|
Post by c0rtland on Sept 24, 2017 19:13:48 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by johneppstein on Sept 25, 2017 22:03:08 GMT -6
Nice. My only suggestion is that you have so many different preamps but only one or two of each. You don't even have enough of the same kind - ANY kind - to track a drum kit with the same preamp, which can be very important in glueing a sound. You really need at least 6 or 8 of one type of pre. I'd suggest API. Pretty nice mic collection - you have real D12s!
|
|
|
Post by c0rtland on Sept 26, 2017 1:54:38 GMT -6
Nice. My only suggestion is that you have so many different preamps but only one or two of each. You don't even have enough of the same kind - ANY kind - to track a drum kit with the same preamp, which can be very important in glueing a sound. You really need at least 6 or 8 of one type of pre. I'd suggest API. Pretty nice mic collection - you have real D12s! I have 12 am16's I can use for drums. That should be enough. Thanks for checking out the website. Hope you liked it.
|
|
|
Post by johneppstein on Sept 26, 2017 14:10:25 GMT -6
Nice. My only suggestion is that you have so many different preamps but only one or two of each. You don't even have enough of the same kind - ANY kind - to track a drum kit with the same preamp, which can be very important in glueing a sound. You really need at least 6 or 8 of one type of pre. I'd suggest API. Pretty nice mic collection - you have real D12s! I have 12 am16's I can use for drums. That should be enough. Thanks for checking out the website. Hope you liked it. I must have missed that somehow! yeah, 12 oughtta be enough....
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Sept 27, 2017 21:48:53 GMT -6
First, good luck cOrtland. Forgive me if I seem critical, it's only to help. You have so many wonderful things, I don't have 2% of the gear you have, or 1/10th of the space, so you're off to an impressive start. The first page shows a bunch of mics which doesn't tell anyone visually what it is you're offering. Also, I didn't immediately get that you could scroll down and see more images, I was looking for someplace to click. At first glance, it could appear to people you're selling mics. Maybe change your first page to show the studio, and use the photo with the mics below that. I think you might opt for a cleaner, more polished look where the gear is. Perhaps a more console style desk would help? And maybe consolidate all that gear into a longer lower cabinet?
You might consider setting things up as if a band is tracking and using that as the main page photo.. Having a row of amps only makes the room look smaller because they take up space. I understand about time and budgets, but with all you have already, I bet you can make that place very attractive with a little Feng Shui touch.
Keep us posted on how it's going.
|
|
|
Post by javamad on Jan 30, 2018 2:46:04 GMT -6
I took a look on my phone. Overall I liked it and the site works well on the small screen. Here are my niggles:
The button to see the gear list is only on the homepage and not a menu item ... so I have to go back there to see it again
The videos menu item opens a separate site .. I would have embeded say 2-3 videos, your best ones, and then a link to “see more sessions” and say it will open a new tab
The first two photos on the home page gave me tunnel vision. Maybe re-take them with the camera higher or add some angle. I also agree with the comments about setting up for a session. It will look more natural.
Best of luck!
|
|
|
Post by EmRR on Jan 30, 2018 7:26:30 GMT -6
Looks pretty good. My website is at least 6 years out of date, I should do something about it probably.
Gotta say, I took my equipment list down completely for two reasons 1) no one has ever asked, nor missed it since it's been gone 2) what it did generate was contacts from other engineers, wanting to know if I recommended something, or if I wanted to sell something, and....it's a shopping list for criminals.
Preamps.....last time I used all the same type on a drum kit.....1990's, unless I'm working somewhere else? You don't use all the same mic for every position.
|
|
|
Post by johneppstein on Jan 30, 2018 7:50:43 GMT -6
Looks pretty good. My website is at least 6 years out of date, I should do something about it probably. Gotta say, I took my equipment list down completely for two reasons 1) no one has ever asked, nor missed it since it's been gone 2) what it did generate was contacts from other engineers, wanting to know if I recommended something, or if I wanted to sell something, and....it's a shopping list for criminals. Preamps.....last time I used all the same type on a drum kit.....1990's, unless I'm working somewhere else? You don't use all the same mic for every position. A drum kit is ONE INSTRUMENT, not a bunch of separate ones. One of the things I find annoying in many "modern" productions is disjoined, non-integrated sounding drums. It distracts from the song. It took me a long time to come to that realization.
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 30, 2018 8:46:38 GMT -6
John said, "A drum kit is ONE INSTRUMENT, not a bunch of separate ones. One of the things I find annoying in many "modern" productions is disjoined, non-integrated sounding drums. It distracts from the song".
Holy hell John, that's such a profound insight, I have to borrow it from you :-) It's one of the things that I think makes many recordings feel unnatural and fake or overproduced.
When I imagine myself in my own studio, I imagine three or four mics for the whole kit, max.
cOrtland, change the main page to the photo of the whole studio, you're not a microphone dealer ;-) The mics should be one of the other photos.
The funky control room might appeal to some people, but basically it looks like the boiler room in a basement and isn't attractive at all. The gear you have is so cool, you need to display that more effectively. When people see a well designed control room that's crisp and clean, that reflects on what they expect from the studio.
