Posts Tagged ‘music’
The following are three tracks from Lazertag’s August 10, 2020 release “A Minor Loss of Fidelity”. Jeremy (SQ) co-produced, tracked, mixed, and mastered this great record.
Strange Glow:
Buildings Of A Former Century:
The Cold And The Silence:
The following are a few tracks from Fuck I’m A Ghost’s debut self titled record (out on vinyl now). The record was tracked by Jeremy and John (SQ), mixed by John (SQ), and mastered by Kramer in Florida.
“Drop Of A Hat”
“Stop”
“Winners Cup”
The following are a few tracks from Le Vice’s debut self titled release (due out August 17, 2010). This record was tracked, mixed, and produced by John (SQ):
“Shy Guy”
“Why Fight”
“Uh Huh”
So you’ve finished tracking and mixing your record and are now ready for mastering. The following is an article supplied by Mike Wells on preparing your content (i.e., final mixes) for mastering. While some of it may seem like common sense, it serves as a good check list and will help ensure that your mastering experience goes smoothly. You can find this article, as well as other great articles on mastering at Mike Wells website: www.mikewellsmastering.com.
- John
GENERAL NOTES:
Delivering Media:
You may deliver your digital files (.WAV, .AIF, etc…) via FTP transfer. Upon confirmation of booking your session, you will be provided with login/password information.
If you are mailing your media (any media type) and using the US Postal Service, you are strongly encouraged you to purchase Delivery Confirmation. The additional $0.50 is worth $500.00 in headaches when you don’t know where your package is and the USPS isn’t helping. Other carriers (UPS, FedEX, etc..) have tracking numbers by default. Please email the carrier type used and tracking number when you submit materials via the mail to avoid delivery problems.
Digital Processing:
In general, there are a number of tools available to you in your DAW that you should avoid using on your audio prior to mastering. Therefore, please do NOT use the following on your tracks after you have mixed them:
• Limiting / Maximization / Compression
• Normalization
• Fade-Ins or Fade-Outs
• Equalization
Track Sequencing:
You don’t need to have your tracks in the proper sequence prior to mastering. The proper track sequence will be created in the mastering workstation at the time of your session. It is, however, a very good idea to have an idea of what order you want the tracks in or a few versions of track order.
If you would like cross-fades to occur between any adjoining tracks in the sequence, I recommend creating an example of the crossfades, track sequence, and track ID’s as you would like them as an Audio CD. This will greatly aid in the sequence step of the mastering process.
Labeling:
“The More The Merrier” is the thing to remember here. The more specific your documentation is, the smoother your session will go. If you are submitting multiple mixes of the same track, please note the differences on your media. For example: Track 3 “A New Day” (Vocal +1dB).
ANALOG TAPES:
If you are providing your mixes to mastering on analog tape, please follow these guidelines:
• Print alignment tones on your tape for 30 seconds/per tone at 0dBu (1kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz, and 100Hz) at the beginning of each reel.
• Keep tapes tail-out to prevent print-through.
• Include the following information on each tape box label:
— Artist
— Release
— Contact information (Name, Phone number)
— Song titles included on reel
— Times per song
— Tape Speed
— Record level for 0dBu in nw/M
— Record eq (CCIR or NAB)
— Stereo or Mono
— Any notes you would like to add about the tapes
DAT MEDIA:
Follow these guidelines when submitting DAT tapes for mastering:
• Always send in a Digital Copy of your original DAT, and keep your original
Create a track ID marker at the beginning of each track on your source DAT
• If you haven’t mixed yet, it’s a good idea to start recording after the first 2-3 minutes on the DAT, to avoid any bad tape at the head of the cartridge.
• Print a 1kHz tone at 0dBu as it reads on your mixing desk. You will notice a difference in value on your DAT machine (depending on the make/model).
• If you will be mixing to DAT, I recommend using (or renting) a high-quality A/D converter to interface with the DAT machine, rather than using the converters built with the machine.
• Include the following information on each DAT tape label:
— Artist
— Release
— Contact information (Name, Phone number)
— Song titles included on cartridge
— Start times of each track
— Approximate length of each track
— Sample Rate (44.1 or 48)
— Bit Depth (16 or 24)
CD-R /DVD-R /DVD+R MEDIA:
Follow these guidelines when submitting removable disc media for mastering:
• ISO 9660, Hybrid, or Joliet formats are required. If you are on a PC one of these will come by default (most likely Joliet). If you are on a MAC, you will need to find the option in your CD Burning software to specify ISO 9660 or Hybrid (Mac & PC compatible). In software such as Toast this setting is in the Options dialog.
