We have been working on some new music, recording in the time capsule above the garage.

Some of you may have heard the early release of Change Our Ways on NPR’s Monitor Mix, a few more tweaks and we will be releasing several more songs including This is How its Done and some tracks recorded up in Jamestown.

Artwork should be rolling in, and tshirts are being printed with one of Josh’s superb designs.

Excitement abounds!

Spotted @ rapradar

กับสภาวะของอุตสาหกรรม ดนตรี ในฐานะที่เป็นมันวันนี้มากหรือฉันอาจจะกล่าวว่านักดนตรีอิสระส่วนใหญ่โจมตีการบันทึกประวัติของพวกเขาเอง. ฉันได้กล่าวก่อนที่มีส่วนร่วมบริการและความเชี่ยวชาญของวิศวกรมืออาชีพและสามารถผลิต เพลง ที่ดีที่สุดสิ่งที่นักดนตรีและคลื่นสามารถทำได้เมื่อพวกเขาได้นำวัสดุทั้งหมดเข้าด้วยกันและพร้อมที่จะเข้าสตูดิโอบันทึกและบันทึกอัลบั้มของพวกเขา. แต่ฉันได้กล่าวอีกว่านี้สามารถดำเนินการและมีราคาแพงมากศิลปินเพียงไม่ได้รับงบประมาณสำหรับการนี้.

กว่าปีฉันได้ทำงานกับศิลปินหลายผลิตบันทึกและวิศวกรบันทึกเสียงในสตูดิโอในระหว่างขั้นตอนการบันทึก เพลง. ถ้าปริมณฑลงบประมาณป้องกันไม่ให้คุณเช่าทราบดีและผลิต เพลง และวิศวกรมืออาชีพและคุณกำลังเข้าว่าทำทุกวันของคุณเองมากที่สุดในบ้านของคุณเองเติบโตสตูดิโอบันทึกนี่จะเป็นเคล็ดลับสำคัญและแนวทางสำหรับการ DIY บันทึก Album:

การเตรียม

* อาจเป็นความคิดที่ดีที่จะนำร่วมลูกไม้-up สาธิตอยู่ของเนื้อหาคุณวางแผนที่จะบันทึก. นี้จะช่วยให้คุณเพื่อยืนยันที่ดีที่สุดและชิ้นส่วนที่แย่ที่สุดของเพลง.

* ละเอียดอ่านทั้งหมดเพลง – มากขึ้นกว่าที่เป็นอยู่พิจารณาบันทึก – งานจัดมากับเพลงนฤดมและชิ้นส่วนเป็นไปได้. ให้ทุกคนรู้ว่าทุกส่วนของพวกเขาเช่นหลังมือของพวกเขา.คุณควรจะสามารถเล่นทุกเพลงในนอนของ.

* ใช้ลิ๊ติดตาม – ไหลและจังหวะเป็นสิ่งสำคัญมาก. กลองไดรฟ์จังหวะนี้ – เพื่อให้แน่ใจว่าทุกอย่างสมบูรณ์ในซิงค์.

เริ่มต้นบันทึกขั้นตอน

* ให้ทุกคนบางอย่างอยู่ในน้ำเสียงทั้งหมด

* ไปผ่านกระบวนการนี้เป็นถ้าคุณบนเวทีต่อหน้าแฟนพันแผดร้อง – บันทึกด้วยอารมณ์. กังวลเกี่ยวกับด้านเทคนิคแล้ว. นี้สามารถปรับเสมอ.

*ชกมวยในเมื่อทำได้เช่นขัดชิ้นส่วนซ้ำ. มันจะง่ายต่อการเผา out.

* ใส่เน้นและสาระสำคัญของสิ่งที่ เพลง ของคุณเกี่ยวกับ. ถ้าคุณเป็นหลักแถบเกี่ยวกับเสียงพูดวางมากเน้นในส่วนที่แข็งแกร่งของการผลิตของ.

* Record จังหวะแรกไปถูส่วนอื่นๆ. ไม่ต้องกังวลเกี่ยวกับผล – คุณสามารถเพิ่มภายหลัง.

