Instead of a holiday this year....go to a studio...?

[Wiz]

I am thinking, that instead of wasting money on some new piece of gear, or having a holiday this year.

I might book some time in "real" studio.

just toying with the idea atm.

But, I am thinking that it might be fun to have two days in a really nice room, with something like a really nice Neve or SSL, and plenty of outboard, a good assistant to patch stuff in and help me with the desk.

Maybe book two days, and take in the completed songs for my next album, and have a crack at mixing it, and if It comes out well, great.

This would give me the chance to actually touch and use all that gear I have read and coveted for years.

Things like Fairchild, LA2A's, 1176's etc.

My thinking is, A it would be a hoot. And B, if I was organised, I might just be able to get the mixes done.

I am in Bundaberg so Brisbane would be cool, but I am originally from Melbourne, and have family there so accommodation is free, also, I could tie it in with the wife and daughter going home to visit..so Melbourne is probably the best option.

I haven't lived in Melbourne for nearly 8 years, and never worked in any of the professional studios there when I did.

Budget would probably extend out to say 1500 bucks for the two or three days If I could get it.

What do you think? Do able.

Where do you recommend?

My thinking is , I would need someone who really knew the gear and room, so that would save me a bucket load of time.

I use logic, so it would be great if they had that as well.

I figure it could be a lot of fun, a great learning experience, and If I got an albums worth of mixes done, that would be icing on the cake.

My songs don't run usually more than 16-24 tracks and they are pretty open and simple.

cheers

[Thirteen]

Sounds like a really good idea, and it might inspire you as well.

[Simon B]

Just a suggestion, why not book with an engineer instead of an assistant an use it as a learning experience, just set out at the start you have been engineering at home for years never played with the proper toys an would like to learn an hopefully they are accomodating in letting you learn an in that 2 days you would learn more then most audio students.

As for studios, as turtlerock has its one little community why not support a turtlerocker studio first. just a sugestion.

[Text_Edifice]

There's a few great options in Bris if you don't feel like flying – just off the top of my head Docking Station has a Neve and Lush has an SSL with lots of outboard. There's some other great options around town (some will be on the forum for sure).

[Wiz]

all great suggestions...

I like the idea of working with someone experienced....thats a very good suggestion.


Would love to support a TRocker...

[jkhuri44]

just a thought, considered hiring pieces ? i've done so many a time from Turrlerockers, and other people.

It's a good way to pretend you're loaded for 2 days

[Lee]

Why not do both
http://www.oceansoundrecordings.com/

[Wiz]

Why not do both
http://www.oceansoundrecordings.com/

Looks fantastic!


But a little out of my range I fear. 8)

[Lee]

We can dream tho.

[Ben M]

Why not do both
http://www.oceansoundrecordings.com/

Arr! at last somewhere to record my next sea shanty


I wonder how much of the wild ocean sound is kept out of that studio. It's pretty tough to tame those waves.
Look cool though.

[Lee]

I wonder how much of the wild ocean sound is kept out of that studio. It's pretty tough to tame those waves.
Look cool though.

Yeah but it might be interesting background ambiance for a surf tune or sea shanty?

[wez]

I've been suggesting this as an alternative to people considering SAE-style courses for years. Take the money you would spend on the course, and instead book a couple days a month in any half decent room... and see where you are in 12 months, compared to the other students.

[dave01.cooper]

I've been suggesting this as an alternative to people considering SAE-style courses for years. Take the money you would spend on the course, and instead book a couple days a month in any half decent room... and see where you are in 12 months, compared to the other students.

that IS a bloody good idea.

i'm still wet behind the ears & don't have near as much experience as any of you gents & gent-ettes, but in my limited workings in larger studios you work so much more efficiently + productively when you're moving tangible faders & knobs on quality gear that's only 2 patch leads away. I'm not about to start up a ITB vs non-ITB rant but personally the above could be the best learning curve anyone could ever have.

cheers

[Lee]

I've been suggesting this as an alternative to people considering SAE-style courses for years. Take the money you would spend on the course, and instead book a couple days a month in any half decent room... and see where you are in 12 months, compared to the other students.

For the second time in this thread I will say
Why not do both?

