Podcasts about Pro Tools

"Damn it Jim I'm a mixer, not a bricklayer!" Collin reminds you to make sure that the arrangement is right before the mixing session, why old houses sound great, how to mix drums with phase and polarity, mix into busses, and soothe bass and vocals. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Collin Dupuis a Nashville and Detroit based multi-Grammy nominated and two times Grammy winning mixer, producer, and engineer who has been on the podcast previously to talk about working with artists and projects including, Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Dr. John, The Black Keys, and many others. You can catch those episodes at RSR252 and RSR341  Currently, Collin is busy working as a freelance mixer and engineer, recording, and mixing songs and albums for artists including, Angel Olsen, Yves Tumor, Boy and Bear, Cherry Glazer, Lawrence Rothman and many others. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars Save up to 50% off products, use code ROCK10 to get an additional 10% https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WU3Rx4o79aPlCDRnq4O0m?si=1a240db176264058 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/404

Got mixing questions? Vance answered all your questions from the RSR Facebook group, talked about the challenges of mixing in Atmos, multi-miking Chris Stapleton guitars and vocals, the SSL mixing template breakdown, and how to make a washtub bass. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Vance Powell, a multi-Grammy award-winning producer, engineer and mixer, and owner of Sputnik Sound in Nashville with Mitch Dane. Vance's many credits include Chris Stapleton, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, and Wolfmother to name just a few. Vance is a repeat guest on the podcast and you can hear his previous episodes on RSR 002, 171, 293 and 360 to hear about his backstory and get some great tips on mixing and mixing in Atmos. Today we will catch up with Vance and see what's new in rock and roll, and find out more about mixing in both stereo and Atmos as well. Vance also has a ton of great videos on Youtube if you want to go learn more plus he has some great courses over at Puremix.net THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aFDgLgTsWaFId0n4YSX75?si=308a496f9c2c4295 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/403

