Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

They say we are the sum of our experiences, and as many musicians know, whatever life throws at us, we can take and turn into art. No one knows this better than my guest on the podcast this week, Ray LeVier. Ray is a drummer, composer, producer, author, and motivational speaker who has played and recorded with John Abercrombie, Dave Binney, KJ Denhert, Joe Locke, Francois Moutin, Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern, and Rich Tozzoli.  At the age of 12, Ray suffered severe burns all over his body which left him unable to play the drums in a more ‘traditional' way. As a result, Ray has come up with his own innovative methods to play the drums. Ray's story is one of hope and resilience and he shares all of it with us in this episode.  Listen in as we discuss Ray's breathing techniques, how to achieve a flow state and optimal performance, how drummers with physical limitations can overcome the challenge and play effectively, why mindfulness is key to creating beautiful art, and more. Let's dive in. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 106695817, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

 My guest this week is producer, musician and remixer Danny Saber. Danny's worked with musical legends like David Bowie, Sheryl Crow, Marilyn Manson, U2, The Rolling Stones, Public Enemy, Willie Nelson, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, and Madonna, among many others. He's also contributed to television commercials for McDonald's, Taco Bell and Coors, and soundtracks for films such as “Blade II,” and “Moulin Rouge!.” Most recently Danny's been busy working on some recently discovered songs by the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, as well as a documentary on the singer's life. During the interview we spoke about his early band days around Hollywood, getting into remixing, producing the Rolling Stones, why producing a film is way different from composing, hanging with football legend Jim Brown, and much more. I spoke with Danny via Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 106695817, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Morgan Hayduk, who's the co-founder and co-CEO of Beatdapp, a company that helps artists, labels, performance rights organizations, and streaming platforms detect fraudulent streams.  Morgan started his career in music as a lobbyist for the Canadian music industry in the area of copyright protection before starting Beatdapp, although the company's original mission was as a streaming auditing tool for record labels. After many conversations with record execs, it became clear that just about everyone in the industry was having a problem with streaming manipulation, which led to inconsistencies between sales reports and streaming services' server logs. As a result, Beatdapp developed a tool to detect fraudulent streams and prevent them from impacting royalty payouts. Industry estimates that anywhere from 10% to 20% of all streams are fraudulent, so Beatdapp's tool is critical to restoring full payouts to artists everywhere. During our interview, Morgan spoke about the two goals of streaming fraud, why fraud can't be detected in a royalty statement, why even AI music companies are worried about streaming fraud, the various different types of streaming fraud, and much more. I spoke with Morgan via zoom from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro we look at potential new music delivery format, and some facts about vinyl records. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 106415398, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is mastering engineer Maor Applebaum, who's worked with the likes of Faith No More, Yes, Meatloaf, Eric Gales, Walter Trout,  Dream Theater, Sepultura, Halford, and many more.  Maor has written presets and collaborated with various plugin companies such as Waves, Brainworx/Plugin Alliance, Softube, Arturia, Leapwing Audio, Pulsar Audio and others.  He's also guested and lectured at various trade shows and recording schools, and is co-creator of the THE OVEN line of analog hardware which is modeled and emulated by Brainworx. During our interview, Maor spoke about the different mastering requirements for different genres, common mixing problems that he sees, what he asks clients to supply for mastering, the audio gear he's developed, and so much more. I spoke with Maor via zoom from his studio outside of Los Angeles.  On the intro we look at song melodies getting simpler and production more complex, and the quietest places in the U.S.

My guest this week is mastering engineer Howie Weinberg, who has 20 Grammy Awards and 76 Grammy nominations, 4 TEC awards, 2 Juno awards, 1 Mercury Prize award, 200+ gold and platinum records, an unbelievable 19,000 total credits, and 91 billion streams. Howie started working in the mail room at Masterdisk in New York City but soon became the apprentice of mastering legend Bob Ludwig. Within a few months Howie began mastering tracks for hip hop stars like Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy. Since then he's mastered projects for legends like U2, Nirvana, Sheryl Crow, The Clash, Madonna, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, John Mellencamp, Ozzy Osbourne - the list goes on. During our interview Howie talked about mastering at the beginning of hip hop, the tremendous volume of work that he does, why he thinks vinyl is a fad, why he creates both an analog and digital master, and so much more. I spoke with Howie via zoom from his home in Santa Monica.  On the intro we look at Universal Music's patent to be able to embed binaural beats in label songs, and a look at the different eras of modern music that show when rock died. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 105931496, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

You've probably wondered how musicians get hired to play on film and television sessions. My guest this week is Deb Chase, who's a contractor for musicians playing on movies and television scores, and even acting in them as well, and she'll tell us how it all works. Deb came into the business almost accidentally but she found she really had a knack for it as she learned under an old-school mentor before going out on her own. During her time in Hollywood she has contracted musicians for everything from American Idol to the Soul Train Awards to the Grammy telecasts, to orchestral players for live performances with Aretha Franklin and James Brown, among many others. In our interview Deb talked about how she became a contractor, the importance of contractors to professional musicians, how shows sometimes hire based on the look of the musicians, the paperwork required by the Musician's Union, and so much more. Get ready to learn about a whole musical world that you probably weren't aware of. I spoke with Deb via zoom from her office in Los Angeles.  On the intro we look at the 3 most prevalent lyric themes, and the Moog factory store closes for good.

