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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 12, 2020 19:28:12 GMT -6
Hey wiz,
I’m a little late to the party here.
At first listen to the original version you posted, I immediately thought - hey that guitar part is great If it’s going to be just a guitar/vocal. But, if you’re going to put other instruments in there it seems like a bit of a difficult job. So, my immediate reaction was to change up the guitar part a bit to allow some other instruments to fit in. My brain immediately went to reference Ryan Adam’s “Dirty Rain”.
Then scrolled through and heard your V2. I really dig it - BUT, I think I’d try it with the drums half time. I think it would lend to the tender vocal a bit more and allow you to throw in a shaker in spots.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 11, 2020 23:46:08 GMT -6
I just send everything via wetransfer.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 10, 2020 23:16:40 GMT -6
Yup, as stated above, difficult to recommend cymbals unless we know the type of music involved.
I’ve got bags full of cymbals and usually hand pick what will be used depending on the song/situation/room/drummer/mics available to track with.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 9, 2020 23:07:48 GMT -6
I didn’t read the whole thread. If you can find a real session guy/woman online go that route. I mostly want to vent. I’ve only worked with a couple string musicians. Both were exceptionally talented, one was recruited from halfway around the world to play in the SF symphony. But they were not great session artists. Not good at playing in pitch other than concert pitch. I wasted a good 8 hours editing and trying to auto tune before giving up. The other thing was they weren’t able to play by ear, which is required for arranging ideas in your head, or figuring out ideas you might hum to them. Have to write your idea in correct notation. Food for thought, I hope your experience is awesome and definately better than this. Just wanted to vent, sorry.. I ran into that situation about 7 years ago while recording a Christmas album. The artist wanted a solo violin to play the melody of silent night and the player requested notation. I said, you don’t know the song? She said she did know the song but that she needed it notated in order to play it. Walked back into the control room, scribbled it out real quick by memory and walked into the live room and handed it to her. I had one of the notes as a # instead of a natral and she played it as written. After the pass she asked if she was finished and I almost lost it. Re-wrote the part, got it right, and NEVER called her again. After some years I’ve found a few fantastic players. I generally arrange the parts in EW Strings, send them the solo instruments, and also in the track, and I get back the parts I wrote and also some takes with improvision on it that are usually much better than what I wrote. It makes the process a joy. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 3, 2020 22:07:16 GMT -6
I think $3/mo is WAY too low.
I think $9/mo is still too low.
$20/mo is about the sweet spot. I think that most people who like music would go for 20, if there was no "free" competition. What has devalued music is the pervasiveness of piracy, be it illegal piracy like Bittorrent or so-called "legal" piracy like Spotify and Pandora. Maybe even more. When I was in college most people I knew spent AT LEAST $20/mo on recorded music and money was worth a lot more back then. Remember, $20/mo was only 2 or 3 albums. Most college kids back then bought at least that many. Many of my friends had a wall of milk crates or the equivalent.
Even $72/mo isn't that bad if you compare it to what people spend on cable TV and internet.
There's nothing to buy for $72 a month now unless you want to buy collectors LP reissues and overpriced 80s CD pressings. The quality of new releases is at an all time low. It's been going down since the mid 90s. I'd say the music industry shot itself with the corporate homogenization of radio, CD price fixing, allowing big box stores to break CD MSRP undercutting record stores, killing the single, focusing on selling "albums" that were one or two hits written by a professional songwriter and the rest filler, and trying to co-opt entire genres into trendy pop music. Napster and BitTorrent were just the heart attack that did them in. Piracy actually drives sales of underground music that there was no way to hear in the 90s unless you randomly bought the one very marked up import copy in an independent record store. I've heard very few artists in the past decade interesting enough to even warrant something like a Peel Session. Your outlook on current music is really unfortunate. I don’t think I’ve ever been out of great interesting new music to listen to. Maybe you’re not looking hard enough, or perhaps the genre you enjoy is dead. Lots of absolutely fantastic records with great writing, engineering, mixing, etc going down... I can understand the frustration with the current model, but that has nothing to do with there being “no good music” |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 3, 2020 14:58:52 GMT -6
re: Jeremy's post. That wouldn't work for me for several reasons, the main one being that I don't want to spend several days on an idea. I like to be able to work as fast as is possible. I also like to print the idea right to "tape" instead of having a demo version. Things that end up on the phone/whatever don't ever seem to get developed. For some reason, it just doesn't work for me. But it's a big wide world and everyone has their own methods and their own reasons. Fair enough! I’ve often wanted to develop a digital recorder for the shower. Just hit a button to record. I come up with some great ideas in the shower and they are pretty much gone into the ether by the time I can get to something to record it. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 3, 2020 13:35:44 GMT -6
I gotta say - I’m not a huge fan of having presets for everything. Perhaps it’s good if you’re trying to keep things similar in every song, but I don’t generally do that.
