EQ Magazine - October 2008 - (Page 4)

Talk Box THE “BACK TO BASICS” TRAP There’s a lot of talk about going back to basics and simplifying one’s sound. I don’t have a problem with that; for example, layering a boring melody line with more boring melody lines will make for a bigger sound, but won’t improve the melody line. In that case, time spent on writing a better melody is a better option than time spent doing tons of layering. And when it comes to recording, we sometimes see people adding way too much compression or EQ, doing overdubs that aren’t really necessary, inserting gratuitous loops, and the like. In the process, they lose sight of the most basic musical component: recording a great performance that bristles with soul, integrity, and originality. So it’s good there’s an emphasis on getting back to the right kinds of basics. But if “back to basics” is an excuse for not being willing to try new concepts—even ones that might appear at first excessive—then we’ve thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Many thought that rock and roll, a daring blend of R&B, blues, pop, and country, was just a passing fad. Some felt the Beatle’s “Sgt. Pepper’s” was excessive in terms of using the studio as an instrument, yet now it’s considered a classic album—possibly the best of their career. And Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” was definitely over the top compared to what was happening at the time, but had a profound influence on pop music. Today’s tools let us do feats that could only be dreamed about a few years ago, yet often, these tools aren’t exploited to anywhere near their full potential. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that: Just because something exists doesn’t mean we have to use it. In fact, I often advise people who are overwhelmed with technology to find their comfort zone, and work within that. However, staying exclusively in your comfort zone may keep you from finding something ground-breaking. It’s the people who transposed samples way out of their natural range who uncovered great new options for soundtracks; and we owe looping to the composer who cut a piece of analog tape and stuck one end to the other. Where would the Sex Pistols—or Enya or Queen for that matter—be without huge amounts of layering? And how many tape recorder motors were burned out in the process of figuring out tape flanging? Sure, don’t lose sight of the fundamentals. But in the process, also make sure you don’t lose sight of what might be over the horizon. www.eqmag.com Vol. 19 No. 10, October 2008 Executive Editor Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Editor Matt Harper, mharper@musicplayer.com Managing Editor Debbie Greenberg, dgreenberg@musicplayer.com Contributors Jeff Anderson, Moses Avalon, Janice Brown, Karl Coryat, Cliff Goldmacher, Mike Papatonis, Buddy Saleman, Angelina Skowronski, Richard Thomas Art Director Patrick Wong, pwong@musicplayer.com Staff Photographers Paul Haggard, phaggard@musicplayer.com, Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Group Publisher Joe Perry jperry@musicplayer.com, 770.343.9978 Advertising Director, West Coast & New Business Dev. Greg Sutton gsutton@musicplayer.com, 925.425.9967 Advertising Director, Midwest Jessica Sullivan jsullivan@musicplayer.com, 661.255.2719 Advertising Director, East Coast & Europe Grace Newman gnewman@musicplayer.com, 631.239.1460 Advertising Director, Southwest Albert Margolis amargolis@musicplayer.com, 949.582.2753 Director of Specialty Sales Mike Montgomery mmontgomery@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0307 Specialty Sales Associate, North Allison Smith asmith@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0296 Specialty Sales Associate, South Will Sheng wsheng@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0325 Production Manager Amy Santana MUSIC PLAYER NETWORK Vice President John Pledger Editorial Director Michael Molenda Senior Financial Analyst Bob Jenkins Production Department Manager Beatrice Kim Director of Sales Operations Lauren Gerber Web Director Max Sidman Web Editor Lania Cortez Motion Graphics Designer Tim Tsuruda Marketing Director Christen Pocock McFarland Sales and Marketing Coordinator Molly Corman Marketing Designer Joelle Katcher Systems Engineer John Meneses Associate Circulation Director Cheri McElroy Associate Director, Subscription Marketing Christopher Dyson Fulfillment Manager Rosario Perez NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE President & CEO Steve Palm Chief Financial Officer Paul Mastronardi Vice President Web Development Joe Ferrick Circulation Director Denise Robbins HR Manager Ray Vollmer IT Director Greg Topf Controller Jack Liedke Please direct all advertising and editorial inquiries to: EQ, 1111 Bayhill Dr., Ste. 125, San Bruno, CA 94066 (650) 238-0300; Fax (650) 238-0262; eq@musicplayer.com Please direct all subscription orders, inquiries, and address changes to: 800-289-9919, outside the U.S. 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com Back Issues: Back Issues are available for $10 each at 800-289-9919, 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com EQ (ISSN 1050-7868) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. EQ is a trademark of NewBay Media. All material published in EQ is copyrighted (©) 2008 by NewBay Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in EQ is prohibited without written permission. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EQ., P.O. Box 232, Lowell, MA 01853. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork. All product information is subject to change; publisher assumes no responsibility for such changes. All listed model numbers and product names are manufacturers' registered trademarks. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA, and at additional mailing offices. 4 EQ OCTOBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - October 2008

EQ Magazine - October 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Smashing Pumpkins Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Cakewalk Sonar 7 Steinberg Cubase 4 Studio Meets Stage Gear for the Studio and Stage Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - October 2008

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