Although I will be off the regular schedule around here, I do expect to drop in a bit with some posts here and there-just not on a weekly basis. I’m not sure how long this is going to last, or if this relaxed schedule may become a permanent change for Producer Notes.

If you’re interested in following Mother/Father, you can jump over to their website here: thisismotherfather.com. There’s a lot of developments taking shape, which we’re all excited about, and two of which are happening next week:
Mother/Father Grimey’s in-store (win tickets to Kings Of Leon): Thursday, Oct 15th 6pm
Mother/Father with Kings Of Leon: Friday, Oct 16th 7:30pm
Details here

As always, I do appreciate everyone who reads this blog. Hope that you continue to find value here. Thanks for understanding my need to take a break.

Here’s something I’m pretty excited about. Auto Time Adjuster (ATA). I was flipping through the latest issue of Tape Op when I came across ATA in the gear reviews section. If you spend a significant amount of time working in Pro Tools LE (like me), I’m sure you’ve grown frustrated many times when dealing with plug-in latency. The lack of automatic delay compensation in Pro Tools LE can create so much extra work and stress.

While ATA isn’t perfect, it’s definitely worth it in my opinion. Using ATA in your sessions will further complicate the signal flow, unfortunately. But that’s still not even close how complicated things can get when having keep track of manual delay compensation times, or how many samples you nudged specific regions. Save if anything changes.

No more manual plug-in latency compensation. And it’s only $49.

Take a look at the website, which has some tutorials. http://www.mellowmuse.com/ATA.html

Compression is a great tool. And I love the way it sounds when applied as an effect of sorts.

But I think everyone can agree that compressors have been used pretty generously in record making over the last fifteen years. If the amount of people who hit Producer Notes because they put some term relating to dynamic compression into Google is any indication, I’d say compression is the number one thing people are interested in regarding recording and mixing music (Buss Compression is one of the most viewed posts on this blog). And I’m not even going to start up on the loudness war.

But why not trade out the compressor for automation? Most DAWs and consoles have fantastic automation capabilities these days. Why not simply turn up the track when it needs to get louder, and turn it down when it needs to get quieter?

I understand that there are particular contexts in which automation can’t do the job (which is really a very specific amount of contexts), but for everything else, why not automate it?

From my experience I find this approach lends to a much more musical, open, natural, and, (not so) ironically, bigger sounding recording/mix overall.

Any thoughts?

Jackson’s Science Fair Project is the current living example of these books. I met a band from Canada a few weeks ago-Oceanship-through a friend of mine. Turns out there is a 7th grader, Jackson, who really likes this band, and has decided to connect people together by creating a tribe on Facebook. It’s all a part of a science fair project assignment he is completing for school.

This is a perfect example of how new marketing can be very powerful for the music industry. Jackson’s Science Fair Project has been very successful very quickly because it creates meaning, tells a story, and connects Oceanship fans to one another.

www.facebook.com/powerofonekid.

Multiple Mics
Using multiple mics allows you to blend the response curves of the mics together, creating a tone full of warm nuances. It’s kind of like taking a photograph with several different lenses at the same time, and then blending the qualities of these lenses together to create a picture with a unique look.

Multiple Amps
Grab an amp splitter or A/B/Y pedal. There are lots of companies that manufacture these. You can get a simple two-way splitter (A/B/Y pedal), or if you’ve got a little more cash on hand you can get more sophisticated with a multi-way splitter.

In any case, split your guitar signal through two or more amps. Then blend the tones together just like in the technique above. You can use the same type of mic on every amp, or try different combinations for more complex tonal shaping.

Layering parts with different tones
One of my favorite things to do is to have the musician perform the same part multiple times, but change different parts of the setup, such as the guitar, the amp, the pedals, the mic, the pre, or all of it. This way, you’re not only getting variations in the tone of the guitar, but also in the nuances of the musician’s playing. Really makes the overall track have a big sound in the end.

*EXTRAS*

So there’s three fairly basic and widely used techniques to capture a great guitar tone in recording, but I thought I’d throw in a few extras as a bonus.

Phase Alignment
There is some great outboard gear, as well as some software phase alignment tools on the market. These tools allow you to play with the phase of the signal-continuosly sweeping it from anywhere between 0 deg to 180 deg in phase adjustment. When it comes to electric guitars (especially in rock) playing with the phase of signals can create some really interesting and inspiring tones.

Mic Placement
Another way to play with the phase of signals is to simply change the placement of two or more mics in relation to one another on a source signal. Equally as interesting and inspiring as above. When positioning microphones, play around with their position and distance on an individual speaker as well. Mic’ing directly in the center of the speaker (mic pointed at the dust cap) will get you a tone that has a lot of high frequency content (but could sound thin). As you move the mic to the edge of the speaker the highs will begin to roll off. Playing with the distance of the mic to the speaker will cause the proximity effect to come into play.

Using Pedals
My favorites are fuzz and octave fuzz boxes, clean boosters, and chorus/short delays. But distortion boxes, EQ/filter pedals, compressor pedals, and phasers/flangers can all be great as well.

If you try some of these techniques out, please come by and share your thoughts or links to sound clips in the comments. Got any of your own techniques? Feel free to post those in the comments too.

Being a yes man all the time won’t make you achieve the success you’re after. However you’ve chosen to define that.