I keep my phone on me at pretty much all times. If I have an idea I’ll either sing it into the phone or record a quick guitar thing with some humming over it.
Over the next few days I’ll figure out what I want the song to be production wise, then figure out how to get there. The drum setup is different, the guitar tones are different, the mics are different etc. sometimes it’s a mono overhead and a kick mic. That can turn out beautifully, as can a fully over the top drum mic situation.
Templates bore me after a while, and lead me to do the same things over and over. I’m not so much interested in that. Sort of always on the go and always making new decisions for what works.
🤷🏻♂️
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 2, 2020 19:42:22 GMT -6
With Billie Eilish making her record in her bedroom with her Brother maybe there is a way for musicians to join an Association nationwide where a network of recording studios become a place that member artists can record projects where they will own the Masters. In return these Artists would donate back 2% to the Union/Association from their streams to fund more growth of union owned studios where Artists own the Masters. And then get a union owned streaming platform and educate consumers to buy from it versus Spotify. Get Taylor Swift and others to join.. The people like Taylor are the ones who make the model unsustainable. They price the subscription based on how much they have to pay out to to the top artists per stream. So, she’s doing just fine I’m sure - but the little guy can’t compete with her amount of streams, so they get pennies on the dollar. What they need to do is base it on a curve. You get 50,000 plays and under, and you make a certain amount per play. You get 100,000 plays and the payout changes. It seems backwards, and would be frustrating the further up the ladder you go, but I feel like it would make things more equal for everybody. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 1, 2020 22:12:01 GMT -6
I’ve had a No.2 , an No.15 and several other songs that charted. I make about $100 a quarter from streaming. Jesus John... that’s f...’ed. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Feb 1, 2020 19:28:52 GMT -6
I’m not sure what the work around is. I pay $15 a month for a family plan. I can stream whatever music I want and so can my wife. As a consumer, I love it. I love music, I love listening to music, as does she.
We are ALWAYS listening to music or a podcast. It’s just the way we are. Not really much tv people, but when we are home, if we are awake there is music being played.
I’d pay $50 a month for streaming. I honestly think they screwed up with their pricing model and their free model. Once they started as low as they did, they diminished the value of their service, and now consumers aren’t going to just go along with a price hike.
Streaming isn’t the future. It’s the NOW. I’ve got no interest in cd’s anymore. I’d rather purchase a physical vinyl so I can listen through the McIntosh system. Otherwise, we stream off one of our phones to a sound bar the rest of the time.
I have no idea how we start making better money. I know John has suggested Apple Music pays better than Spotify, but I just don’t dig on the Apple Music app. Ive really no answers to how it gets
Fixed, I just try to make my money up front and have been able to pay the bills that way.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 31, 2020 6:22:02 GMT -6
Trying to do an A+ job of engineering and performing on the same session is just not a sane proposition. Doesn't mean you can't make a hit record as a one-man everything: look at Billie Eilish, who just swept the grammys, or at Foster the People's "Pumped up Kicks", or a gazillion other recent hits with various flavors of actual recorded parts that are imperfectly engineered. To me, if you want to record yourself making music, you have to let go of the pursuit of technical fidelity. Just set all the mic inputs so you're at like -18 peak or something, and then enable all tracks and hit record. I’m not so sure that is true. It’s entirely possible to do, you just have to take the time to get good at it and have the patience to push through. Honestly after years of getting 10 things thrown at me from musicians, producers, people in on the hang etc while being an assistant on large sessions, sitting in a room alone is pretty damn peaceful and almost allows me to think better. Juggling my own mind is far more simple than juggling the requests of 10 different people - most of whom have no clue what they are asking for hahaha |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 30, 2020 19:17:16 GMT -6
After that Grammy performance, I want to sue them too. Has to be top 5 horrible performances of all time. I’d put it in with the Ashley Simpson SNL lip syncing excapade. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 30, 2020 16:51:31 GMT -6
You can make a great record with 10-15 mics, pres, and a few choice pieces of outboard. The way I see it, we are at the apex of vintage gear prices, and you really don’t need a giant collection of vintage mics or consoles to get work done. As long as you have a great performance, a great song, and a way to capture it you’re all set. A great sounding room with a decent vibe goes a long way too. I can’t see dumping a huge amount of money into gear that is “cool”. Find what works and get to recording!
