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FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Can I Hear
Some Of Your Previous Work?
Will My House
Work OK For Recording?
What Kind Of Gear
Do You Have?
Do You Track
The Band All At Once, or Individually?
Will We
Wear Headphones?
How Much Is This
Going To Cost?
Do You Do
Mastering?
How and When
Should I Pay?
Will You Keep
Our Master Tracks on File?
How Long Did
It Take To Learn All This Stuff?
Can I Hear Some Of Your
Previous Work?
Of course! You can hear MP3s of several projects I've
done by clicking
here. If you'd like to hear something on
CD, let me know, and I can send you something out.
Will My House
Work OK For Recording?
I have recorded in a lot of different places, and have
always been able to make it work. If your house is ok for rehearsals,
it's probably ok for recording. Of course, there are some problems that
need to be dealt with: Do you have a dog that barks? A baby in the
house that cries? Loud traffic outside? These issues can make some
tracking difficult, particularly vocals. But if you have a closet,
bedroom, or bathroom, we can work it out. It's best to setup in the
largest room available in most cases, but when I arrive, we can discuss
the best setup.
What Kind Of Gear Do You Have?
All of my gear is portable, and modern. I personally
think that gear lists are a bit silly, you're not hiring the gear so
much as you're hiring my skills. But, if you are dying to know, here's
some of my gear:
- 1.8 ghz iMac Duo Core, running
Cubase 4 on OS X 10.4.11
- A Full Complement of Plug-ins
(Including a few I wrote myself!)
- Event TR5 Near Field Monitors
- 4 PM1000 Vintage Channel Strips
- 4 Channel Shure M67 Mixer (Circa
1965) modded with 20db pads and direct outs
- 6 Channel Yamaha M406 Mixer (Circa
1981) modded with direct outs
- Yamaha GF 16/12 - 16 channel mixer
(used for tracking/monitor mixes)
- FMR RNC 1776 Stereo Compressor
- Studio Projects B1 Large Condenser
Mic
- (2) Groove Tubes GT44 Medium
Condenser Tube Mic
- (2) Shure SM57 Dynamic Mic
- Shure Beta58a Dynamic Mic
- MXL V63m Large Diaphragm Condenser
Mic
- ElectroVoice RE20 Large Diaphragm
Dynamic Mic
- AKG D112 Large Diaphragm Dynamic
Mic
- KEL Audio HM1 Large Diaphragm
Condenser Mic
- (2) Oktava MK012 Small Diaphragm
Condenser Mic
- (2) Oktava MK219 Large Diaphragm
Condenser Mic
- (2) Sennheiser e603 Drum Mics
- Sennheiser e609 Mic
- Nady RSM-4 Ribbon Mic
- (3) Nady Dynamic Drum Mics
- MOTU 828MKII Firewire Audio
Interface
- Frontier Designs Tango-24 A/D
Interface
- M-Audio Oxygen 8 MIDI Interface
- (4) More Me headphones
- (4) Sony Headphones
- Line 6 Toneport UX2 (guitar amp
simulator)
- Behringer HA4400 Headphone
Amplifier
- Presonus HP4 Headphone Amplifier
- 50ft 16x4 Snake
- A whole mess of cables and stands
Do You Track The Band All At Once, or Individually?
We can work however you are most comfortable. For
expediency, and to get the most "live" feel, we can track live, with no
headphones. The instruments will be routed to individual tracks to
allow for punch-ins and mix flexibility, of course. On the other hand,
if you prefer to track one instrument at a time, that is always an
option. Sometimes, better separation can be achieved this way. Ideally,
though, I would record the drums, bass and guitars simultaneously, then
go back and add vocals, and any other overdubs.
Will We Wear Headphones?
This is totally up to you. If we're running the bass
direct, headphones will probably be required (I have a headphone amp,
and plenty of extension cables, splitters, headphones, etc.) On the
other hand, if your bass player is using an amp, and everyone is
comfortable tracking in one room, headphones may not be necessary.
Skipping phones can make the session go a lot faster, and I think it
helps preserve the natural feel of the performance (you don't wear
phones on stage, or at rehearsal, do you?)
How Much Is
This Going To Cost?
How much you spend will depend largely on the scope of
your project, and your readiness to record. Doing two songs, which are
well-rehearsed and ready to go may take only an afternoon. Recording an
entire album with lots of overdubs and effects may take several days.
Other considerations include whether you'll be taking the project to a
mastering engineer, and how many copies you plan to manufacture. You
can see my current pricing and request a recording quote here.
Do You Do Mastering?
I don't offer mastering services, as I define
"mastering". I recommend that you go to SAE, or another mastering
facility. Some guy with Pro Tools and some Waves Plug-ins is not a
mastering facility. Having said that, I can make the recordings
suitably loud on CD, so that they don't stand out as overly quiet when
played next to your other commercial CDs. And if budget is a big
concern, I can do a quickie eq and leveling, to make your CD more
"finished." However, I don't claim to compete with a facility like SAE,
with their high-end gear, well-tuned room, and years of experience.
How and When Should I Pay?
I accept payment via Paypal (Visa, Mastercard, etc),
check, or cash. You can pay me at the end of each day of recording, or
at the end of a project, if the recording and mixing happen on
sequential days. I don't keep accounts open, and I don't send out
bills, so please be prepared to pay for your services on the day of
your session.
Will You
Keep Our Master Tracks on File?
I keep every project on the Hard Drive it was recorded
to, and also backup the files to DVD. This DVD will be kept off-site,
to insure that it will survive even if some catastrophe should befall
the hard drive. Of course, recording programs evolve, as do storage
mediums. I will always do my best to keep your project backwards
compatible. If you need to move to another platform (Pro Tools, for
example), we can flatten the tracks to a universal format like .WAV
files. It's important to keep this information safe, one day your
daughter may want to sing a duet with you, (ala Natalie Cole)!
How Long Did It Take To Learn All This Stuff?
I am always learning new things, of course, but I've
been doing recording in one form or another since I was about 14
(1985). Of course, those first recordings were on a reel to reel TEAC
machine! I studied recording a bit in college, and have engineered or
assisted on many sessions over the years. Nothing teaches like
experience, and the more I do this, the more I learn. So, I suppose the
answer to that question is "My whole life." My advice to anyone wanting
to get into recording is simple: Buy yourself some gear and get
started. Study, read, observe, listen. I don't have a position on
recording schools like The Conservatory, but I never attended one. I
tend to think that you're better off spending that tuition money on
gear and sessions, but everyone makes their own choices in that regard.
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