Don’t take that tone with me

So me and one of my engineers (Patrick) decided to attend the Eddie Kramer Experience in Frisco, Texas, the night before last. Having engineered 5 albums for Led Zeppelin, all of Jimi Hendix’s major works, not to mention Frampton, the Beatles, Bowie, the Stones, and even the recordings of Woodstock, Eddie is a true legend of rock and roll. The event promised (and I quote):

Join legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer for a special event. A true rock insider with dozens of smash hits to his credit, Eddie Kramer will share his vast knowledge of recording techniques, shedding light on yesterday’s analog gear and today’s plug-in models. Eddie will be joined by Waves product specialists, who will be on hand to take an in-depth look at Waves latest plug-ins. So come on down, meet living legend Eddie Kramer, and get experienced!

The part about “sharing his vast knowledge of recording techniques, and shedding light” was definitely what I went for. I, of course, expected a sales pitch from Waves about the new Eddie Kramer plugin series. Waves is a great company who makes many of the plugins we use at the Amusement Park Studio. Unfortunately, the experience was light on “sharing” and almost completely about selling.

Eddie began the event with some opening remarks about his career. He is a likable guy and a capable speaker. The remarks lasted about 3 minutes and then he cut straight to the plugins. They used tracks from 2 bands Eddie had mixed as examples. They would play individual tracks with no processing, then apply the Kramer plugins.

Arguably, the Kramer plugins sound great. They are basically presets that make you sound like Eddie. Complete with tape delay, plate verbs, nice fat compression, and more. Pull up your drum tracks, apply the plugin, and it’s pretty nice sounding. They would be a real time-saver in certain mixing situations.

On a side note: I was shocked to hear massive amounts of autotune on the vocal tracks of the first band. It sucked and I couldn’t believe Eddie would do that. A hero was about to fall. Then he revealed that he did not track them. Thank God.

So we listened for about 2 hours. It was cool to hear individual instruments in a before-and-after situation. And it did reveal a lot to my ears. But where was the vast knowledge he was going to share?

So I asked a question:

Can you tell us specifically what you’re modeling to achieve these sounds? Can you, for instance, discuss your signal chain for drums including what EQs and compressors you prefer?

And he flatly refused.

Nicely.

But he (and Waves) refused.

Those are secrets of my sound. It wouldn’t be fair. We aren’t here to reveal…

So that was sharing his knowledge? Let’s face it, there are really only a few compressors it could have been (1176, LA-2A, Fairchild, etc.) Same with EQs (Pultec, Neve, API…). He could have revealed at least some basic concepts. I guess Eddie and the Waves crew fear losing sales due to openness. It reminds me a lot of what’s going on in other areas of the music industry these days.

As a former educator at the world-renowned South Plains College Creative Arts Department, I’ve been to countless seminars like this. The best ones include tons of information and anecdotal stories that educate and inspire. Once that is achieved, you couple it with a low-pressure sales pitch. And bang, you’ve built new customers and evangelists for your brand.

Unfortunately, the Eddie Kramer Experience was 95% sales pitch and 5% information. Eddie didn’t even really speak about any of the famous sessions he was involved in. No inside stories (other than one about Santana which I will share next time), and almost no cool tips about how he got certain sounds. What a drag.

I actually would have been much more inclined to purchase if the seminar had taught me something. I would have left with a favorable impression of the company. Instead, I felt Waves was stingy and wasted my time. After all, we drove 6 hours to attend.

It wasn’t a total waste, as Eddie is clearly a decent cat who really knows how to lift the energy level of a room. He’s funny and you can tell he would be great to be in session with. And he did share a few limited pieces of information that were helpful. Next time I’ll share those, along with my thoughts on what these plugins are modeling.

Once in a while you find yourself without a necessary tool and you have to improvise. Many of you seasoned engineers are going to laugh at this one… because you’ve done it, too! I’m talking about none other than the pantyhose pop filter!

Amy and I were demoing a song real quickly tonight so we can give it to a drummer. Amy recorded the piano part and then we needed to lay down a scratch vocal. The studio is booked tonight, so we decided to record at the house. I had an Oktava mk219 laying around (which is great on female vox, by the way) and my modded digi002.

When I left the studio I forgot to grab a pop filter. So I had to remember back to the days when I didn’t even own one (and couldn’t afford one!). We made them. Pantyhose and a coat hanger is the trick!

1. Take the leg of the pantyhose and place the coat hanger inside it.

2. Stretch the hose all the way over the entire hanger.

3. Wrap the rest of the hose around the stem of the hanger and insert it in a separate mic clip.

4. There ya go… a pop filter for next to nothing. And it works every bit as well as an expensive one.

By the way, it’s seems to be a good rule of thumb to place the pop filter about 3 inches from the mic. That way the diversion of air has room to disperse away from the mic.