My guest this week is Marek Stycos, who's company Audio Alchemist acts as a brand manager for a wide range of pro audio manufacturers. He's also the president of high end pro audio creators Dangerous Music and Chameleon Labs. Prior to starting Audio Alchemist Marek worked as director of Pro Audio at Guitar Center corporate, where he was responsible for recording, live sound, dj, and lighting curriculum creation, chainwide merchandising and department design for all 213 locations, vendor product line and relationship expansion, and more. During our interview Marek talked about behind the scenes at Guitar Center, the concept behind Audio Alchemist, how brand management for pro audio has changed, gear that feels like making music instead of engineering, and so much more. I spoke with Marek via zoom from his studio outside of NYC.  On the intro we look at how artists are releasing in more formats, and tape isn't dead yet. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 104849547, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is 5 time MPG mastering engineer of the year Katie Tavini, who's work includes Rudimental, Bloc Party, Ash, We Are Scientists, Nadine Shah, Arlo Parks, Los Bitchos and many more. Since starting in 2014, Katie has grown to become one of the mostin-demand mastering engineers in the UK, who's at home with everything from the heaviest metal to the lushest orchestral works and everything in between. Katie is also a founding member of Weird Jungle, a collective of independent mastering engineers in the UK dedicated to helping bands, artists and labels release the best possible version of their work. During our interview Katie talked about becoming a mastering engineer, how mastering has changed in the last few years, things that mixers sometimes overlook, starting Weird Jungle, and so much more. I spoke with Katie via zoom from her studio in Liverpool.  On the intro we look at how mainstream success isn't as big as it used to be, and in honor of Fathers Day, ultimate Dad Rock bands.

My guest this week is Erik Himel, who expanded his touring guitar career into hosting the hottest jam night in Hollywood, to producing a Las Vegas show, to custom music programming for private and corporate events. Erik's credits include Powerman 5000, the Russian supergroup Mumiy Troll, Alan Parsons, Eagles Of Death Metal, Puddle of Mudd, Candlebox, Robby Krieger, Michael des Barres, and many more. He was the longtime host of The Sunset Jam, which was the longest running residency show at the world famous Viper Room in Hollywood, grossing a million+ dollars and showcasing over 1500 performers and numerous sponsorship collaborations. He's also been a co-producer of 27 - A Musical Adventure, which is retrospective concert honoring the music icons gone too early at the age of 27. The show had a multi-year residency at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas with over 120 performances. During our interview we talked about playing music with lyrics you can't understand, the hack he used to get his first tour, his unique approach to running a jam night, creating a corporate event music business, moving to Paris and what the music scene is like there, and so much more. I spoke with Erik via zoom from his home in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how kids may be losing their love of music, and a new Ai headphone that nails the “cocktail party effect” .

My guest  this week is conductor John Jesensky, who is currently conducting premiere orchestras around the world in fully restored film score performances. Among the shows that he's conducted include Harry Potter: In Concert, Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, Amadeus, as well as The Godfather: Live.   John is also a freelance film composer, scoring short and feature-length films as well as trailer and source music for top production companies. Several of his short scores have made appearances and won awards at film festivals around the world.   During graduate studies at NYU Film School where he studied privately with renowned film orchestrator Sonny Kompanek as well as prolific film composer Ira Newborn, John was awarded the prestigious Elmer Bernstein Award for Film Composition.  During our interview John spoke about the hardest thing a conductor has to learn, the preservation of legendary scores, the differences between the many orchestras he's conducted, tight film scoring budgets, augmenting scores with samples, and so much more. I spoke with John via zoom from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how music streamers are losing millennials, and a new silk fabric sound isolation in development.

My guests this week are Brianna Schwartz and Alexis Schreiber, the dynamic duo behind Schwartz & Schreiber, PLLC. Their innovative approach to entertainment law sets them apart, as they aim to provide a true end-to-end partnership with their clients, becoming a member of their team rather than just a passive or reactive attorney that is only involved when there's an issue. Brianna and Alexis first met on their first day at the University of Miami School of Law, where they were both pursuing a Juris Doctorate and a Master's in Music Business and Entertainment. After years  of success within the industry, they officially teamed up in 2020 to create Schwartz & Schreiber, PLLC, a modern law firm specializing in music, entertainment, technology, and new media. To date, their firm has supported over 70 clients, including GRAMMY-award winning and nominated artists, producers, songwriters, renowned labels, digital and tech platforms, national festivals, sync houses, and more.  During our interview we spoke about how the new record deals have changed, how having too many writers on a song can inhibit sync opportunities, how AI is affecting copyright law, where the industry stands on TikTok right now, and so much more. I spoke with Brianna and Alexis via zoom from their offices in Miami.  var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 102197352, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week Lara Chapman, who's an award winning singer/songwriter turned viral vocal coach and the Founder of VoxTape Studios. Born in Switzerland, her aspirations quickly took her to New York City, where she studied Musical Theatre and Acting for Film and Television. After that she moved to Boston to study Music Business, Songwriting and Vocal Performance at Berklee College of Music. While finishing her degree, she was signed to a major management deal and moved to Nashville to write and record her debut album.  After many successful releases, hundreds of shows, and navigating the brutal realities of the music industry, she discovered her true passion: helping others transform from singers into artists. Lara's coaching videos have reached millions of passionate singers from all over the world helping her build a reputation in the industry as the go-to coach for helping singers find their own voice as an artist. During our interview Lara we learn a lot about singing as she talked about transitioning from performer to vocal coach, how the “good enough” mentality doesn't work with singing, how singing is more than just hitting the right notes, why traditional singing lessons don't work anymore, and so much more. I spoke with Lara via zoom from their studio in Indianapolis.  var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 101933661, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guests this week are Matt Wallace and Will Kennedy, the Grammy-winning immersive mixing team that has done spatial mixes for Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, The B-52s, Kid Rock, Selena Gomez and many more. Before entering into the spatial mixing world, Matt's work as a producer includes hits for Maroon 5, Faith No More, The Replacements, 3 Doors Down and O.A.R., while Will's credits includes One Republic, O.A.R, U2, Michael Franti and Spearhead and others. Matt and Will set up their Dolby-certified mixing studio in the same complex as the legendary Sound City Studio in 2021 and haven't looked back. During our interview Will and Matt talked about why analog recording experience is so valuable, the track that changed their perception of immersive audio, transitioning their studio to spatial mixing only, why rock is the hardest to mix in spatial audio, tag-team mixing, and so much more. I spoke with Matt and Will via zoom from their studio in Van Nuys, California. 

