If you're serious about your band, and your bandmate-friend is not, level with your friend and stick to doing activities of friendship: eating out, talking, going to ball games (and playing cards). Painting: Card Players by Paul Cezanne.

Here is a common problem in bands. You start a band with your good friend. You’re not concerned with the fact that your friend doesn’t play well. You’re just glad to be making music.

Over time, it becomes apparent that your friend is not as committed as you are. Perhaps you study and he or she doesn’t. Perhaps you practice, but he or she doesn’t.

The progress of the band suffers and you suffer! The chain is as strong as its weakest link. But you don’t know how to handle this problem. After all, it’s your friend, maybe your best friend.

This is your first test of developing an attitude of professionalism – or at least seriousness.

If your friend won’t put the effort into improving, you need to replace him or her in the band. Don’t let a misguided sense of loyalty stop you from doing what you need to do – if your goal is to have a professional-sounding band. It’s not fair to you to be held back because you’re afraid to level with your friend.

If this person is truly a friend, go to the movies with him or her. Hang out, eat meals together, go to a ball game. Be a friend – but don’t let friendship interfere with a musical pursuit if your goal is to take it seriously.

Visit Chuck Anderson’s website to join his mailing list and learn about upcoming concerts. Buy his CDs and educational materials. And of course, become a Facebook fan.

Tony Bennett sings without a microphone at the end of each concert, because of something a cab driver once said to him. Photo source: Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tony Bennett with the Bill Charlap Trio.

Tony Bennett told an interviewer that he’s still performing at 84 because: “I can’t not do it.”  The legendary vocalist will be performing Saturday night (Aug. 28, 2010) here in Philadelphia at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. David Patrick Stearns, a music critic from the Philadelphia Inquirer, did a fantastic interview with Bennett that was published in today’s paper. Below are some of the highlights from the interview, and more than a few words of wisdom from Tony Bennett:

David Patrick Stearns: I love the moment in your concerts, usually near the end, when you sing without a microphone. How did you come to do that?

Tony Bennett: Years ago when New York cabdrivers were all philosophers, I had one guy, he had a Brooklyn accent, who said, “All you guys are a bunch of bums. You use microphones. I grew up in an era when Al Jolson and Ethel Merman used to hit the back wall with their voice.” And that stayed with me. The microphone is almost like . . . an invisible curtain between you and the audience. When you eliminate the microphone, the curtain disappears. It’s like you’re visiting something really personal.

Stearns: Often, late-in-life singers maintain their voices but lose their fire for performing. They seem bored. I can’t imagine you falling into that.

Bennett: You should never be bored. In the Italian American neighborhood where I grew up, my siblings and I would entertain the family, and we were so young and cute that everybody loved us. That stayed with me the rest of my life. . . .Frank Sinatra was a great friend of mine and he made me realize that instead of being frightened of audiences, that they will help you. If you’re nervous . . . and if you want to do it right, they’ll support you. The old tradition that some audiences are cold is not true. That means the artist is cold. If the artist loves to perform and wants everybody to have a good time, the audience sees it right away. They know when you’re first walking onstage.

Stearns: How did you develop your singular jazz/pop singing style?

Bennett: I was told not to imitate singers; then you’ll only be part of the chorus. You have to imitate musicians. Find out how they’re phrasing. I like Art Tatum. He was the most unbelievable piano player. Stan Getz had this honeyed sound. I put those two together and got my own style.

Stearns: From there, you dipped into film and musical theater, but generally stuck to the concerts and recordings. In the heyday of the TV variety show, I don’t remember seeing you very often. Why is that?

Bennett: When I lived in Los Angeles, Fred Astaire would come by to chat, and he told me something that changed my life completely. Don’t make a move without care. You don’t know how quickly you can find yourself in an alley and saying, “How the heck did we get here?” If something is not completely right, I just say that I’m busy. I won’t make a move unless it’s just right for the audience and the musicians I’m performing with.

Stearns: You’ve talked about the battles with Columbia recording executives from Mitch Miller to Clive Davis, who pushed you to record music you disliked.

Bennett: Sometimes Mitch Miller would say, “You have to do this song!” And we’d battle about it. If it was real stupid I’d stay away from it. But every time I had a big million-seller, they’d say, “Record what you want.” Then I would do the American songbook. It ended up that I created this vast catalog of the American songbook albums during the years, and they never went to No. 1, but those are the ones that are still selling.

Stearns: What further recording plans do you have?

Bennett: Stevie Wonder keeps telling audiences that he wants to do an album with me. He once received the highest honor in France and he only now got around to picking it up 30 years later, so he’s a different kind of guy. Whenever it [the album] is, I’ll welcome it. Everybody’s reaction is “I can’t wait to hear it.”

The McClymonts have taken their native Australia by storm. Gear Guy Chris talked to this country-music-sister-act about their music, their approach to songwriting, and of course, their preferred instruments and gear.

"Gear Guy Chris" aka Chris Grova was a roving reporter at the 2010 NARM Convention.

The fourth and final installment of the NARM 2010 Convention coverage provided a chance to talk shop and gear with three gifted girls from Grafton – New South Wales, Australia that is - The McClymonts. For those who may not be familiar with this sister-country-music trio, The McClymonts have taken their native Australia by storm – racking up chart hits, and winning the Country Music Awards of Australia’s Group of the Year award three years in a row. [Watch and listen to the McClymonts here.]

Their vocal prowess is absolutely stunning, and they also know their way around their respective instruments: Brooke on acoustic guitar, Sam on electric bass, and Mollie on mandolin. 
  
