So I’m working into the rotation at the big studio. Right now I’m not getting the most “prestigious” gigs.
I’m working with a hack acoustic guitar player and I just can’t get his guitar to sound very crisp. I’ve got a friggin’ $8000 Neumann microphone on this guy’s guitar and it sounds terrible. No crispness at all. It sounds like the mic is across the room pointing the other direction.
I go in the sound booth to see what is up. Maybe the guy took his shoes off and hung his shoe on the mic?
All thumbs
As it turns out, this guy is paying $100/hour to record his acoustic tracks and he’s playing the guitar with the meat of his thumb. DOH! I asked “where’s your guitar pick?” and he says “I don’ t use one.” Hmm… I say “that’s probably why it doesn’t sound very crisp.”
Later in the session when I go to set up an auto-tuner on his vocals I ask the same guy what key the song is in. “I don’t know” is his answer. So I ask “what chord are you playing on the last note of the song?” “I don’t know” again. The guy is self taught, doesn’t use a guitar pick, and doesn’t know what a chord is. He was playing a bastardized G chord…
Normally I’d say “kill me” in this situation, but I’m glad to have a gig at this point so no worries. Just get a friggin’ guitar lesson before the next session please…
mediaguru Musicians, Rants, Recording
After writing the last post I realized I should have mentioned that my day is only half over. Tonight I’m doing a drum sub gig for a variety band. This’ll be my first time playing with these guys but they’re so tight and play all these tunes so well it will just be like playing along with the original recordings. I’m confident I’ll do fine and these guys will be happy with my performance. The gig is in Deer Valley for some corporate party. Dinner included. Yes, we musicians love free food.
Killer musicians
The regular drummer for this band is one of my best drum friends, and probably one of the top three drummers in the state. The guitar player for this band has been regarded as the best guitar player in the state for years. The key player is one of the best too. The female singer I wonder about. She was not terribly nice to me on the phone when I was doing some web site work for their band. She was mad at me because their band picture had the old female singer from 4 years ago. It wasn’t my fault as I was only working with what they gave me.
mediaguru Gigs
Today I was pretty much on my own. Started up with the harp client, finishing tracks and then mixing.
The chick’s harp sounded a little different. I started to wonder if my trims were the same as yesterday and while f’ing around with them I accidentally padded one half. The Euphonix console can be so deep with menus and hot keys I couldn’t figure out what the hell I did. The harp player and producer didn’t notice but I was in some trouble… One of two of the mics were working and if this chick nailed a take I’d have to figure out a way to compensate in the mix to make it sound like the other tracks.
Fortunately the harp player was struggling and I finally figured it out and got it working right. Later she did the another take of that tune which was much better… Other than that the session went perfect and the client left happy.
So I’m close to being able to run full sessions with no help. As I find a snag with ProTools (prodrools) or the studio setup, I figure it out. I only like to make mistakes once.
mediaguru Recording
Like I said before, I’ve been a bit frustrated with getting in the rotation and actually “working” gigs in the studio. I’ve been sitting in a lot but not working or making any dough. The owner just works his ass off and doesn’t really offer me gigs. But I’m finding if I just show up he’s more than willing to just turn them over to me. That’s what happened today. It was a harp project, recording for the Suzuki instructional CD’s. He threw me on the console and went in the other room and did paperwork.
I worked that gig with only a couple of hiccups which require me to get help. Once I don’t need any help I’ll be able to do more gigs. That’s very soon. I’m finishing off that project tomorrow, on my own. I should be fine. Just doing some more tracking and mixing down. It will be my first gig in the big studio without my training wheels.
mediaguru Recording
Man there are a lot of poor musicians. Even the famous jazz musicians don’t make a lot of money. Yet “JayZ” (or however you spell it) made $34 million last year and is the richest rapper. For those of you rappers out that that mean he’s “stackin’ bank.”
Terrific news. Now all the hip hop losers out there who don’t know how to speak English, don’t know how to wear a hat straight and don’t know how to keep their damn pants above their ass crack will all be thinking they can be a millionaire. Boy are they in for a shock. Unfortunately we’ll all have to put up with their shiznit.
mediaguru Rants
http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20070816/D8R291F80.html
Max Roach, what a great drummer in his day. He gave Buddy Rich a run for his money on many occasions. Buddy won most of those battles though…
mediaguru Musicians
I’ve been pretty frustrated with the new studio. I need time in there to observe and learn the ropes. I also need time to get solid on ProToos (ProDrools) and some of the ways the place works.
I’m having a bugger of a time getting replies to my calls and/or emails from the owner on when I can come in. It can take several days for a reply.
Fortunately he did get back to me today so I’ll have a chance to sit in this week. The quicker I can get this stuff learned the quicker I can start doing real gigs.
This experience has reminded me of what I’d tried to forget, how unpredictable and tough to schedule or budget your time working in the studio really is.
mediaguru Recording
Remember this post which told the crazy story of how my entire set of cymbals got ripped off and then I miraculously recovered them?
As a “victim” I’ve been kept in the know by the local justice system here and have had the right to attend the trial of the guys who were busted with my stolen gear.
It’s taken eight months, but the trial is over and they’ve been found guilty. The sentencing phase is next and I get to write a “victim impact” letter to the court to influence the judge’s decision on a sentence.
mediaguru Random