My guest this week is Trevor McShane, the musical alter ego for high-power entertainment attorney Neville Johnson, who has won more than $350 million for actors, writers and musicians who were shortchanged their fair share of royalties from both major film studios and record labels. Called “one of the most feared litigators in Hollywood” by the Los Angeles Times and named a “Legal Legend” by The Hollywood Reporter, Neville began his career working for Yoko Ono on matters related to The Beatles' catalog. He's gone on to represent many celebrities and/or their estates in a variety of contractual, accounting and intellectual property disputes, including John Lennon, Buddy Holly, Michelle Phillips, Richard Dreyfuss, Rick Nelson, Sylvester Stallone, members of Earth, Wind and Fire, Mitch Ryder, Lloyd Price and others. Neville has also written a number of books, including two about the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, that are available from his Cool Titles publishing company. As Trevor McShane, Neville has released a number of well-regarded releases that have grown his Spotify followers to 100,000 and 150,000 on YouTube. During our interview Neville and I spoke about keeping his music life as Trevor separate from his legal practice, what he learned from the legendary John Wooden, transitioning to being a litigator, AI copyright, and so much more. I spoke with Neville via zoom from his office in Beverly Hills.  On the intro I looked at UMG settling its dispute with TikTok, and how music gear retail is changing before our eyes.

My guest this week is Russ Hughes, who's the founder of Production Expert, a group of blogs for music and post-production professionals. Over the last decade, Production Expert, Pro Tools Expert, Studio One Expert and Logic Pro Expert have become some of the leading industry websites with over 7 million visitors annually. Starting his career on the leading edge of music technology as a synthesizer programmer in the 1980s, Russ soon gravitated to Soho where he worked in commercial post, something that he still does. Eventually he became an expert in Pro Tools, which led him to create his popular blogs. On top of that, Russ is also the Managing Director of Sociatech, a global marketing agency for the audio technology sector, working with some of its biggest brands.  During our interview we spoke about the unusual way that Pro Tools Expert started, the pros and cons of using AI, moving from London to Ireland, the two character traits you need for staying in business, the gear changing moments in his life, and so much more. I spoke with Russ via zoom from his studio in Ireland.  On the intro I looked at song catalogue purchases, and how noice canceling headphones could trigger anxiety attacks. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 100544555, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Lisa Machac, who's a music consultant with Little City Sounds and Director of the Omni Sound Project, which is an inclusive community for women and marginalized genders in audio engineering.  Lisa's writing has been featured in Tape Op magazine as well as a popular Substack newsletter. She's also the creator and host of the Reference Tracks podcast, which features producers and engineers discussing the songs that shaped their careers. Lisa coaches independent musicians who are looking to grow their audiences and promote their music. She adds 20 years of community building and marketing experience to a natural enthusiasm for mentoring others. During our interview Lisa and I spoke about how the Omni Sound Project began, how there are more women audio engineers than generally realized, the vibrancy of the Austin music scene, artists not knowing what to do with their projects, and so much more. I spoke with Lisa via zoom from her studio in Austin.  On the intro I looked at how songwriters will be making less even though Spotify's prices are going up, and we may be at the end of the guitar amplifier era. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 99712449, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Stephen Schultz, who besides being an expert flautist specializing in Baroque flute, is an Associate Teaching Professor in Music History and Flute at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra. Stephen is also an advocate for hearing protection for all musicians as he's learned to overcome his personal difficulties with hearing loss. Many people falsely identify hearing loss with rock musicians, but the fact is that 52% of classical musicians have some degree of permanent hearing damage, as opposed to only 30% of rock musicians. The latest generation of hearing aids are so sophisticated that musicians can now wear them without any impediments to their playing, and so many high profile musicians are now doing so that the stigma of wearing hearing aids has now greatly diminished. During our interview Stephen and I spoke about discovering he had a hearing problem, finding the right hearing aids for music, why more orchestral members suffer from hearing loss than even rock musicians, advice on looking for the right pair, and so much more. I spoke with Stephen via zoom from his home in Pittsburg.  On the intro I looked at how Spotify may be introducing a new song speed feature soon, and whether we've reached Peak Music Gear as fewer new music and audio products are released.  var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 99250945, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Josh Young, who's the founder and CEO of Atrium Music, as well as an Emmy-nominated supervising television and film editor. His credits include shows like Lego Masters, Big Brother, World of Dance, The Masked Singer, and many more. Atrium Music is a publishing and music library that licenses and places music in television, film, and commercial productions.The company allows “artists to be artists” while allowing the business structure of Atrium to handle their business needs. Over 550 artists and composers from over 30 countries have found a home with Atrium. When not producing, editing, or music supervising television shows, Josh speaks at conferences and educational institutions across the United States, and is a board member of the California Copyright Conference. During our interview we spoke about why communication skills are so important, the duties of a supervising television editor, the hectic pace of a hit TV show, learning a new workstation software package, what makes Atrium Music different from other libraries, and so much more. I spoke with Josh from his studio outside of Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how UMG's TikTok ban isn't hurting its market share, and how lyrics have change in the last 40 years.