Gear Guy Chris: Thanks for the chat ladies, let’s begin with how you each started…

Brooke McClymont: I started playing when I was twelve year old, so what’s that…a long time. I play a jumbo Guild, and I’ve been playing that for a few years now and absolutely love it.

Gear Guy Note: Brooke’s main guitar is the Guild F50 Jumbo. Big and loud with a warm rich tone, the F50 features a solid AAA Sitka spruce top, arched figured maple back and sides, and an ebony fingerboard. Its D-TAR Wave-Length Pickup system combines a piezo under-saddle transducer with an 18 volt, low-noise impedance preamp for higher headroom and increased dynamic range. So, plugged in or not, this jumbo sounds sweet.

GGC: At your NARM performance yesterday you were playing something else, what was that?

BM:  Right, that was a Maton, an Australian guitar. The Guilds are actually a bit heavy and cumbersome to travel with on some long distant flights, so for this trip it’s my Maton.   

Gear Guy Note: Established in 1946 by jazz musician and luthier Billy May, 100% family owned Maton of Melbourne is Australia’s longest running and most successful guitar makers. The Maton name is a derivative of “May” & “Tone.” Brooke’s Maton of choice is the EA80C from the Australian Series. She’s also in great company as world-renowned Aussie guitar extraordinaire Tommy Emmanuel plays Maton too. 

GGC: And what is your string preference?

BC: I like D’Addario, they’re good, and I do like the long lasting Elixirs too.

GGC: OK Sam, you’re up.

Sam McClymont: I stared when I was twelve also but I only lasted about a year with lessons. My first bass was actually a three quarter tiny thing because I couldn’t obviously play a full size bass guitar.  So I left lessons after about a year, and then when we got signed to Universal Records four years ago, we realized that we needed to be our own band so we didn’t need to hire musicians.  Because I owned a bass, I had to get that out and start learning again, and I learned very very quickly. Then, about three years ago Fender actually provided me an American Jazz bass that I used for about three years. This year as a birthday present I was given a beautiful Precision bass that I’m using now. 

CCG: How about amps?

SM: I’m really lucky, Fender supplies me on the road…that’s the thing when you’re starting out, you do a lot of acoustic and you just go through DIs (direct input), so you don’t always get to experience the big, heavier sound situations.

GGC: And you Molly…

Mollie McClymont: Gosh, I can hardly remember….I started at fourteen with mandolin.

SM: Mollie played a bit of everything: guitar, harmonica…

MM: I’m trying to remember my first mandolin…what brand it was… oh yeah, Aria. I played the Aria for a few years, then as Fender sponsors us now, I have a “standard.”

Gear Guy Note: The “standard” Molly refers to is actually a top of the line FM-63S mandolin. A sunburst finished “F” Style (dual f-holes), the FM-63S features a solid spruce top, solid maple back, rosewood fingerboard, and gold plated hardware.

GGC: OK then, so when did you first start writing songs?

BM: I started right around twelve, just sort of randomly. Then when I was about sixteen years old I had my first serious songwriting session and haven’t stopped since. When we started The McClymonts we started writing a lot together – and that was back in 2006.

SM: We’d been writing songs many years before that, but not as a full time effort…you kind of just write a song every now and again.  Then we wanted to make records, so we actually really sat down and got down to it.

MM: Brooke has traveled the world songwriting and has written with some of the best songwriters in the world. She has also written for other people, but for Samantha and I it was kind of a new and exciting thing.

GGC: So, is there a McClymont’s songwriting formula?

BM: I reckon the only formula we’ve got is locking a time in and actually writing a song to that deadline, but as for a formula to write a song, I don’t know….it just kind of goes.

MM: Brooke usually has a melody going on, to start with…

BM: And with lyrics, we’ve all got our own niche with what we do. Sam’s really good with lyrics, especially when we’re stuck on something she comes up with amazing lines, really quick, and Mollie, you’re quick too, and she’s a great rhymer. We all have our own little thing that we bring to the table.

MM: Sometimes they just flow – and sometimes they take a while.

Gear Guy Note: And speaking of songs — the U.S. release of their Australian Gold debut album, “Chaos and Bright Lights” was just last week — August, 17, 2010 — on Executive Music Nashville, a division of EMG. Now’s our turn to see and hear what this Aussie buzz is all about – good on ya girls! For more info, visit The McClymonts.

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.

Many artists allow their music to be sampled, at a price. Some groups' music, such as the Beatles, cannot legally be sampled.

This post first appeared in the Disc Makers blog in a longer form.

The use of samples is a staple of many genres of music. With the advent of sampling technology in the 1980s, musicians, producers and recording engineers began to experiment with incorporating clips of historical and/or significant audio recordings as an element in new records.

Prior to a landmark case in 1991, which codified sampling practice and the consequences for using samples without proper permissions, the record industry turned a blind eye toward the increasingly popular practice. However, once legal precedent was clearly set, record companies began to insist that producers and artists deliver signed licenses for any samples used in a new recording prior to the label pressing the CDs.

Two clearances
If you want to use a sample of an existing recording, you actually need two distinct clearances due to copyright law. The first is the copyright embodied in the underlying musical composition – called the song copyright. The second relates to the copyright embodied in the sound recording itself – which is referred to in music licensing parlance as a “master license.” The publisher that represents the songwriter normally controls song copyrights. The record label that originally financed the recording and release of the commercial recording you wish to sample normally controls master rights.

I picked the song “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, released on his 1962 debut album as a leader on Blue Note Records – catalog number 465062. Aside from the fact that the song is an instantly recognizable classic, it is also a song with the added benefit of having a single publisher. (The more recent the song, the more likely there may be two or more publishers with joint copyright ownership, which can make clearing your song more time-consuming.)

