Loh Productions

Stone Cold Fox Promo Video

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:43:00 +0000

My band Stone Cold Fox's first promo video.

Recording Studio Internship Tips - Tip #4 - Maintaining Relationships

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Happy 2012 everybody. Sorry I fell off of keeping the blog updated the last couple of weeks. Here's a new (but very short) article for Recording Studio Internship Tips.

While I have been away the past couple of weeks in Paris, and having been previously occupied with the Stone Cold Fox project, I haven't been to either of my internships in over a month. Interns come and go all the time at studios, make sure you keep up your relations with the engineers and studio managers. You never know what opportunities may arise, or what connections and contacts they may have that can be helpful to your pursuit of a music career. I have seen a lot of interns during my time at Stratosphere and a lot of them leave because the internship wasn't working out for them, but a lot of them are friends with the studio manager and engineers and their professional relationship continues outside of the internship at the studio.

During your time at your internship, make sure to get to know all the personel there well! Get friendly with the other interns too. They are your colleagues and are pursuing their own careers alongside with you. The music community is about supporting each other and helping each other out. Once you befriend these guys and gals, keep in contact with them. Send them holiday greetings via email, try and meet up with them for a coffee or a drink sometime.

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:24:00 +0000

We have just released the Stone Cold Fox EP. They are available for free download for a limited time, as a holiday gift. Check it out and pass the word along to your friends! We will be playing some shows in NYC this coming year.

Stone Cold Fox - American

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

We just released our first track off the Stone Cold Fox EP. The rest of the EP will be out shortly.

AMERICAN by STONECOLDFOX

Songs by Kevin Olken
Produced, engineered, mixed by Ariel Loh
Mastered by Jonathan Jetter
Performed by Kevin Olken, Ariel Loh, Skylar Adler, and John Cummings

Stone Cold Fox + Duplex Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:50:00 +0000

I realize I have been slacking on updating the blog. Today Kevin Olken and I finished mixing the Stone Cold Fox EP. We are sending it out for mastering soon and will hopefully have the final masters back within a week. A first song will be released on Christmas day, you can find it here on the blog then.

I am finishing up finals this week and will be heading out to Paris this Thursday to enjoy my winter break and work on music for Duplex with Gaspard.

Stone Cold Fox Recording Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:55:00 +0000

Kevin Olken and myself have been on a recording marathon the last couple of days. Unfortunately I have not been able to update much, and failed to take any photos during the recent sessions. We our nearing completion on our 5 song debut EP. On Thursday, we re-recorded some guitar parts. I spent all day Friday mixing. Yesterday we did a nine hour session recording trumpet and vocals. Today we worked on synths and finishing production touches on the songs before our last day of vocal tracking tomorrow. Things are really starting to take shape and I'm excited for the mixing stage that will be in full swing by this weekend. Stay tuned for more updates.

Stone Cold Fox Recording

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:08:00 +0000

Kevin Olken and I have been working as a new band entitled Stone Cold Fox. We spent all day today at Stratosphere recording electric guitars for our debut EP coming this winter in the new year. Here are some photos from today's session.

Kevin in Studio B with a selection of a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, and an Epiphone Casino, all used on the recordings.

Using a e-bow and slide to achieve a cello-like sound.

Recording all the guitars through a Vox AC30 with an on axis SM57 and off Axis Royer 121.

Recording Studio Internship Tips - Tip #3 - Learn The Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:53:00 +0000

So you got your internship and you are starting your first day. An intern's job is to do all the dirty/busy work that needs to be taken care of in a studio to help things run smoothly. So before you try and stick your head into the control room, learn the basics of what you need to do to help the studio function on the lowest level.

Every studio will have a different "routine" for the interns, especially at the beginning and end of the days, and then a separate routine for throughout the day. For the most part, the basics are pretty obvious: general cleanliness, make sure that there is coffee, that the garbage cans are emptied, that the bathroom/kitchen is stocked, and any day to day tasks the studio manager/owner or engineers ask of you. These are pretty general things for all studios but the details will vary from studio to studio.

Of course you'll be excited to have your new internship but it's not all glamorous. Pay attention to detail even in the mundane cleaning tasks and stay busy (or equally important, look busy). There are always things that can be cleaned or reorganized. Once the studio sees you can master these simple tasks and responsibilities in an efficient manner, they will then give you more trust to help IN the studio. Before you jump the gun, prove yourself, be nice, and stay humble. Being helpful and easy going along with a good work ethic will take you a long way (much further than a know-it-all).

When I first started my internship at Stratosphere Sound, I was still in the entry stage where my only responsibilities only required cleaning. A famous client was in the studio, we'll call him JJ to leave out names, and had just finished smoking a joint. I was on my toes about cleaning and threw out the roach after he left. I was then told I shouldn't have done that since it was huge joint and there was still a lot left in the roach and I didn't know if she was going to come back. That was my first major mistake at Stratosphere, but luckily they were understanding of it. Since then I've been known as "the intern who threw out JJ's joint" and the story is told to all the new interns we get. You live and you learn.