My guest this week is Shelly Palmer, who's an award winning composer, inventor, author, educator and a leading voice in technology. He is also an expert in Ai and it's integration into the workplace.   Shelly began his career as a composer for television, working with hundreds of brands, agencies, broadcasters, publishers and tech platforms on advertising and marketing campaigns such as Meow Mix, Burger King and The City of Las Vegas. He was honored at ASCAP's 13th Annual Film and Television Awards in the category of “Most Performed Television Themes.” He holds a patent for the underlying technology for Enhanced Television that's used by programs such as ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and ESPN's Monday Night Football, which led him to pivot his career into technology. He is currently a Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Shelly also covers tech and business for Fox 5 New York, and is a regular commentator for CNN and CNBC, and he offers a series of free technology courses via his Metacademy. During our interview we spoke about growing up in a music store, how a used synthesizer got him into the jingle business, how one of his patents took him from music into the world of technology, why AI is a skills amplifier, and so much more. By the way, I learned a lot about AI from Shelly's free Metacademy, which is something that you should check out. I spoke with Shelly from his studio in New York City.  On the intro I looked at how the RIAA's recent revenue numbers might be misleading.

My guest this week is Michael Walker, who's the founder and energy behind the Modern Musician program. You can hear all about his journey on Episode 411 from March 2022, but this time our discussion centered around Ai and how it can help or hurt the music industry in the future. Modern Musician recently incorporated its own Ai-driven helper bot, so Michael has a lot of hands-on experience on the subject. During our interview we spoke about integrating ChatGPT into Modern Musician, his experiences with Apple's new Vision Pro headset, what spatial music and spatial picture mean to each other, how sometimes Ai image generation is creating more what a dream might look like, what future AI technology might hold for us, and much more. I spoke with Michael from his studio in Florida.  On the intro I looked at the ELVIS Act bans unauthorized voice use, and the best DAWs of 2024. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 98313823, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is engineer Alan Meyerson, who many believe is the top scoring mixer in film today. With more than 200 credits, Alan has worked with leading film score composers like James Newton Howard, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Danny Elfman, and has a particularly long-standing working relationship with the great Hans Zimmer that continues to this day. Alan's credits as a scoring mixer include blockbuster movies like Man of Steel, Iron Man, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Inception, The Dark Knight, Kung-Fu Panda 1 & 2, Despicable Me 1 & 2, The Last Samurai, Gladiator, and Hannibal. In addition to this, he also has a number of music mixing credits that include Bryan Ferry, New Order, Etta James, and OMD. During our interview, Alan told me about being a part of the first wave of dance music, making the transition to film work, his approach to orchestral recording, why he isn't into vintage microphones, how he tailors his reverbs, dealing with 750 tracks of orchestra, his adventures at Abbey Road, and much more. I spoke with Alan from his studio in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at the possible TikTok ban in the United States, and the Caesar's Palace console finds a new home with UA.

This week I speak with Randall Michael Tobin in Part 2 of our conversation. Randall founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977 and has worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, he also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. As I said last week, there's more to Randall's story than just audio. His interest in artisan cooking led him to baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave to clients and friends as gifts. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. And as I also said last week, I eat at least one piece of Randall's most delicious sourdough just about every day. During Part 2 of our interview, we spoke about how some house concerts started his side-career in cooking and baking, the similarities between food and music, using gorilla marketing to start his bakery, the importance of pivoting when opportunities present themselves, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his studio in Burbank, California.  On the intro I looked at Warner Music looking to buy Tunecore parent company Believe Music, and the most popular hardware synthesizer by country.

My guest this week is Randall Michael Tobin, who founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977. Since then he's worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, Randall also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. But there's more more to Randall's story. Along the way his interest in artisan cooking led him to begin baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave as gifts to clients and friends. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with delicious compliments like raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. In fact, I eat at least one piece of Randall's most excellent sourdough just about every day. During part 1 of the interview, we spoke about how some gear never goes out of style, recording big band, his unique studio clientele, where he got his technical chops, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his Theta Sound studio in Burbank, California.  On the intro I looked at some totally unique physical release formats that you won't believe, and what we know about Western tuning and harmony just might be wrong.

My guest this week is mixing and mastering engineer Nick Squids Squillante, who's recent immersive mixes include “Rescue Me” by Dirty Heads, which went to Number 1 on the Billboard Alternative charts, and “Psycho” by Asking Alexandria, which also scored a spot at Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. He's also done other immersive mixes for artists such as Tommy Lee, Papa Roach and Bad Wolves to name a few. Nick began his career working at Electric Lady Studios with 7-time Grammy-award-winning mixer Michael Brauer. During his time at the studio, Nick worked on records for Bon Jovi, Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, and Elle King, to name a few. Since then, Nick has been working with both major label and independent artists, amassing millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major platforms. As a result, Nick has worked on records that have charted in the top 10 on iTunes and even more recently was considered for Grammy nomination. During the interview we spoke about his biggest learning moment with the great Michael Brauer, his favorite plugins, how he got into immersive mixing, creating memorable moments in a mix, and much more. I spoke with Nick from his studio in Brooklyn.  On the intro I looked at how social media doesn't monetize fans, and the new huge optical storage format. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97068155, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is co-founder and CEO of Moises Ai Geraldo Ramos. Moises is an AI-driven application that enables musicians to separate their tracks into stems, identify chords, adjust tempo or pitch without affecting other musical elements, and refine their audio with professional mastering, among a host of other features. Another feature is Voice Studio, which serves as a marketplace for AI-powered voice modeling, allowing vocalists to monetize their own voice models to other music makers.  Geraldo invented Moises when he was looking for a better way to practice his drums by playing the drums to songs he liked without hearing the original drummer. During the interview we spoke about interesting uses for source separation, how source separation Ai's are trained, why some producers are developing private voice cloning models, the reason why Ai audio resolution isn't higher, where Ai music is going, and much more. I spoke with Geraldo from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how many videos are on YouTube, and the $40,000 guitar amplifier.