The grid below shows the research information needed before I can begin requesting sample clearances.

Locating publishers and their contact information is relatively easy, as both ASCAP and BMI have excellent search indexes. If you are having difficulty determining publisher information, be sure to first double check that you are spelling the name of the song and/or artist who recorded the song, or the songwriter correctly. If you still come up with a blank, your next stop should be the SESAC website or Limelight by Rightsflow. Assuming you have located the publisher and their contact information, it’s time to move on to the record label.

Surprisingly, the bigger the record label, the harder it sometimes is to find their contact information. They aren’t in the business of communicating with consumers, so you’ll need to use an online directory or a printed directory such as the Billboard International Buyer’s Guide or the Musician’s Atlas, both of which may often be found at larger public libraries and online.

As a general rule, the larger the record company, the more critical it is to get your request to the right department, as most major labels have ten or more departments and employ a wide array of people. Your goal is to get your master sample request into the hands of the label’s Licensing Department, or the Business and Legal Affairs team, who will likely route it to a Licensing specialist. If the label is an indie, the same person who answers the phone may be the licensing coordinator. Many indie labels also proudly list their contact information on their web site, because they want to speak with their customers (and many are happy to negotiate a sample license.)

Requesting permission
Did I mention that in addition to sending in your sample request forms, you’ll also need to send in a CD-R or an MP3 of your finished song (or a rough mix) so the copyright owners can hear exactly how you will use the sample?

As a result, if you can find the email contact information for the person in the licensing department you will be working with, and the copyright owner allows electronic sample request submissions, do so. This will save the time of writing letters and mailing CDs to them.

Here’s a link to a copy of a sample clearance form that you can use as a model. It includes all the pertinent information that a music publisher or record label will need (excluding your song with the sample included) to reach a decision.

At what cost?
Here’s where things get a bit more complicated. In the case of the master clearance, according to veteran music attorney Donald S. Passman’s indispensible reference book, All You Need to Know about the Music Business, the fees master owners charge for samples is “around three to eight cents [per copy], sometimes more … they’ll also want an advance.” A sample advance is a prepayment of royalties before you have sold any copies of your new recording. Passman goes on to say that publishers will almost always “Insist on owning a piece of the copyright, songwriting royalties, and publishing income.”

So although you may be able to secure a master license for a few pennies on each recording sold, the song’s publisher more often than not will ask for a percentage of ownership in your new song. As many a music attorney has advised his clients seeking sample clearances, “When you use samples, you give up a piece of ownership and income of your new songs.”

Save time and money with replays
Increasingly artists have started to secure only the song sample copyright clearance, and not the master rights. Why? Because with the increased sophistication of affordable recording technology, musicians can create a replay, which is the sound of the original recording, which copyright law allows. Since you won’t be using the original sound recording, you’ll only a single clearance to proceed, from the song’s publisher, assuming you can recreate a convincing sound-alike in your own studio. This can definitely save time and money.

Getting help 
If the maze of research, sample requests and licensing jargon seems a bit much to work your way through, you can hire a sample clearance house to assist you with researching ownership and negotiating the necessary permissions. You’ll still have to pay for the various clearances, but the advantage is that a music licensing professional already has contacts at most publishers and record labels and may also be able to help you negotiate the most favorable rates possible.

Remember, there are some artists who strictly prohibit any sample use of their music, such as The Beatles. As a last resort, if an artist you want to sample can be reached online or by their MySpace of Facebook page, send them an informal request and see if they will help you get in touch with the handlers who can make it happen. On some occasions, the artist’s involvement might be just the recipe to get things done quickly, especially if they think your sample use is creative or novel.

Alternatives to sampling
While there’s really no substitute for a substantial historical sample, there are musicians who are creating beats, sounds, samples, and musical elements that are available for low cost or even free of charge, especially for non-commercial projects.

Check out the communities at online collaboration sites like Indaba or MixMatchMusic to find possible sources for original samples that might fit the bill for what you are looking for. You should also check out the many music clips available through Copyright Commons, an informal collective of musicians, authors, poets and visual artists who offer various usage options for their works as an alternative to the “sample and pay” model.

Best of luck with your sampling and remember that you wouldn’t want someone profiting by using unauthorized samples of your original music, so play fair and practice safe sampling.

This post, by Keith Hatschek, first appeared in the Disc Makers blog. Hatschek has been a musician, educator, recording engineer, producer and marketing executive. He is the author of  The Golden Moment: Recording Secrets from the Pros and How to Get a Job in the Music Industry. Hatschek currently teaches Music Management at the University of the Pacific.

Joceyln Celaya performs as Radical Classical. She uses classical elements with open tunings, percussive sounds, and vocals for a unique, alternative sound.

"Gear Guy Chris," who writes about instruments and gear, was a roving reporter at the 2010 NARM convention.

In Part III of my NARM 2010 Convention wrap-up, I had the opportunity to talk gear and music with the nylon string powerhouse and vocalist Jocelyn Celaya aka Radical Classical. (Ed. Note: Read Part I and Part II of Gear Guy’s NARM coverage.) 

A musical journey that began when she picked up her father’s old classical guitar at age fourteen has taken her to clubs and concert halls across the country and internationally. Hailing from the border towns of San Diego, Calif., and Rosarito, Mexico, Radical Classical is blazing a trail of fretboard pyrotechnics that’s pushing the boundaries of the classical guitar to new and amazing places. [Ed. Note: Watch a short clip of Radical Classical performing.]
 