Anne and Gillian discuss setting up a home studio space and the necessary equipment for it. A home studio space should have proper sound absorption, emphasizing the need for high-quality audio recording equipment and internet connections for efficiency & consistency in their work. They mention the importance of finding a quiet area with proper sound absorption to minimize noises from in & outside of your home. Anne & Gillian also discuss the importance investing in a good computer, as it is a foundational technology that helps run your voice over business. For more insight and recommendations, tune in!    Transcript    It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.   Anne: Hey guys, welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I'm your host Anne Ganguzza, and today I am excited to welcome back once again to the show audio engineer, musician, creative freelancer Gillian Pelkonen for another episode for our BOSS Audio series. Hey Gillian, how are ya?    Gillian: I am good. How are you, Anne?    Anne: I'm excellent. So I thought we had a great conversation about picking your home studio space. And I think we should expand upon that a little bit in this episode and maybe get into a little bit about the equipment that we have into the space for our home studios.    Gillian: Yeah, I think totally a necessary point at the conversation because if you didn't listen to last week's episode or whenever it was, the last BOSS audio episode, you gotta go back and catch up because we talked about finding a space in your home for your voice setup. We talked about a little bit about treatment and how to get your space sounding a little bit better, whether you're at the pro level or if you're a beginner. And then we also had the conversation of what's it like to work in a professional studio versus home studio. And now we're gonna dive into getting that home studio, what you need for it and perfecting the sound a little bit.   Anne: What you need and what you don't need necessarily, right?   Gillian: Yeah, definitely.    Anne: Especially because of your experience working in professional studios where I get overwhelmed looking at the equipment there because I'm like, ah, I'm just a voice actor and (laughs).   Gillian: I'm just a voice actor.    Anne: I'm just a voice actor. I'm not an audio engineer, but I do audio engineering. I know what I know, and I know just what I need to know for that. And I'm very happy, Gillian, to give people like you my business when I need something more from my engineering. So just a little bit backtracking on the absorption factor or the sound factor of your studios. We had talked about finding a quiet area in your home, in an area that maybe isn't near a window or open doorways or places that you can't close off from external noises. So there's external noises coming into your booth, and then we've got the noises within your booth possibly, right, that get reflected back into your microphone. So there's external and then there's internal noises that we want to protect against and have some sort of absorption. And one thing I did wanna mention, and this was a misconception that I had, is that, is there a way to 100% soundproof anything (laughs)?    Gillian: Yes. You know, it's so crazy. This is a slight tangent, and I don't know the details so it's gonna be a half story, but there is a room --   Anne: I know where you're going with this.    Gillian: There's this room where they've completely soundproofed it. And supposedly, I mean, I, I just got out --   Anne: You could go crazy in five minutes.   Gillian: You could go crazy in it. And I feel like I'm in a quiet space right now, and my Apple Watch is telling me that there's 73 decibels of sound going on.    Anne: Oh my God. You have that on your -- see, you are absolutely an audio engineer.    Gillian: I love to know.    Anne: I cannot tell you how many decibels right now on my watch, no.    Gillian: I can tell you from my watch because it's important to -- oh my gosh. We could do a whole episode on ear health and keeping your ears because that's very important.   Anne: I agree.    Gillian: Which is why I have it on there 'cause -- I wish Apple would sponsor us, 'cause I just talk about them all day. But there's a ton of ways to check and make sure that your hearing's not being damaged both by --   Anne: Oh, fantastic.    Gillian: — what you're listening to and the environment you're in. That's super interesting and really important to me, near and dear to my heart, because this is my livelihood, like your voice.    Anne: Absolutely.    Gillian: The way you care for your voice, I care for my ears. But there is a place where they completely soundproofed it and supposedly people can't stay in there for more than five minutes.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: It's so uncomfortable. It's so quiet --   Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: — you can like hear your blood moving in your body.    Anne: So I'm sorry I have to tell you about this. So a while back, my ear got perforated. I had a head cold, and I went to a doctor who wasn't the best doctor, and they said, well, we can't see in your ear because you have a buildup of wax, so we need to take care of that. And they took a syringe to clear out my ear and I said, well, that typically doesn't work for me because I've really tiny eardrums. And they're like, no, no, no, no. And so they flushed my ear out and proceeded to poke a hole in my eardrum when that happened. And it was really scary, number one, because my equilibrium just got completely thrown.    I had to sit down for like 45 minutes, and I should have, this could be a whole ‘nother episode, I should have probably sued them (laughs) because I told them not to do it.  And so, they punctured my eardrum and I know because I could taste the fluid going down my throat once the syringe went. I know it's gross. Sorry. But anyways, I will tell you about the recovery period. So when you have a hole in your eardrum, your eardrum performs many, many important functions, right? Keeping sound out and also sound in. And so when you have a hole in that (laughs), the sounds that you hear are incredibly different.    So for a good year after that happened, if not longer, I would hear wooshing sounds in my ear because it was literally fluids in my body that I could now hear. And it was like I could hear when I had sinus issues. I could hear when it was an allergy day, and it would get very loud. And this white noise I call — like it wasn't a white noise 'cause I couldn't stand it. It was like whooshing, whooshing in sounds that were constantly, I couldn't go into a room full of a lot of people talking because my brain couldn't process all of the sounds. And it made me very confused and very foggy. It was very upsetting. So for a long time, while my ear was healing, and it still hasn't completely healed, my brain had to get used to the fact that I could hear noises both from inside my body and outside my body. So it does not surprise me that if you had 100% pure quiet in a room — and by the way I think that's like miles like below the earth, that room that you go down into, and they've soundproofed it -- it makes a whole lot of sense that you would go crazy, because I was able to hear all sorts of noises, my heart beating. It was incredible.    Gillian: Uncomfortable.    Anne: It's very uncomfortable. Very unsettling.    Gillian: Yeah.    Anne: So (laughs) in terms of --   Gillian: No, you should not want to get a completely soundproofed room.    Anne: Yes. But, and that's why also they have signs in studios, shh, recording. Because you cannot possibly really 100% soundproof. Like if you're gonna run screaming down the hallway in a studio, I think still you'll be able to hear some of that sound coming through a door. Maybe not, depends on how loud, you know, you still don't wanna make any extraneous noises that you don't have to.    Gillian: Well, it is interesting because a lot of the studios that I work in, there are certain things that will really help.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: And I learned in school about the things that you do. You do floating floors, which is like the regular floor and then another one. So that --   Anne: On top of it.    Gillian: And then just basically rooms within rooms, which is what --   Anne: Oh, I was gonna say --   Gillian: — a booth is. Same thing.   Anne: A room in a room. And that's the protective like walls on the outside that protect the sounds from coming in.    Gillian: Well, they also, when they build them, it's like double paned everything. And the doors are really heavy. I mean on important rooms that need like the control room where we blast music doors are, they've gotta be like a hundred pounds of those doors just to, and solid wood to keep everything out. Even the glass, there's like double paned glass and it's slanted, like kind of like we talked, you don't want complete parallel surfaces anywhere, 'cause that just creates for reflections everywhere.    Anne: And what's interesting is that I've not had a window on any of my booths. Now I know a lot of the booths that are pre-fabricated, you can buy with a window, and it and it's cool looking and it's pretty. But when it came time to designing this particular booth, I said, oh I want a window. ‘Cause I never had a window. And Tim Tippetts said to me, do you really want a window (laughs)? He said, did you have a window in your last booth? I'm like, no. And he goes, so the window kind of brings up a whole ‘nother set of things that you have to protect against because it's a different surface. Right? It's not the same as a wall. And so it's a pane of glass so you also have to protect that. So when I was recording he said, really you need a sound panel to put over it when you record to keep all of the noise out. So I just said, you know what, I don't need a window. I really don't.    And my door, by the way, which has always been a really heavy part of my booth -- I have double doors here. So not only do I have double walls, but I have double doors, and that's to help keep noises from the outside from coming in. And now in terms of inside, I also have sound that's traveling inside this booth. My booth is probably built at a very tiny angle. It's not like a huge angle, it's not visible at all. But the walls are not completely perpendicular to one another. And also I have these panels that are the acoustic panels that are on the walls. Again, any of the sound that right now is in my booth will bounce around and get absorbed by these panels.    And I mentioned before that they're slightly offset from the wall. So like by a quarter inch maybe? I'm looking right now. They sit off the wall a quarter inch so that if it hits that wall, it has space to travel back through the back of the panel and then get stopped again before it could travel back into this microphone. And that's typically what you're trying to do is to stop the sound from reflecting and reverberating off the walls and coming back into the microphone as feedback or some sort of echo. So that's a little bit more on the absorption part. But now once we're in the studio, (laughs) and we're recording --   Gillian: Once we're in the studio that you've built and whatever says…   Anne: — there's equipment. And of course we could probably talk about microphones all day. But I, I really think that there's other pieces of equipment that I wanna focus on today, and maybe this will even go into another episode, in regards to what's important for voice actors. I'm gonna start the conversation with your internet connection.    Gillian: Yeah. And we kind of talked about this a little bit last time. Like internet computer, without those two things, you don't have a job. You can't connect with anybody.   Anne: So true.    Gillian: I mean it's different when you're in a recording studio 'cause that's all there for you and you don't think about the fact that they have the computer, they have the recording equipment, especially since as a voice actor just standing in front of the mic, putting on the headphones. Like those are things that you think about. But we worry about that all the time, and less the internet connection, which we've had to do that and configure things to be on Zoom with people to send audio that way. But it's definitely very important. And my computer is my, I don't wanna say baby, but kind of (laughs); more important than my phone, it is the most important thing in my professional life, and I spent a ton of money on it to get the most updated one and it, it hurt.   Anne: It's an investment.   Gillian: It hurt a little bit.   Anne: (laughs) There was some physical pain when you invested --   Gillian: Emotional pain.    Anne: — but it's an investment.    Gillian: I have someone that I work with that we talk about this all the time 'cause we both have, you know, brand new Macs, iPhone. What -- I don't have the newest one, but when I upgraded I got pro Macs, the best phone. Because why would you not invest in something that you use every single day and that you use every single day for work?   Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: Like you're paying to have less trouble issues, be faster. I think that's a worthy investment.    Anne: Well, I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna backtrack a little bit because I'm adamant about the internet. I love the internet and it's always been said that I would marry the internet if I could (laughs). Like, like Vince Surf is like one of my heroes, okay, the inventor of the internet. And so I guess my point is I have some people that say when I'm connecting to them for their sessions and I use ipDTL to connect exclusively with my students for their sessions because of the fact that it's a high quality audio connection. It allows me to hear them better so that I can direct them better. We can record our sessions. There's lots of wonderful advantages to using ipDTL. Also source connect, all the other methodologies that people use to connect to each other, to their clients and to studios, you need to have a quality internet connection.    And sometimes when I have students say, well, my connection -- yeah, well, I think we have like a 300 connection, 300 speed. Most people don't necessarily know what speed connection they are connecting to the internet. And I think that it's important for you to know as BOSSes, first of all, what speed is your internet connection? And if you have the capability of getting a gig or a faster speed, why not choose the top of the line speed for that internet connection? Because your business, not just your audio and connecting with clients, but your entire business runs on the internet and the communication. Because we are pretty much an online business. Right? And we're connecting globally to people. So why on a daily basis -- I probably am on the internet, oh goodness, 8 to 10 hours a day, possibly more.   Gillian: An embarrassing number of hours a day. (laughs)   Anne: Well, yeah, because we watch our televisions now, which are, you know, everything is fed through the internet. And so if you can get the fastest speed, absolutely, it's an investment in your company. I just say that over and over again. And as a matter of fact, when I said this before on an episode, when I moved here to my new house, I actually checked and said, what speeds are available in my area? If I cannot get fiber to my house, I will not move here. I will not move here.    You know, it's one of those things they say, oh, fiber's coming, fiber's coming. But you know, if it's years until fiber's coming, and I know how important that connection is to my business, the livelihood of my business, I actually chose where I was going to live based upon my internet speed. Because again, until I retire, guys, this is it. This is where I make my money, and I know how important it is. So, alright, I've stepped down off my soapbox for the internet, but get the fastest speed, guys. It's an investment in your business and write it off. Right? It's your business. Okay. Now Gillian onto the computer thing. So.   Gillian: Well no, no. I feel like this doesn't get, and maybe it does get talked about. I'm not hearing it, so we're talking about it (laughs), but like --   Anne: I'm rambling on and on about it. (laughs)    Gillian: Computers, XLR cables, like these are not exciting purchases. A microphone is an exciting purchase to some degree.    Anne: Well, I think they're exciting. Gillian. I'm sorry. I was gonna marry the internet, remember?    Gillian: That's true, that's true. That's true, in love with the internet. But I think that there's a ton of things that make your space great that are not flashy --   Anne: A microphone.   Gillian: Or exciting. I mean, unboxing my computer was like a spiritual experience. I loved it. It was like so awesome. I just, when I got my Apple Watch last week, I took a video of the unboxing because I was like, oh my gosh, it's so aesthetically pleasing. (laughs). I mean --   Anne: Wait, did you say that to yourself? This is so aesthetically pleasing. I love that.   Gillian: I said it in my head. Yeah, of course.    Anne: I love it. I love it.    Gillian: Everything with Apple. I made my boyfriend hover above and take the video while I unbox it and I was like, don't move.   Anne: Wait, wait. Get the lighting. Get the lighting perfect. I would do that too though. I'm such a geek about things like that. I really am.   Gillian: You only open an Apple box once. Once it's opened, it's not the same. Anyway sorry, little BOSSes; you're listening to us ramble about Apple. All of you PC lovers, I'm sorry.    Anne: Yes.    Gillian: You just will never, never understand (laughs). Or maybe you will.    Anne: Well, they have their own unboxing, so that's absolutely fine. You can get excited about -- but I know a lot of people that build their own computers, and that's exciting.    