My guest this week is Grammy-nominated producer-engineer-scoring mixer Jason LaRocca, who has recorded and mixed music for major motion pictures, games and television. Known for mixing the score of "The Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power" series, Marvel's "Morbius" and more, Jason recently mixed the Grammy-nominated albums "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and the "God of War: Ragnarok" soundtrack. He has also recorded and mixed for such top recording artists as Jay-Z, CeeLo Green, Fiona Apple, Schoolboy Q and Serj Tankian, of System of a Down. Jason was guest back on podcast #441 a couple of years ago, but I thought I'd have him back to give us an update about what's going on in television, gaming and film mixing. During the interview we spoke about the enormous number of tracks required to record Sweeny Todd, the differences between mixing a Broadway record and a game soundtrack, whether automation or clip gain is faster, his approach to immersive mixing, mixing trends in film and TV, and much more. I spoke with Jason from his studio in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at why the vinyl record backlog has decreased, and hit songs that almost didn't make the album.

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of legendary guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television composer Wayne Kramer, who passed away recently.  Wayne was far more influential than many realize as his band MC5 basically invented punk rock a full decade before it even emerged as a genre. The band and its albums became a model for punk bands on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, The Clash even wrote not one, but two songs about him! A formidable player, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Wayne as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He also collaborated with a who's who of rock's most elite artists over the years, and his scoring work can be heard on films like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down, ESPN's 5-4-3-2-1, In My Own Words, and Under The Lights, and even for the “Unlabeled” Jim Beam commercial. Musical accolades are well and good, but I think what Wayne was most proud of was the fact that he was able to overcome his  personal trials with drugs and jail time. He emerged from this darkness transformed, and then went on to save countless lives through his tireless acts of service. He was extremely passionate about his work with Jail Guitar Doors, a program that provides guitars and music lessons for inmates at more than 50 penal institutions throughout the United States. Through the years, he regularly played concerts with an all-star band at prisons around the country. During this interview from January 6th, 2022, we talked about why musicians from Detroit have a special edge to them, why the MC5 was banned from radio, how going to prison saved his life, getting into film scoring, and much more. This is a replay of an interview that I did with Wayne via Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96191804, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

In this episode I take a big overview of the recent Winter NAMM 2024. Among the things discussed include: A bit of NAMM history Attendance was up but several exhibit halls were empty Big manufacturers that were no-shows The biggest surprises Interesting new products Products that were just more of the same Is a NAMM show (or AES for that matter) even needed? What is the future of NAMM? This is a short but to the point episode that will give you something to think about if you were there, and show you why your FOMO was unnecessary if you weren't. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 95500370, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is a partner at Integral Studios and CEO of SymphonyOS, Megh Vakharia. Since 2016, he's spearheaded product and data strategy as CTO of Integral Studio, one of the music industry's leading marketing agencies. At Integral, Megh has worked with every major label and alongside artists of all sizes, from independent creators to today's superstars, including Travis Scott, SZA, and Future ~ helping them figure out how to most effectively roll out their music in the most creative, data-driven ways. To date, Integral has supported campaigns that have led to 4 Grammy-nominated albums and over a dozen platinum-selling records. SymphonyOS helps creators put their fanbase growth on autopilot with smart, automated marketing. Its suite of apps centralizes the digital marketing workflow, empowering creators with the tools to better understand their audience, engage their fanbase, and increase their revenues. During the interview we spoke about why we're in a post TikTok era, why artists should consider advertising, how Ai can play into your marketing decisions, why a mailing list is more important than ever for marketing, and much more. I spoke with Megh from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at the best times during the year to release music, and how much producers make.

My guest this week the founder and CEO of Killphonic Rights, Caleb Shreve.  Caleb began professional career in 1998 at Sony Music Studios in New York. As part of the Sony Music Special Projects team, he began working alongside artists such as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Destiny's Child and Marc Anthony.  In early 2003, Caleb left Sony to work independently as a producer and engineer. He was quickly hired almost exclusively by music producer and executive, Sean “Puffy” Combs. Over the next decade and a half, Caleb wrote, produced and mixed countless records.  He started Killphonic Rights in 2014 originally as a management company, but eventually pivoted to administrating publishing and neighboring rights for indie artists. During the interview we spoke about the importance of metadata in music publishing, why there are so many writers on some songs, collecting TikTok royalties, the idea of neighboring rights, and much more. I spoke with Caleb from his office in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at what happens every minute on the internet, and who actually invented the microphone. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94825541, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week specializes in helping musicians and songwriters get their music into film and television. Chris started off as an award-winning music producer who saw how lucrative the income could be for artists with just one good sync placement.  Chris not only teaches indie songwriters how to get their music heard by top music supervisors in TV and film, he actually introduces them to the gatekeepers.  During the interview we spoke about how the recent Hollywood strikes affected sync placements, how artists and songwriters can rise above the competition for placements, how to determine if your music is right for TV and film, his upcoming Music Supervisors Panel event, and much more. On the intro I looked at the real money behind the global music business, and the doom and gloom in the music instrument and pro audio side of the business is overstated. Click here to save your seat for the free Music Supervisors Panel.