I would put some kind of sheet rock where the concrete blocks are, paint it white, put some nice lighting in, and redesign the racks. This will give you the chance to do a little inexpensive sound design too. I know little of the options for control room design, other than it's a money pit. But maybe just some insulation, wallboard and a few diffusors all make it look more pro. The gear speaks for itself, but could be presented more elegantly. These are good problems, you're way ahead of many of us already.
|
|
|
Post by johneppstein on Jan 30, 2018 12:57:33 GMT -6
John said, "A drum kit is ONE INSTRUMENT, not a bunch of separate ones. One of the things I find annoying in many "modern" productions is disjoined, non-integrated sounding drums. It distracts from the song".
Holy hell John, that's such a profound insight, I have to borrow it from you :-) It's one of the things that I think makes many recordings feel unnatural and fake or overproduced. Heck, Martin, it's just common sense. Often we do get distracted and don't see as clearly as we should, though. And thanks...
|
|
|
Post by Bender on Jan 30, 2018 20:19:15 GMT -6
I think it looks great, spot on. I would change the OURSPACE to News. just reminds me of myspace off the bat even though we all know that it isn't...but a 1st impression none the less. Besides that stellar!
|
|
|
Post by EmRR on Jan 30, 2018 20:22:50 GMT -6
The funky control room might appeal to some people, but basically it looks like the boiler room in a basement and isn't attractive at all. There are the people who come to record SOUND, and then there are the people who are most concerned with the track lighting.....which never exists in their practice spaces, or any of the places they play out.
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 30, 2018 22:11:06 GMT -6
If you're referring to me, as one of the "people most concerned with the track lighting" you're way off base.
Sound isn't abstract, it's recorded in a space, and the space you're in affects the feelings you have. Music at its best is a form of transmitted feelings. So the space is important, even if your main focus is getting a great sound. There are subconscious things affecting you too. Feng Shui isn't a 6,000 year old practice for no reason at all. The care people take in their surroundings usually reflects the care they will take with the work they do.
I'm aware that I feel better walking into a well designed and well kept studio than one that's super funky, although I would personally go wherever I thought I could get the kind of sounds I like.
If a studio that was a little better decorated had lesser quality gear and sound, I'd go the the one with the better gear, but all things being equal, I think people prefer a well kept comfortable environment to work in, don't you?
|
|
|
Post by EmRR on Jan 30, 2018 22:24:30 GMT -6
I quoted you, I didn't refer to you. Musicians assessment of comfort varies widely, and they aren't usually moving in to stay for a long time. They've usually come for the sound and reputation of the producer/engineer. As I said, it's just a fact, you can see the people who aren't coming back, no matter the quality of the sound, if the funk tide is deeper than they can swim. Then there are those happy to wallow anywhere, like pigs in mud, some of whom are notably uncomfortable in nice surroundings. Takes all types.
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 30, 2018 22:35:00 GMT -6
Man, all I was saying was that control room looks a little gloomy, and since this whole thread is about cOrtland seehing suggestions, I thought my suggestion of a fresh coat of pain on some new dry wall would help improve the space a little. Why that deserves pushback, i don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought your comment was a bit snarky.
|
|
|
Post by johneppstein on Jan 30, 2018 23:41:40 GMT -6
Man, all I was saying was that control room looks a little gloomy, and since this whole thread is about cOrtland seehing suggestions, I thought my suggestion of a fresh coat of pain on some new dry wall would help improve the space a little. Why that deserves pushback, i don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought your comment was a bit snarky. In this business I don't think that a fresh coat of pain is much of a problem. Probably daily.
|
|
|
Post by EmRR on Jan 31, 2018 6:41:47 GMT -6
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought your comment was a bit snarky. I quoted you because you'd already said it. It wasn't about you. If you reread it, I'm agreeing with you on one level. Its an honest comment from running a place over 20 years. There are people who have already dismissed my place from the moment they step in the door, yet they got to the door based on my reputation. It's a fact. I don't own my place, which is falling down around me, and it's not getting real money spent on cosmetics. There are plenty of really nice looking rooms around here with no gear, no experience, and bad sound. If that's what motivates the client, it's there for them, there's no amount of energy I can spend on good sound that will sway them. Work with what you have.
|
|
|
Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 31, 2018 9:14:29 GMT -6
Well, considering I have so little, I can appreciate any other musician and engineer who's gotten their gear to a point where they work professionally with it. But still, I live in a rental apartment, and I keep it looking sharp because students come here to study. I don't think there's a conflict between putting experience and sound quality first, and showing care in how the environment feels as well. They're all important, but of course, how important each thing is varies from person to person, client to client.
I don't think suggesting cOrtland tidy up the control room a bit, (not necessarily spending much more money) is a bad suggestion, do you? With all that gear, one more compressor's not going to make as much difference as an uplifting design in a control room will, and it would probably cost less than three hundred dollars to do.
|
|
|
Post by EmRR on Feb 1, 2018 10:05:07 GMT -6
I honestly have no problem with his control room if it works for him. In any ways it doesn't look all that different from many revered studios decades back; piles of cool tools. Reminds me of my earliest years when layout changed very frequently, studio got pulled apart and put back together constantly for remote jobs, etc. We don't know if there's any client space in that control room, it looks like there might not be.
|
|
|
Post by jamiesego on Feb 26, 2018 15:46:58 GMT -6
Tough crowd here! I think the layout looks good. I did notice that the spotify playlists are jumbled on my computer, and if you get to the "sessions" website there doesn't seem to be a good way to get back to the "studio" website.
|
|