[Wiz]

okay, well I am going to , quite soon head down to Lush Recording Studios in Brisbane.

Got 4 hours booked to have a play with all the fun toys...8)

Really looking forward to it. The people so far seem a joy to deal with.

I have written and recorded a little song, to take down.

I have done a couple of mixes here and it will be really a lot of fun, to see how the mix down there turns out.

Will sort of kill my wonders about analog summing, real outboard vs plug ins, etc etc etc. To a point anyways.

I have such limited outboard, in that for instance the only EQ's I have are 1 api550b and a JLM PEQ500.

It becomes a pain in the butt, unless you want to use them at tracking time. Reamping one track at a time, is difficult for me, to remain in context.

I grabbed a demo of Waves Q Clone, not thinking that it would be successful, and using it I used my single API550B to EQ a mix. It was really quite easy, and sounds pretty good, certainly better and faster than using the LOGIC EQ plug in. Something about not thinking and turning knobs, not having to decide about Q , and numbers I think (perhaps left brain right brain thing).

It was quite easy to jump around, and touch up EQ , by hitting the ADD button on the Q Clone plug in.

I am thinking that at the very least, I will use it. Perhaps when I have more time, I will take note of the settings I used in Q clone, and then reamp the audio out through the 550B and then compare the two mixes, given that Q clone doesn't take advantage of the audio path of the 550B. Also curious to just run the track Q cloned out thru the 550B with no EQ boost or cut, and then compare the three different mixes.

anyways here is my mix , Q cloned.

http://s93783807.onlinehome.us/ozlandmusic/Dark%20Clouds%20Q%20clone%20mix.mp3

I will then post up what i come up with at Lush... surely some people are interested in this stuff...8)

[Text_Edifice]

Lush was a great space to work in - Dom and Matt were both really wonderful and accomodating when I was there last year.

I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself, learn some stuff and get a great sounding result too.

[Jason]

I'm sure you will enjoy yourself at Lush. Was down there again today doing some work. They have some really nice toys to play with. The hard part is deciding which ones to use

Try the EAR660's on something. When they work on a source....WOW!

Cheers. Jason

[Wiz]

I just got back from a couple of days in Brisbane.

I spent a few hours at Lush.

Firstly, I will write a for more detailed post on my experience, but suffice to say, its a lovely place, I got to meet Jason, nice bloke, and work with Miro..who was just fantastic.

Its going to end up costing me a goddamn fortune though...8)

I only just had a listen to the vocal track we cut, which I did rather quickly, through one of their Neumann U47's.

We had the ELAM 251 and the Neumann set up together for me to sing through. I had a sing, Miro had a listen and suggested the 47 for my voice, so we went with it.

I did two or three passes, and we picked the third and moved on, I really didn't give the vocal much thought at all.

I just threw the vocal into my mix here... my jaw hit the floor.

I get it now.

I see why the 47 is so coveted.

My wife (musician who I did over a 1000 gigs with and a full time singing teacher) came and had a listen. And she couldn't believe it either.

I thought my arabella was good..and it is.

Man... .what can I sell. 8)

Thanks to Miro Jason and everyone at Lush, I had a blast, and it was great fun.

Dammit!!! I wanna U47.


Pete

[Chris H]

Good on you for spending the dosh. That's a real commitment to furthuring your knowledge. I have never used a U47 either and you have convinced me to check one out. I would think there are a precious few options to join the U47 owners club. The real deal, a Wagner and maybe the Lucas CS4.
I read somwhere the AKG D19 was a poor mans U47 but in this case I'm not beleiving what I read.
I think I will set myself the goal of recording vox with a U47 via valve preamp to tape by the end of the year.

[jkhuri44]

u47...when i recorded my album...i needed to hire a mic, and people love this mic so much that i just hired it blind, and recorded a full album on it...

Its a good mic, on the right singer, just like every other mic

[Chinagraf]

Great to hear you had a good time Wiz. I'm a firm believer that you can make good music with anything, but there is something magical about a tube 47 in good nic. That and an M49. It's like you can reach out and touch the vocal.
I've almost bought one twice but both sellers flaked at the last minute. If I had one I would snuggle with it on cold winter nights.