We have 10 vintage Neve modules at one of the studios I work at, and one of them is usually on the fritz or needs some massaging. Not worth the headache to me to sink money into something like that.
I think the best benefit of the console in front of you is the ease of routing while tracking, but it can be worked around without a console, no matter how cool and vintage those beasts are.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 30, 2020 6:20:23 GMT -6
I bet a school buys it.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 29, 2020 19:48:57 GMT -6
Btw - I’m using the floor models (that we’re hooked up) so I doubt they’ve had much of any burn in. Although I’ve heard BF says they don’t need burn in. Anyway, he was ordering a new pair for me...but didn’t know where the meme hookup thing was. I assume if that’s not hooked up, they remain in “Flat” mode, wouldn’t you think? They are flat if you don’t hook it up. They are seriously mid heavy. I dig it a lot and reminds me of the kids of 10’s but with nice highs and serious lows. I can understand why some wouldn’t like it. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 28, 2020 21:03:54 GMT -6
they were like 1800€ here in europe 2 years ago, now more like 2200-2400€ new!!! thats way to much. i was so interested to buy one but could 't find "the right one". now i am gonna need to look for used ones ... The only “right” J-45’s I’ve played have been vintage examples. I’m not sure what’s up with their acoustics these days, but man they just all seem awful. I’m sure there are a few good examples - but every time I pick one up Im left scratching my head trying to figure out if that’s how they want them to sound. Almost like the tops are twice as thick as they should be and they are massively over braced and have huge bridge plates. Or something. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 27, 2020 21:32:00 GMT -6
It’s offensive that Aerosmith kicked their drummer out of the band, and then took a giant dump on stage. I have no idea what that was... but obviously none of them can play in time, play the right notes, play with each other, or sing for that matter. Total $&@“ show. They should be embarrassed.
I have no idea who the performer is that was rapping with Boys to Men. At first I was thinking... wtf is this? And by the end I thought it was one of the most powerful performances I’ve seen in years.
I really wish they would concentrate on more than just the pop/rap side of the awards. Lots of people I appreciate and look up to won Grammys last night and they mostly went ignored. It’s a shame.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 27, 2020 17:41:31 GMT -6
Most studios I’ve been at have Mogami, a few have Hosa. I never noticed anything honestly. You’re right, they are expensive. Have you checked out used ones on eBay?
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 21, 2020 20:20:32 GMT -6
I think most of my great deals buying on eBay was 7 years ago or longer. Got some great scores on vintage preamps that weren’t hip yet but were awesome (telefunken 676’s) and some great guitar amps that weren’t cool yet (Gibson Falcon). Also, a killer Wurlitzer branded snare drum from the 40’s that’s a dead ringer for the one Levon Helm used while recording the Band’s second album.
I haven’t seen anything that has amazed me in a while where I wanted to jump on it. Most of the things I’ve gotten lately were on local listings.
I don’t have an opinion on taxes other than I don’t like having to pay as much as I do, and I use every legal loophole possible to get away from it. Just like everybody else does!
