How I Use McDSP MC2000 Multiband Compressor While Mixing

Why would you pay for something and leave it behind? Don't Forget Your Session Data!

Why would you pay for something and leave it behind? Would you go to a game store and buy a video game and leave with just the receipt? Thats whats your doing when you leave a recording session without your session data. Quite often I get artists who want me to edit their songs by making a clean version or want me to mix it, but all they have is the rough mix from the studio. The rough mix in a way is like your receipt from the store. It shows what you purchased as a rough mix shows what you did at the studio that day. So when your friend says bring the game over so we can play, you have to say well its at the store. Same as when I ask “do you have the session data?” And the reply is “it’s at the studio.” When it comes time to do more with the song and you don’t have the session data, then you ultimately have to re-record the song, or as in my analogy you have to repurchase the video game again. When you leave the session there should be at least two people who has your session data, and one of them is you as the artist. If you have a personal engineer then they should keep a copy as well. If you’ve hired an engineer that works at the studio then the studio should keep a copy on file. Most studios will have you sign an agreement saying they will keep your session on file for X amount of days, months, etc. If you decide you don’t want to work with that engineer or studio anymore you can bring your session data to another studio and pick up where you left off. And you should never pay extra for your session data from a studio. If a studio tells you they can’t give you the data and try to charge you for it I would not do business with that studio. I have not seen this happen but I can see a studio doing it to make sure they keep your business. If they are the only ones with your session data then you have to go back to them to record. I wouldn’t be surprised if a studio has attempted to pull that off. Bottom line you should always get your session data before leaving a recording session. I know everyone is happy to get the rough mix of what they did but the session data is far more important. Its yours, you paid for it, so don’t leave it behind.

3 Ways to Spot an Amateur Engineer's DAW Session

3 Ways to Spot an Amateur Engineer’s DAW Session

3 ways to tell if your DAW session is professional or amateur. If you fall victim to any of the following then consider doing these in your next session and watch your sessions become more efficient. Also your mix engineer will thank you.

1. Not labeling your tracks - This is the biggest one. When I get a session that has audio 1, audio 2, audio 3, etc I send it back to the artist or engineer that sent it to me, or I charge extra to label the tracks myself. As a mix engineer in my opinion its not my job to label your tracks, and by doing so it takes time away I can spend mixing. Labeling your tracks will keep your session organized, and good organization means more time, and more time equals more money.
2. Session is at the default tempo of 120 bpm - Having the correct tempo in a session is good for two reasons. 1. Its makes it extremely easy to copy and paste hooks through out the song and move verse’s around. Without the correct session tempo you will be stuck nudging tracks around trying to get them placed properly. 2. With the correct tempo the mix engineer will be able to set up tempo based effects like delays.
3. sends and buses not labeled - This one, like not labeling your tracks, has to do with organization. If you set up a headphone mix or reverb bus for the artist, do yourself a favor and name it. After a couple of sends it can get confusing on which sends are sent where.

These three steps will help speed up your sessions in the studio. I was assisting on a recording session one day and the lead engineer told me to turn down the send of the reverb on the vocal. I go to do it and there were four sends set up on the vocal........unlabeled. So now instead of going right to the reverb I have to play process of elimination to find the reverb send. And trust me, the longer you take to do something in the studio, the more the artist or client can start to wonder or assume you don’t know what the hell your doing. If you ordered at a fast food restaurant and the cashier took 10 minutes poking around the register trying to put in your simple order what would you think? You’d first think what is taking so long, then you’d assume they didn’t know what they were doing. Its the same way in the studio with a client  for the time. Your behind the register and they are giving you their order.

MIA Dallas 2012

So this past weekend I had the pleasure of doing a presentation on audio engineering at a seminar in Dallas, TX called MIA (music industry academy). I learned a lot from from other presenters there who spoke about finances, public relations, brand management, music business, and marketing. Events like these are put together to educate but also to network and build relationships. I admit I haven’t networked in Nashville since moving here like I should have, and this event has motivated me to do so. 7 years ago, while living in Memphis, I would never have missed an event or chance to network in Memphis or surrounding areas. One thing Kevin Shine said that has stuck with me is that you can’t do it by yourself, and I strongly agree. Every successful person has a team behind them. Though you may not see them, trust me they are there. If your like me and believe that “if you want something done right do it yourself” than it can be hard to accept this, as it was for me. The more success you gain the more you will need people to help with certain tasks. I’m not to the point where I have so much work that I need an assistant engineer yet, but when I do get to that point I will definitely be adding one to my team.

People underestimate the importance of networking, especially at events like MIA. As engineers we have to put up with a lot of people’s [expletive] and its gets easier to judge people the more you do it. We know when someone is serious, and we know someone is full of it. People at events like MIA makes it easy for me to take them more seriously because if you weren’t serious you never would of took the time to show up in the first place. To get ahead in this game you have to move forward and higher to separate yourself from the competition. Events like MIA help you do just that with an abundance of knowledge and networking opportunities to help build your team. Even if I know a lot about the subject of a presentation I still attend because there is almost always something you can take away from it.
Back to MIA though, DJ Go Lucky and DJ SupaKen spoke about the DJ game. This really opened my eyes to a lot. There’s so much that goes on in the DJ business that I was not aware of. Producer Erotic D gave a very informative class on music business. I advise everyone brush up on your music business chops, nobody wants to be screwed. In most cases (thankfully not me) it takes getting screwed before you take music business seriously.
In closing I want to thank Shay at Opulent PR and event management for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to speak at MIA, Kevin Shine for the time he took to sit down with us, Erotic D for giving us a tour of his newest studio in the Dallas area, and everyone else who gave presentations and those who attended MIA. And I want to thank Razzo’s on North Central parkway, and Benedict’s on Belt Line rd for amazing meals while we were in Dallas. Can’t wait for the next event!