• Put your media in a case, avoid paper sleeves or no case/sleeve at all.
• Include the following information on each J-Card label:
— Artist
— Release
— Contact information (Name, Phone number)
— Song titles included on the media
— Sample Rate (16 – 192)
— Bit Depth (16 – 32)
— File Format used (.WAV, .AIF, .BWF, .SD2, etc…)
— Stereo or Dual-Mono
CD AUDIO:
CD Audio is the least-attractive option for submitting your mixes to mastering. For example, if you have been working in a 24-bit format (ProTools, etc..), then creating an Audio CD to submit to mastering is incurring a bit reduction that can be avoided.
ALESIS MASTERLINK:
If you are mixing to an Alesis Masterlink, please use or rent a high-quality A/D converter to use in front of the Masterlink, rather than its internal converters. Once you have your mixes in the masterlink, please name the tracks as specifically as you can using 8 characters and create a CD24 disc of your mixes. Why 8 characters? The CD 24 format is basically the ISO 9660 format, and this format will only create a filename with 8 characters. Therefore, if your track is called “A New Day” and it is the Vocal +1dB version, an example would be “NEWVOX_1″, etc…
OTHER DIGITAL/OPTICAL FORMATS:
If you would like to send in a hard-disc, or media from another external digital recorder, please follow these guidelines:
• Create a backup of your original media, and send the BACKUP
• Please advice in advance what format/media you are sending in. You will be advised if a rental is necessary.
• If the device supports export to a 2-track digital format like .WAV, etc… that may be a preferable route for you, simply provide the .WAV files/etc… on a CD-R or DVD+/-R.
This document is Copyright 2010, Mike Wells Mastering except where otherwise noted. It has been reproduced with permission from Mike Wells and may not otherwise be reproduced in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.
This month we finished up principle tracking on a new record by Frances England, a truly gifted artist in the world of childrens music. We first worked with Frances back in 2008 on her second album “Family Tree” which received the Gold Award in the 2008 Parent’s Choice Award. After playing at Lollapalooza last summer, she teamed up with 2010 Grammy nominated producer Tor Hyams for this third record.
Working with Frances really is a treat. Those of us in the music business can sometimes get caught up in the everyday “hype machine” which naturally follows many genres of music. But I have to say, working with Frances is such a refreshing change of pace. Her music comes from a place of love and purity and NOT record sales (ironically, she is extremely successful and has consistently high sales). I know it sounds cliche, but her music really can be enjoyed by everyone – children and adults alike.
Since we had such a great time working on this new record, we thought we share some pictures taken by both Frances and her husband John (also a member of the band) during their 6 days of tracking. Stay tuned as I will share samples of the music once we finish the mix phase!
- John
Frances in the overdub booth
Frances singing away
Jeff Koch on drums
playback
Tim Thurman on electric guitar
Jeff and bassist John Funke having fun on the Wurly
Teamates! SQ house engineer Justin Sachs with producer Tor Hyams
Justin and Tor in action
This is how the magic happens
Sean Sullivan on acoustic
Remember, this is for the kids!
Justin, John, Frances and Tor in the control room
First photo of the new Otari console
Frances doing her thing
This blog post was submitted by Phil Manley: musician (Trans Am, The Fucking Champs, Jonas Reinhardt), engineer (Mi Ami, French Miami), and general supporter of Hawaiian shirt day.
Just recently finished a new record with San Francisco power trio French Miami – my second record with the band and my first working at San Francisco’s Studio SQ. Formerly Take Root Studios, this place is a relic of the analog past. Beautifully crafted custom carpentry creates a mellow NorCal mood. The live room is nicely sized and has a well controlled sound. Not too washy or reverberant. The outer walls are lined with heavy velvet curtains which help absorb cymbal wash.
We set the amps in the lounge aimed at the record shelf. This worked for the weekend, but Monday morning the neighbor called to say that he couldn’t even think straight the bleed was so loud in his office. He was evicted a week later anyway.