Gear Guy Chris: Thanks for taking the time to chat – tell us about Radical Classical.
 
Radical Classical: Radical Classical is the style that I play and sing. I play classical guitar and that covers the foundation of a classical technique, and I add a lot of tapping and percussion and flamenco elements, as well as the tunings I’ve created that gives it a multi-dimensional alternative sound.
 
GGC: Can you elaborate on your alternative tunings?
 
RC: Well, one thing that I like to do when creating tunings is to find certain chords that stick out to me, maybe like a C minor for instance, and just tune each string to the notes that are in that chord. For example, alternating C-G-C-G and throw an F in there or something like that, or just alternate the tunings. That’s where I come up with the sound.
 
GGC: Very unique indeed – definitely not you run of the mill dropped D (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  Let’s talk about your guitars.
 
RC: I promote Fender Classical Guitars. Not many people know that they have a wonderful line of classical guitars.  The model that I play is the Fender cutaway classical guitar, which is a very modern style. The neck is a lot thinner than most, so it’s a lot more comfortable if you play a steel string acoustic guitar or electric guitar and just switch over to a classical. There are a lot of guitarists who love the tone of a classical guitar, but they don’t necessarily want to play the much of classical technique, they are not quite serious about that style.
 
With the cutaway neck, it makes it so much easier to reach up the fretboard. And the body of the guitar is thinner than normal, so all around, it’s a very comfortable, classical guitar with a real nice tone.
 
** GEAR GUY NOTE: The Fender CDN240SCE Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Classical Guitar is definitely worth a look if you’re interested in a comfortable nylon sting experience that’s easier on the fretting hand than a traditional classical guitar. Features include a mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, rosewood sides and back, a solid cedar top, and built-in electronics featuring the Fender On-Board Active Preamp with Piezo Pickup, Volume Control, 3-Band EQ, and Mid Sweep. A street price of around $350 makes the Fender CDN240SCE a compelling and affordable nylon 6 string option.
 
GGC: OK, let’s talk about your picking technique and your choice of plectrum.
 
RC: For the right had, I do use my fingernails to play, so it’s like using 5 picks. Every once in a while, I use a thumb pick to get a stronger baseline groove to what I play.
 
GGC: Who makes that thumb pick?
 
RC: Strum-N-Comfort. The model that I use is the SharkTooth. It’s a really fantastic pick to play. A lot of times thumb picks can be very stiff and rigid and you can’t quite get a nice strumming sound, but the Strum-N-Comfort’s name says it all — it’s very comfortable to play with, and you can still use it for heavy thumb picking as well as a nice strumming tone too.
 
GGC: And the left hand?
 
RC: I like to add in a lot of tapping and hammer-on techniques, and that way you get little bit more of a rhythm groove to the style, as well as because of the tunings that I play, I’m able to harmonize and you add a lot of counterpoint with keeping a traditional  classical technique on the left hand.
 
GGC: Do you have certain string preference?
 
RC: I use La Bella classical guitar strings. La Bella is my string of choice and I use their extra hard tension. Because of the alternate tunings that I use, there’re different tensions, and for me, by far, the extra hard tension works the best.
 
GGC: Makes sense for the radical classical approach! For live gigs when you plug in, what is your amp of choice?
 
RC: I’m kind of in between amps right now. I’ve been testing out some different Fender models. They have one called the California Blonde which is an acoustic bass amp that sounds so beautiful with a classical guitar. To plug a classical guitar into a bass amp sound really nice — that’s the model that I’m looking into at this point, so we will see.
 
GGC: Anything else you would like to mention about your gear preferences?
 
RC: Sure, I do use a pre-amp for concerts. It’s a direct box pre-amp by LR Baggs. That’s a pre-amp that I would highly recommend for any acoustic guitarist to use, especially if you perform in mainstream venues where maybe the venue is not quite fit for an acoustic guitarist, that really boasts the tone and sound and gets rid of all the feedback problems that you may have to deal with.
 
GGC: Thanks Jocelyn! Continued success and we’ll see you down the road.
 
Visit Radical Classical – for music, merch, tour dates, latest news, and some jaw dropping in concert videos. If you ever get a chance to catch her inspiring live show, do so, you’ll be amazed.

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.

Don't make changes to your music based on someone's negative opinion. Make changes when they feel right to you. Painting: Road to Music by Ed Sandoval

One of the biggest problems that musicians face is holding on to their own musical identity and integrity. It’s often tempting to bail out on your own direction and capitulate to an agent, an audience, a label, or society in general.

Even with my experience in this business, I continue to be surprised by how a negative or even a neutral comment will often throw me out of balance. If someone says that my new CD “Freefall” is “nice,” it throws me. If someone doesn’t like my direction, my style, my songs or my sound, I feel emotionally like I should change what I do – what I am to please them.

The logical side of me knows that this is not true. But the logical side isn’t the only side that operates. In the arts, it’s probably not even the most important side.

I love Bill Evans’ comments on the November 6, 1978  Marian McPartland radio show. He said: “We must look at it as art. Otherwise, we’re going to get so confused because there are a million things you can do and so you just have to perfect your own art and hopefully, there’ll be room for it.”

Find the audience that likes what you like. You will never turn everyone in your direction. But you can find an audience!

My field is jazz, particularly the jazz guitar. But these comments are relevant to all sides of the musical world. For example, there’s the band that is confused about direction and worried about how much cover material they should do. Or maybe it should be all cover or maybe not - and on. The singer – songwriter who panics if everyone doesn’t love his or her material. Should I change the lyrics? Maybe they’re too deep or not deep enough. Maybe the chords aren’t complicated enough or maybe they’re too simple. Maybe my hooks aren’t memorable….

