Wrapping up 2008 and as usual, Colabs keeps evolving as growing. A few notable changes for me and Colabs this year:
Often when mixing an album I will be faced with a dilemma: with all the tracks roughly balanced at a level where you can hear everything, there is no way for all the tracks to live together in the same song - there is too much going on.
So, I am forced to make a tough call, a musical "Sophie's Choice", if you will. Someone has got to go. I need to cut some tracks.
I will often consult the artist or producer before doing this. No one really likes this at the mixing stage because it involves a compromise. There are often a lot of good ideas in there and you know that by choosing one direction, you are shutting down another one.
In the end the music sounds better. The song and the melody will likely be more memorable or maybe the music just grooves better. But there is a better way: the heartless task of arranging you music.
A local (Vancouver area) producer has launched a new podcast that covers (loosely) hip-hop, beat boxing, freestyle, and general urban music creation in a collaborative studio context. They are doing some fun stuff with creating some musical ideas though improvisation in the studio and then polishing between shows. I may be doing some collaboration so check it out and support the local music scene.
You can find the podcast here.
Later.
Jeremy Melodic recently had there three song demo mixed at Colabs in preparation for submitting their band to the Fox SEEDS '08 contest. Jeremy Melodic has made the initial top 20 pick, so congrats to them on that!
Sign up and vote for Jeremy Melodic.
I had a fun jam and recording session with a good friend the other night. As we collaborated and threw different musical ideas around my friend made a comment that stuck out to me:
"...this is so different from when we made our album. It wasn't fun."
He was referring to a record that he had made with his band recently. It was a fairly big budget project and most of the time was spent in bigger studios working with a producer. The formula for a great album was all there and the finished product actually sounds pretty good.
So why would he say that he preferred the recording process of a couple of guys in a small studio throwing ideas around and not really being all that finicky about sounds, perfect playing, etc.?
1. You need to have a good working relationship with your producer. sound's like my friend had a producer who, despite getting the sounds he wanted in the end, was not really easy to work with. Sometimes this is ok and necessary to keep a project moving forward, but it can also stifle creativity. My friend and I get along great and can take creative risks with each other while still being able to say when something is stupid. A good producer can hold those two elements in balance to keep a session creative and on track.
2. Big budgets can create big pressure. A good product cost money, but the decision to work entirely in large studios and by expensive hourly rates can be a massive wet blanket on the creativity and enjoyment of making music, especially for a struggling artist or band.
Making music, no matter the style or your goals in recording, should be fun. Creativity is often about taking risks. Record in an environment where you feel the most creatively free and with people who can both welcome your crazy ideas and call out the bad ones.
I've been looking at getting a couple new pieces of gear into the studio. Here is a short list of some of the really cool things I have been looking at and considering.
Rolls Music Folcrom - Analog audio summing has become pretty big over the past four or five years with the 'mixing in the box' crowd. Basically, the argument goes, that a big part of why analog consoles make mixes sound so good is in the summing amp (a device that takes all your channels and 'sums' them into a stereo signal). The rolls is cool because it is totally passive and you need a preamp to make up the gain of your stereo signal. This means that your sound is totally determined by what mic preamps you use for make up gain. Cool!
Waves Studio Classics Plug in Bundle - Really good sounding emulations of SSL, Neve, and API gear. Most people are stoked about the SSL stuff but It all sounds pretty cool.
Celemony Melodyne Studio - The new version of this program can tune notes within chords of recorded audio. I have absolutely no idea how they figured out how to do this, but I would guess someone at Celemony sold their soul to the devil or something similarly dubious. Tune your guitar after you get a good take!
BFD 2 - Actually I already ordered this. Really good sounding, really usable multi sampled acoustic drum machine that I can also trigger with Drumagog. More of a songwriting tool or a convincing back up when you can't get a real drummer with a good kit in a great sounding studio. I like that I can use drumagog to trigger new drum sounds with their corresponding room and overhead mics that I can mix in afterward. Sweet!
Ok enough nerd gear talk.
Later.
...or "How cheap is too cheap?"