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 17, 2020 22:27:02 GMT -6
I try to duplicate a lot of those sounds. There’s a few things that I think help: Cranesong-Phoenix, Peacock, RA BX Console SSL E and N Overloud Dopamine Overloud Eq 84 Duende Bus VLB902 UAD 1176 UAD 176 UAD Avalon 737 UAD 480 UAD Precision Delay UAD 102 UAD Neve DFC UAD RMX 16 UAD 2500 Tube Tech MK II Weiss DS-1 MK3 Noiseash 31102 Satin SPL Iron VSM-3 VSE-2 Punish Fix Doubler Sonnox Doubler Transatlantic Plate Relab VSR 24 I’m referring more to mixing sound than instruments or synths and things that actually play the music. Plugins based on gear made long after 1989 can help quite a bit. The VSR 24 has been much more helpful to me than any other reverb. I almost exclusively use the 480 for the Effects algorithm. The SCMid button on the 737 when using it across a mix is something I like to do. I wish it were as simple as just using emulations of 1980s things, but there’s quite a bit more work involved. I don’t really get this. None of the things listed make those songs sound the way they did. None of it was around... Grab a Juno, an AMS reverb and delay, a few unbalanced Roland Rack mount chorus/delay units, and a bunch of guys strung out on coke in a studio with way too much label money and a bunch of synths they’ve never seen before. Maybe get an overly emotional lead singer. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 15, 2020 19:34:58 GMT -6
I’m confused. It’s actually 2x4 analog but you can add 8 digital in and 10 digital outs? 10 in 14 out max 8 in ADAT 2 in analog 8 out ADAT 2 out analog TRS rear 2 out headphone rear 2 out headphone front front panel guitar DI most likely connected to analog 1 or 2 input rather than a separate AD I wish companies would stop stating headphone jacks as outputs. It technically is, but it’s some bs as a stated spec imo. They all do it though, not picking on apogee. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 15, 2020 19:31:19 GMT -6
So you gettin a set John?
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 15, 2020 6:18:35 GMT -6
With some audio interfaces having 24x24 or 32x32 I/O, I'm still not convinced that just connecting all my gear to one of those interfaces as hardware inserts (and using the hardware as "plugins" like Bill does) isn't the most cost effective and intuitive solution and convenient for small/medium setups. Because hardware inserts are being used in the DAW there is perfect integration and recall. Also routing is even simpler and more intuitive since you are treating each piece of outboard like a plugin. I say this with the utmost compassion, but the average pro audio customer these days struggles with basic signal flow and gain-staging compared to pro audio users 15-20 years ago (as evidenced from support emails we get). The simpler and more intuitive the routing is, the better. I'm still waiting for someone to do some tests comparing that kind of setup, which involves multiple round trips of conversion, to one of these crosspoint router devices. As far as I'm concerned the "more conversions is bad" argument is moot and dead. Conversion quality is very good these days and all the "damage" is done on the very first A/D conversion that occurs when the source is captured anyway. Short of audio clips I'd love to see THD and frequency response measurements of loopbacks using each setup, just out of curiosity. cheers, Brad As you know, I'm 100% with you on this. I have no problems going 3, ,4, 5 + round trips before finishing.... When you were deciding to go this rout for your workflow, did you ever shootout the 4 or 5 pt inserts vs using one and hard patching into the other gear? I’d be interested in what the difference was, and honestly wouldn’t be surprised if nobody could tell the difference without trying to null the signals. |
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 14, 2020 19:54:41 GMT -6
I’ve got a rack of 6 V676’s and they are indeed fantastic.
I think I had a pair of 672’s but I thought they were line amps that were converted to be mic pres. I do recall they had a TON of gain. I used them for drum room mics and not much else.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Jan 14, 2020 8:54:59 GMT -6
Can you imagine a company putting out a tape machine? That would be insanity in today’s market. I mean let’s be honest, most “engineers” that are coming up can barely plug in a microphone, and the ones that can are too lazy to want or use a patch bay... The future is scary! It’s gotta be some sort of emulation. UA is really good at that and it’s their bread and butter. They just came out with new interfaces so I can’t see them revealing some new one with built in summing. That wouldn’t line up production wise and wouldn’t make sense to alienate the people who just purchased the X series stuff. They would flood the market with used boxes that have only been out for a year. What if the summing was all internal? No cables. DA to summing mixer back to AD, all inside the box. I don't know, just an idea. I'm not sure if anyone's done this yet. Possibly - but it seems like those who are mixing in the box are happy being there and wouldn't spend the money for summing if it didn't have the option of inserts on every channel and a 2 mix insert point that would then need cabling. Then it just sort of goes round in circles of who the product is actually aimed at. At that point you're competing with boxes like the Sigma but then adding on emulation on top of it and AD/DA converters. That's a heck of an expensive box! |
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