Gillian: Oh yeah. That's an activity. That's fun.    Anne: That's definitely a very cool thing to do. So your computer, again, it's part of your livelihood. Now there are people out there that say for voice acting, you don't need to have a very powerful computer, and no, you don't necessarily for the actual physical audio recording of one track perhaps. I'm gonna say that, yeah, you don't have to have a billion megabytes of RAM or, or a ton of space. But honestly, everything we do combined together along with the audio recording -- I am connecting with clients. I am looking things up on the internet, I'm researching, I am doing so many activities on that computer for my business, marketing, connecting with clients, audio recording, audio editing — why wouldn't I want it to be as optimal as it could be?   And so there might be people that are using multiple computers. Like one is just for recording my audio. That's fine. Whatever works works there for you. However, there's still -- I think Gillian and I were discussing this a little bit earlier, and we can continue this discussion about the speed of your computer, when you're recording, your audio does play a factor in the quality of what you're getting out. And you certainly don't want your computer to be an ancient piece of equipment that can't handle your interface or it keeps crashing. Like I know for a fact -- Gillian, you use Adobe products?   Gillian: I do. Yeah.    Anne: Right? I mean, just any Adobe product for me has always been a little bit of a memory hog. And so if you've got Adobe Audition running in the background and you're recording and you've got it on a kind of an older computer and you don't have a lot of RAM or you're running out of space, whatever it is, it can cause that to crash and cause many, many frustrating problems. So as good as your performance is, right, if your DAW's gonna crash time and time again…   Gillian: And there's nothing worse than being in the middle of an edit, and it crashes and you lose all of your hard work on an edit. That's happened -- I mean, not as much with ProTools. There's always like automatic save. So I'll just go back to previous version, but it's happened enough --   Anne: Or a good take. Right? You could be actually recording like, and you've got the best take of your life, and then something, you know, happens. I mean, that would suck.    Gillian: Yeah. So it's interesting because computers become important when you're doing everything off of it. Kind of like we're saying, you're sending emails, you're uploading auditions places, you are, I don't know, creating your post for social media in Premiere, you're recording, you're editing, you're -- all of these things, they take up space and why would you not — obviously don't go into debt for a computer.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: I mean, do what you want, but --   Anne: But it's an investment.    Gillian: Again, it's a worthy investment, and I think people always -- from my experience of talking with voice actors, people would be much more willing to jump to buy another microphone or another, something that's, in air quotes, fun versus, you know, really splurging on the super important things.    Anne: So true. Like a foundational technology that helps you run your business. You're absolutely right. And not to say that microphones aren't important, but again, no, you don't need like the U87 (laughs). Well, I kind of want one, but(laughs), I still am holding off on that one. But microphones like, I feel like the microphone technologies, they last a little bit longer than — you don't have to worry about updating them. It's not like you're upgrading the OS on your microphone, right?    Gillian: No.    Anne: Or upgrading the RAM, uh, microphones, they work and they just work unless you're gonna beat it up.    Gillian: They're completely different.   Anne: And pour water into it. Yeah. It's a completely different, it's a piece of hardware that…   Gillian: It's a piece of hardware. I mean five years and who knows, but five years down the line, at least for me, I'll trade in my, yeah. Mac for another Mac through Apple. That'll be great. But if you have a microphone, you can sell that at any point. If anything, it's probably gonna go up in value the longer you keep it and take care of it. And yeah, I mean, I'm kind of a U87 hater. I don't like them. I don't like them at all.    Anne: That could be another episode. I'm not sure how many people would disagree with you there.    Jilian: I think, I don't know. I don't know how much of it is just, it's a -- I mean I've used it, I've done shootouts with mics for myself for other things where you just line them all up and you sing into them. And the one that I'm using now is my favorite from a lot of mics that I've tried within my budget. My favorite mics are like $20,000 ones that I can't afford and don't need to afford, because why would I? But producers, clients, nobody's gonna know what your gear is. They just care about how you sound. And so I don't personally think that everyone needs to spend upwards of thousands of dollars on gear. I think there's really smart ways to make less expensive gear sound great when you're starting out.    But then the expensive gear is room to grow within your business, within your voiceover experience. And isn't that like something to look forward to or know that, you can resell your gear to someone who's starting off and then upgrade to something bigger, and just all of these big purchases are investments. And they are important.    Anne: And another thing that, I'm just gonna say that like equipment that you don't think about for your voiceover business, your online storefront, hello, your website. Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you how many people want to -- and I'm not saying you can't do it on your own. However, look, I worked in technology for 20 years. I did websites back when they were easy. Okay? They're not -- when you could write HDMI Notepad and it was simple. And then all of a sudden like CSS came out and I was like, I was overwhelmed. I was like, okay, no, I just know what functionality I want in the backend of my website. I'm not a graphic designer. I'm a functional person, so I know what I want, and I know what functionality I want.    And so at some point I said, okay, I am not making my own websites anymore because it is a face of my business. And so I wanna pay someone who actually does this eight hours a day, if not longer. And that's what they were trained to do. And a lot of people try to skimp on that. And I hear that constantly from voice actors. And I guess my question is, back in the day when there was more brick and mortar things, like actual studios, Gillian, you know, you go to them all the time — you used to have to front the bill for leasing once a month. If you had a store, you had to stock it with inventory so there were all these like monetary investments you would make.    And then all of a sudden when things became easy from technology and easier from technology and online, all of a sudden people think that, well, it's so easy, I can just do it and cheap out on it. It frustrates me. Like that mentality -- I understand that yes, doing anything online at home is a great business to start, but you have to still invest in it. And there's so many worthy things to invest in, and your storefront, if it's not brick and mortar, it's online. The impression you make is so, so important in order to be successful in this industry.    Gillian: And there are just ways to -- I love my website. It's very important to me. I've gotten like compliments on it that it looks really professional, and I didn't make it. I hired someone to make it for me. Obviously the content that I fill it with is mine. I do that. But I would've never been able to make the website that I have now. Both from how it looks and a functionality standpoint, I feel like people are not really using their websites in a functional way where you could, you know, manage contacts and, and communicate with people that way.    But for me, I mean, I work with voice actors, I do sessions with them. Every once in a while I will have to look someone up and the first thing I look for is a website. And if I can't find a website for someone, I kind of don't know what to do. I'm like, if I can't find you and listen to your demo right away — and if it's not easy for me, and especially like if you could get your demos online, easily downloadable for anybody in casting, anybody working at a studio that kind of gives you a leg up. It really like, it just does because you're easier to work with, you're easier to find. And I kind of know who you are. I'm like, okay, this person is a legit voice actor. Which might not be the right answer, but it's what I do.   Anne: Well, and a professional voice actor. Right? So, again, there are people who, well, you know, do I need to buy a domain? Do I need to, you know, I can do my own website right now, and I can upload my files to a pay-to-play. But honestly, when I shop and I shop a lot online, hello? Gosh, I can't remember the last time I was at a mall. Although I do love getting out and seeing people. But honestly I do a ton of online shopping. And so for me, the trust factor and the value factor has everything to do with the website. And when I first get an impression of somebody, when I go to the website, right, I can tell, oh, are they trustworthy? Are they professional?    And if you've got a website that you made and you don't do that for a living, right, it's gonna look homemade. Here's an old school thing. I always talk about business cards, right? If you walk up to somebody and they hand you a business card, which still happens these days, not as much as it used to, but then that business card was printed on a printer in your home versus something that was professionally made, you can absolutely tell the difference. Same thing with a website, right? You can absolutely tell the difference, but there's just a level. It's like a movie and a B movie, (laughs). It's like, it's absolutely a level of professionalism that comes with something that's been professionally designed.    Gillian: And unfortunately it's kind of all the aesthetic versus, and that analogy is incredible. I mean, I've never really lived in a business card world. I know (laughs), but when I was like 10, I had professionally made business cards for my babysitting business.    Anne: There you go.    Gillian: So I kind of did. And those were --   Anne: It made a difference, right?    Gillian: I, I don't know, I still have them, but I got work probably 'cause people were impressed that a 10-year-old had business cards.    Anne: Right?    Gillian: But for me, I mean I'm in my 20s, I first look at people's website, and off the bat there's just a different pro versus not pro vibe that I immediately, it just goes off in my brain. And same thing. And then if I can't find them immediately, the next thing I look for is Instagram. And if I can't find you and see that you're doing any sort of voiceover work, then I'm kind of confused. You know, if you have a great voice, I'll email you, but it's a different world.    Anne: So that's interesting. So you go Instagram, what about TikTok? At what level is TikTok or other social media channels for you?    Gillian: Um, it really is for me. I use my Instagram, it's like professional now. Everyone that I meet on a session, artists that I work with, I connect with everybody on Instagram. And that's like the way that I keep up with what people are doing and what people are up to. I personally don't really use LinkedIn. I did when I was in less creative field, but nobody that I work with uses it.    Anne: Right. But our potential clients do. That's why I'm just gonna say that for us.    Gillian: Well, yeah. I think it's different for what I do versus what you guys do. But I, I think I'll go to LinkedIn as a last resort if I can't find somebody. But for the most part, like Instagram and websites. TikTok, I don't really use for work. That's like fun for me. I would never like look for someone on TikTok or like look for voice actors on TikTok. But I do know that there's definitely --   Anne: But if there were creative voice actors, I was gonna say if there's creative voice actors that are doing something entertaining on TikTok, you'll take notes.    Gillian: Yeah. I'm also not a client. I'm coming at this from a strictly studio perspective. I do, every once in a while some voice actors will come up on my feed, or I know there's some people that I know that are like voice actors and musicians and they talk about stuff like that. Um, so I can't say that I know too much about it, but yeah, Instagram is like the thing for me that I can check if someone's legit or not.    Anne: I think the last little, I'm gonna call these the soft equipment requirements. I'm gonna talk about how before it was a voice actor, always, well I've got a face for radio, that kind of thing. I loved voice acting initially because there weren't the requirements of being on camera. I thought, well, I can act and I can be behind that microphone. However, it has evolved and times have changed. And I do believe that there's a video element and there's a face element because people wanna connect with humans. And so for us as voice actors, there are the times when we need to connect with others as humans. And a lot of times I'll have live sessions where they'll wanna connect and watch me via Zoom. I don't always have the camera on. Sometimes I will always to say hello.    For obviously my podcast, yes. I do this and I do some, if you were going to do some social media posts, I have a YouTube channel called my Teachable Moments. So the other equipment purchase that people don't necessarily think about is a good camera and good lighting. And then also I hire a video person to help me to actually create videos and edit videos. So again, it can present to my online clients. My online presence can be of a more professional nature. Again, I don't do video production, but I do know lots of people that do. So I think camera and lighting so that you can look professional. And then if you have videos that you upload, make them look professional and have people who do video editing. And so what a good conversation. And we didn't even get to the hardware yet, really.    Gillian; I know, I'm sorry, guys. There's one more --   Anne: Or the microphone or the headphones and, and all that. So that's for our next --   Gillian: Sorry, guys.   Anne: That's for our next episode.   Gillian: But I got, one more thing I got for you. It's so interesting because obviously I'm learning about the voiceover industry. I know about audio; I record it, but learning the ins and outs of the industry or what people are doing, sometimes it's confusing to me because sometimes stuff goes like against what I would think or things that I think are obvious, people aren't doing. But for voice actors, I feel like, and this is my take, you can tell me if I'm wrong, I feel like it'd be easy to be yourself on social media because anything that you do with you talking, just being yourself. It's your voice. And that's --   Anne: Uh, yes, it's true. It's so true.    Gillian: Wouldn't that make so much sense? I'm on social media a decent bit. I'm on TikTok. People are always like, this is my morning routine, this and that. All these videos with voiceover. And when I make my tos, I do voiceovers. I don't do voiceover, but you know, I'll talk in them, but really, I hear a lot of people getting hung up on like, I have to be talking about my booth or voiceover. But really anything that you're doing --   Anne: Anything you're doing.    Gillian: — using your voice is showing off your voice --   Anne: Who you are and your brand.    Gillian: Yeah. But then if, if you're being yourself, then it's kind of like sneaky, you know, it's like I'm just being myself. People are getting to know me, and they're realizing that I have a great voice and a great sound. So that's what I always think about and I don't see a lot of.   Anne: Yeah. And people buy from people they know, like, and trust. And I've always said this podcast, I have gotten so much work from this podcast. There's so many people that come up to me and say, oh my gosh, I feel like I've known you for years because I've been doing this podcast for years and, and I'm pretty much myself on this podcast. And ultimately that is a really wonderful way to get your brand out there and to have people know, like, and trust you. And then, when they do come to you, they're ready to purchase. And that just becomes a really cool thing. So yeah, guys, so this has been a great talk about the soft technologies. I don't even know what to call them. The soft technologies or the technologies that most people don't think about, right? The hardware people don't think about.   Gillian: Or just things that people don't think about that are not the --   Anne: It's not the microphone --   Gillian: — exact gear. I'm sorry, guys. We're just leading you on. I'm so sorry (laughs). But there's just not so much to say.    Anne: Next episode. All right, well, thank you, Gillian. It's been fun. We're gonna talk next time about maybe some equipment that people have been thinking about. Well, what about my headphones?   Gillian: I know.    Anne: So good stuff. So BOSSes, as individuals, it can seem difficult to make a huge impact, but as a group, we can contribute to the growth of our communities in ways that we never thought possible. Visit 100Voiceswhocare.org to learn how. All right. And a big shout out to our sponsor, ipDTL. You too can network and connect like BOSSes. Find out more at ipdtl.com. You guys, have an amazing week and we'll see you next week.    Gillian: Bye.    Anne: Bye.   Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voBOSS.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.