I think committed self-conviction is the only road map. Use your own instincts to make decisions. Stay single-minded. Keep open-minded. Always consider the possibility of change but not the necessity of change. Don’t use everyone’s negative opinion as a reason to change.

Change if you can justify and emotionally support change. If you don’t take that approach, you’ll be blown around by every opinion until you get to the point that you will not know who you are, what your music is for, and where you are going.

Visit Chuck Anderson’s website to join his mailing list and learn about upcoming concerts. Buy his CDs and educational materials. And of course, become a Facebook fan.

Sound engineer Joe Zook has recorded or mixed projects for Modest Mouse, Katy Perry, and Dashboard Confessional.

This post first appeared in the Disc Makers blog in a longer form. 

I caught up with two top studio engineers, Joe Zook and Rich Travali, and asked them to share their opinions on how loud is too loud in the control room, and what effects high volume monitoring can have on your ability to accurately hear a mix.
 
What do you do when you find yourself in a situation where the client wants to listen to the mix at a very high level?

Joe: A long time ago I was assisting a very famous producer that would listen at probably 110db all day long in a very small control room. I put ear plugs in and he saw me doing it and asked me: “What are those for?” I said to protect my ears and he said: “It’s not going to do any damage. It sounds amazing. The frequencies are all even.” I kept my earplugs in despite his frequent head shaking. These days, I throw earplugs in all the time if someone wants to play at uncomfortable levels for too long. I don’t want to tell someone to turn it down because people have their own preferences and I respect that, just as I’d hope they respect that I put plugs in or leave the room before my ears start to bleed.

Sound engineer Rich Travali has recorded or mixed projects for Nelly, Jennifer Hudson, and Gwen Stefani.

Rich: Some of the younger “hot shot” producers that I’ve worked with would never entertain mixing at moderate levels. For many of them, they feel like they need to hear it like they’re “in the club.” Thankfully, I don’t find myself in that situation very often now for two reasons: one is that I mix predominantly at my own facility unattended by clients, and also that over the years, many of my clients have become more sophisticated and understand the downside of loud monitoring.

What happens to a person’s ears during prolonged listening to high levels in the studio?

Joe: In my experience three things happen. First, everything seems to sound amazing at high levels. Then, all of a sudden the mix seems to sound dark. So you brighten it up and turn it down and continue working. Then, everything suddenly starts to sound really bright and painful, even at low levels. The next day you listen to it and realize that all of the levels are off. The bass and kick are too quiet, it’s too dark, and the highs and lows aren’t right. You end up with a mix that’s mostly dull and somewhat lifeless because you were listening too loud.

Rich: When I’m working unattended, I like to fill the room with sound, but not “over monitor,” so the room folds up, and your ears soon follow. Obviously, the louder you listen, the more the room’s acoustic imperfections will affect your judgment. One thing I’ve learned to do is that if I’m not sure about a level or EQ on something in a mix, I turn the monitor level down, not up, to make the decision. Also, I like to take breaks, frequently, if necessary. I find that the monitor volume can easily creep up on you if you’re having trouble getting the mix to do what you want it to do. Taking a little ear break and clearing your head can help to keep that in check.

Do you have a personal rule of thumb for both volume (how loud in dBs) and length of time you normally will work in a single session?

Joe: In my experience, most of a 6 to 8 hour day with music playing should be at around 85dB SPL to get the best results. If you mix too loud, or too long, I believe the mix suffers. The good news is that good mixing results just happen to coincide with taking good care of your hearing.

Do you use ear plugs in situations where the volume level might be damaging to your hearing?

Joe: Yes, I have fitted ear plugs that are “flat” and take everything down 20db. I love those and wear them a lot just because they are more comfortable and I don’t enjoy loud environments outside the studio. Actually, I never look at it as protecting my hearing so much as just being comfortable. I hate the feeling of ear fatigue and pain.

Rich: When I can’t avoid a situation when the monitor level is crazy, I wear ear plugs. They are life savers, whether I wear my [custom-fit] flat attenuating plugs which I got at the NY Eye and Ear Infirmary, or the foam ones from the drug store which are cheap and effective. The obvious downside is that it’s harder to communicate instantly with the client (even though they are already shouting in your ear over the music). I really prefer to just turn it down and listen naturally.

This post, by Keith Hatschek, first appeared in the Disc Makers blog. Hatschek has been a musician, educator, recording engineer, producer and marketing executive. He is the author of  The Golden Moment: Recording Secrets from the Pros and How to Get a Job in the Music Industry. Hatschek currently teaches Music Management at the University of the Pacific.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote numerous hits for Elvis Presley and others, but, mainly they wrote songs that they liked, first and foremost.

"Gear Guy Chris," who writes about instruments and gear, was a roving reporter at the recent NARM convention.

Part II of my NARM 2010 Convention coverage brought the distinct honor and pleasure of a sit down chat with legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. They were in Chicago being honored with the NARM Outstanding Achievement Award For A Lifetime Of Musical Collaboration, which they can add to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a litany of awards amassed over their 60 year partnership – that’s right 6 – 0!

The Leiber & Stoller songbook contains tunes that defined a generation and arguably lit the fuse on a new genre of music that morphed its way from American rhythm and blues into what kids in the 1950’s called, “rock and roll.” 

There are the iconic hits such as “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand By Me”, and hundreds of others covered by just about everyone: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sinatra, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix…talk about a résumé!
 
Gear Guy Chris: Congratulations on your NARM award and happy 60th anniversary.