* ไม่ผ่านทำได้. แพร่ระบาดช่วงของ. ทฤษฎีเก่าที่เหลืออยู่ในสตูดิโอ 12 – 14 ชั่วโมงต่อวันเป็นอีกวิธีที่ดีในมอดไหม้และไม่มีผล.

ตรวจสอบเซสชัน

* ตรวจตัวอย่างคร่าวๆของการดำเนินงานทุก. ตรวจทานอย่างเงียบในเวลาของพื้นที่และระดับต่างๆและเครื่อง – เช่นรถยนต์หรือ iPod ของคุณ. มันเป็นสิ่งสำคัญที่คุณไม่ไว้ใจในระดับดังจากสตูดิโอเพื่อติชมผลิตภัณฑ์ของคุณ.

* เมื่อมาถึงเวลาที่จะผสม – มาในสองสามชุดที่แตกต่างกันหู. นักดนตรีอื่นๆหรือเพื่อนสามารถเห็นสองดี. คุณอาจจะใกล้เกินไปเพลง และบันทึกการตรวจสอบข้อบกพร่องที่อื่นๆอาจเลือก out.

Process Final – ผสมและการเรียนรู้

* ตามที่ระบุไว้ข้างต้นนั้นเสมอควรมีความเห็นทางเลือก. หานักดนตรีอื่นๆ. แม้ว่า – ความคิดเห็นที่มากเกินไปจะยากจะจัดการกับ. เพียงแค่ใส่ความเห็นทั้งหมดในสถานที่ – จากนั้นไว้คนเดียวและเดินหน้าต่อไปด้วยตัวเอง.

* ดูเป็นหนึ่งผลิตเสร็จชิ้นหรือรวม. ไม่เน้นมากเกินไปในตราสารเฉพาะ.ทุกอย่างที่ควรจะผสมเท่ากันถูกต้องเพื่อให้เสียงรวม.

* ไม่ว่าที่คุณผสม – โปรดใช้ลำโพงเดียวกับที่ใช้ในสตูดิโอ. ถ้าไม่คุณจะง่ายมึนตึงที่แตกต่างกันอย่างไรเสียงทุกอย่าง.

* การเรียนรู้สำหรับดีกว่าเกี่ยวกับเสียงที่ดีที่สุดผมขอแนะนำว่าคุณดึงดูดบริการของวิศวกรมืออาชีพสำหรับการควบคุมกระบวนการนี้. หูใหม่และความเชี่ยวชาญของวิศวกรนายใหญ่สามารถหรือทำลายผลิตภัณฑ์.

มีคุณมี –เพียงไม่กี่คำแนะนำพื้นฐานสำหรับการบันทึกซีดีดี. ฉันจะไปลงรายละเอียดทางเทคนิคเพิ่มเติมในบทความอนาคต. ที่ดีที่สุดของโชค.

© 2,009 เคนขุนนางสงวนลิขสิทธิ์

Related : เพลง, โหลดเพลง, โหลดหนัง, โดจินแปลไทย,

Hiram is giving away a Christmas song this holiday season! Check out his blog for more info: http://themadafrican.blogspot.com

Bella Cora has just produced a new CD, ‘Around the World in Music’, featuring live recordings from a concert held last summer in Potters Bar, plus additional tracks.

Bella Cora's new CD, Around The World In Music

The CD costs £10 and will be available for sale at our Christmas concert on 11 December. Alternatively, please contact us for an order form.

Well, I sit in the studio feeling very proud. The studio has seen a busy weekend of activity which sums up the role and purpose of the studio.

To kick things off I was running the first of 3 home recording workshops here at the studios. I spent 3 hours with a chap learning his way through the basics of pro-tools, working out how to program drums and bass sounds for a personalised backing track he was making. This was a great way to spend time as he could then go home and start a personal quest of music making according to his own vision, with very little limitation.

