Recording - February 2010 - 2

PUBLISHER: ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley Brent Heintz EDITORIAL EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mike Metlay WEB EDITOR: Justin Peacock MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel CONTRIBUTORS Bruce Kaphan, Darwin Grosse, Paul Vnuk Jr., Rick Barrio Dill, Marty Peters, Devon Brent Vocal Sessions It’s uncanny how we zero in on the voice whenever it appears in a recording. Not just in the obvious vocal recording, as in a song, but even in one of those quasi-instrumentals where a voice is used as a color element—a common device in New Age and such styles, it seems. Sometimes you’re lulled into not paying attention, which—to me—often seems to be the entire point of that kind of music (okay, New Age fans, have at it, my asbestos suit is firmly in place ), but as soon as a voice appears, no matter how distant and undermixed, we tend to prick up our ears and focus. Which just goes to prove that you can’t hide the voice in a mix; there is an almost instinctual need for us to hear it once it appears. So we’d better plan ahead to make sure that the voice will get all the attention it deserves in our projects, especially when it’s going to be up front and center. Planning ahead, giving a situation much reasoned forethought, is a strong point of Bruce Kaphan’s who has contributed many thoughtful articles over the years. He first came to our attention through his spendid CD Slider—a steel guitar record that sounds like no other steel guitar record. He produces and records a wide variety of artists in his studio in California, and he has reported on projects he did at Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios. For this issue we asked him to draw on his vast experience and conceptualize what goes into a vocal session, to give us guidance in ways to prepare for such sessions. He parses out the many possible situations—singer present during basic tracking, or not, singer on the floor with musicians, or not, singer performing flat-out during basic tracking or saving him/herself for later overdubs—and a few other scenarios. How these options impact the way you prepare and then proceed with the project is welcome food for thought. The article starts on page 10. Have you ever assisted on a complex mix on a huge mixing board before the days of automation? If you weren’t “in the chair” yourself, maybe you were in charge of just one extra fader that had to come up at a crucial moment when the mixing engineer didn’t have enough hands? If you missed your cue, it was not trivial But it was exciting to move faders and—to a point—watch meters in the days before automation. Then boards went away and the mouse and the little pointer on the screen took over. Something got lost in the process, and soon control surfaces appeared that gave us back that missing element of fingers on faders, fingertips on buttons Darwin Grosse has just discovered such a control surface that goes beyond what we had seen before, and he reports on it in this issue; he calls the Euphonix MC Control “a dream that should be on every project studio owner’s wishlist”, and says, “About 10 seconds into using the MC Control I was using the transport controls and slider banks almost exclusively.” He loved many of the technical, or rather—to the user—non-technical aspects of the device, but most importantly, he reckons that it helped him make a better mix because it made getting there so much easier. These are just two of the many articles in this issue that bring you tips and product news that can make your life easier and your studio more productive. Paul Vnuk reviews a tube mic that isn’t trying to imitate a famous mic, but has a sound all its own. Fernando Curiel goes beyond a simple review of Avid’s new Digidesign Eleven Rack guitar interface/processor and gets inside the head of its chief designer. And make sure to read the Fade Out on the last page, where our Mike Metlay muses on a recent industry event that will mean a lot to many of us, in more ways than one. Happy Recording! TAXI METER EDITOR: Kenny Kerner ART & PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney PHOTOGRAPHY: Brent Heintz PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES EDITOR/PRODUCER: Lorenz Rychner CIRCULATION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Tiffany Sepe ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Stephanie King ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephanie King EXECUTIVE OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz Subscriptions/Address Changes: 1-800-582-8326 281-261-2581 Advertising/Classifieds/Main Office: (303) 516-9118 RECORDING MAGAZINE (ISSN 1078-8352; USPS 002-298) is published monthly, 12 times per year, by Music Maker Publications, Inc., 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301-3523. Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 email: info@recordingmag.com Periodicals Postage is paid at Boulder, CO and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RECORDING, Subscriber Services, P.O. Box 334, Stafford, TX, 77497. Tel: 1-800-582-8326 or 832-886-1126. Subscription rate: $19.95 per year. All material is subject to worldwide copyright protection, and reproduction or imitation in whole or in part is expressly forbidden without written consent from the publishers. All reasonable care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of the magazine, but Music Maker Publications, Inc. cannot be held legally responsible for its contents. The publishers cannot assume responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or materials. All trademarked names, whether indicated as such or not, are owned by their respective companies. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #41491032. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 © Copyright 2010 Music Maker Publications, Inc. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. RECORDING FEBRUARY 2010

Recording - February 2010

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