Studio Log

Things That I Think

Tuesday February 22nd, 2005

I understand that working with a music producer (especially one you hire yourself) is a matter of preference, taste and trust. Therefore I’m going to use this space to express some of my tastes and preferences and we’ll leave the trust issues up to you the gentle reader.

Technology and the Record making process:

Yes, I still call them records. I haven’t worked on anything that has gone to vinyl since the mid 80’s but I still call Compact Discs “records.” You record the music you put it out. So to me it’s a record whether it’s on compact disc, vinyl, cassette, eight-track tape or wax cylinder.

The technology involved in making music is smaller, cheaper and better sounding than it used to be. I started in the business on open reel 2-inch analog tape machines. Back then I said that I would never, ever try to build a home studio because you just couldn’t compete at the home level with what a serious professional facility could do. ProTools and Digital Audio Workstations (DAW’s) have changed all of that.

Almost every musician has a home studio. And for not much money they are capable of creating competitively good sounding tracks. So what’s the difference between a guy working on his 12 track Roland, or Akai or Tascam DAW, or 8 track ProTools LE system and someone working with 32 or 48 or 96 tracks in a ProTools TDM system or some other similarly high end system? There are two ways to answer that question.

The first answer would delve into the details of possible sampling rates, bit depth, digital signal processing capabilities, plug-ins, expenses and a host of arcane details that may or may not be of interest to you. Seriously, if you want to discuss merits and specs on gear, drop me a line, I will be glad to chew the fat with you. We all love gear in this business, it’s why we do it.

The second answer would be that the difference is mostly in the person using that equipment. If someone has invested tens of thousands of dollars into his gear there’s a higher probability that he/she is experienced enough to know and appreciate the differences and how to exploit it properly. Experienced professionals in any occupation pay more for their tools because they are skilled enough to know the difference. Experienced professionals can also tell you when it’s a good idea to spend a lot or a little on a particular tool.

I work with several clients who piece their compositions together on their home DAW’s and the tracks sound pretty good for the most part. Some are better than tracks I used to get from “so-called” professional 24 track studios in the past. Sometimes I have to coach them on how to eliminate noise, increase the clarity or compensate for unintended misuse of some otherwise cool piece of gear.

Ther phrase “you get what you pay for” is mostly true. And it’s true in recording gear and in recording professionals.

Gear that I like:

I love ProTools, I love the way it works. I like the way it sounds and I like the way that it’s flexible enough for me to tweak the way it sounds. ProTools systems are essentially customizable in myriad ways.

The Rode NTK microphone. It uses tubes and it sounds really really nice. Different from some of the classics but that’s ok, it’s going to be a classic on its own.

Reason: What a great piece of software this is! Easy to use, sounds good, and it will save you a thousands and thousands of dollars on what you used to have to have a room full of boxes to do.

The iPod: How cool is this thing? It’s not just the cool commercials or ads on TV. It’s the way you can legitimately buy almost any song you want. It’s the way you can load your own music into it and compare to other phrases. It’s the way you can program playlists. It’s the way you can attach that little thingie to the top and play it through your car’s FM radio.

Music I like:

I have a lot of Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin, Blues and Funk. I also have some 80’s pop, some jazz, some Van Morrison, a few things by No Doubt and a mish mash of recent Hard Rock stuff. I really love Slither by Velvet Revolver. Honestly though there’s not a lot of new music that gets me too excited. But I cruise the iTunes store a lot and check out samples of the new stuff. I haven’t stopped looking.

Being able to check things out before buying is the best thing about the iTunes store. Why - holy crap!! - that’s what radio used to be for.

Check this page often as I will be updating frequently. You may also see an upcoming calendar of gigs for Electric Otto’s Funk Factory as I am currently that band’s guitar player. Feel free to drop a line if you have questions or comments.

Steve SZ

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