the countryside. Quiet and green area with beautiful walks all around. A river runs three meters from the sweet spot in the control room. Outside, though.

Date of Birth: 2000

Facility Focus: Very well suited for live tracking as we have a fairly big main recording room with high ceilings and four other rooms/booths, as well as a great collection of microphones. Great for mixing also; Neve desk, nice outboard and loads of plug-ins.

Clients/Credits: Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Damien Rice, the Album Leaf, amiina, Mugison, Seabear, múm, Ólöf Arnalds, Skúli Sverris, Pétur Ben and many other foreign as well as Icelandic bands.

Key Personnel: Birgir Jon Birgisson, engineer/manager/owner; Kjartan Sveinsson, producer/owner

System Highlights: Neve V0 desk; ProTools HD2; Otari MTR90 mkII w/Dolby SR; Manley, Neve, Empirical Labs, Lexicon, AMS, Alan Smart, Shadow Hills outboard; Neumann, RCA, AEA, AKG, Coles, Sennheiser, Melodium mics

Distinguishing Characteristics: Loads of natural light, especially in the control rooms which is a rare treat in a studio — makes it a lot easier to spend long hours working. Five separate rooms to record in, four of which you’d fit in a full drum kit. Each with different characteristics.

The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? Neumann U47 valve microphone

Rave Reviews: The vibes in and around the studio; we have a pond and a river just outside the control room with a view of a field and even a small forest which is a rare sight in our fair country.

Having such a nice environment makes everyone feel at ease which makes the process so much more enjoyable. Drummers also love the main room.

Most Memorable Session Ever: Super Mama Djombo; a 14-piece band from Guinea-Bissau. They taught me it’s not the gear you use but how you use what you have.

Session You’d Like to Forget: That one involves bad notes and Melodyne for six days straight.

Dream Session: The band would be Tom Waits, Dolly Parton, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Dave Grohl and Davíð Þór Jónsson.

– Biggir Jon Birgisson, Engineer/Manager, Sundlaugin

Sennheiser Sound Academy Studio Recording Seminar At The Fuse Box @ Manhattan Center, 8/11

On Wednesday, August 11, the Sennheiser Sound Academy will host a session on key recording techniques, concepts and practices at The Fuse Box @ Manhattan Center Studios.

Jim Anderson, past president of the AES and a professor at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at NYU, will be the guest engineer for the tracking portion of the seminar.

The seminar will be led by Sennheiser’s Chris Spahr, who oversees national market development for live sound and studio markets. Spahr has performed live sound work for concerts, corporate functions and theater applications, and spent five years as a staff engineer at Criteria Studios in Miami, FL working on music, TV and film projects.

Following are details on time and location:

When: Wednesday, August 11 between 10AM and 5PM

Where: The Fuse Box @ Manhattan Center Studios
311 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

This seminar will speak to recording engineers who want to develop a firm understanding of studio technique as well as those who simply wish to brush up on their studio basics while picking up some useful new tips. The course highlights basic microphone techniques and advanced studio recording concepts and practices.

The Sennheiser Sound Academy seminars are $149 and include lunch, swag, informative workshop materials and a $50 coupon toward the purchase of any Sennheiser product. To learn more about the seminar or to register, please visit Sennheiser’s event page at http://www.sennheiserusa.com/aboutsec_events.

Next Page »