Recording - September 2013 - 56

Continued from page 55
Audience member: Sounds like you do all of your
own instruments and things. But in the postproduction, do you do all of your own mixing
and mastering? And if yes, how did you learn
how to do it?
It took a while. I mean, when I first started working
and writing songs and recording, you know, I had
zero money. I basically came up with this idea with
my manager at the time to find amazing producers
and have them produce these songs on a commission-based thing with me, so that if we got a
placement they would get 20% on the master side.
And that can work out for some big money for
them, like ten grand for one or two days’ worth of

“You’ve got to always stay fresh and
try new things, and try all different
kinds of sounds.”
—Tim Myers
work. But we didn’t have any funding to fund an
amazing recording. So that’s one way to do it if
you’re just completely broke and can’t do it, and
you want to work with someone really good, and
you have some connections going on, you can parlay that. Now I do all the mixing and mastering
myself, and have different mastering plug-ins that I
love to use. I just mix the way I like to hear it. And
I’ve been doing that for like three years now on my
own.
ML: When you did stuff on spec with the producers, was it hard to get them to come back and do
a second thing on spec if the first one hadn’t
paid off yet?
Totally. [laughter]
So did you have to keep going from new guy to
new guy, and nobody in town wanted to work
with you?
Yeah, but luckily, we were getting placements. And
a producer probably won’t keep working with you
if you’re not generating that income, and that puts
pressure on you to really get it going. But it’s a
straight upfront deal if you’re making sure you’re
getting a contract and you guys are both agreeing to
this ahead of time, it’s a good way to approach
something if you just don’t have money.
ML: Now I’ve got to ask you a question I’m sure
is on a lot of audience members’ minds, because
you do your own stuff? Logic or Pro Tools?
Pro Tools.
Audience member: Is everything we see and
hear in those commercials you? It’s coming right
from the studio? You’re mixing it, you’re playing
it? Or do you get some inspiration from friends
that come over and play the stuff for you?
56

All the songs… I’m trying to think of all of them.
“Lucky One,” “A Beautiful World,” “A Brand New
Day,” I played all the instruments on those. “A
Brand New Day,” I co-wrote “A Brand New Day”
with Lindsay Ray, and we did a duet. Yeah, all those
songs I played everything on them. [applause]
ML: And your productions are remarkably simple, yet
effective. How do you know when you’ve gone far
enough and it’s time to stop?
When five o’clock hits. [laughter] No, I really like
personally filling up my songs with instrumentation. I really like getting it pretty full. I think you
can tell pretty soon that it’s sounding too cluttered
and you’ve got to take some stuff away. If it’s just
sounding way too ridiculous, take out the strings,
or maybe the piano, and things like that. So I think
it’s just all your personal taste and seeing what
sounds good to you.
What’s a typical number of tracks you would use?
Oh my gosh, it varies. Like “A Brand New Day,” I
don’t think there are that many tracks—like 12
tracks or something like that. But I can get really
crazy. Like with the new Target “Me and My
Friends” commercial, just vocals alone we did
about 30 different gang group vocals—just huge
group vocals that sound like a party kind of thing,
and there is just tons of stuff going on. And that
worked too.
How many passes will you do on a lead vocal generally? Obviously, there’s a range, but do you tend to nail
them in two or three passes, or…?
When I’m taking vocals, I don’t usually take any
more than four vocals to comp with. I usually feel
like the first couple takes—especially if you just
wrote the song—are usually really good, because
you’ve been able to like really play the song a lot
while you wrote it, and you are already really crafting what you’re going to sing right away. I always
use Auto-Tune and Melodyne too, and I think it’s
really important these days to do it. I know a lot of
singers who are just like super-anti-Auto-Tune, but
we are so used to it these days, just with it being in
for so long. Your ears instantly think it’s a bad vocal
even if it’s not a bad vocal, because it’s slightly out
of tune, or it’s just a few notes that you hit wrong.
So I think it’s really important to still use AutoTune and Melodyne in all your songs, honestly.
Audience member: Writing so many songs—and
sometimes writing a song in a day—have you ever
found that as you’re creating a guitar part or a piano
part that it’s really cool and you’re digging it, and
you’re like,“Man, this is really rad,”and it’s like,“I’m
never going to remember how I played that?”Do you
ever find that that happens, and is that limiting? Do
you ever find that you kind of dumb it down, because