The highlight of the evening for me was the on the gig venue side of things. There was a whole team of guys connected to the Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ cafes who spent the morning and much of the afternoon making an extension to our existing stage. I’ve got to tell you it looks fantastic! Really sturdy, and brilliantly done. It makes a BIG difference to the practicality of the platform, and really opens up what we can do with the space.

To continue the theme of team work, the gig in the evening was a great success! To start with it was well attended, and the the band – THIS IS FREEDOM – were great! A certain young Becky Acres – a member of one of the AVYFC youth cafes – masterminded the evening, and in conjunction with members from the AVYFC team put together a great night of music.

Excellent. Let’s have more of this. Check out “the mix” page of the Southcourt Studios website for more workshops and events to get involved with…

Fan’s of popular sitcom My Family will be delighted to hear that the 10th series will be filmed in the new year. This will take place at Teddington Studios on Thursdays 14th, 21st and 28th of January 2010.

More details and instructions on how to apply can be found here.

VGPS-900: Visiontac VGPS-900 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger (microSD Slot, Voice Recording, 51ch. MTK) Review

Check Price Now!

I m surprised to see the other comment, but one of the reply is maybe the solution, it says it doesn’t work fine in the south emisphere, and I didn’t test yet there.
I used that device for several trip and because of the MicroSD it is one of my favorite as I simply don’t need to export the log with a computer for several weeks.
at least the log are easy to find, but I suggest another software to use to have a better experience of the phototagging and trip management :
[....]
it is a freeware and their forum provides a review about the columbus / visiontac gps

VGPS-900: Visiontac VGPS-900 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger (microSD Slot, Voice Recording, 51ch. MTK) Feature

• Standard Log Mode: Date, Time, Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Speed, Heading, and Voice
• Professional Log Mode: Date, Time, Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Speed, Heading, Fix Mode, PDOP, HDOP, VDOP and Voice
• Recording Format: CSV, Voice Record Spec: WAV, 48 kbps
• Supported Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
• Storage: microSD with support up to 2GB capacity and FAT 16 file system

VGPS-900: Visiontac VGPS-900 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger (microSD Slot, Voice Recording, 51ch. MTK) Overview

# 51ch. MTK chipset with enhanced positioning system technology (up to 1.5m accuracy with DGPS support)# MicroSD Slot with support up to 2GB capacity (about 25,000,000 waypoints, more than 2 years)# “Voice-Tag” function with built-in microphone allows adding live voice labels to any waypoint# Push-To-Log (POI anchor key) enables you highlighting a POI at any time# Unique SPY mode allows continuous standby logging of more than one month# Smart operating lights and prompt sounds# Auto ON/OFF function with car cable# Built-in high capacity battery for up to 24 hours of operation# User-defined speed alarm# Slim design with impact resistant polycarbonate and stainless steel# Time Album software supports Windows, Mac and Linux# Built-in Bluetooth supports SPP profile

VGPS-900: Visiontac VGPS-900 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger (microSD Slot, Voice Recording, 51ch. MTK) Specifications

Visiontac VGPS-900

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 29, 2009 02:10:06

Worst service – Johannes – South Africa
I bought a Visiontac GPS 900 unit – its new. Problem is it does not log gps coordinates most of the time. When it does, it is eratic, no speed is recorded, the altitute is wrong, etc. Went to Visiontrac website to fing their email address for technical support is wrong. Found an email address after searching on the net for customers with similar problems. Sent them an email – no respone. My problem is not unique as many Visiontac custmers complain about the same issues.
Does not work as advertised. – Kevin Z. Grey – Bellevue, WA
I bought this device so that I could take it with me on my trip to Peru (I am still on that trip).

In non-mountanous areas it would have at best accuracy on the order of *miles* and would fail to log data for minutes at a time. It often logs my altitude at 150m, which is simply wrong (altitude should range from 2800m-4000m). The plot of my data on Lake Titicaca is horrendous, yet there was absolutely no sky abstruction.

I am assuming right now that my device is messed up. I have emailed Visiontac support twice so far with no response.

I have a seperate Bluetooth GPS (Holux, the one that is just a receiver) which has not failed me yet, but it isn’t a ‘data logger’.