Mike Stoller: Thank you.

GGC: The MA50 web site is a forum for folks getting into or returning to music later in life; do you have any songwriting advice for that audience?

MS: Listen to our songs, buy them, and pay for them {laughter}.

Jerry Leiber: Listen to the music that’s caught your attention most of all, and listen to as much as you can, over and over again, especially the hits. Because every hit has something positive about it.

GGC: What was a typical songwriting session like back in the day?

MS: I would be at the piano just doing stuff, and Jerry would pace around, and he would shout out phrases, lines, words, and if something that came together sounded good – then OK, there’s an idea.

JL: Now let’s work on it from there.

MS: And we both smoked, incessantly in those days. I haven’t smoked in forty years.

JL: We only look this way due to the smokes; we’re really only twelve years old each {laughter}.

GGC: So would you say there’s a Leiber and Stoller songwriting formula?

MS: I think the formula, if there is one, is that we wrote to please and impress ourselves first and foremost.

GGC: There’s the story in your book where Elvis’s music publisher barricaded you in your hotel room and wouldn’t leave until you guys wrote him some songs – so you cranked out four in one day, including “Jailhouse Rock.” Any other examples of that type of lightning in a bottle moment?

JL: “Kansas City,” that one came quick.

CCG: That’s back in 1952 if I’m correct.

MS: You are correct.

GGC: And how about the flip side – where there was more of a struggle?

JL: We spent a lot of extra time on “Is That All There Is?” {A huge hit for Peggy Lee in 1969}.

MS: As a matter of fact, the spoken word parts were finished first, and the artist we were demonstrating for at that time was the British singer-actress Georgia Brown, who liked it but she needed something else. We needed a chorus, so I went home and the next day I called Jerry and excitedly said I’ve got the music, I know it’s the right tune.  Jerry said I’ve got the words, let me show you…and when we got together and sat down, then finally…{gestures hands together, fingers interlocking}.

CCG: It fit like a glove.

MS: Yeah, it was unbelievable. That never happens.

JL: And it never happened again!

MS: That’s for sure.

CCG: How about songwriters you admire or a song you wish you had written?

MS: Oh, there are a lot of them. ”Where or When,” Rodgers and Hart –”Day and Night,” Cole Porter.

CCG: And more contemporary?

JL: Some of the Beatles stuff, oh yeah, and Randy Newman.

CCG: Your book comes out in paperback soon; what can people expect?

MS: We’ll, we’re pleased with it. It’s about us, the songs we wrote and who we wrote for, and other things that are more personal and less about our work, bur mostly about our work.

And as not to forget that this is a ‘Gear Guy’ post after all, I followed up with Mr. Stoller via email about the keyboards that created the magic. He wrote:

 “Back in the day, I used to have an ancient pre-pre-pre-owned upright piano. I have no idea what make. From 1957 to 1967 I had a new Baldwin and then I got a 6’6″ 1902 Steinway with an incredible bass. It’s now in my living room along with an 1895 Steinway. I rarely touch them – my wife uses them. However, my wife bought me a Yamaha grand, which I have in my workroom. It’s a terrific piano, but I tend to write on an old Yamaha PF/10 with earphones. I’m very private when I write, even if I’m all alone.”
 
Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography is out now in paperback. It’s a quick paced, back and forth conversational romp through the lives and careers of this legendary American songwriting team. It’s a terrific read and a definite ‘Gear Guy’ pick of the month, as it reveals the stories behind the men and the classic songs they wrote together as one of the most iconic songwriting duos in Rock and Roll history.

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.

Keith Hatschek talks to Paul Butler of "Band of Bees" about how the band records using vintage gear to achieve its vintage sound.

This post first appeared in the Disc Makers blog in a longer form.

While the revolution in recording technology centers on affordable digital audio workstations, the affection for the old analog traditions and sounds is more than just nostalgia. To that end, Britain’s six-piece “Band of Bees” is working hard to recapture some of the vintage sounds of legendary artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s like the Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, and the Young Rascals in their recordings.

To create the celebrated sounds from past eras takes more than modern simulators – it requires an esoteric mix of current and vintage gear, and the Bees’ arsenal is mostly made up of co-founder Paul Butler’s collection. Butler, a self-declared student of vintage production technique and technology, emerged from the band’s newly-constructed studio, The Steamrooms, for this interview.

“Octopus” is the first album to be recorded at The Steamrooms, and is the band’s third release. It’s another entirely original mélange of hot grooves, solid vocal lines, and funky horns, with echoes of many classic pop productions simmering in the mix. [Listen to the cut "Got to Let Go" on Octopus.]

Butler has spent a lot of time studying old recordings, carefully analyzing how certain sounds were created. Here he describes the mics, console, reverbs, and echo used on “Octopus,” as well as the techniques used by the band to record the album.

You’ve recorded each of your three albums in completely different environments, from a garden shed, to Abbey Road, and now your own studio. Could you talk about the recording journey you’ve made over the last four years?

I’ve always admired the sound of older productions, not only do they capture the energy better, but they have a certain chunky sound I love.

For the first album (2002’s Sunshine Hit Me), it was very hard work to get the mix to sound right, to get a vintage sound, so we had to rely on a lot of outboard gear. To add to that, while recording the album, our monitor speakers broke, so we had to wait while they were repaired. As we struggled with the mixes for the album, I complained that we ‘should have just gone on to Abbey Road Studio 2.’

As it goes, the album was nominated for a Mercury Prize [Ed Note: the UK’s most prestigious annual music award] and before I knew it, we were signed to EMI. It wasn’t long after that my wishful thinking became reality and we were booked into Abbey Road Studio 2 for six weeks to record our follow up album, 2004’s Free the Bees.