Gloria Estefan was right! Stephen talked about Sphere and the history of American consoles, Smoky Joe amps, printing fx plugins, recording drums, acoustic, and electric guitars, deconstructing your tape machine alignment, and stereo ribbon mics. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Stephen Shirk an Engineer, Co-Producer and Musician. Stephen has been a guest on the podcast back on episode RSR272 when he talked about his background and starting Shirk Studios in Chicago restoring a beautiful Sphere console and building a dedicated space for recording full bands to analog tape.  “CONSOLE: 1976 Sphere Eclipse A - Discrete Inline Console.  32 Channels - 24 Mic Pres - 16 + 8 busses (24 outputs during recording) - With Eight 920 EQ's and twenty four 910 EQ's - Reichenbach input and Jensen output transformers give the console a punchy tone that defines the pinnacle of the 70's American console design. Balanced Line Input mod features Cinemag Transformers and Discrete GAR6220 Op Amps (SPA62).”  In 2019 Stephen open up the studio to Recording Studio Rockstars for a weekend mixing clinic with Anthony Gravino which was a blast! We had Rockstars traveling overnight on the bus from Canada and flying in from New York state just to be there and were able to listen to everyones music and offer feedback. Today we will catch up and see whats new at Shirk studio and learn more about how Stephen is recording and mixing such great sounding records. Thanks again to Anthony Gravino for the introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/735OCbnyFGtAQFhes3hqVf?si=4d42c68ad52a471a If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/402