I am very disappointed and rather pissed off!

32inch lcd hdtv

I added effects to my recent FourTrack creation. Fun!

Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. (Psa 119:105)

For You are my lamp, O Jehovah. And Jehovah will lighten my darkness. For by You I have run through a troop. By my God I have leaped over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of Jehovah is tried. He is a shield to all those who seek refuge in Him. For who is God, except Jehovah? And who is a rock except our God? God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. (2Sa 22:29-33)

Lead Me Lord by Mikey to listen click here

Lead me Lord

Lead me by the hand and help me face the rising sun

Comfort me through all the pain that life may bring

There’s no other hope that I can lean upon

Lead me Lord, lead me all my life

Walk by me

Walk by me across the lonely roads that I may face

Let my arms take your hand show me the way

Show the way to live inside your heart

All my days, all my life

You are my light

You’re the lamp upon my feet

All the time my Lord I need you there

You are my light I cannot live alone

Let me stay by your guiding love

All through my life  lead me Lord

Lead me Lord

Eventhough at times I’d rather go alone my way

Help me take the right directions, take Your road

Lead me Lord and never leave my side

All my days, all my life

You are my light

You’re the lamp upon my feet

All the time my Lord I need you there

You are my light I cannot live alone

Let me stay by your guiding love

All through my life  lead me Lord

Lead me Lord

A new track for the myspace and Soundcloud pages; I present, the creatively named ‘Guitar + Drums Stick’.

Guitar + Drum Stick by Ithaca Trio

In the debate of authentic musicianship, ‘liveness’ has shown itself to be highly valued as an indicator of an artist’s true talent, realness, and abilities. Production and performance are two aspects of music that are considered when calling authenticity into question. The relationship between the “liveness” and “authenticity” of music is one that continues to evolve with challenges rooted in new developments in technology. For instance, when one listens to studio recordings, it is generally so that the sounds from the media never actually occurred ‘live’ or could possibly be created in a live setting that would resemble the studio recording. Rather, with musical genres that are known to play ‘live’ shows, the recorded work is often a representation or an instance of the performance piece.

But the underlying and unanswered question is still: what is liveness and why is it so closely tied to questions of authenticity? Here it becomes important to note that both of the terms are defined subjectively and possess meanings that change over time, from culture to culture, and even throughout different genres of music. There is no music that is universally authentic or truly live, in and of itself; rather, degrees of authenticity and liveness are prescribed to it post-evaluation. Because there is no objective standard measurement for discerning how live or true a piece is, one must assess musical works within the cultures they are rooted within. Electronic and hip-hop music are two distinct genres and subcultures that have pushed the traditional boundaries of how musical media (examples being records and CDs) is used and understood. By doing so, these two forms of artistic expression have, and continue to challenge old conceptions of what constitutes a ‘live’ performance—thus developing new discourses in assessing music’s authenticity.

Hip-hop originated in the later half of the 1970s; in this period, digital sampling technology did not exist. Interestingly enough, Schloss states that “early hip-hop labels…relied on live bands and drum machines” in order to reproduce the music that they wished to sample (Making Beats 34). At the genres formation, hip-hop was ‘live’ in the traditional sense of the word. However, this period of live musical performance was seen as a necessity because of a lack in technological developments, rather than integral in defining what hip-hop is: “many current artists characterize hip-hop’s brief use off live instruments as merely a deviation, a capitulation to circumstance” (Schloss 35). In fact, the turntables are viewed as the roots of hip-hop music, not the original instruments.

It is apparent that with the innovational uses of turntables, records, and samplers, there was a mass movement of disc-jockeys to the studios, now calling themselves producers of music. Digital sampling was viewed by producers as having the ability to expand the creative options for artists, ultimately making more room for putting a personal stamp on the recording process. Besides the DJ, music performed ‘live’ became “almost completely estranged” from hip-hop and the producers’ aesthetics (42).

