TOP THINGS I DO PAST 1am

It seems like more often than not I find myself forced to work way too late into the night because of deadlines and/or too many projects have become stacked on top of one another. Tonight is no different. Here's a list of what I find myself most often working on past 1 am.

1) Printing Mixes (and mix versions) - Printing mixes is one of the most boring things on the planet to do. It takes forever and there's really nothing else you can do but listen and wait. The great thing is that I can multi-task (check facebook, twitter, do pushups)

2) Check/update facebook and twitter - I find myself going back to these pages waaaaay too often as if something magical would have happened.

3) Creating stem mixes for tomorrow morning sessions (what I'm doing right now!) - It's often last minute that I find the time to prepare session files and arrangements for the quickly approaching sessions in the morning. Nothing like a $1,000 worth of players and studios to make sure I'm ready!

4) Write a blog post. - Most if not all of my blogs have been written late into the night

5) Programming - It really does feel as though my most creative times are at night. I'm lately trying to fight this urge... trying!



So there you have it, the top five things I find myself working on late a night.

CLASP - merging the new and old

I really believe that this technology is something special. I would LOVE to have one of these. In my own recording, I want to strive to make GREAT sounding records sonically as well as creatively.

One of the cool things about this box is the abilty to track different instruments at different tape speeds. Record guitars at 7.5ips and drums at 15ips... very cool. This has never been allowed before.

If you're wondering what CLASP is, it's a processor that allows you to record THROUGH tape directly into Pro Tools with NO LATENCY. You get the color of tape with the convenience of Pro Tools. Pretty nifty.

I'm sold. Now I gotta find a tape machine and some more money :)

CLASP WEBSITE

Organize Your Plugins

I have a lot of plugins and I find myself forgetting what some of them are called. This makes finding the plugin a bit tedious. Here's a solution that gets you a little closer to finding your plugins.

Steve Lillywhite

Steve Lillywhite is a Grammy Winning produced who has MANY great records for U2, Peter Gabriel, Chris Cornell, and many more.... He's a fantastic producer and a really unique guy (as you'll soon hear.)

I first noticed Steve Lillywhite because of his work with Dave Matthews Band. I was a huge fan of DMB in high school. My first DMB CD was given to me as a birthday present from my friend Liz. I was very quickly a fan. Me and my best friend Josh blasted Dave Matthews Band OFTEN and as a drummer I did my time trying to learn to be just like Carter Beauford.

Here's a few interviews with Steve Lillywhite. None of these are incredibly extensive, but hopefully you'll pick up something helpful along the way.





NPR - Lillywhite Interview
WAVES - INTERVIEW
BILLBOARD INTERVIEW
RECORDING CHRIS CORNELL

Charlie Peacock and the Civil Wars

I mentioned Charlie Peacock in my last post. Tonight I was reading blogs in my blog reader and I became more inspired to create something authentic than I have in a very long time. I truly believe that this post will inspire you in much the same way. I'd love to hear your comments but more than that, please thank Charlie for this wonderful post!

http://recordproducer.typepad.com/record-producer/2010/01/performance-production-the-civil-wars-poison-wine.html

My favorite resources

I find myself frequenting many blogs and websites throughout the week as I work. Sometimes I'm looking for a specific solution for a problem I've run into, sometimes I'm looking to be creatively inspired and sometimes I'm just looking for some light reading (where I accidentally pick up on new tips and tricks). I'm sure there are lots of sites I'm forgetting and I'll surely come across new sites as I continue to scan the web!

Here's just a few....

Gearslutz.com - I mentioned Gearslutz in a post earlier this week. Gearslutz is a public forum for anyone into music production and in particular, GEAR. The people who post on GS tend to be gear fanatics and spout their opinions freely. You can learn a lot on GS. In particular, read through the Expert threads from producer/engineers like Bruce Swedien, Dave Pensado, Al Schmitt and Tony Maserati! (note: Watch out for all the crack heads who speak with no actual knowledge on a subject. It's actually kinda comical)

Youtube.com - This may be kind of obvious at this point but you'll be surprised what you can come up with in terms of a quality education on audio by searching for topics on youtube. Some of my favorite

• SoundonSound.com
• Talkmusicbiz.com
• OpenLabs
• Waves
• ArtistHouseMusic.com
• John Mayer
• Chris Lord Alge
• Taxi Music

SoundonSound.com - This magazine is fantastic. I particularly love their "Secrets of the Mix Engineer" column. They interview all kinds of mixers and analyze current hits all the way down to EQ and compression settings, types of FX and how the mixer overcame certain challenges along the way. GREAT stuff. If you subscribe to the magazine you get access to the all past issues digitally for free!

Protoolsmixing.com (BLOG) - I just found this blog and am about to dig in and read through all the posts. I enjoy blogs like this because it gives you some insight into the mind of a mixer.

deathbyprotools.com (BLOG) - Another great blog about all things recording. I enjoy the title of the blog too (I genuinely love pro tools! I still think it's funny)

Tunecore.com (BLOG) - TuneCore is a fantastic resource for digitally distributing your music. They have a passion for educating as well. Their blog features tips and tutorials as well as discussions on issues presented to the record industry. Fantastic!

http://recordproducer.typepad.com/record-producer/ (BLOG) - A blog by music genius Charlie Peacock. This one is pretty new but promises to be very educational! Charlie is definitely someone I'm excited to learn from!

There are certainly more. As I find them I'll blog them. Please, please... if you have a resource that you think others would enjoy go ahead and post it in a comment! Don't hold back. Share what you know!

In The Studio With Michael Jackson

I just finished reading In The Studio With Michael Jackson by Bruce Swedien. What a great book! If you're into recording and/or love the music of Michael Jackson you'll really get into this book. Bruce is a BRILLIANT recordist and mixer. He has been at the forefront of music recording for decades. In this book you really get a sense for Bruce's love for music and his love of Michael Jackson. What I enjoyed most was how much insight Bruce gives into technical recording techniques. Not so detailed that it's overwhelming, but he recalls techniques and tricks he and Quincy Jones used while recording Michael's great music.


I highly recommend you buy this book. (or download it on you Kindle!!)

For even more stories, tips and tricks from Bruce Swedien, check out Bruce's many posts on Gearslutz.com. Bruce moderated a forum a few years back. You can still read it here.