WHY I HATE RECORDING & EQ
So, there's only really a handful of publications that deal with the wild world of putting music to tape. You all know them I'm sure. For now, I'll leave the big one (Mix) out of this discussion because I think they fill a need for those "huge" studios to justify themselves. Here's my beef with those other two:
1. They assume that everyone has a "project studio" where they create some sort of horrible jazz fusion music or something with drum machines.
2. All their readers have gone digital, right? (Not!)
3. The product reviews never seem to be of anything that I'd ever buy, as a home recordist or a studio owner.
4. Computers. 'Nuff said.
5. You can't tell the articles from the ads, especially in Recording.
6. You can, maybe, find one cool idea or trick you can use from each $3.50 issue.
7. "Reader's Tapes"... 'Nuff Said.
8. Do you seriously think the editor of either publication has ever produced a record you'd like to hear?
9. Have any of the people they write about produced any records you'd wanna hear?
10. They can't seem to remember that any older gear was ever built except for vintage Neumann mics.
11. They're never gonna acknowledge Tape Op in a million years since they won't even acknowledge each other.
I also must admit that I frequently pick up copies of each. Yeah, I tell myself I'm checking out the competition, but since there's no way in hell I'll ever get a circulation like them that seems kinda loco. No, I think it's sorta fascinating, like the way I buy every new Kate Bush CD and wince at the painful production that she foists on her otherwise great songs. I just love to dig into each new issue and laugh at the stupid people they cover talk about spending a day mixing one song or how they need 6 amps per guitar per track of overdub. Hey, so that's why those records suck! 'Nuff said. I feel like I'm shooting sleeping ducks.
COOL INFORMATION:
There's a website to help you check out if your new band's name is already in use. It's called the North American Band Name Registry and it's at: http://www.bandname.com
Unfortunately I can't check it out since you need a "frames browser" or some such computer crud, so I'm not able to see if the band name we'd chosen is in use. Oh well.
Here's IndieCentre, a website that seems to have just about every aspect of being in an active, independent band covered. This is the URL for their list of pressing companies, for whatever formats, cassette, CD, vinyl. A lot of people have added feedback to the listings, describing their experiences dealing with the companies, but most don't. The list seems to have grown out of the Simple Machines/Tsunami people's experience more than anyone else's. Here goes:
http://www.csd.net/~muji/ic/companies/press.html
-Tim Gilbride
THE DRUMMER'S STUDIO SURVIVAL GUIDE
By Mark Huntly Parsons (Modern Drummer Publications)
One of the things that happened to me when I started recording bands was that I had to learn a lot more about drums, how to tune them, and how to mic them. Recently, a drummer who was recording at my studio mentioned this book. When I showed interest he sent it over with the guitar player for me to check it out. It's a very clear, well written book that tackles many of the aspects of recording for drummers. Chapters include info on room acoustics, Mics, EQ, compressors, gates, effects, and more. Most of the info is just downright practical, and I could see it saving a studio-novice drummer a lot of recording time by making them aware of the recording process and things to watch out for. It's also pretty handy for a budding engineer who has to get a grip on the sheer hell of miking drum kits. I wish I had this book 3 years ago! 1-800-637-2852
PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE RECORDING ENGINEER
by Sherman Keene (SKE Publishing)
When I interviewed Greg Freeman for issue #1 of Tape Op he mentioned this book as...