The hip-hop producer’s instrument is the sampler, not a guitar, bass, or drum kit. Being that a sampler is a piece of equipment found in the studio, the use of it as an instrument in the genre “totally obliterates conventional distinctions between performing…and recording. Everything that is done with a sampler is, by definition, recorded” (46). Additionally, DJ’s utilize only pre-recorded materials to realize their creative visions. By flipping, cutting, and scratching records, the DJ is able to construct unique mixes of other artist’s songs. It is clear that hip-hop’s origins—the turntables—have completely altered the purpose that records serve. Vinyl recordings are now used as instruments in themselves, rather than musical playing media.

It is in these ways that hip-hop has turned the traditional conception of ‘live’ on its head, and this has led to new discourses in authenticity. For obviously hip-hop music authenticity is not tied in anyway to traditional live performances. A great analogy was made in Schloss’s article to explain how sampling another artist’s record creates new and unique meanings in music:

looping “allows producers to use other people’s music to convey their own compositional ideas”, it is similar to an “origami master folding a print of the Mona Lisa into some elaborate shape. A critic could argue that…the surface of the paper remains an unaltered image off da Vinci’s masterpiece. But the surface is not where the meaning lies”. In the case of looping and sampling breaks, the meaning and significance “lies in the ability” of the producer “to harness repetition itself” (138).

Similarly, electronic music—particularly in the rave and club cultures—has aided in the redefinition of live and authentic through the use of looping, sampling, record, CDs and various stage performance technologies. Records, and more recently CDs, are the authentic musical instruments of the electronic music subcultures, though they were first viewed as alienating music from its true, live roots. Sarah Thornton states in her piece Club Cultures that records underwent “the process of becoming originals”, and during so, “accrued their own authenticities. Recording technologies did not…corrode or demystify ‘aura’ as much as disperse and relocate it” (27).

What Thornton is getting at, is the relocation of ‘live’ in the electronic music scene. Liveness is no longer found on the stage where the DJ spins, but instead, is in the overall atmosphere or environment that is created from the exchange of the performer’s music and the crowd’s energy and ‘vibes’. The goal of the DJ is to create a music space that is conducive to this exchange of energy and music; this is different from many other artist’s endeavors in that DJs, often times, do not spin original creations of music. Much like the origami master’s rendition of the Mona Lisa, the significance and meaning does not lie in the originality of the music (as far as authorship goes). Rather, the importance of the DJ as a figure lies in her/his ability to scan and read the crowd, and from that assessment, form a fluid and intensity-building mix. The set should leave the individuals of the crowd feeling drugged in a euphoric way; “rhythms can lull one into another state. With rave culture, this potentially was ritualized as the ‘trance dance’ by dancers actively seeking an altered state of consciousness through movement to the music” (60). Thornton states that the original connotation of ‘live’ music was “full of energy and potential” and modified musicians, electronic music has established a liveliness within its music, but instead the word modifies the atmosphere of a “living communal experience” (42; 65). Along with this change in the meaning of ‘live’ comes an equal alteration in traditional notions of authenticity within the musical world for “a musical form [records and CDs] is authentic when it is rendered essential to subculture or integral to community” (29).

Furthermore, developments in technology have been the primary cause for the need to expand definitions of ‘live’ and ‘authentic’, so they are able to include various musical expressions. Open initial attempts to integrate new technologies into musical genres, they may seen foreign, unnatural, and even “threaten the authenticity or the ‘truth’ of music” (29). However, as time goes by, technologies ‘grow’ on people and seen more organic and less artificial than they did originally. Additionally, it becomes clear that advancements in technology make new creative discourses possible. Thornton identifies the DJ as the key player in “the enculturation of records for dancing”, acting as a creative artist, but also “as a representative and respondent to the crowd” (60). As the figure at the forefront of constructing a musical space, the DJ often works with other technologies that serve the purpose of fashioning an atmosphere and vibe, such as lighting equipment, smoke machines, and other forms of visual stimulation that make going to a club or rave more than a musical show, but a full-blown sensory experience.