Was working at Abbey Road as good as you imagined?

Yes. We certainly used the opportunity to use all the old kit that was available. For instance, we always admired the sound of the big old Fairchild 660 limiters, and had the chance to use them. We also used the TG 12413 stereo limiter, sort of an answer to the tube Fairchild, a solid state version developed by EMI labs. The sound of these is really magic, though a bit violent in how they respond.

We were also using the actual TG console, [Ed Note: The EMI TG consoles were designed by the engineers at Abbey Road and built by EMI’s own laboratory in Hayes. The Beatles recorded the Abbey Road album using a TG.]

Before we started the interview, you mentioned that you have been avidly shopping on eBay to continue adding to the Steamrooms’ complement of vintage gear.

Yeah, it’s a bit of a habit. I’m continuously checking what old kit is available online and adding bits and pieces as we go.

Is that how you acquired your console?

No, we actually got it through our friends that run a vintage equipment firm in London called Funky Junk. Our console is an SBC (Swedish Broadcast Company) desk designed for Swedish radio with no EQ and just a bass roll-off control, and a cut or boost switch at 60 Hz and 10K for each module. There was a midrange control on only one channel. It also came with a brick wall frequency limiter that’s quite useful for certain vocal effects or on drums. Anyway, the Neve restoration engineer, a fellow named Blake Devitt, vouched that the console had very good preamps, with lots of headroom and lovely distortion, so that with a couple of external compressors, we would be set to record the way we envisioned here at the Steamrooms.

Blake did a total restoration that took nearly eight months, as it had been built with internal DC wiring for the Swedish studio. Removing all that DC wiring from the console resulted in two dustbin loads of parts removed. He also added direct outs on every channel. Since the original design was for radio, there were many more inputs than outputs. One more point about the console is that all the controls are labeled in Swedish!

It seems that Octopus really has a very human, organic live feel to it, just a bit more than the previous albums. How do you go about building your tracks?

On our debut album, it was pretty much me just laying up all the parts in my shed, and adding in other parts as needed. For Free the Bees, the songs were ready to go, so we just went in and started playing through them at Abbey Road. For the new album, we set out to record as many parts simultaneously live as possible. For many of the songs, we’d lay down bass, drums, rhythm guitar and Hammond in one pass and then move on to some vocal overdubs.

We tend to start working from grooves, not complete songs. For instance, on “Got To Let Go,” we had that groove for awhile and the song came a bit later. “Listening Man” came together on our third try to write something over the groove we had for it. “Left Foot Stepdown” started the same way, not as a song per se, but as a groove we loved to play. We all share a real love of dance music, so once we get a groove that works well, we find a way to build up from there. We got most of our grooves out of our system on this last album, so now we’re working on some ideas for the next record that will be a bit more folksy.

It seems the reverb sounds you use, on guitars and on some vocals, really calls up the sound of the great ‘60s productions. For instance, the short guitar solo on “Love In The Harbour,” what do you use to get that sound? Was it a spring reverb?

Yeah, I like the sound of spring reverbs. I’ll use an AKG BX-15 on vocals and distant percussion. It’s a bit clean for my liking, but it has a natural sound and a minimum of circuitry. We also have an EMT 262 Gold Foil Plate that was used on vocals. I’m really into carefully analyzing the old tunes and the reverb sounds they used. In those days the reverb really got out of the way of the track, so I now have two separate racks of older reverbs. I prefer units with smaller trays (for the springs).

For guitars, I’ll use a Roland Space Echo (SE-201 or 301), Roland 555 (Chorus Echo) and I have a 1959 Fender stand-alone reverb unit that I’ll use in the studio to get that old surf sound. I also picked up a Fairchild Reverbertron II about a year ago on eBay.

The bass sound on Octopus is full and deep; was that done with a DI?

That’s interesting, because I often struggle to get a good bass sound. I feel like bass frequencies often swamp everything in the mix. My favorite bass sounds are on soundtrack albums by Lalo Schifrin and anything that came out of Studio 1 in Jamaica, that bass sounds beautiful.

I decided to take the bass and go straight into the Swedish desk, and push up the input and keep phase testing it as we recorded.

The horns on Octopus have a sort of funky Jamaican sound to them. How did you get that sound?

That’s mostly Tim Parkin and myself. We would do two, three, or four takes, starting with trumpet and sax. Then I’d often add two tenor parts, bouncing them down as we go. I like the Neumann-Gefell UM-57 for the horns, it’s really magic on brass. I had gotten a Coles 4038 for brass, but it took too much edge out for my ear. I like to have some edge on the horns. Where you place the mic in the room makes a big difference in the sound, so we experiment a bit with that. For brass, I try to get a sound like some of the Nigerian brass bands. You hear some inconsistencies and some weird resonance, which I like.

Your vocal sound has its own signature, how much of that is your arrangements and how much is studio technique?

Some songs feature all of us singing together and some are all me. Aaron is featured on “Hot One,” whereas the “Ocularist” and “Better Days” feature the whole band singing. My favorite vocal mic is the UM-57, but I also use the Rode 2, which gives a classic, clean sound. We have a Neumann-Gefell CMV 563 valve mic, with the M-8 head, but I want to get the M-7 head on that one. I listen a lot to J.J. Cale’s album Troubadour as a reference for vocal sounds.