A look back at how my predictions for 2023 fared, as well as my predictions for 2024. Yep, I'm going out on a limb this year! Happy New Year, and lets make this one the safest and most prosperous ever! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 94111126, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

It's been an eventful year in the music industry and that's what we'll review in the latest episode of my Inner Circle Podcast. We'll look at: The multiple streaming scams that popped up The surprising outcome of the Ed Sheeran plagiarism lawsuit Venues suffering from not enough alcohol sales Record labels losing influence because of data-analysis Spotify's new royalty structure Ai's influence on the music and production business How hidden way that the Hollywood strikes affected composers and songwriters The many companies that were sold and acquired last year Some of the biggest and oldest Hollywood recording studios closed The breakthrough on tonewood sound The breakthrough on hearing loss And so much more. Listen to it at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, or on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Mixcloud, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, TunIn Radio, and RadioPublic. I hope you've had a great 2023 and I look forward to us both having a fruitful 2024. Enjoy the show! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 93905174, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

When I first started this podcast way back in March of 2014, the first person I thought to call was Dennis Moody. Including the inaugural Episode #1, he's been part of every anniversary podcast since, from #50, 100, 151, 200, 300, 400 (actually 399), and now 500. We worked a lot together over the years, and he's has become a great friend and super source of information. Dennis is one of the few engineers who's as comfortable in a recording studio as he is in a live concert setting. Likewise, he's just as comfortable mixing a rock, R&B, or jazz band as he is doing a full orchestra, again either live or in the studio. I think a great distinction is that he's also the “Drummer's Engineer,” as he's the one who all the A-list drummers call when it's time to do their solo album because they trust he'll make their drums sound great. During the interview we spoke about the some the exotic places around the world he's visited recently, finding high-quality gear in out-of-the-way places, what the world looks like post-pandemic, the typical problems he has to fix in home recordings, some excellent travel tips, and much more. I spoke with Dennis from his studio in the Los Angeles. On the intro I'll take a look at the new TikTok artist accounts, and Samsung and Google have teamed up for a new immersive audio format. Thank you all for listening and your support! I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you!! var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 93271582, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is Biz Morris, a multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning mixing engineer with credits like Lecrae, Tori Kelly, Kirk Franklin, PJ Morton, and Andy Mineo. For the last decade, Biz has represented independent Atlanta hip-hop label Reach Records as a Vice President and Head of Studio Operations. Biz started recording when he was 14 years old with a small setup at his mom's house, and incredibly, he was nominated for a Grammy for an album he engineered while he was still in school. Since then accolades have continued to flood in, including Grammy and Dove wins as well as gold and platinum albums. Recently he also launched "GetMxd," a cutting-edge company aimed at providing top-tier mixing and mastering services for independent artists at an affordable price.  During the interview we spoke about why Biz loves editing vocals, making the transition to only mixing, how engineers can overthink a mix, his opinions on mastering, how GetMXD came about, and much more. I spoke with Biz from his studio in the Atlanta. On the intro I'll take a look at a new Senate bill to reform live ticketing, and Rode acquires Mackie.

My guest today is Bosco Kante who's a Grammy award-winning artist, producer, creator of the world's first Tubeless talk box, and co-founder of ElectroSpit. Bosco has performed on albums by Kanye West and Dua Lipa and wrote the theme to the show "In Living Color." You've heard the sound of a talkbox before on hits by Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Zapp and Roger Troutman, and many more. The traditional talkbox is a horn driver attached to an amplifier on one end, with a plastic tube that goes into the players mouth on the other. They're bulky and unsanitary. The idea for the tubeless talkbox came when Bosco was forced lip sync on stage with Kanye West at the American Music Awards because the traditional talkbox was not portable. This disappointment set Bosko on a mission to reinvent the talkbox and a few years later the Electrospit ESX-1 was born. During the interview we spoke about the unusual  way he got into the music business, how adding a talkbox to a track makes it more interesting, the long road to the tubeless talkbox, why its phone app is so important, his HiiWave incubator, and much more. I spoke with Bosco from his office in the Bay area. On the intro I'll take a look at the artists who make millions from Spotify, and Apples latest M3 processor isn't as powerful as its older M1.

I've had so many great guests over the 10 years and nearly 500 episodes of my inner circle podcast. I always enjoy revisiting them, as I hope you do as well.   One of the best is from back in 2016 with hit mixer Josh Gudwin. Josh has mixed huge hits for Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, and Dua Lipa, among many others, and has won 12 Grammy's for his work. He's also worked with Acoustica on the Magic Flow vocal plugin. During the interview we talked about starting out as a studio intern, the diplomatic aspects of dealing with superstars, recording on the road with Justin Bieber, his approach to mixing at the time of the interview, and much more.

My guest today is award-winning sound supervisor, sound designer, and mixer Scott Gershin, who's audio work has enhanced a variety of different visual mediums in film, broadcast, streaming and games. Some of Scott's vast credits include major films like Pacific Rim, Hellboy 2, Chronicles of Riddick, Team America: World Police, Shrek, Star Trek, and American Beauty, and best-selling games like the Gears of War series, Epic Mickey, and the Resident Evil and Fable series. Scott has a talent for creating personalities with his voice, which has been tapped for such memorable movie characters such as Flubber, Disney's Herbie, Reapers in Blade II, The Dragon in Shrek, Kirchek in Tarzan, Leather Back in Pacific Rim, and Dog Fish in Pinocchio, to name just a few. During the interview we spoke about how much time it takes to generate deliverables for a movie, how he records sound effects like rocket launches and helicopters, what qualifies as great post-production, the difference in the mix between movies and television, how much gaming is different from other visual mediums, and much more. I spoke with Scott from studio in Burbank. On the intro I'll take a look at YouTube copyright strikes, and Ai noise-canceling headphones.