Is it bad to print your mix offline? John talked about the importance of arrangement, mastering dynamics in your mix, the Fletcher Munson curve, listening loud and quiet, crest factor, customer care, and why some plugins are different every time! Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is John Mayfield a mastering engineer with over 50 years of experience and owner of Mayfield Mastering in Berry Hill. Originally a career musician, John turned to recording and mixing in the 80s travelling to studios all over the world. He has also been a guest on episode RSR036. Originally a successful touring and studio musician John started out in the studio recording and then mixing all over the world finally settling on Nashville to start his own mastering studio. Dave Matthews Band, Sara Evans, Kathy Mattea, Naturally 7, Warner Brothers Records and Universal Music Group-UK, to list a few. John notes on his website that everyone in music is trying to figure out what is next and define the new business model. Since records are being made more often by independent sources with smaller budgets that cannot always afford the high dollar mixer the need for quality mastering is very much in demand. “Music will always be a part of our lives. Maintaining and improving the quality of that music has always been at the heart of my efforts. It is not a job to me, but rather a true joy, You would be amazed at what we can do with a project in mastering that might not have been an A+ mix.” THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PQ8g3iNvYcH2XeBXDLtSl?si=938d345bee734267 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/401

"Made Loud To Be Played Loud!" Bill talked about recording with his son Michael, how to create cinematographic drums, single mic vocal stacking with The Eagles, producing demos on a boat, how to record great rock guitars, and singing at 8000 feet. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Bill Szymczyk (and his son Mike Szymczyk) a Grammy-winning and multi-nominated American music producer and engineer best known for producing Hotel California by The Eagles. He produced many top albums and singles of the 1970s, though–aside from continuing to work with Joe Walsh–he retired from the music business by 1990  re-emerging in the late 2000s for select projects including the 2007 Eagles album Long Road Out of Eden and the 2008 eponymous debut of Brian Vander Ark. Unlike many music producers, Szymczyk has no background as a musician. He was originally a sonar operator for the U.S. Navy and took some audio production classes as part of his Navy training. Besides his work with the Eagles, he has produced hit songs and albums for such diverse artists as B.B. King, Joe Walsh, The James Gang, and Elvin Bishop. Thanks to Rick Carson with Make Believe Studio for making our introduction, and to Jonathan Roye. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4SxCemCijJvuYA3vJ1cdIo?si=3379a0a6edc0498f If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/400

Delete most of those damn tracks before you mix! Billy talked about narrowing the drum and guitar mics down to the essentials for mixing, his vocal chain, bass eq roll-off, designing the perfect mixing chain plugins, and how mixing mono can help you. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Billy Decker aka The Deckerator is an award winning Nashville mixing engineer known for his efficient and effective mixing method.  He's mixed 16 Billboard #1”s to date such as Dustin Lynch's “Riding Roads” and notable artists as Sam Hunt, Chris Young, Rodney Atkins, Parmalee, Colt Ford, and the metal band Starset to name just a few. He also mixed George Jones's last album before he passed. Billy Decker made history in July of 2014 when Sam Hunt became the most added new artist of all time.  Decker works in a unique way. “I mix really fast. Most of my mixes are finished within an hour. To be able to do this, I use a lot of templates in pro tools. Instead of spending two hours EQing a kick drum I can do it in thirty seconds, because I have set up templates for the album that outline all the basic parameters for each instrument. I can then work on fine tuning - working on the entire mix, rather than focusing on individual adjustments. It's a good way to work. It's fast efficient and most importantly it's fun." He has been on the show recently for episode RSR281 and is also now a published author for his book “Template Mixing and Mastering: The Ultimate Guide to Achieving a Professional Sound” and has created a series of mixing plugins called the Bus Glue Billy Decker Bundle over at Joey Sturgis Tones.  THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Q7FD8l2OjoOFqFKyPvLPo?si=accf05b90893406b If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/399

In this episode the guys are joined by Decap and L Dre. Courtney has a cast of Ableton allies on his side while Devvon and L.Jean are on the lonely islands of Pro Tools and FL Studio. Does Decap tell us some crazy secrets on Fl Studio? Has L Dre had enough of the slander from Fl Studios own L Jean? Lets find out.Big thank you to Avid And Universal Audio for making this happen.Please subscribe to our YouTube and rate our podcast it helps us alot! https://linktr.ee/myaudionerdsGET THE HMD ROSETTA EQ: https://www.helpmedevvon.comFollow Ushttps://www.instagram.com/helpmedevvonFollow The CastDevvon Terrellhttps://instagram.com/helpmedevvonLJhttps://instagram.com/prodbyljeanCourtney Taylorhttps://instagram.com/officialcourtneytaylorDecaphttps://instagram.com/decapmusicL.Drehttps://instagram.com/ldrethegiant#podcast #mixing #producers 

Is it OK to Butcher a session? Sean talked about recording at the kitchen table with John Prine, capturing powerful vocals with Sturgill Simpson, when to use goboes and figure eight mics, and why the fiddle player texts you during a tracking session. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Sean Sullivan a 3 time Grammy award winning engineer, mixer and producer based in Nashville. After graduating from MTSU a chance opportunity landed him at The Butcher Shoppe Studio, owned by John Prine and producer David Ferguson, where he continued to work for a decade before the building was sold and demolished in the summer of 2020.  Notable artist that recorded at the studio include Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, The Black Keys, Kurt Vile, Jake Bugg, The Devil Makes Three, Margo Price, The Steeldrivers, and The Del McCoury Band. Since the Butcher Shoppe's closing Sean has primarily been working out of The Tractor Shed studio in Goodlettsville, TN and his personal home mixing space he reluctantly put together during the pandemic. Thanks to Collin Dupuis for the introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Um3fgSjXSvpWwbzmmzfLT?si=d164368176a743a3 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/398