It’s always exciting for me to work in a new studio. I’ve worked in several studios in SF, including Louder, Coast, Tiny Telephone, Closer, Hyde St., and primarily at Lucky Cat. Studio SQ is definitely among the nicer spots in a lot of ways. Studio SQ is well air conditioned (at times too air conditioned!) and well isolated from environmental noise. Also, the control room is well isolated from the live room. These sound like basic things in a recording studio, but are not always the available in some studios.
Then there’s the gear. The session started on a Trident 65 mixing console for monitoring the tracking session. By the time we got to mixing, the studio had installed an Otari Status console. Jay, the singer/baritone player in French Miami, insisted that we do the whole session to tape. So, we used the Studer A-827 2″ 24 track and mixed down to an Otari 1/4″ deck.
House engineer Justin skillfully handled the tape-op duties. This was such a treat. I rarely ever have an assistant. I felt like a real LA douche bag – just sitting on the couch telling people what to do. So luxurious.
Studio SQ’s mic closet features a bunch of new retro style mics. For the drums we went with a D112 and Beta 91 on the kick. On the snare we used a Beta 57 on top and KM84 on the bottom. On the hi hat we used a KM84. Toms were 421s. Overheads we used a M260 and M130 configured in M-S. Stereo room mics were two small diaphragm omni condenser mics place about 6 feet out from the kick drum and about 10 feet apart – forming a triangle with the third point being the drummer. We baffled these mics with a couple amps to help eliminate too much direct sound from the cymbals.
On Roland’s Top Hat guitar amp we used a Neumann U67 and a Royer 122. We noticed a strange vibration in Roland’s amp which Jeremy solved by disassembling the amp and retentioning the tube sockets. So awesome to have a tech on hand!!!
For Jay’s baritone/keys amp we used a 421 and a Neumann U89. It took some doing to get Jay’s keys and baritone to sound right through his amp set up. We wound up simplifying things by just plugging everything into the studio’s Ampeg V9 amp, which is basically an SVT with reverb, (which makes it even heavier than an SVT. URGH!)
Once we were all set up, basic tracking went really quickly. The band had just come off tour so they were well rehearsed and most songs were executed within three takes. (Always sounds better that way!) Overdubs and vocals followed. Jay wanted a roomy vocal sound so we used the U67 in omni through the Chandler TG2 preamp and the UA175 compressor. Jay did a lot of moving around in the live room while singing so I wound up constantly reworking the gain structure to optimize level.
Mixing took place a couple weeks later after the Studio SQ team had installed the Otari console. It took me a little while to wrap my head around the new console. It’s very sleek in an early 90′s kind of way. Sonically it’s very transparent sounding. It has very sophisticated signal routing capabilities. It’s a digitally controlled analog console. The best of both worlds! I didn’t get too into the automation functions. The session didn’t require it.
We mixed using an SSL EQ and and SSL style compressor across the stereo buss. Mixes were printed on 1/4″ Quantegy 499 using the Otari MTR12 2 track.
Sequencing took place a couple weeks later at my home studio on my Studer A810 and the record was mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering in Phoenix, Arizona.
The session was fun and effortless and I think the recording shows this. Looking forward to my next session at Studio SQ. Keep up the good work, boys.
- Phil
Oh, I forgot to mention my favorite part of the studio: it’s dog friendly!!!
Jay and Phil in SQ's control room
studio ears
Roland is tuning up
Penelope working the Otari
The following are a couple tracks from artist’s Tim Carr’s debut release “The Tim Carr Project” which was tracked and mixed at SQ (mastered by Mike Wells):
“Shake Your Caboose”
“As Your Bell Tolls”
Here are a couple tracks by punk band Johnny Madcap & The Distractions from their release “The San Francisco Sessions”:
“Here In My Hands”
“Love Sick”
To date we’ve posted a number of tweets on our work for the game Left 4 Dead 2. In a previous blog I mentioned that I would be posting more specific information on the work that we did. Now that the game is out (and doing well), I thought I’d take the time to share some content.
One of the main levels in the game (Dark Carnival) deals with a fictitious biker band called Midnight Riders (featuring Neurosis drummer Jason Roeder). In the game you run around a fair and shoot zombies while the Midnight Riders stage show, pyrotechnics, and music is going off around you. We recorded a number of Midnight Rider tracks at our studio, some of which appear in the various tv game trailers, and some of which appear within the Dark Carnival level:
- John
The following is a track off of Big Blue Whale’s 7″ titled “Bees and Ants” which was mixed and mastered at SQ:
“Time’s Saw”