My guest today is Bill Smith, who spent most of his career as a recording engineer and mixer before transitioning into audio archiving (you can hear him talk about recording and mix in Episode 160). Bill started at United Studios Archiving in 2020 until the company that owned the legendary studio decided to close it earlier this year. Since then Bill has started his own archiving business where he uses an unbelievably wide range of mostly obsolete machines over just about every format you can think of. During the interview we spoke about the preparation normally required before a tape can be transferred, his favorite type of clients, the thing about archiving that most people don't realize, a surprising format that he gets calls to restore, and much more. I spoke with Bill from studio in Hollywood. On the intro I'll take a look at modified streaming tracks, and how old is too old to be a hit artist.

My guest today is Nichole Barsalona, who's the director of Everyday Rebellion Entertainment artist management and the president of the non-profit Women In Music organization.  Nichole grew up around music as her father Frank was a pioneering agent later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His clients included The Who, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and U2, among many others. Her mother June was a journalist who traveled from the U.K. at the age of 18 to cover The Beatles' first U.S. tour and later worked as a music publicist. Nichole started her career at Steven Van Zandt's multi-media company, Renegade Nation, where a week-long temp gig turned into the most formative years of her career. She eventually served as Chief of Staff and Director of Communications at Renegade Nation, and Road Manager to Van Zandt on tours with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. During the interview we spoke about how she observed her father's influence on the music business as she was growing up, how we're at a turning point for music promotion, the importance of meet and greets, the most sought-after person on a management team today, her role in Women In Music, and much more. I spoke with Nicole from her office in Boston. On the intro I'll take a look at the status of claims that the Copyright Claims Board reviewed last month, and big changes in the executive suite of Guitar Center. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 90904524, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is country music singer and award winning professional songwriter Drew Ryder Smith, who's also the owner of Gray Sound Recording in Nashville and Charlotte NC, working as a producer and senior mixing engineer.  Drew is also the author of The Before You Record Course, which prepares new artists for their first recording session and walks them through what goes into making a record, imparting knowledge gleaned from 15 years in the business. During the interview we spoke about how songwriting has changed in Nashville, doing remote recording in India, prepping artists for going into the studio, the difference between NYC, LA and Nashville session players, opening for Merle Haggard at the Ryman Auditorium, and much more. I spoke with Drew from his hotel room in Charlotte. On the intro I'll take a look at the competing bills for radio airplay royalties, and the Las Vegas Sphere's ground-breaking sound system. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 89361801, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

Over the nearly 500 episodes of the Inner Circle I've had some incredible guests. One is the legendary engineer Elliott Scheiner, and this special replay is from way back on Episode 51 in April of 2015. You certainly have heard Elliot's work as he's been instrumental in the sound of The Eagles, Steely Dan, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Sting, Foo Fighters and too many others to mention. He's received 27 Grammy award nominations winning 8, four Emmy nominations and winning two, and a host of other awards for excellence in the field of audio recording. During the interview we spoke about the various stages of his studio life, from his early days at A&R Studios in New York City, going from 4 track to 8 track, his mixing method, the difference between working with Steely Dan and The Eagles, and much more. Remember that this interview was done back in 2015 so some of his comments about digital audio workstations and plugins are no doubt different today. I spoke to Elliott via phone, so the quality is a little shaky, but not the content. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 89276221, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

I've had so many great guests on the Inner Circle Podcast, and it's aways great to go back and revisit some of the best interviews. One is with Don Roeser, better known as Buck Dharma, lead guitarist and and one of the founders of the band Blue Oyster Cult, in an interview for podcast 227 back in 2018. Buck wrote and did the lead vocals on the band's best known hits, including “Don't Fear The Reaper,” “Godzilla,” and “Burnin' for You.” During the interview we talked about the early days of the band when it was known as Soft White Underbelly, his best studio experiences, the evolution of his home studio, and much more. I originally spoke with Buck via Skype from his home in New York.

Over the almost 500 episodes of the Inner Circle podcast I've had some excellent guests that are true legends in the music business. One is the late Al Schmitt, who unfortunately left us in 2021.  Al won 20 Grammy awards over his long career, recorded and mixed over 150 gold and platinum albums, and even had his own star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame appropriately in front of his beloved studio home, Capitol Records Studios. In this replay from November 2018, we talked about his stint as a staff producer for RCA, working with Paul McCartney, his favorite instrument to record, some of his favorite gear and techniques, and much more. I originally spoke with all via phone from his home outside of Los Angeles. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 88753248, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is Jesper Skibsby, the CEO and founder of radio monitory service WARM - the first global radio monitoring service focusing on serving the artists and indie segment of the music industry.  WARM track and identify music played on radio, globally and in real-time. The vision behind WARM is to make detailed music data available to everyone, especially the long tail segment of artist, producers, managers and record labels. Jesper has established companies like Fandango Music Management, We Make Noise and Kassiopeia Kollektive, has been a board member of DUP (association for independent record labels in Denmark), and has represented MusicDNA as the head of Scandinavia. During the interview we spoke about why radio metrics are overlooked by indie artists yet so important, why radio is still the biggest driver of music consumption worldwide, how the internet has actually boosted radio music listening, and much more. I spoke with Jesper via Zoom from his office in Copenhagen. On the intro I'll take a look at what the Songtradr acquisition of Bandcamp means, and why super-long albums don't fit with today's music consumers.