Tony started his professional career in the music industry in 1980 at the age of 16 years old. Playing drums since the age of 3 Tony had been pounding on his dad's 1948 Radio King drum set that was a fixture in the basement of his Queens, NY home! Not only was Tony's dad a professional musician but his grandfather and his great grandfather back in Italy were as well.  It seems that music was Tony's destiny. With so many musicians in the family, Tony's listening palette was broad and wide! Opera and Big band jazz were the main stays on the turntables back then. As was the Beatles, Bee Gee's, James Taylor and all the pop artists of the day. One influential film Tony remembers was “The Glenn Miller Story”. In the story “Glenn” is searching for that “sound”. Tony's Mom would often refer to this, as Tony would come up from the basement looking for that “sound” on his drums - bewildered as to how the drums sounded so big and fat on the records. The quest was on for the “Holiest of Grails” a great drum sound!  As time passed, Tony went on to work in the Studio and Live concerts with the likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Carrie Underwood, Ramone, Diane Warren, Keith Thomas, Kip Winger, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Broening, Amy Grant, Donna Summer, Roberta Flack, Paul Taylor, Discrete Drums Loop Series, Toby Mac, Cindy Bradley, Jay Soto, Stephanie Smith, Ayeisha Woods, Rebecca Saint James, Britt Nicole, Stevie B, Sweet Sensation, Kathy Troccoli, Regie Hamm, Crystal Lewis, Avalon, John Elefante, Van Zandt and on.  His career has taken him from NYC to LA to his current residence in Franklin, TN. (A quaint city 14 miles outside of Music Row in downtown Nashville.) Tony is a successful session drummer and producer in Nashville. After years of touring, he had the good fortune to get into the session scene in town. The scene was healthy but still changing. Session work was going through some severe changes due to budgets and technical changes.  After an encounter with LA session musician J.R Robinson, Tony was convinced that the future of tracking was going to be done in the home. Now for a gtr track or vocal overdub maybe so, but drums? Here we go again searching for that “sound” in a 25 x 25 Garage built for storing cars and gardening equipment not killer drum sounds. With much investigation and a great builder with vision, they turned the Garage and Utility room into what now is one of the busiest drum tracking rooms in town.  For 8 years now Tony Morra has been tracking drums for demos, custom records, indie projects. Sounds about right, but NO! There's more!( Billy Mayes moment) Tony is tracking drums for Masters, Television, Film, Loop Libraries you hear on TV and on radio everyday. Tony is one of the leaders in home recording through the Internet since it was possible to do so! He has been a beta tester for many online programs that make it easier to do sessions in real time. What was thought to be a little drum room for some extra work has turned into a livelihood. Tony's clients span the world! These sessions are done at his home with the sounds rivaling those done in the largest and most expensive studios.  A big part of Tony's career was happening when he thought he had no career! In between gigs and tours in NY when work was lean, Tony would find work as an assistant engineer at jingle studios for jingle writer friends of his. He would also get to play live drums for them from time to time, but this was when the industry was moving to drum machines and loops. These experiences, which he took for granted in that he was just “collecting a check when gigs were slow”, gave him a wealth of knowledge of the recording industry and working with midi and sequencers. Mind you this is before Pro Tools! All editing was done with a razor and a prayer. Oh and he knows how to align a tape machine!  That knowledge has paid huge dividends in that beyond being an accomplished musician, he is an accomplished tracking engineer. Still Tony will bring in Top Nashville engineers to help dial in new sounds and experiment with gear.  His room is outfitted with the best gear there is, Daking, API, GML, Avalon, Neve EQ's, DBX 160's, Distressors, Telefunken Pre's, vintage Orbans and so on! The mics are no joke; Neumann U47, AKG's, Audio Technica, KM 184's, modified Ribbons.........and a ProTools HDX system.  It's a new world and a new frontier in recording. Tony's embracing it! Using what's available to make the finest quality Drum Tracks available for those who might never have been able to afford to do so and for those where budget is not even a concern.  Some Things That Came Up:  -3:00 Italian Family Legacy  -7:00 Music was in the family blood.  -10:30 Sitting in with Margaret Manning.  -11:45 Compliments to Tony's drumming Dad  -13:45 George Lawerence now has Tony's Dad's Big Band Charts  -14:50 Playing drums while Mom did housework -18:30 Worked at The Modern Drum Shop in NYC and studying with Joe Cusatis -19:50 The Ted Reed Book and The Bellson Book  -20:00 Cusatis Method: Play any rhythm with the right hand and fill in the triplets with the left.  -24:05 The lost art of teaching swing  -27:00 Trying to impress music teacher at private school  -29:45 Auditioning for Queens College  -30:10 Danny Gottlieb, Rod Morgenstein in the neighborhood  -31:55 Tympani Tuning Incident  -35:00 Driving vans for a zipper company  -36:00 Drinking Grappa with Marco Soccoli -38:00 Hanging with world class drummers at Manny's Music  -38:30 Drum Programming inspired by Sammy Merendino  -39:00 Wedding bands in NYC were a right of passage  -40:33 Intern for “The Jingle Queen of NY” at age 23, learning engineering, MIDI  -43:00 Incorporating clicks and loops. The early days  -47:00 Getting the gig with SWEET SENSATION  -48:00 Playing with The Shirelles, The Platters, The Coasters as well as singer songwriters like Lisa Loeb at The Bitter End. Playing with Dee Dee Ramone at CBGB's.  -50:00 Living next to John Gotti, the prevalence of drugs in the neighborhood.  -52:00 Moving to Nashville in 1997 and meeting Tony at a Virgil Donati clinic.  -53:50 The California Connection  -55:40 Living at Dianne Warren's house.  -1:00 Temptations vs. Spiritually Aided Faith -1:01 Working with Kathy Troccoli -1:06 Chatting with John Robinson -1:08 MD. Hiring Musicians. CCM World. Paul Chapman -1:11 Genesis of creating The Downtown Batterie -1:19 The FAST Five! Rush, Pink Floyd, Journey… -1:20 Music and Sports analogies    Follow:  www.downtownbatterie.com Twitter: @TonyMorra4 IG: @ajmorra

Today we are covering everything "backing tracks" related, and more. Topics include:  Backing tracks Behind the scenes music industry stuff Basic recording setups What gear you need for backing tracks live How to avoid problems playing live shows How to deal with the money side of the music industry In ear monitors Mic setup for recording Advice for getting first tour To support the show, check out Tim's educational resources here: https://bit.ly/3r3RBjh More ways to connect with Tim: https://linktr.ee/timbuell Save 7% on your first year of DistroKid with this link: https://bit.ly/3gToqZu Podcast Rewind Playlist (on Spotify) to catch up on my favorite past episodes of the podcast: https://spoti.fi/3ExTvwv