Stay tuned for another edition of RSIT (hopefully on time this Monday)

Street Level Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:32:00 +0000

Happy early Thanksgiving! I realize I haven't posted an internship tip article for this week so I will have to make that up to you guys. I've been back home in Chicago this week and had a chance to go back and visit Street Level, a youth media center where I spent a summer learning and helping at in 2007. They have moved to a new location since, and have been building out their need recording studio space (picture below). I also swung by Electrical Audio and said hi to everybody there. It was great to see and catch up with everybody. Best wishes to Street Level and their new space, if you are in the Chicago area, make sure to go check them out.

Music I'm Currently Diggin' - The Naked And Famous

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:02:00 +0000

The Naked And Famous have 2 EP's entitled This Machine and the other No Light. Go check them out, they are an awesome combination of the hip-swaying upbeat feel in hipster dance electronica and the dirty distorted synth and guitar in Nine Inch Nails. These were released a while back but I just found out about them now and can't stop listening to them.

InSound Presents Fred Perry Artist Lounge

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:00:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the AES parties that took place at the two studios I work at. One of which was Stratosphere's Artist Lounge event which hosted a number of bands in a live recording session marathon. The final product has been released as a free mixtape by InSound. Feature acts include Weekend, Gauntlet Hair, Widowspeak, Caveman, WATERS, Tall Ships, and 1, 2, 3.

Check it out at InSound

Mid Side

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:37:00 +0000

Here's a picture from my recording session today of a Mid-Side microphone setup. This is the first time I've personally experimented with MS miking and it turned out really nice. We were recording acoustic guitar and it's really nice being able to control the center and the sides separately giving you total control on width and focus of the sound source. It's nice compared to recording in XY or spaced pairs where it's total stereo, in MS you can get a pretty focused mono sound (which I usually prefer in acoustic guitar tracks) and give it a little bit of width, dimension and space.

MS miking is pretty simple. You'll need 2 microphones, one in cardioid and one in bi-directional/figure-8, in my picture below the Violet Amethyst (pictured on top) is the cardioid condenser microphone acting as the center or "mid", which will face directly at the sound source, and the Cascade Fathead (pictured on the bottom) is a bi-directional ribbon microphone acting as the "side", which will face perpendicular to the sound source. Once you have them recorded on two separate tracks, run them through a MS matrix/encoder and you're done. Now you can adjust your stereo balance by changing the levels of each track.

My New Toy Piano

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:07:00 +0000

My new toy piano came in today

Recording Studio Internship Tips - Tip #2 - Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:47:00 +0000

Today's installment of Recording Studio Internship Tips will be about obtaining and interview and the interview process itself.

Getting an internship can be just as competitive as the limited amount of jobs that are out in the field. First things first, do NOT expect to get paid, paid internships in the studio world are nearly extinct. You might be able to pull minimum wage if you get picked up by the likes of Sony or Universal but it's an understanding at most privately owned commercial studios that you are working for free in turn for experience and opportunities that may arise.

Timing: When To Apply

So how do you even get an interview? Well, a lot of is luck and timing. For the most part, a studio will have at least a couple of interns each "season". I use the term season loosely, usually somewhere between 3-4 months, many times coordinating with semesters at school. Some studios will have a couple of interns in a day, whether it be 2 interns in the morning/day time and 2 interns at night (or any number really, depending on the size of the studio and how booked the studio is). So a good rule of thumb is to try and contact the studio at least a couple of months before when you want to start working. In the past, I have always applied for summer internships, and I would get in contact with the studio I am trying for in January after the holidays. The response is almost always the same: thanks for your interest, we will keep you in mind and touch base again when the time comes closer. I then follow up again in March or April and they will give me a more definite response, usually (and ideally) asking to set up an interview.

Email, Don't Call

Now to back up a bit, I find email is usually the best way to go about contacting them. As an intern applicant, you don't want to busy their phone lines with relatively petty stuff while they are trying to do business. Now what to put in the email? Keep your email short and get to the point. Introduce yourself, what school you attend/have attended, your availability, and maybe a quick something about your past experience. If it's a studio that really appeals to you, you can mention why you would like to intern at their particular studio and what makes it seem like a good place for you to learn and work at, careful not to border ass-kissing.

Submitting A Resumé

As for a resumé, either mention you have a full resumé and references you can provide if they need (which you should have prepared before you even start looking for an internship), or include it in the email. If you do include it in your first email, DO NOT attach it. Nobody likes opening emails with attachments from people they don't know, so either copy and paste your resumé into the email body, or upload it online where you can provide a link to it in the email (IE: google docs). I won't go into detail about writing a resumé as there are plenty of online resources for that.

