I'm just getting back into the swing of things after attending Potluckcon in Tucson, AZ. I was asked to speak on a panel about vocal recording, and ended up having a mind-blowingly awesome experience. I cannot wait for next year's conference!
Getting together with a roomful of other engineers to have some beers, share some of our experiences, and just get to know each other a bit is something every engineer should experience. I feel fresh, inspired, and unbelievably excited to get back to work.
Here are some pictures of the conference.
 | |
| The view outside the hotel lobby in Tucson, AZ. |
 |
| Live recording session, presented by Mojave Microphones. In a hotel room! |
 |
| Vocal recording panel. Andrew Scheps, Pete Weiss (moderator), Susan Marshall, Neil Cappellino, me, and Michael Rominowski. |
 |
| self-explanitory |
In other news:
I recently installed a new console in my control room. It's an MCI JH636. I've worked on my TAC Scorpion for many many years and made a lot of excellent recordings on that desk. Over the past couple of years, I felt a strong need to upgrade to a better desk and when this board came along, I had to do it. It's a tool that is already making my job easier and more rewarding. It features a lot of "upgrades" from the factory and some that were done after the fact. All of the channels include the "vari-Q" EQ modules, which adds a bandwidth selection to the middle band. Four of the channels have an EQ module made by Troisi. If you've never used or heard of Troisi equipment, do a quick look. These are very powerful fully-parametric EQs. Aside from that, it's got 24 busses, 6 aux sends, 36 channels, among many other features that make routing an absolute pleasure.
 | |
| This is a picture of my console in its original home. Thanks Bob Alac! |
 |
| Prepping for delivery. |
 | |
| Console homecoming party! |
 |
| Ready for action. |
In other other news:
July was a bit of a sleepy month for me. It was a blessing in disguise as it allowed me plenty of time to get my MCI in and working. It also allowed Julia and I to take a much-needed vacation.
I had great sessions with the Warblers over at Bisquiteen. We finished all of the recording for their forthcoming LP and are going to start planning our mix session soon!
Violet Clark came in to wrap up mixing on her forthcoming solo record. We took mixes I'd done over the spring and basically dropped a bomb on them. Violet had a lot of great ideas. There are a lot of cool tricks, fun edits, and great sounds on these mixes. It'll be a lot of fun for the listener because A) the music is great and well-crafted, and B) because of the copious amounts of ear-candy.
Blessed State swooped in for a solid day of basics! We cut 8 songs in 10 hours and are going to continue with guitar and vocal overdubs later this week. Needless to say, I cannot wait!
Looking forward, I have a pretty full plate for August-October. Many great sessions to come, including trips to NYC and Maine.. And a few that are going to be very unique to me.. Slightly removed from the usual "guitar, bass, drums" format I am usually involved in.
Here are some records with a release date in the near future:
Off! Live at the 9:30 Club on Outer Battery Records
Body/Head - "Coming Apart" dbl LP on Matador Records
Bunny's A Swine - "Calling Out" on Tiny Radars (This record has been "out" for a bit now, but due to vinyl pressing BS, the wax is just about to be released.
So as I mentioned, I have a full plate in August. September and October are getting booked with some dates left. If you're interested in starting a new project or finishing an old project and would like to do it by the end of 2013, now would be a great time to get dialogue going!