In this episode, Anne and Gillian stress the importance of having a high-quality home studio for voice actors. The hosts discuss the technical aspects of setting up a studio, such as having a good computer, fast internet, and a reliable microphone. They also emphasize the need for soundproofing, with Anne sharing her DIY approach to creating acoustic panels for her studio. Additionally, the hosts talk about the importance of isolation and how it can be achieved through building panels or using reflection filters. Overall, the episode provides valuable insights for anyone looking to set up a professional-grade voiceover studio.   Transcript   It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.   Anne: Hey everyone, welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I'm your host Anne Ganguzza, and I'm excited to welcome back to the show audio engineer, musician and creative freelancer Gillian Pelkonen for another episode in our BOSS audio series. Hey Gillian.    Gillian: Hello Anne. How's it going today?    Anne: I'm doing good. Gillian, I love talking all things audio with you, especially because for a voice actor, our home studios are so very important. And I work mostly out of my home studio, and I know that you kind of do both. You work out of professional studios and your home studio. So I thought we should discuss the important aspects of what voice actors really need and how they can fine-tune their home studio to sound their best, 'cause that's an important component of today's voice actor. We need to have great sound.    Gillian: Yeah, I definitely agree. And I'm home. This is like my working station, but when I'm really working I'm always just bopping around to different studios. So I understand why your booth is so important. It's like your second home or --   Anne: Yeah. (laughs).   Gillian: You know, you spend all your time in there.   Anne: We spend — oh yeah, we spend a lot of time in our booth. So first of all we have to be confident that it sounds amazing, that we can deliver amazing sound to our clients. And then also it's gotta be someplace where it's comforting for us because we do spend an awful lot of time in here.    Gillian: I definitely agree with my personal setup that I have here. I have like all my little mementos that I wanna see, and I have my mic of course for just meetings and talking. But really professional studios are so different than a home studio, because for me I'm always going different places. There's a ton of different gear, a ton of different stuff that we swap in and out for different uses, different clients, but really you guys are just focusing on your voice.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: A lot of the work that I do is just to get creative sounds, different sounds, but with voice acting you want it to be consistent and you wanna show up in the booth to do, I guess, revisions for something that you did six months ago and you need to be the same Anne that you were, which is so crazy to me.    Anne: Yeah. And even longer than that, actually I had a client just the other day that I had to provide pickups on something that I had done close to five years ago. And interestingly enough, I've actually transitioned from one studio to the next. So having I think the good bass sound, right, that you can get out of your studio area and also your mics make a big difference too in terms of the sound. And so I had to make sure that I could match it because I literally moved from my studio in Irvine, which was a different setup, a studio that my father built, to a custom studio that Tim Tippetts built here right before the pandemic. Oh, and in between I had a temporary studio, I forgot to mention that set up at an apartment that we were staying at until our new house was built and ready. So that was a different studio.    So all through those three different studios, thankfully I had the same mic, so I at least knew that I could get the same sound as long as I had a decent environment to record that in. And then also I will give props to myself because I had the audio files from five years ago. So I'm a big proponent of backing up your stuff and keeping an archive of it so you can listen and see what your performance was like, see what you sounded like and then be able to match it.    Gillian: Yeah, that's crazy. And so incredible that you have those files and I think that's one of the most important things for me personally too, just to keep everything backed up and know what's going on. But enlighten me, because I really don't know, like did you spend a lot of time working in studios before the pandemic? Like what was your experience like?    Anne: Oh, good question. So I started, gosh, I started back in the early 2000s doing voiceover, and that was when a home studio was like just a thought. It was not a requirement, it was just a thought. And you used to go to local studios to record things, and you would get your jobs based upon auditioning with either studios, or you could audition and then you would select a studio and you would rent space there, or you might be on a roster for a studio. So it's very interesting because as technology evolved and online became a thing and online casting became a thing, then all of a sudden home studios became a thing. Actually back in the day with Don LaFontaine, right, having to travel LA traffic all the time, he became, I think one of the first proponents of doing things remotely in a studio using ISDN technology.    So that I think really spurred everybody else on to start to get home studios because there's so many variables when you record in a studio. But the good thing about recording in a studio is that you go there and everything is beautiful, everything is sound -- everything is, well maybe not sound proof, but everything is optimized for recording so you didn't have to worry about it. And so for me, all of a sudden having to create a home studio or a space for me to record and sound good -- I'm not an audio engineer by trade, I didn't really study it in school. So for me that was a big hurdle in the beginning of my voiceover career. And I know it still is for voice talent that are coming up through the ranks, because that's not necessarily what we studied. We didn't study audio engineering. And of course it's a whole field.    So (laughs), it's not an easy field. And to set up a space in your home so that it can sound as good as a professional studio is really tough. So in the beginning when I went to studios to record and do my jobs, it was great, except for there was always the stress. Can I book the time in the studio? And if I had the time booked for me in the studio, that was great. All I had to do was make sure I got there on time. And then that became a stressful thing for me because of possible traffic. And back in the day, I didn't live in the LA area, but I did live in the New York area. And so traffic anywhere, just the stress of getting to the studio on time, 'cause that's the last thing. You know, that was the one piece of advice that everybody gave to starting voice talent was that don't be late, don't be late to your studio time. You wanna make sure that you show up and you're professional.    But you certainly didn't have to stress about anything other than just performing in front of the mic. And I think that was a big plus for going into studios. And people still go into studios today. And I know I love it when, even if I'm remotely connecting to a studio, I have the engineer taking care of all the sounds and levels and the files, and there's just so much to think about when you are at your home studio. And I'm rambling on here, but it's also a thing that when we are in our home studios, we have to think about things like, okay, well, it's our time to open those files, save the files, upload the files, send the files to our client, edit those files. And so that's something that when you don't go to a studio is now the responsibility of the voice actor.    Gillian: Well, that's crazy (laughs). I mean obviously a lot of these things I know to some extent and it seems like there's so many pros and cons for both. I mean, just hearing you talk about it, obviously we know showing up to record and not having to record yourself, it takes a burden off of it.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: Because I record myself. I mean, I'm not a voice actor by any means, not at all. But I've been working on my music for my whole life, and I think when I was like 12 or 13 I got a little ProTools CD and like a tiny interface and that was what started it and the convenience of being at home. But really it is such a treat to go into a studio.   Anne: It's a luxury. I think I consider it a luxury.    Gillian: But also hearing you talk about it, I feel performance-wise, it's gotta be easier to deliver when you're not stressed about getting there on time, you're not stressed about, you know, needing to be in front of other people. I know for myself, I love recording myself, especially when I'm doing singing or vocals because it's super vulnerable and sometimes I don't wanna have to do that in front of somebody else, especially someone I don't know, a stranger. Like, it's a little bit more difficult. But it is interesting because I work at a lot of music studios, so we don't do a ton of voiceover, but whenever we do, we always apologize to the voice talent, 'cause we have this entire gigantic beautiful studio, and we're like, okay, we're gonna give you one mic, we're gonna stick you in the corner 'cause it has the best isolation and close the door, and that's where you're gonna get to go.    'Cause it really is true. You need a good mic, you need a good setup. But voice actors don't need that whole setup. And so I guess the question or conversation is gonna be about how do you take the pros of a pro studio and incorporate them into your home studio setup and make it so that you don't wish you were at the studio. You have everything you need right there.    Anne: Yeah, yeah. It's a journey, for sure, for a voice actor, because again, I don't have the audio engineering education that you do. I know how to perform behind the mic. And so I just remember for me setting up my initial home studios --and I didn't have an ear either for it. I think when you first begin, you just don't have an ear for what good sound sounds like, and I would record and I didn't think anything of it and sent my file off to someone and they're like, mm, yeah, no Anne, that's not gonna do, that's not acceptable. And I was mortified and then it was like, wow. So what do I have to do to make my studio produce sound that is viable for my client?    Gillian: Yes, definitely an interesting conversation and thought just because it's true, like voice actors, they do have to fill the role of the audio engineer. I do believe that. But I also don't think that all voice actors need to be audio engineers.    Anne: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I agree.    Gillian: You need to know how to record yourself. You need to know how to see if you're clipping, if you're too quiet to hear, a little bit of distortion or hear if your voice just isn't sounding right. And obviously, you know, with auditions you have to edit, you have to make it sound comparable to the other auditions and maybe a final product. But really I feel like if you tell someone who's not an audio engineer, or if you told me five years ago before I was really an audio engineer, you have to do this, it's so overwhelming. So I feel like talking about what people actually need to know, versus what you hire a professional for, or what you just kind of say, okay, this is a setting within my DAW that does not pertain to me. I don't need to be using this to get proper file delivery -- I feel like that's really important for people to just, I think make peace with. Because if you spent all your time trying to learn how to be an audio engineer, you would have no time to be a voice talent or to be doing what you actually wanna be doing.    Anne: So true, so true. So then I think maybe starting from square one, if BOSSes out there are just getting started, and I know I work with people who are just getting started in the industry, and they'll connect to me for their sessions in an office with a headset, and there will be no studio whatsoever, and they will be okay, I'm building my studio. So for me, I will always say to them, well, I certainly have a ton of people that I can recommend to you that can help you build that studio.    But there are certain principles that I know, like I can now hear if they have good sound or not. And I think the first thing to consider is, in your home, like where is a quiet area? And I know that's such a lofty question to ask, but in reality what I've learned is that if you can go somewhere inside your home that's maybe on an inside wall, maybe something that's not necessarily externally connected or near windows or near doorways or near sounds that can turn on — I mean I thought I was really great in the beginning going into my office closet, but unfortunately I found that it was very close to where I would hear water when the toilet flushed upstairs. So it was like one of those things I kept hearing noises. And so I think the first thing is to find that spot in your home that is quiet and also yet convenient to a place where you can put a microphone and also your computer, 'cause you do need your interface, your computer and your microphone.    So where can you put that and set that down so that you can record in a space and also have the functionality of being able to record into your computer, and then obviously hit the start record, stop, record, and all that stuff. And also wear a pair of headphones in the beginning so that you can kind of find out what your sound is like. All those things that people don't think about, they're like, well, I'm gonna put my studio here in my closet, but then all of a sudden their desk is like at the other side of the room, and they don't have a long enough cable.    It could be that simple, right? (laughs) They don't have a long enough cable for their headphones, and then they're like, well what do I do? Or they don't have a long enough cable for their interface is sitting on desk completely across the room, and then well do they bring the interface into the room? So it becomes all these different questions. But I think understanding that your spot in your home I think needs to be in a quiet area first. Maybe not near a window or not near anything that's within a wall that could be making noise like a heater or air conditioning or a generator, that kind of thing. What are your thoughts on that, Gillian?    Gillian: It's so funny 'cause the like doing vocals in a closet or whatever, it's a cliche because it works. Having the padding of the clothing and typically that ends up being a quiet spot in your house, but it's not sustainable to work in your closet forever. And all those things that you mentioned are totally important. You have to have a computer, all of those things. And don't take me for an example if anyone's watching the video; I'm in my office. I don't do recording in here, but I'm like by a window by a ton of noise. It's terrible. But I think finding the right spot to get set up in is totally important.    But the most important thing I think, and you can let me know what you think, but for the most part for doing voiceover work, obviously you need a microphone, but your computer, your internet connection, those are like hugely important things because how fast your computer is, how good it is at processing audio speeds, how well it connects to your interface — like all of those super technical things within — I know I have like a brand new MacBook — those are gonna really matter for how your audio sounds when you deliver it to clients. And you can have the nicest setup in the world, but if you don't have internet, or I know a lot of people also do like ethernet connections, you're not gonna make it to the job. Obviously if you're just auditioning and sending it later, that's a different scenario. But I mean, how important is it to you to obviously be able to connect to clients? That's like the number one.    Anne: Well, I think that's probably one of the most overlooked aspects of being a successful voice actor is your internet. And especially now with needing to have high capacity audio recording features like Source Connect or ipDTL or whatever connection you might be using to get to a studio — that's if you're connecting to a studio -- you need to have a reliable internet connection. And I remember I very much was adamant when I came to my new place here, because it was being built, I specified that there were three specific ethernet jacks placed on the wall, on each wall. So literally I made sure that I had ethernet hardwired, connected before I moved in because I knew it was gonna be easiest to do it then.    Because the people who move into homes, and they don't have ethernet connections, then they usually have to hire an electrician or somebody that can find out that they can run the wire through the wall to get to their modem or their router, or they have to move the router into their office and then other things become a problem. So ethernet and your hardwire connections are so important. And I don't see the technologies advancing anytime soon. Like wireless technology is great and convenient, but it's still not as great as a straight wired connection. I mean you cannot beat an ethernet connection or a fiber connection to your router that gets your data there fast.    Gillian: I think it's just sturdiness. It's true, wifi goes out or it's finicky sometimes. So those are are really important things. And obviously having the foresight to know that you need to have ethernet and all those things installed is really important. But for the people that didn't think about this, are already living somewhere, don't know what to do, find a spot where you feel comfortable, find a spot that's kind of away from extraneous noise. And I personally don't think, if you're just starting out in voiceover, you need to splurge on a booth or anything right away. I think there's a ton of DIY options that we can talk about, but I think that's also a lot of pressure, or at least from what I'm hearing. I'm also like half in the voiceover world, half out of it. So there's a lot of questions that I'm probably gonna have for you about like why people say certain things. And I know kind of random but kind of on the conversation is a lot of audio people that I know are very adamant about not updating your computer or having really, really old hardware. I understand the processes --   Anne: To support the equipment, right?   Gillian: -- behind it. Yeah. But I personally don't live that way. I update my computer. I have new stuff and there are times, like when I, I updated to a newer version of ProTools or a new version of Mac, like the Mac OS that was not supportive of ProTools, and I had a couple weeks where it was having a little bit of bugs, which is frustrating. But definitely for security of myself and all of the other things going on in my life, I don't think that you need to be using a 2010 computer.    Anne: Well, I agree. Normally I would agree with you 'cause I worked in technology for like 20 years. I would always say --   Gillian: No, no, tell me.    Anne: Update. Update.    Gillian: I'm not saying that right. This is just the way that I work. (laughs)    Anne: Update, and I love being updated to the latest and the greatest 'cause I figure it's getting rid of a lot of bugs. However, sometimes when Apple doesn't update, because I work with Apples, it's not conducive to working with my hardware for my studio. So my Apollo, which is my interface, and I have backup interfaces, but right now the latest release of Mac OS is not compatible with it. And I can't afford to struggle for two weeks. I need to have something that allows me to connect and record. And so I will wait on the update until I find out -- I usually check all the -- there's a lot of great groups out there on the internet that talk about should you update your hardware for this new release? Is it compatible with the latest release for the Apollo? And I think it's wise to keep your eyes on that.    I don't think you should be 10 releases behind for sure. But (laughs), I do think that before you upgrade, to just take a look and ask around to see if things are compatible. That's important, especially if you're required to record every day in your studio, and you don't wanna have to go to your backup recording. And that's the other thing too is that I'm very much into having a backup recording setup, because I've had things happen to me enough times. But people just starting off getting into voice acting, they probably don't even have their first setup (laughs) set up, let alone a backup set of equipment.    Gillian: So let me just talk to you on that for a second. I personally don't have any Apollo, Apollo or UAD stuff for that reason because I'm so nervous to be stuck without it. And I totally agree with you, because when I updated my computer without realizing that ProTools -- I mean I'm fortunate enough that I have five or six other places that I can go use ProTools. It wasn't like -- and it was working. It just, there were certain plug-ins that weren't working. But that's not the end of the world.    Anne: Right.    Gillian: But the lesson that I learned from that was, oh my gosh, never update without checking because it's true all the programs that you're using -- and I think within Apple they will say what is compatible and what's not compatible with these new releases, and that is totally smart person way to do it. And you get burned to realize that you can't do it, which is what happened to me and I'm sure has happened to you.    Anne: You only have to get burned once. Right?    Gillian: You get burned once and then you're like, this sucks. I'm so dumb, I have my features and now I can't do my job.    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: Which is sucky.    Anne: Exactly.    Gillian: So learn from our mistakes, don't make your own. But there are some people, and I've met them, people that I work with too -- I mean one of these studios, we had a 10 years old ProTools rig, and when you get into the large professional studios, they are upwards of like $10-, $20-, $30,000 for new ProTools rig like expensive.    Anne: Oh yeah. And I'm sure that's why they don't upgrade to the latest and greatest all the time.    Gillian: Well, the old system was super sturdy, was working really well. And then we upgraded and there were some glitches and bugs and things that come with updating. I don't know why. I just heard people that I work with grumbling like, ah, you know, the old system was so great, now we have the new system and it keeps crashing. And so the, there is this conversation about not upgrading for like 10 years. I don't know if you've heard that within audio engineers.    Anne: That's a long time. Yeah.    Gillian: So if anyone is giving you that advice, I'm just gonna give you the counter-advice so that you can take both of them and make an educated choice about what you wanna be doing. You don't need to be doing what I'm doing and have the newest stuff. If you have an Apollo, you definitely can't always have the most updated, because it's a little bit behind and everything that's not within Apple will always be a little bit behind. But just make your own choices, people. (laughs) Listen to us, gather the info and make a good choice.    Anne: Yeah. Make an educated choice. And I, and I agree like there's always that fine line of when do you update your technology, like when does that happen? And I'm very used to just from my previous jobs -- I mean I was always living on the edge. I was always trying the new stuff. And so I'm very bold when it comes to trying new stuff. But I'm also smart enough, I've been burned enough times to know that I need backups of everything and then backups of the backups. And so I'm actually really thankful for that experience. And BOSSes out there, I say backups of backups, backups of your files, backups of your equipment, backups of your internet connection, because the one time will come when you really need it, and you won't have that backup. And that only has to happen once. I'm so old, it's happened to me multiple times.    So I feel good that I've learned from it. And so while I feel as though I'm really close to the edge on everything I possibly can be, I'm also smart about when to get on that edge with equipment and stuff that I need on a day-to-day basis. So yeah, absolutely. So when you're looking for that space in your home, that quiet space, that space that's comfortable for you and also hopefully quiet for you, right, for that home studio, then you start preparing it, right, acoustically. So Gillian, what can people do to prepare their home studios acoustically? What sorts of things can they do to have sound absorption? Like if they're in a closet, obviously they can have their clothing which is a great absorber of sound. What other things can they use?    Gillian: There are a ton of things that you can use. I know there's a few DIY boots in the sense that they're not thousands and thousands of dollars. They're like some PVC pipe and some packing blankets that will kind of isolate you, which is great.    Anne: Sure.    Gillian: I think the issue with the way that homes are built versus how sound works is you get the windows, you get all the boxy walls, and you have all these parallel surfaces, and you talk, and all the sound just bounces from side to side to side. So the whole point of having treatment on the walls and treatment around you is to stop all of that reverberation --   Anne: Reflection.    Gillian: Yeah. And the reflections. And just capture it. And really a lot of studios will be built with like diagonal walls and all of these things to just go against it. I have never built a studio, so I can't say that I've done it, but I've been in a lot of places where I'm like, that wall's really weird. Why is it like that?    Anne: Yeah.    Gillian: And of course it's not for aesthetic, it's for sound. So just making, making sure that you are blocking yourself from any windows are really reflective, just any sort of padding on the walls would be really -- I mean I see yours, all of your stuff in the background. For anyone who's watching, Anne has all those nice little --   Anne: Panels.    Gillian: Yeah. The sound panels that just absorb everything. And there's also these things that we use in studios that I haven't seen any voice actors use, so I'm gonna have to ask you about it. They're like reflection filters. Have you ever heard of them?    Anne: Does that go on a mic?    Gillian: It goes on a mic stand.    Anne: Yes, I have. I have.   Gillian: Have you seen I them?    Anne: Yeah, I have seen them and I have not had good success with them, and I actually hate them. I hate them with a passion.    Gillian: Okay, tell me about it because I'm just curious.    Anne: I think that they can work nicely in a studio that already has some acoustic absorption built into it. And then if it's in a large area, if it's in a large space and you need a little bit more, I think that they can work nicely. However, what most voice actors try to do is use it for their studio and then it just becomes the only thing that is used, and it becomes very close to the mic. And first of all, they're really bulky on the stands. I had something called a reflection filter and I paid a good amount of money for it. And like 300 some odd dollars and that was 10 years ago.    Gillian: Wow.    Anne: And it was very bulky. It weighted my microphone stand in a way that kept falling over. And then also it did not create the kind of sound absorption that I liked because it wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough. And then it became inhibitive in a way because I felt like I had something like right here in front of my face. It was very close, and I feel like it just didn't do a good enough job 'cause I think your absorption material needs to be thick.    Gillian: Yeah.    Anne: And so when they make the reflection filters, it's either thick or even if it's not thick, then it's not enough absorption, I don't believe. One thing that I learned through the years of going through, I'm gonna say, three or four different versions of a home studio is -- and by the way, the window, believe it or not, my studio right now is built in an office. It's a room within a room and right in in front of me.    Gillian: Great.    Anne: A room in a room is great.    Gillian: Yeah.    Anne: Right in front of me is a wall that had a side window on it. And we actually, before we built the studio, we frosted the window so it wouldn't look silly because we had a studio in front of it, and people would just look at a piece of plywood or (laughs), you know, so it wasn't attractive. So we frosted the window and then we actually put Rockwool insulation and then a drywall on the out. So we created a whole encasement for the window.    Gillian: Wow.    Anne: So that that blocked any potential sound that could potentially get in. And then we put the studio right up against it. And so that's how we blocked our window. So we made sure there was absolutely no way that sound could get in from the outside on these walls. So it's a room within a room. And so my acoustic panels are four inches thick. And they have Rockwool insulation and that's something you can get at Home Depot. It's awesome. It's really cost effective. It's not expensive. And these were all DIY panels that were made. And I'm gonna give a big shout out to Tim Tippetts. He's got a great YouTube video on how to make them. They're all four inches thick and they sit just slightly off the wall.    Gillian: Yeah.    Anne: So that way you have a little bit of spacing in between the panels and the wall for the sound to kind of just -- if it bounces on that wall, it'll come back in through the panel, which is four inches thick. So that you get I think the highest amount of sound absorption that you can using the panels. And if they aren't using the panels and they're using blankets, again, those blankets are giving you a certain level of absorption. Not quite as much I think as the four inch thick panels with Rockwool in there, but again, it's your choice. And I hang them everywhere. I have a ton of them in here. I also have clouds that are up above me with the same kind of thing. And then outside of my studio, because I want the outside of my studio to be quiet as well, I also have panels hung out there as well.    Gillian: See, that is just like an impressive setup, and thank you, Tim Tippetts. I know he was the previous BOSS audio guest, and that's awesome that he did all of those things for your studio. And that's just what I would say the difference between a Pro VO setup and a beginner VO setup. You gotta start somewhere, and I think that isolation is really important. And obviously, any advice we give, and this will be what I keep saying on the series, is just take what we say and apply it to your situation. Because unless we're working one-on-one, like either Anne or I working with you, there's no way to know exactly what your situation is.    But when you're starting out, I think that — I mean even if a few people built those things that Tim has a video on it and built those panels and just had them in your home office, behind you, around you, it'll help. You don't need to start with a room within a room, even though that's an amazing setup and it sounds great. And all studios are built with rooms within rooms and floating floors so that there's no sound coming from the outside world. But yeah, I think we got a really good foundation of home studio verse pro studio, how to get your space set up. And I think on the next episode, we should really dive in for the BOSSes on like what you need for a beginner home studio setup. What do you think?    Anne: Absolutely. So guys, when you are thinking about getting into voice acting, you must also think about where in your home is a good place for that studio, because you can have an amazing voice, but if you can't deliver the audio, a good quality audio to your client, you're not gonna be a very successful voice actor. So absolutely very important. But one thing I will say to give you all hope, in case you're overwhelmed at this point, is that once you get a home studio setup, like I have a home studio setup, you're pretty much good to go. I mean, your stress is over. You don't have to worry about it much after that, outside of your equipment failing, but your space, if your space is set up, it's set up, right?    Gillian: The investment is forever.    Anne: Right? Yeah. Foregoing any kind of natural disaster, right, or emergency, it stands and it will absorb your sound appropriately, and you won't have to worry about it again. So that's what I love (laughs).    Gillian: Yeah. And I love, Anne, all you shared with me because obviously I work in all these big studios, but I can't say that I've been given a tour of anyone's booth yet (laughs). So you know, hearing how you set it up and all of those things, I think it'd be great for BOSSes to know, and you taught me a little bit today too.    Anne: Awesome. Well, Gillian, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to our next episode. BOSSes, simple mission, big impact, 100 voices, one hour, $10,000 four times a year. BOSSes, visit 100Voiceswhocare.org to join in. All right. Also, a big shout-out to our sponsor, ipDTL. You too can connect and network like BOSSes, like Gillian and I; find out more at ipdtl.com. Thanks so much, guys. We'll see you next week. Bye.    Gillian: Bye.   Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voBOSS.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.