Interview Day

Hopefully with some of the guidelines I've given, you're able to land yourself an interview. Congratulations, you're almost there! In fact, getting an interview usually means you're more than half way there, closer to 75%. An interview means they have interest in, or rather a need/space in their schedule to have you as an intern. A large portion of the interview is not to see how much you know about audio but rather to meet you in person to see if you are competent, sane, if they can trust you in taking care of simple maintenance tasks (glorified term for taking out the trash and cleaning), make sure you understand your role in the studio and what's expected of you, and your work ethic. The other part of the interview is very similar to an interview for any other job: to see where you're coming from, where you are trying to go, personal strengths and weaknesses, etc. If you manage to convince the interviewer you won't break their $10,000 microphone and ask famous clients for their autographs (a big no no in studio etiquette), and that you are willing to do as your told and work for the opportunity to learn from the engineers and assistants at the studio, then you'll get the job.

Check back next week for another installment of RSIT!

Drum Session

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:25:00 +0000

Pictures from today's drum session

Crystal Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:17:00 +0000

Sharing with you guys an assignment I had to do for school. We needed to create a composition using samples as well as self created synthesizer patches. This instrumental piece contains splices from an old recording, bass from a Moog Little Phatty, lead synth from a Roland Juno 60, and drum programming done in Reason.

Crystal Stars by LohProductions

Top 10 Reasons Not To Become A Recording Engineer

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:50:00 +0000

A very interesting read on the Top 10 Reasons Not To Become A Recording Engineer, and a little discouragement after yesterday's internship tips! Check out this website and blog Trust Me I'm A Scientist, lots of good stuff regarding recording in NYC.

Recording Studio Internship Tips - Tip #1 - Importance of Field Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:21:00 +0000

This is the first installment of my new weekly postings about Recording Studio Internship Tips. This first one is the importance of having an internship and experience in the field.

Some audio schools have good internship placement and career services department that is great to take advantage of. As a student in the audio field, it is never too early to start interning at a recording studio. A lot of schools will not stress the importance of an internship until the near end of the program.

Why is an internship important? Well there are a lot of reasons: experience in aspects of recording and business, networking, appreciation of the craft at a professional level, just to name a few. Regardless of what path you plan on taking in the audio world, whether working up to an assistant engineer and eventually becoming a staff engineer at a studio or working freelance and starting your own studio, an internship can help put things in scope and give you a better understanding of the recording process that you can't necessarily learn in school.

I have had friends and acquaintances ask me if I know places that they can get a job at once they graduate. A "job" in the recording field doesn't really exist, there aren't really any vacant positions that need to be filled, so you have to go out and work for free while you can andcreate a job for yourself. Unfortunately, even with a four year degree and a 4.0 GPA, you're not going to get hired in the studio world unless you work your way up. A lot of the pros out there making hit records didn't ever go to school for audio or even music, they're all the go-getters who learned recording by working in a studio or from playing in bands that were always in the studio recording.

An education in audio is a great foundation, but an internship and experience in the field will teach you things that aren't taught in schools. If you're an audio student, go out and find a studio to learn from!

Hope these little articles are helpful to the readers out there (let me know, I'd love to hear what you guys think!). Check back next week for my next internship tips on how to get an interview and the interview process.

New Duplex Song - "Nos Coeurs Battent"

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:03:00 +0000

Our band Duplex just released our new single available for free download. Check it out and let me know what you think, would love to hear some feedback! I played keys/synths, did part of the recordings and also mixed it. Also don't forget to like our Facebook page.

Nos Coeurs Battent by DuplexMusique

Music I'm Currently Diggin' - Chris Cornell

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Just checked out this new Chris Cornell solo live EP entitled Songbook, really amazing performance I recommend you guys go check it out.

Recording Studio Internship Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:28:00 +0000

I am writing a new segment on the blog to give tips and share my experiences working as an intern in a professional recording studio. A lot of the emails I receive from readers are about my internship at Electrical Audio and Stratosphere Sound so I thought I'd write more about recording internships. I will be posting the first one this coming Monday and then a new one weekly so make sure to check back every Monday for more intern tips.

Kevin Olken - Wildcats - Coming Soon

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:05:00 +0000

I have been working with Kevin Olken (from past Olken projects) on his new solo EP. We are currently finishing the pre-production stage and will soon begin recording. Here is a little promo video preview of one of the songs entitled Wild Cats.

Wild Cats from Filipp Kotsishevskiy on Vimeo.

Electrical Audio Guitar Mic Shootout

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I posted this while I was an intern at Electrical Audio but the link went dead and many viewers have requested me to put it back up, so here it is. You can also access it under the newly added Resources column to the right of the page, where I will be adding more useful free resources in the near future.

Music I'm Currently Diggin'

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:23:00 +0000

Check out Phantogram's new EP Nightlife. If you haven't heard of Phantogram yet, you need to check them out, they are a happy blend of sampling elements á la hip hop, with drum and synth programming of electronica and trip hop all sprinkled with the soothing voice of Sarah Barthel.

AES Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel Loh) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Two weekends ago, the AES (Audio Engineering Society) Convention took place in New York City. The two studios I have been working at hosted parties for industry guests. I was lucky to have been a part of both events, check out Sonic Scoop's report on Stratosphere Sound's Fred Perry Artists Lounge which featured a number of live in studio performances and also Studio G 5000's progress party (the new studio that I have been helping with this past summer, more details to come in future posts)

Stratosphere Sound (photo courtesy of Sonic Scoop)