Recording - January 2016 - 4

PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Mike Metlay
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT: Paul Vnuk Jr.
EDITOR AT LARGE: Beto Hale
COPY EDITOR: Diana Smethurst
MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel

New year, new goals
There's an old Peanuts comic that stuck with me when I first read it as a kid.
Schroeder and Lucy are having one of their perennial discussions of this and that
while he's playing the piano, and he's asking why people have chosen January 1st to
make resolutions about their forthcoming lives rather than some other date. "Why
January 1st?" he demands. Lucy smiles at him and simply says, "It's neater."
There's something to that. The turn of the new year is a logical time for reflection on
what's happened in the past that was good for us, and what we'd like to do differently in the year to come. On the other hand, some say that the whole idea is bogus-
that if we realize we should be making a change in our lives, we should start at the
moment of realization rather than waiting for an arbitrary date, and that resolutions
that are made in a burst of idealism on one particular day are more likely to fail and
leave us disappointed in ourselves.
When you make your resolutions is your choice, but with the New Year coming up
fast, I'd like to encourage all of you to add to your list, be it short or long, at least
one resolution concerning your musicmaking. Think of one area where you feel you're
coming up short, and resolve to address it and improve on it in the coming year.
Did you get some cool new piece of gear that you're now poking at nervously, convinced that it will point at you and laugh if you use it wrong? Resolve to master it
without worry or self-doubt so you can get the most from it.
Are you looking around your studio and realizing that your current setup isn't cutting it...
not because you need new toys, but because the gear you have isn't arranged and wired
in a way that makes creativity easy for you? Resolve to do something about that, taking an
afternoon or two of down time in exchange for working with greater effectiveness.
Have you spotted an area where you have to flat-out admit you don't understand
enough... how compressors work, how to do DAW automation, room acoustics?
Resolve to figure out how you learn best-whether by reading books or studying this
magazine, watching videos, or working with someone who knows the subject-and
put in some time to learn more.
Do you wish you were a better player? Resolve to practice a bit every day. (I know,
I know... ouch. But still.)
You get the idea. Everyone has something they'd like to do better in the studio, and
a resolution to do even one simple thing can be helpful. It's not overwhelming or
impossible, and one manageable goal will lead to others.
If you're feeling brave enough to add a second resolution, here's one I do every
year and highly recommend: resolve to sit down with a cup of your favorite beverage
in a quiet room and think about what you'd like to be doing with your music this
year, and resolve to redirect your efforts more accurately toward that goal. Bringing
in more clients? Finishing an album? Taking your studio to the next level? It's easier to
hit a target if you know where to aim.
January is traditionally our month to look in depth at recording drums. Rather than
focusing on miking techniques as we usually do, this month we're primarily covering
other ways to get great-sounding drum tracks-fixing mistakes, working with sampled
drums in a DAW, and building up rhythms when you don't have a drummer handy. Later
in the year, we'll be bringing you lots of information on drum miking, but you'll want to
have this issue handy as a reference for when things don't go the way you planned.
After all, things never go the way we planned... but if we have a general idea of
where we want to end up, we can usually dodge the bumps and plan our route in
order to get there. Here's to a musically successful 2016 from all of us here at Music
Maker Publications!
Enjoy the issue.

CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Vnuk Jr., Giles Reaves,
Diana Smethurst, Sven-Erik Seaholm,
Brian Marshak, Jon Hillman,
Paul J. Stamler, Marty Peters, Scott Dorsey
SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney
WEB GOALIE: Colin Courtney

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

EDITOR/PRODUCER:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

CIRCULATION MANAGER:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley
VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz

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RECORDING January 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2016