Moreover, it is clear that new developments in technology have continued to propel the dialogue of authenticity and liveness in reference to hip-hop and electronic music. These advancements have forced listeners, performers, musicians, and producers to question what these terms truly mean, who gets to define them, and what there relationship is. The community and its historical context ultimately inform the collective and democratically made decisions concerning the meaning of live and authentic. Schloss notes that “In any community, history draws borders; that is, in fact, one of its primary functions (57). From within these historical boundaries, people are able to culturally construct definitions—this is apparent in the hip-hop and electronic musical subcultures and their innovative uses for the record, CD, and sampling technology.

Hi!  Thanks for coming!  I’m starting this blog to share info and stories about some of my projects.  Once a month I’ll publish info about some cool project I’m involved with, or stories from interesting gigs I’ve done in the past.  I’ll try to give you guys a balance of anecdotes, technical insight and information that might even be useful.  After 23 years of career, I’ve accumulated quite a few stories.  From doing sound for a ballet company in Cuba, to working with famous celebrities in studios in Miami, to building speakers out of PVC pipes for a theater play in NYC.  I hope I can dig out enough cool stories from my past, as well as build new great experiences from upcoming gigs to keep you guys entertained.

My first post includes a pretty exciting piece of news about a recent event in my career.  Written by Mix Magazine NYC editor/SonicScoop.com co-founder, David Weiss.

At the end of the article you can listen to one of the mixes I did in the album mentioned here.

—————————
GRAMMY WIN #4 FOR ENGINEER/MIXER MARCELO AŇEZ
WITH LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES FOR ‘COMMERCIAL’

NYC-Based Audio Pro Shares in Group’s Latin GRAMMY Win for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’

In the Studio With the Band. Photo by Yker Moreno (www.djspinbalon.com)

NEW YORK: Mixer/engineer Marcelo Aňez (www.justasong.com) recently celebrated his latest award, capturing the Latin GRAMMY® for his role in Los Amigos Invisibles 2009 album Commercial. The win, which was in the category of “Best Alternative Music Album”, represents the fourth GRAMMY award of Aňez’ adventurous career.

Aňez engineered all of the tracks and also mixed two songs (“Vivire Para Ti” and “In Luv With U”) on Commercial, the sixth studio album from the celebrated Latin disco/funk group. “I was a big fan of the band before meeting them,” says Aňez. “Aside from the fact that we’re from the same country, I always loved their sound and concept. I remember telling a friend once, years before I met the group, ‘I hope I get to work with a band I love as much as those guys.’ There’s nothing like mixing work with pleasure.”

A native of Venezuela who compiled a solid track record of engineering and mixing hit records in Miami (Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Thalia, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Secada, Carlos Vives), the now NYC-based Aňez applied his distinct mix of engineering and people skills to the Commercial sessions at NYC’s famed Magic Shop.

“The band wanted to get as much of a live performance as one can get inside a studio,” he explains. “With all these old classic microphones and tube compressors and pre-amps, I was in heaven. I also made a point of making each one feel comfortable at their post.  For example, I had set up bassist el Catire’s bass amp inside this small booth, so I could mic the cabinet, play it loud and still isolate it from the other instruments, but I had set up a chair outside for him to play in the main space where everybody else was.

“He actually got really excited about being inside that little room with his bass sound playing that loud, and asked, ‘Can’t I stay in here while we record?’ So of course, I accommodated him. Those things are so important to get the most out of a musician.”

Album cover

Aňez sought-after mix skills made him one of a select team of top mixers chosen by the band to sculpt the album’s vivid tracks. “I know I would’ve done a great job mixing the whole thing,” he says, “but when you hear a Los Amigos Invisibles album, you always have this feel that a DJ is mixing a set for you, so it makes sense to have the sound of different mixers.  Two of the band members actually are DJs, so that’s another important color in the band’s pallet.”

Marcelo Aňez feels a special satisfaction in his fourth GRAMMY win. “Some projects simply touch you more than others,” he concludes. “This project wasn’t only fun, these guys are my friends and I really felt this was somehow also ‘my’ project. I was really proud of this work, long before we got nominated, so the award means that much more.”