you’re like,“Oh man, I’m never going to remember
that?”
I try to get things down as they come out. Like if
that piano line is really feeling good, I try to pull
up… If you’re just recording in a MIDI-piano sound
or a real piano, get it miked up really quickly and
get it down just so you have it, and make sure you
got that part down. Don’t try to like save it for later.
“I’ll come back to that six hours from now.” It’s not
going to sound the same. Also your excitement is
so… You’re into it, and that’s going to come across
in the recording. That’s the most important thing
when you hear recordings, it’s like this excitement.
“Yeah, this song is great!” And it doesn’t even need
to be exciting in like a high-energy way. I’m talking
like with “A Beautiful World,” where it’s just supermellow and this peaceful feeling. I was feeling
peaceful, and it comes across in the recording
because it was done quickly.
What happens if that happens at 7:15 and you’re sitting at the table with Lauren and Bowie having
dinner, and you get an idea? You don’t go back in the
studio…
I don’t, no. Just personally because I have a family
and that is so important. And that time goes by so
fast. I wish I had more time to spend with them.
This year has gone by so fast and she’s almost
already a year-old. I’m just holding on to all those
precious moments and try to be in the moment
with all that.
You know what I’m thankful for? That we had a chance
to meet and that you came here today. Ladies and
gentlemen, Mr. Tim Myers! [applause]

Notes on Music, Business, and
Success
By Tim Myers
TAXI Road Rally 2012
Dear Rally Attendees,
Tim Myers is an incredibly successful songwriter,
whose music is in more national and international
TV commercials than any other songwriter I can
think of. The top ad agencies on Madison Avenue
can’t seem to get enough of his music, and for good
reason!
His music is infectious, and has an exceptionally
wide appeal to audiences of all demographics.
A few weeks prior to the Road Rally, Tim invited
me to his home to hang out. What I found was a
young man who is focused, hard working, and
most of all humble!

Continued on page 59



Recording - September 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2013

Recording - September 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
MOTU Track16
Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Sontronics Sonora 2
Stop Sound Leakage!
Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
From Shed To Studio
Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Readers’ Tapes
Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - September 2013 - Intro
Recording - September 2013 - Recording - September 2013
Recording - September 2013 - Cover2
Recording - September 2013 - 1
Recording - September 2013 - 2
Recording - September 2013 - 3
Recording - September 2013 - Fade In
Recording - September 2013 - 5
Recording - September 2013 - Contents
Recording - September 2013 - 7
Recording - September 2013 - Talkback
Recording - September 2013 - 9
Recording - September 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - September 2013 - 11
Recording - September 2013 - 12
Recording - September 2013 - 13
Recording - September 2013 - The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Recording - September 2013 - 15
Recording - September 2013 - 16
Recording - September 2013 - 17
Recording - September 2013 - 18
Recording - September 2013 - 19
Recording - September 2013 - 20
Recording - September 2013 - 21
Recording - September 2013 - Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Recording - September 2013 - 23
Recording - September 2013 - 24
Recording - September 2013 - 25
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Recording - September 2013 - 27
Recording - September 2013 - 28
Recording - September 2013 - 29
Recording - September 2013 - Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
Recording - September 2013 - 31
Recording - September 2013 - 32
Recording - September 2013 - 33
Recording - September 2013 - MOTU Track16
Recording - September 2013 - 35
Recording - September 2013 - Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Recording - September 2013 - 37
Recording - September 2013 - Sontronics Sonora 2
Recording - September 2013 - 39
Recording - September 2013 - Stop Sound Leakage!
Recording - September 2013 - 41
Recording - September 2013 - 42
Recording - September 2013 - 43
Recording - September 2013 - 44
Recording - September 2013 - 45
Recording - September 2013 - Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Recording - September 2013 - 47
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
Recording - September 2013 - 49
Recording - September 2013 - From Shed To Studio
Recording - September 2013 - 51
Recording - September 2013 - Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Recording - September 2013 - 53
Recording - September 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - September 2013 - 55
Recording - September 2013 - 56
Recording - September 2013 - 57
Recording - September 2013 - 58
Recording - September 2013 - 59
Recording - September 2013 - Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording - September 2013 - 61
Recording - September 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Recording - September 2013 - 63
Recording - September 2013 - 64
Recording - September 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - September 2013 - 66
Recording - September 2013 - 67
Recording - September 2013 - 68
Recording - September 2013 - 69
Recording - September 2013 - 70
Recording - September 2013 - 71
Recording - September 2013 - Cover3
Recording - September 2013 - Cover4
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