A while back I read a great book called Behind the Glass. It was and is a popular book within the music community. Back when I first got an internship at a recording studio, I was given the book by the assistant manager of the place. Later, I let a friend borrow it, and I never saw it again. I’ve been meaning to purchase the book ever since.

At the beginning of the book, Howard Massey, the author, conducts an interview of five record producers. One of which is Tony Visconti. On page thirteen Tony says this:

A common mistake that’s being made today is getting the order or protocol reversed. People think, have, do, be: If I have this equipment, I can do it, and I can be it. That’s not the way it works: It’s be, do, have. Everyone says, “How do I get a great guitar sound?” It’s really simple: You put the amp there, you tweak, you play, you put the mic there-and a microphone is pretty much a mirror-you put the mic in front of that great guitar sound. That’s where you have to do it in the first place. So many people think that, if they get all this gear, it’s going to make them sound great, but the opposite is true. I know that things are going to change-30 years from now, I don’t know what we’ll be recording on. Maybe a tomato, I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter-certain principles will always apply. They applied two hundred years ago when Mozart was alive-you have to really be an artist. And being an artist means that you have to woodshed, you have to put time in, you have to practice. That is where good sounds will always come from-how you record them is irrelevant. A great performance transcends all that.

Be. Do. Have.

That short quote from the book has stuck with me ever since I first read Behind the Glass. It’s become a mantra of sorts for me, making sure I keep my priorities in order as I progress in my career as a producer.

Owning gear can quickly become a distraction. Focus on constantly sharpening your skills. That is your real asset as a record producer.

And grabbing a copy of Behind the Glass for yourself isn’t a bad idea either. Here’s a preview with links to buy.

I’ve been trying to get around to writing this blog post since April. That’s the month my friend from college, Matt McCloskey, released his record. All along the way I’ve been very inspired by how he has gone about putting everything together-from the writing/recording process, to how he gives away his music, and employs a “participation is marketing” strategy to publicize everything. Matt gets it.

So I thought my opportunity to write about Matt releasing his record had escaped me, until he told me that he was about to go on the road.

These American Times

Matt put together a tour that is taking him and a band from Texas to New York and back, via Alabama, Tennessee, and Chicago. He’s thought up a theme of sorts to provide a story to the tour, and set up a website/blog where this story unfolds in pretty much real time.

These Times Won’t Last

On the recorded music front, Matt set up a website where you can either buy the record, or submit your email address and download the record for free. In this download, Matt even offered something I thought particularly forward-thinking. In addition to the standard mp3 format and the not-so-standard AAC format, he also included the option to download the record in full quality AIFF format. This is something I’ve seen Nine Inch Nails do as well, and although we do offer mp3, AAC, and FLAC via Radical Notion Digital, I have intentions to offer AIFF as well in the future. But it’s inspiring to see Matt making this available now, and acknowledging the value some people find in owning the full quality format (like us producers/engineers). That’s good marketing, friends.

Reason To Buy

So if you want a good illustration of an artist who gets it, and is employing marketing strategies that are relevant to music fans today, with examples of “participation is marketing,” and giving fans a reason to buy, add Matt McCloskey to your file of case studies.

Check out the links below, and if Matt is coming through your town on his tour, go out and see him. And tell him I said hey.

theseamericantimes.com
listentomatt.com

I did have a blast on the west coast, hanging with Mother/Father in LA and Seattle. Perhaps too much of a blast, as I evidently picked up a cold in Seattle. The weather there got me ready for autumn, as it felt like Nashville feels in late October.

The west cost response to Mother/Father was incredible. I’m so glad we booked this tour. There were a lot of fans who were very enthusiastic about the band, and I personally got to connect with a lot of people. So if you’ve since found this blog, thanks.

From here, things are going to be pretty busy. We have a lot of stuff planned for the next phase of Mother/Father, as well as Radical Notion. And I guess I’ve also got to hash out some topic ideas for this blog, too.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the regularly scheduled content-an example of a recording/performing artist friend of mine, who I think is doing a brilliant job of new marketing (and getting good results).

Thanks again for being loyal readers and subscribers.

Additionally, there have been some late-breaking developments in the Mother/Father camp. We had a last minute addition to their current tour as the opening slot for Glasvegas in Tucson, AZ at The Rialto Theatre on Saturday, August 1st (tomorrow!). Doors are at 7pm if you’re in the Tucson area and want to drop by. But check online first, as I believe tickets may be in short supply at this point.

Also, we have launched the Mother/Father official website today. We intend to use this site as a tool to form and participate in a constant and direct dialogue with the fans of Mother/Father. Through the site, fans can get up to the minute updates on developments as they happen, such as new music, join the conversation on the blog, find out about tour dates the moment they are booked, and pick up on exclusive promotions that may come through various mediums-such as the blog or the newsletter. Jump on over to thisismotherfather.com to take a look at the new site. We already have some ideas for future additions to the site, but let us know what you think so we can work your ideas in with ours.

Lastly, yesterday we published a Mother/Father Facebook page. For those that prefer Facebook over the other social sites, this will allow us to connect with you. Take a look at The Mother/Father Facebook Page, and become a fan to start a conversation and/or post some pictures of a past Mother/Father show.

Thanks for being readers of Producer Notes. I’ll be back at the end of August.