About Marcelo Aňez:

With over 20 years experience engineering and mixing, Marcelo Aňez is based in New York City. His career, which began in Caracas, Venezuela and continued in Miami, includes GRAMMY wins for his work with Gloria Estefan (“Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album 2000”), Shakira on MTV Unplugged (“Best Latin Pop Album 2000”), and Thalia, (Latin GRAMMY “Best Engineering 2001”). His expertise also includes sound design for theater, sound applied to art, audio post-production for TV, radio and independent films.

For more information, please visit www.justasong.com.
Contact: Marcelo Aňez, marcelo1@justasong.com
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Listen to one of the mixes I did for the album.  The song is called “”Vivire Para ti”, written by Mauricio Arcas and Jose Luis Pardo.  This is actually a duet with guest singer Natalia Lafourcade.  It was produced by Los Amigos Invisibles and Dimitri from Paris.

Next Post:  I’ll go more in-depth into the production process of this album, with the Q&A with David Weiss in preparation for this article, more behind-the-scene photos, and other music samples.

Artist: Bradley J. Preston
Release: 45 RPM Single
Year: 1983

Home: Chatham Ontario
Genre: Country vocalist
Born: 1951

Note: This is Bradley’s first professional recording.

Tracks
Side A: In The Spring The Roses Always Turn Red (Dorsey Burnette)
Side B: You Gave Me A Mountain (Marty Robbins)

  Bradley J. Preston is currently a singer with the popular local country band “The Melody Ramblers”.
He has taken an extra step by recording a single and producing 1000 copies at his own expense of $5,000. This effort to branch out has taken Mr. Bradley to a career touring the U.S.A., Canada, and over seas.

  In the 1970’s, Chatham was a hot spot for musicians with around 400 people in the local Union. There were more venues (Clubs, bars, legions etc) to play in Chatham than most surrounding cities offered. Bands would play six nights a week at a venue than move on to the next. They would have the calendar year booked solid before the year started.
  Then, the drinking laws changed and venues were only able to offer bands two to three nights in a row to play. If you wanted to make a living playing music, you now had to travel to find the work. Bradley chose to pursue music and this took him on a journey into places he had never been before. It was a risk, a chance, and an adventure. Bradley went for it. S. Beaulieu

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de eerste 3 van de 20 TIPS ON… Recording Vocals

If you’ve got a storming vocal on tape you’re halfway towards a great production. PAUL WHITE offers some tips on perfecting this most important of recording skills. Even if all the music you make is created via MIDI, the chances are that at some time or other you’ll have to record vocals using the traditional tools of a singer and a microphone. The vocal line is invariably the focal point of a song, so it has to be good, and because the human voice is the natural sound with which we are most familiar, any flaws in a vocal recording are immediately evident. Fortunately, providing you have a vocalist who can sing in tune, getting a good vocal sound isn’t rocket science — you just need to follow a few basic guidelines, and perhaps take advantage of a few tricks of the trade to help you get a professionally produced vocal sound.

1. Make sure the singer is well rehearsed, physically comfortable, and under no psychological pressure. Most singers perform best standing up in a room that has a comfortable but not over-warm temperature. If they are distracted by other members of the band or by hangers-on, send everyone but the engineer (and producer, if you have one) out of the studio.

2. Take time to get the vocalist’s headphone mix right, and give them a little reverb to help them sing more confidently. If you can rig up a system which allows vocalists to adjust their own monitor level, it will make life a lot easier. A good headphone mix really helps to encourage a good performance.

3. Always use a pop shield between the singer and the microphone. Failure to do so will almost certainly result in unnatural ‘pops’ on plosive ‘b’ and ‘p’ sounds that can’t be fixed afterwards. The pop shield may be a commercial model or a DIY job comprising stocking material over a wire coathanger frame (one such design was explained in the Cheap Tricks article in SOS February ‘95), or even a fine metal or plastic sieve or chip-pan splash guard. Any of these will do the job without affecting the tone of the mic. Foam wind shields are virtually useless in combating pops.
bron: www.99centbeatz.com

We contacted renowned sound engineer, James Collins, to see if he had any mixing tips he would be willing to share with our PureSolo users. Read on for James’ advice to ensure you’re getting the best from your recordings:

So you’ve selected your favourite Karaoke track from the vast library of downloads available…..you’ve put on your best clothes, combed your hair and done some la la las into the bathroom mirror.

It’s showtime…you tense up…no one is listening…you hit record, start to sing and the magic is happening…….you get to the end and give yourself a bow to the imaginary audience. Coming back to the real world you press the save button and on the next screen you give the take a title and add some reverb to taste…must use the Concert Hall because that sounds expensive…and maybe just turn yourself up a bit more as you sang it soooo well? You save the track and burn yourself a CD to listen to in the car on the way to work later…..

Some time later…

Hmmm……hang on, whats happened? That doesn’t sound so good in the car…all you can hear is your vocal and no backing track…and where did all that reverb come from? sounds like you’re in the Grand Canyon!!!!!

D’oh!

Ok…here are some tips for you to help you get the most from your recordings using PureSolo. Not just for vocal, but for instruments too.

Approach

You’ve probably chosen a piece of music you know very well as you can be confident singing/playing over it. That’s great, but remember that doesn’t mean you need to play or sing extra loud over the top of it when you record. Most studio recordings are thrown out if the approach isn’t sympathetic to the backing track, so try and think of how the original track sounded that you know and love. Was the original artist shouting the vocal or singing nicely? Stand up if you can while you perform, a straight back and lungs with maximum air in will help you breathe more easily which will help your performance.
Recording

The next thing to think about is the distance you are performing from the microphone. If you’re too close to your laptop mic, turning down the “mic” slider on PureSolo’s recorder will not stop the microphone overloading, it’ll just make your distortion quieter. If you’re too far away from the microphone, you’ll have to sing unnecessarily loud or turn up the “mic” slider on PureSolo’s recorder. The result of which is that you will also turn up the sound of the washing machine in the background. If you have an external mic plugged into your computer, it should be between 3 to 8 inches away from your mouth/instrument. Once you’re comfortable with your distance from the microphone, then adjust the “mic” slider so that the level meter is just below red when it’s the loudest part of your performance. Experiment, do 2 or 3 takes to get this bit right, then you are ready to make the most of the recording.
Mixing

When you’re mixing your track it can be tempting to want to hear yourself much prouder than the track – but in reality this isn’t how studio recordings are mixed. Ideally you should be able to hear all your words/notes and the backing track equally well and a good gauge on this is to play your mix back with the computer speakers turned down so you can just about hear the vocal. If, at this lower volume, you can hear voice but no backing then the voice is probably too loud. On the other hand if you can hear a lot of backing track but are missing some of your beautifully recorded words/notes, then you can turn yourself up a bit. Most mixing engineers will check the mixes they do in this fashion at some point just to check your relative level against the backing track is correct.

Reverb

PureSolo allows you to add reverb to your mixes just like the professionals do. Again, overuse of reverb is a common mistake! Certainly with instrumental recording it’s easier and more common to use longer reverbs like the Concert Hall or Club. But, with vocal tracks, shorter reverbs work better for most genres like rock, pop and jazz, so try the Studio or Small Room settings. There are exceptions of course, if you are singing over a classical track then a longer reverb will fit your voice better and help you blend into the track, if it’s a Hip Hop track then using no reverb is often the best thing to do – just like your idols practice. Reverb is all about blending, it’s available to use so you don’t sound like a cardboard cutout on top of a backing track that will itself have been mixed with varying amounts of reverb.

Remember, we are not using tape in an expensive studio where to sing another take you may have to erase an older one. This is you, on your computer, in your own time. Try different takes, try different settings, make yourself sound the best you can and you can and be proud to email/burn/upload your tracks to the whole world using PureSolo.

Have fun!

About James Collins:

James Collins is an experienced music recording and mixing engineer having spent nearly 20 years honing his craft. If you are interested in his credits visit http://www.jcmusic.co.uk