Actually we got one of my favorite mics in a roundabout way. We were doing a live appearance at a radio station in London, and as all of us squeezed into the booth the call went out to “go and find some more microphones.” After a few minutes someone came in with an RCA DX 77 ribbon mic in absolutely mint condition and he was chastised with the remark, “Is that all you could find?”

After our performance, I made an offer of 100 quid for the old mic and the guy said, “Yeah, sure.” This is a mic that was used on so many classic recordings, its sound is an influence on great music we all know. For instance, if you want to get the authentic James Brown squeal, the 77 is the mic you must shout into to get that sound.

A newer ribbon mic won’t do?

No. I’ll stick to the down and dirty. A new ribbon mic won’t produce that recognizable sound when you shout into it.

What about “Stand,” which has a very nice echo effect on the vocal?

We learned so much at Abbey Road about delay and flanging. It was a bit like going to school. That was an echo created by feeding the vocal into an Otari MX-5050 two track and using Vari-pitch to adjust the echo timing. We also have a late 50’s WEM Copycat, which has one head with a split right down the middle. So it gives a little “click” every time the signal passes over it. It also can produce amazing psychedelic feedback like Joe Meek used to get. We master to a Studer B-67 analog reel to reel and also use it as a main delay. Using a feed to a tape machine gives you so much control at the desk, as you feed the echo return back in. Of course, the master of delay is King Tubby, the Jamaican artist.

Do you also cut basic tracks to analog tape?

Yes, our main machine has been an Ampex MM-1200 2”, but I feel like I’ve lost 10-15 years off my life trying to keep it working. It could be that the transport goes, some transistors popping shut down the motors, or there was too much power applied. Finding replacement heads isn’t easy. I’ve just gone back to the Fostex D 2424, as tape is pretty expensive for certain projects. Still, there’s nothing quite like splicing a 2” master successfully, if you do it right.

This post, by Keith Hatschek, first appeared in a longer form in the Disc Makers blog. Hatschek has been a musician, educator, recording engineer, producer and marketing executive. He is the author of  The Golden Moment: Recording Secrets from the Pros and How to Get a Job in the Music Industry. Hatschek currently teaches Music Management at the University of the Pacific.

"Gear Guy Chris" aka Chris Grova is a veteran collector of instruments, gear, and gizmos. He shares his knowledge about what to buy, or what to dream about buying.

NARM, the Nation Association of Recording Merchandisers, recently held its annual convention in Chicago where retailers, artists, labels, and various other music industry insiders met to exchange ideas and survey the landscape of today’s music industry, all while charting a course for its future. As part of the numerous sessions and presentations,  the opening day and a half served as a high-level primer for the music business: the Crash Course.

Presented in conjunction with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the presentation covered an assortment of topics — specific to artists (from newbie to established), record labels, tech players, and marketing companies. For this post, we’ll deviate from a traditional ‘Gear Guy’ discussion, and concentrate on the artist-centric content.

The Crash Course started with a state of the union of sorts detailing an overview of the current music marketplace. Not surprising, things aren’t exactly rosy in the physical retail world, with sales of music products declining since 1999. 

The old world paradigm of listening to radio and buying physical plastic product has been flipped on its head by the iPod, satellite radio, web radio, subscription services, digital downloads, and the like. Obviously the fragmentation makes it much more challenging for new bands and artists to rise above the din and get their music heard and bought.

Some interesting tidbits really drive home the point that (for better or worse) there’s A LOT of music out there. Are you an artist with a MySpace page? You’re not alone by any stretch. Estimates from 2008  indicate that more than 5 million (other recent sources say as many as 8 million!) artists or bands have an internet presence of some sort.

Of those millions, the number of artists selling over 10,000 albums in 2008 was less that 2,000 – so the figures speak to a success/obscurity ratio where only a very small percentage of acts make it to the top – or anywhere near. Looks like plenty of folks aren’t quitting their day jobs – myself included.      

Next up were some sobering tales of artist economics where the all too familiar tale of a gold record (500,000 units) selling act is deconstructed into head shaking detail. A $2.00 royalty for each unit sold nets a cool million dollars – not too bad, right? 

That is until you repay the recording advance, tour support, promotion, and videos costs, not to mention lawyers, managers, producers, and the like. It’s not surprising that the band/artists themselves have little to show for after all’s said and done. 

Even on a smaller scale (independent label) and with alternate revenue streams (ie,  merchandising, licensing, downloads, etc.), the forecast for a new, up and coming artist calls for a lot of hard work and a fair amount of luck, in addition to the raw talent – which there better be a ton of!

Some of the main ‘take aways’ from the Crash Course for any artist looking to make a living in the music biz (or at least give it a try) goes like this:

1. Write your own songs. Each song contains two copyrights:  the Musical Work (The Written Song) and the Sound Recording (The Recorded Performance). A songwriter gets what are referred to as mechanical royalties (also known as copyright royalties) whenever their song is performed by anyone, including themselves.
2. NEVER give away any publishing. Get a good lawyer, read the fine print – if you wrote the song, you should own it (or a major portion of it).
3. Familiarize yourself and register with performance rights organizations such as SoundExchange. This is a non-profit group that collects and distributes digital performance royalties (ie, satellite radio, internet radio, cable TV, and other ‘streaming’ sources) on behalf of artists.     

So, if you missed that window of opportunity to crisscross the country in the touring van in hopes of music stardom, it’s OK. You’re never too old to get a good solid understanding and feel for the inner-workings of the music business – thanks to the good folks at NARM. And if you work hard enough, you might just make a buck doing something you really love. 

Next time in Part II of the NARM convention wrap-up, a chat with songwriting legends Leiber and Stoller, who I had the privilege of meeting. Till then…

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.