My guest today is composer / plug-in developer Sam Fischmann from the plugin company Musik Hack. Musik Hack is the brainchild of both Sam and Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Stan Greene. Their first product is the innovative mastering plugin Master Plan. Sam is a seasoned software developer whose portfolio spans audio/DSP, Web development, and embedded systems. He's obsessed with building creative, functional, major-label-quality products that don't look like airplane cockpits. During the interview we spoke about getting the most from the Master Plan plugin, the different audio needs for different music genres, trends in plugins, how Ai will be used in plugins in the future, and much more. I spoke with Sam via Zoom from his office in Los Angeles. On the intro I'll take a look at the latest RIAA mid-year report, and inMusic begins to lay off Moog Music employees. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 88607375, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guests today are Evan Dhillon and James Paston, two of the founders of the Ai voice cloning service Kits Ai. The company has launched tools for artists to safely create, license, and share their own voice models, opening new opportunities for fan engagement and monetization. Kits Ai has amassed over 100,000 users since launching, with their voice cloning technology training more than 80,000 custom voices based on the conversion of over a million audio files. They're also backed by investments from a number of organizations and artists that include Steve Aoki, Lionel Richie and Wyclef Jean. During the interview we spoke about some unexpected uses for vocal cloning, new revenue opportunities from using the platform, why the user interface is so important, and much more. I spoke with Evan and James via Zoom. On the intro I'll take a look at how playlist culture is affecting songwriting, and the unseen costs of analog recording.

My guest today is Los Angeles session guitarist Andrew Synowiec, ,who has recorded for or performed with artists ranging from music industry icons The Who and Alanis Morissette to contemporary trailblazers like Lil Nas X and Meghan Trainor. Other recent collaboration credits include Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, Elton John, Seal, 98 Degrees, Josh Groban, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, and Carole King, among many others. Andrew has performed on projects that have garnered more than 30 Emmy nominations, 25 Grammys, and 20 Oscar nominations. He also boasts a guitar collection of over 100 guitars. Andrew's latest album entitled FUN, is now available, and he'll being touring the West Coast soon as well. During the interview we spoke about changing gear to get into session work, the trials of building his home studio, doing online sessions where the client doesn't attend, how he built his career, and much more. I spoke with Andrew via Zoom from his studio in Hollywood. On the intro I'll take a look at how the Grammy's won't include a popular Ai song, and I'll answer some common audio questions.

My guest today is vinyl pressing expert Dustin Blocker, who founded Hand Drawn Records in 2011 and Hand Drawn vinyl pressing in 2014. He's also been named the first president of the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association, which is comprised of more than 30 companies from every level of vinyl production, including record labels, mastering, lacquer cutting, electroplating, record pressing, printmakers, equipment manufacturers, brokers, raw material suppliers, and even logistic service providers. During the interview we spoke about the unseen steps in vinyl manufacturing, the latest in cutting-edge vinyl, developing quality standards for vinyl pressing, working towards sustainability, and much more. I spoke with Dustin via Zoom from his office in Texas. On the intro I'll take a look at music videos losing their importance, and Gibson gets its archives back. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 87420141, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is Bill McQuay, who's an  independent audio producer, NPR contributor, National Geographic Explorer and founder of Eco Location Sound. Before starting Eco Location Sound, Bill was Supervising Audio Engineer for the Library of Natural Sound at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and an audio producer for the Lab's Multi-media group. Prior to joining the Lab of Ornithology, Bill was an NPR sound engineer and technical director for NPR programs including: Morning Edition, Weekend Saturday and Sunday, Performance Today and NPR's Radio Expeditions. Radio Expeditions is where he began his long time collaboration with NPR science correspondent Christopher Joyce, a creative relationship that continues today. Bill led NPR's early surround-sound recording effort and was its first technical director. He was also the mastering engineer for NPR Classics CD's. He has also worked on many other 360 degree interactive projects. Along the way Bill has won the National Academy of Sciences award for the years best science reporting, a Grammy for the NPR recording of the Benjamin Britten War Requiem, The Alfred I Dupont-Columbia University Journalism award, and Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. During the interview we spoke about telling stories with sound, going around the world to capture audio, helping scientists use sound to understand the world, his setup for recording spatial audio, how sound is determining if insects are disappearing or not, and much more. I spoke with Bill via Zoom from his office in Ithaca New York. On the intro I'll take a look at BMI being acquired by a private equity fund, and a look at the glut of new musical instruments and audio gear on market today. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 87324464, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest today is holistic artist coach Wendy Parr, who's personal and professional experiences led her to become a coach that helps artists lose perfectionism, overcome resistances, follow their inner vision, and curate a life and career they love. With over 20 years coaching top music artists like Melanie Martinez, Sara Bareilles, Marc Bassy, and taking A Great Big World from their very 1st vocal session to a Grammy award, The Parr Method has also the driving force behind Wendy co-writing “Dreams on Fire” for the soundtrack of Slum Dog MIllionaire, which also won a GRAMMY. The Parr Method empowers recording artists to develop their authentic voice for their ar t, brand and life from the studio to the stage.  During the interview we spoke about doing gigs around Hollywood as a teenager, making music in India with some top Indian artists, how she's helped some of today's top artists overcome their personal roadblocks, developing her holistic approach to coaching, and much more. I spoke with Wendy via Zoom from her office in Los Angeles. On the intro I'll take a look at Ai copyright as we know it so far, and also if wireless speakers will find a home in our studios soon. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 87259528, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };