meandthestereo » Projects

The Recording Studio!

Luxi Lauri — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:04:15 +0000

Going to the recording studio can be the most exhilarating adventure of all time. Whether you are singing in the vocal booth or watching and/or producing in the control room, every true artist should have their material recorded. I believe I have been waiting years upon years to go and record my own music, and maybe you have had the same feeling. Since being in California, I did have the opportunity to experience this. Although the process was very tedious, it was well worth it.

First things first, you need your track. Picking the actual track gave me the enjoyment to hear all kinds of music and concentrate on what style I would like to focus on. It’s better for you, the artist, to be involved as much as possible in this process so you can be comfortable and really treasure your work. After I picked the music, I took a few days to come up with the lyrics, drawing from my relationships and experiences in the past. I picked which part of the song was going to be the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. The next step was rehearsing and rehearsing with my producer to get a feel for the song as well as have the chance to switch things up if need be; this helps you spend less money and time in the actual studio. Now off we go to the studio!!!

I could not possibly sleep the night before because I didn’t know what to expect; it is said that you should get a good night sleep, but clearly I could not. The day finally approaches with 6:00pm at hand. I get to the studio located in Long Beach, California and from the outside it looked like a quiet residential neighborhood. The gentleman escorted me through the house back to a garage that had been completely remodeled into a studio. WOW! I thought to myself, here we go.

I give the track to the man and he plays it. Meanwhile, I am so nervous because the room is full of my producers, artists, and friends. There has to be a level of concentration and confidence in one’s self to be able to go through this process. Well, it’s time for me to step into the booth and start singing. We laid down the whole song and I thought that would be it, but little did I know I would be there for another 3 hours that day, leaving with only the hook completely done. We decided to work specifically on the chorus, and I had to sing that about a thousand times until we picked the one that sounded the best. When that is done, it was time to do ad libs, harmony, and add special effects to the track. This was still only the chorus, and I still had two verses and the middle of the song to complete. It is important to keep your energy up so you won’t sound tired on the song, so bring plenty of water and healthy snacks.

On the last day, I knew I had to finish the song because I only had a few days left in California before I returned back to the East coast. When my producer and I entered the studio, the recording man played back what we did the other day, and it sounded good. I stepped back in the booth and went through the whole process for each verse and the bridge of the song. Luckily for the bridge, a talented rapper came in and completed it quickly. By the time it was over, I had spent about 5 hours in the studio. Okay, now we are done, I thought to myself, but it was now time for the mixing and mastering process. I wanted to scream!!! Only because it was after midnight and I had to get up for work the next morning. Even though I wanted to scream, I still had fun and enjoyed the final product. I received a good deal on the price and spent no more than $200 for this song.

I believe that creating your own music is nurturing for your soul. As an artist, it is importnat that we have these experinces to build and grow on. I look forward to completing an album and letting you hear my music.

If you live in Long Beach and you need a good studio call 562-999-6099 for the Chamber Music Group.

Knowing When* (an article on Adaptation)

meandthestereo — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:44:18 +0000

There are a lot of key elements that make a musician descent. One of the ones I experience often is knowing when to adapt. This mainly goes out to rock bands. In practice sessions, your amps do need to be up a little to be heard in the mix, but lets talk about live performances a little bit.

Time and time again, musicians come into the bar and refuse to adapt because they know no better.

I’m here to tell you to trust your sound guy.

I know its a hard thing to do, but what makes a good sound guy is the ability to control a band. Sound comes out of your amps, into the mics, and to the board. Here’s the critical part: The board tells the PAs how much of the sound going into the mic to project. The louder your amp is, the less sound is coming out of the speakers, and the less control the engineer has. There is a little angled speaker in front of you called a monitor. That monitor is controlled by the same channel controlling the main PA’s. The louder you are the less we can put through those monitors, so the less you’re going to hear yourself and the other musicians. That’s only your problem. Our problem is that you’re making your band sound kinda crappy because you can’t be balanced evenly with the ensemble.

There are only a few things you need to do to adapt to this setting: First, before you pack your stack up for the gig, turn your master down 2 notches (unless you have an Orange, then see how big the venue is first, you may need another amp for this gig); Second, don’t be afraid to tell the sound guy what you want in the monitors and how much, that’s what we are there for; Last but not least, BALANCE YOUR PEDALS!!!. Nothing is more damaging to your sound than a drastic volume change in the live setting. Consistency is your goal. The more control you give your sound guy, the more you’re gonna get what you want all the way around.

Good luck and keep it unified.

~C.A.Mooneyhan

*Article copied and edited with permission from http://composingsilence.wordpress.com/

Face Palm Records! a Mitch Clem Project

meandthestereo — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:18:53 +0000

As some of you may have heard by now, everyone’s favorite punk cartoonist has decided to start a record label. Mitch has named the project “Face Palm Records” and has said the following about it:

“I have big plans for tons of fun records and CDs to come. My first official release will be a split 7″ between Brickfight and Shang-A-Lang, which is sure to be awesome breaded awesome deep fried in awesome and served with a side of awesome. Seriously, I love both of these bands to death, this record will kill.”

Face Palm will be working with Silver Sprocket which is affiliated with Springman Records who have released great albums from the likes of:

Big D and the Kids Table
the Phenomonauts
River City Rebels
and one of my favorites, the Groovie Ghoulies (RIP)

So, go find more info over at http://rainofbastards.livejournal.com/ and check out the tunes!