I recently completed a site for Mike Christiansen (mikechristiansen.com). Mike is the head of the Utah State Guitar Program, an amazing player, and a really cool cat. Featured on his new site is a book Mike developed called “My First Guitar Book.” It’s the most innovative teaching book I’ve ever seen for young children. It utilizes a unique color-coded system to help young children make connections between notes and strings.

Because of my long history in guitar education and with the instrument, Mike hired me to lay the book out. It was a challenge, as it it needed to be very clear and easy to read for children. I’m really proud of it and, more importantly, so is Mike!

Another milestone for the Amusement Park Studio: I was hired to record all the classical guitar pieces for the Christopher Parkening Method Books, Vol.1 & 2 (Hal Leonard Publishing). David Brandon performed all the pieces and I captured them in Pro Tools.

Chris and David were so pleased with the sound I captured on David’s “Legacy” CD, that they asked me to do the project. I used a stereo matched pair of Schoeps MK4s into an API A2D directly into Pro Tools at 24/96. I mixed it using a few plugins – very subtle eq and compression mainly to handle a peak in David’s Ramirez guitar that centers around A 440 and its related harmonics (his guitar is really prominent in A) along with a couple instances of Altiverb, then summed it out through my Amek console into a TLA semi-parametric tube EQ. We then went back into the A2D analog-to-digital converter into a Masterlink at 24/96. The first CD has a total of 99 tracks!

David felt so strongly about my work that he had it put in the contract that my name had to be printed in every book and on every CD as the recording engineer. Kinda cool.

I was the stage manager for Lubbock’s Centennial concert Saturday night. It was a pleasure to work with Mac Davis, Joe Ely, David Gashen, Ralna English, Donnie Allison and a ton of other great artists… Not to mention I was super proud to watch my wife Amy play keyboards with them. I even got to play another practical joke on Mac… this time on stage.

It was a really long and grueling day (18 hours non-stop) of behind the scenes work. Once in a while, in the middle of those kinds of events, something happens that just makes everything worthwhile.

One of my jobs is to make sure everyone knows where they need to be and that they have everything they need. I guess Ralna took a liking to me because, as I handed her the microphone for her last song, she said, “You are just wonderful!” And then she planted one on my cheek.

It was a really sweet moment. And I wore that red lipstick on my cheek with pride.

Amy and I took our daughter to Ft. Worth this weekend to acquire point shoes (my daughter is a budding ballerina). We had a grand time, and I came away with a new prized possession: another wedding ring.
A brief history: I handmade Amy’s engagement ring. Then we had her grandfather (quite a hobbyist jeweller in his day) make us matching rings. Mine was, unfortunately, stolen out of a hotel room when we were on the road with 100 Love Sonnets.
Amy bought me a ring soon after that I dearly love. And I still have it. But we went to the Modern Art Museum in Ft. Worth and we found another one. So now I have two!

[caption id="attachment_92" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My new wedding ring from the Modern Art Museum in Ft. Worth."][/caption]

We’ve been busy in the FarisWheel camp, lately! Here’s a quick run down of what we’ve been working on:

FarisWheel Productions – Graphic Design
I just finished a website for national singing sensation “The Cactus Cuties.” If you haven’t heard these girls’ rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, you are seriously missing out! The’ve gotten over 5 million hits on YouTube in 3 months!

I also just completed an album cover for Texas Country veterans, Honeybrowne. Fred Andrews, the band leader, songwriter, and singer, is a great cat to work with.

At the Amusement Park Studio
I’ve created a new track for Bobby Bookout that is a rendition of an old Frank Sinatra tune. I can’t wait to debut it… we’ve twisted and mutated it like only the Amusement Park can do!

I’m finishing up mixing The Archers. They are a screamo band based in Lubbock. I really dig these cats. Check ‘em out!

We’re also finishing vocals for the up-coming This Soul Divided EP. The tracks sound great and I can’t wait to start mixing them!

And, last but not least, we found a few spare moments to mix a tune by Amy and Scott called “I Forgot.” Those of you who know our past, the song is a continuation of the 100 Love Sonnets spirit. Look for a new musical project soon!

Visual Art

I had the pleasure of being included in a gallery exhibit of musicians who are also visual artists at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, TX. I have two sculptures (Bite and Brian No. 3) and four photographs in the exhibit. Ben Mercado, the Chief Engineer at the Amusement Park Studio, also displayed his photography and painting. The show will be up for a month.