[Jason]

Hey Peter,

Glad you enjoyed yourself at Lush and it was great to Meet a fellow Turtlerocker. Was good to talk about building audio gear too. There is just too many great projects out there and not enough money.......

I know what you mean about the Mic. You get the right voice standing in front of it and the results are just stunning. I have also been blowen away by the C12 that Lush has as well. It's like Andy said. You can close your eyes and it feels like you could just reach out and touch the singers face. Amazing.

Hope we see you again down this way Peter.

Cheers. Jason

[Wiz]

Hey Peter,

Glad you enjoyed yourself at Lush and it was great to Meet a fellow Turtlerocker. Was good to talk about building audio gear too. There is just too many great projects out there and not enough money.......

I know what you mean about the Mic. You get the right voice standing in front of it and the results are just stunning. I have also been blowen away by the C12 that Lush has as well. It's like Andy said. You can close your eyes and it feels like you could just reach out and touch the singers face. Amazing.

Hope we see you again down this way Peter.

Cheers. Jason

Oh I'll be back 8)

my next holiday, will be dedicated to shoot outs... 8)

I plan on bringing some of my gear down, and putting it head to head, and see where the stuff I have falls down.

Also, polish up that M49 and C12 and the U47's, I will be down there to sing through those again...8)

[Wiz]

I just thought I would post a wrap up to this... as I have had a few days for the old noggin to consolidate the experience.

It was a hell of a lot of fun. First and foremost.

I got to play with some toys, that I have read about all my recording life, but never seen, touched or heard.

I also came away from the experience with plenty of questions answered about what I really should be focusing on to acquire and what I should stop worrying about, which is one of the main reasons for going.

It was a humbling experience in many ways, and I realised pretty quickly, that being in a unfamiliar monitoring environment, in front of a large console I was not going to get a lot done, in a short period of time.

I was aurally confused by the room, not lush's problem, and that combined with the complexity of the SSL desk, meant I was searching for sound, rather than going after what I wanted, and my confidence in what I was hearing was shot. So I very quickly put my ego in my back pocket and asked the engineer , Miro, to take over.

Once I did that, things flew along quickly, In a sense, I guess it was more like being a producer, I let Miro bring up a rough mix, on his own, I left the room, and then came in and asked for what I wanted changed. Worked out great, and we got there much quicker than I would have.

I absolutely loved, singing through the U47. It would rate in my top ten experiences in life (and I have been back seat passenger with test pilots and the Roulettes aerobatic team) and apart from all that watching your child be born crap, would sit pretty close to the top 8). When you have spent many thousands of hours of your life, futzing with cheaper mics, slowly acquiring better ones as you grow and save, to sing through it was nothing short of a revelation, and validation of sorts.

Also, the reality of Vintage outboard equipment struck me pretty hard in the face. Things break, and they break at the worst possible time. Its the nature of gear.

Also, the physical room. The small recording booth I sang in, was just so great. Even standing in there having a conversation with Miro and Jason, whilst setting up microphones, I was taking notice of how their voices, and my own sounded in that space. It was exceptionally revealing. I have done a lot of work on my own room, with the building of bass traps and gear placement etc But it don't sound anywhere near as good as that booth did.

Also I noticed in the control room, that it was nearly devoid of hot spots, it sounded as good on the couch as it did at the desk.

I have clients of my own in my own studio, and it was good to be the "client" for a change and see things from the other side of the glass. It made me think about the things I do for my clients, and gave me insight into areas I could improve in, and validated some areas of my own performance.

So, I encourage you, if like me you had never been in a place like that, to consider at some point, ponying up the dough and going and doing it. Instead of perhaps buying yet another ho hum piece of gear , book some time and go have a play and listen.

thanks to all at lush, and a special mention to Miro the engineer, you meet a lot of assholes in this industry, and he aint one of em.. 8) he also makes a nice cup of coffee, and it was nice to go into a toilet that didn't stink.. a first for me in the music industry.... 8)


Wiz

[wez]

You make a great point when you say that it was "good to be the client for a change"... I think it's something we should all do now and then.

I learnt as much about mastering in one day sitting on the couch as a client (producer) as I had in the previous 10 years running a mastering business. Different things, but very important things.