Recording an album is almost always a significant financial undertaking for an indie band or artist. Typical indie budgets start in the $5k range and often run up to $30k or higher. That would be the low end. Budgets of $50,000 or more are not uncommon with serious working bands. They may or may not be getting a bit of support from a small indie label, but chances are that they are paying a lot of cash out of their own pockets.
The crazy thing is, I can't really tell the difference between the $20k or $30k album and the $50k album. I mean, in general, I hear projects in both price ranges that sound amazing and some that sound cheap and amateur. Neither price range is high enough to guarantee success, sales, critical acclaim, (not sure any price range does, actually) but the higher price range seems to especially miss the mark as it is basically throwing money away.
Now, I've heard so many arguments for the value of the recording process, the "minimum budget" for a professional product, you get what you pay for, blah blah blah. Typically it is studio owners who talk this way because it is clearly in their best interest to sell studio time on the grounds that a bigger budget will always mean a more professional album in the end. And there is some truth to this. Fair enough. However, many studios charge their rates based on the use of all there facilities and equipment. If a recording studio has all the gear and accoutrement's of a $1000/day room, you are going to pay $1000/day regardless of whether or not you use all of it.
So the question to ask is, "what do I need to make this album?"
Start by making a list of the things that cost you nothing...
-rehearse
-write songs
-arrange your music
-get critical feedback
If you get these elements down, you will automatically reduce your need to be in the studio for longer chunks of time. Next, consider what you can take on yourself and what you need outside professionals for.
-Can you do you own preproduction?
-Do you own recording equipment?
-Are you qualified to engineer the album or just put down "scratch parts" and ideas?
-Can you play all your musical parts or do you need session players?
Finally, make a list of things you probably can't make a good record without. These would include (and I would recommend them)...
-A producer who you get along with and who gets your sound
-A space to record
-Gear to record with
-A good engineer to capture the sounds
-A good mix engineer to make it sound like the record you want
-A mastering engineer
-Some way to duplicate and distribute your music (doesn't have to be a CD)
If you start be thinking with the mindset that the majority of the recording process rests on your own shoulders, your thinking about cost will be quite different (and cheaper). The trap you absolutely must avoid is thinking that because you don't have the big studio, big budget, celebrity producer, special vintage gear, _______________(insert other excuse here), that you can't make a record. If your music sucks without those elements, it's because your music sucks.
Think about that before you start writing checks, then get recording!
Later.
A good deal of my mixing clients over the past years have been friends of friends who have heard first hand about how they could get a better sounding mix and an overall better album by working with me. I've always appreciated the warm and positive feedback that people have given me and how it has lead to more people hearing about my mixing.
So this month Colabs is launching a collaborative incentive program that pays you for telling people about us. We appreciate the word of mouth endorsements that we have received all along and now we want to give something back to you and also give you incentive to keep doing it!
Contact me if you want to find out about this. Anyone can sign up, we'll send you promo materials and you stand to make some extra cash just for telling people about Colabs!
I am fully convinced that the music industry of yesteryear, the one that many people still think exists, the one they talk about in passing on tv shows, the big glitzy powerful multi-national corporation owned and driven music industry where big labels are the gatekeepers to a lucrative career in music, will be almost totally gone in the next few years.
I believe this for a couple obvious and maybe a few less obvious reasons.
1. CD sales are toast - I'll jut download it.
2. Anyone can make a record - Turns out the kid in his basement can make a pretty decent record without paying $200/hr. at Studio XYZ.
3. Indie is Mainstream - Your mom really likes Feist.
4. Entrepreneurship is key - Sorry, but no one is going to stumble upon your demo and 'sign you to a big label'.
5. The interwebs - social networking, facebook, youtube, myspace, computervideonintedoipods, blah, blah, blah.
My view in a nutshell? Successful artists in 2008 will produce there own products (record on there own with a hand selected group of specialized people), find there own fan base through social networks, distribute music and merch on the web, and overall take an entrepreneurial approach to there own music careers.
That's it. Now get crackin'!
Later
Happy new year people!
Hope 2007 was as fun for you as it was for me. Lots of cool new stuf coming up for Colabs in 2008. Keep an eye out for the new site up this month.
Later.