It's all about the vibe! Adam talked about recording the Bloc Party Alpha Games, overdubbing cymbals, recording like Al Schmitt, guitar pedals mixing in the box, why the Mini Moog has nothing new to say, and where to use Slate Virtual Console. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Adam Greenspan A Grammy-nominated engineer, mixer, and producer who had a pretty good start to his career engineering Faith No More's “Album of the Year” at age 20. He later spent time at two world-class studios, Westlake Audio and The Village Recorder, working with artists such as Marilyn Manson, Rage Against the Machine, and Bono before going freelance in 2000. Adam has been a guest on the show for episode RSR289 when we talked about his background in music. Today we will see what's new in his studio. Thanks so much to Adris Evelis at JZ Microphones for making our introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/41EUvInitzHuunTO3hsWOj?si=47e697a94ea445e8 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/397

On Episode 092,  today's guest hails from Pecan, Indiana. He's a Beatmaker, Digital Artist, Twitch/YouTube Streamer. Please welcome J-Ideas to the show. Enjoy!During this episode, we chopped it up about his signature moniker, musical upbringings (Dad being into vinyl records and a guitarist). Being a lone Beatmaker in a small town and linking with creatives from near-by states (Kentucky). He names his Greatest Beats of All Time from JAY Z's from Blueprint “You Don't Know” produced by Just Blaze and JAYLIB's Champion Sound “The Red”. He names his Beatmaker/Music Producer Superheros…Madlib, J DILLA, The Alchemist, Ski Beatz, 9th Wonder, Stevie Wonder and more. To create music, J-Ideas uses the Native Instruments Maschine Studio, Elf Audio Koala Sampler, Pro Tools and more to create his musical pieces. J-Ideas gave details about some of the

How many recording engineers does it take to change a light bulb? Joe talked about tracking to tape without headphones, mixing in the box using headphones, ns10s, and Auratones, creating cool drum sounds with plugins, and vocal mic and mixing tips. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Joe Costa a freelance engineer/mixer in Nashville, TN, originally from Dartmouth MA. A Berklee College Of Music graduate, Joe started out at Syncro Sound in Boston before moving to Nashville in 1993. Since then, he has worked in many great studios like Sound Emporium, Treasure Isle, House Of David, and RCA Studio A, and with many great artists, producers, and engineers through his career like Richard Dodd, William Shatner and Joe Baldridge, and also for more than a decade with Ben Folds. Joe's credits also include Amanda Palmer, Elizabeth Cook, Lyle Lovett, Sara Bareilles, Kesha, and Caitlin Rose, among many others. He has been a guest on the show on episode RSR090 to talk about his origin story and working with Ben Folds and William Shatner. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com Use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics plus get a FREE shock mount ($120 value) https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IwgcKoeNTg5lBB9mOJn8r?si=4ecbb967dc314d12 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/396

Mix with your ears closed! Bobby talked about mixing using only visual meters, why playlist mixes are the new radio mixes, immersive audio, simple home studio sound treatments, mixing in headphones, and how to take your mix from muddy to magnificent. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Bobby Owsinski a Producer/engineer and one of the best selling authors in the music industry with 24 books that are now staples in audio recording, music, and music business programs in colleges around the world, including The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, Social Media Promotion For Musicians, and The Music Business Advice Book.  He's also a contributor to Forbes as a category expert on the new music business, his long-running production and music industry blogs have won numerous industry awards, and he's appeared on CNN and ABC News as a music branding and audio expert.  Bobby's highly-rated Inner Circle podcast is now in its 9th year, with more than 400 episodes that feature mover and shaker guests from all parts of the music industry. He's also recently produced and mixed albums that appeared at #2 on the Billboard Blues Chart and #5 on the Apple Music Rock Chart. And his new book update is out Mixing Engineers Handbook Fifth Edition.  Bobby has been a guest on the podcast on episode RSR010. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/35qyOhVhDyTtol0MGSyCjf?si=ab27aac09d9047f1 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/395

We need more kettlebell! Josh talked about mixing in Studio One so your song sounds like a finished record, a healthy studio lifestyle and working routine, understanding compression, mixing dance kick and bass, and producing in Poland and Romania. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Josh Harris an internationally known producer, composer, engineer, remixer and music industry educator. His credits include top artists like Seal, Madonna, The Killers, and James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem). His corporate clients include NBC, ABC, MTV, VH1 and USA Network. Classically trained as a pianist and composer, he has always focused on fusing different musical genres, resulting in memorable songs and productions that stay with you long after the first listen. No stranger to working with major label recording artists, in 2008, Josh toured with Grammy award winning artist, Seal, as his musical director and keyboardist. In both 2007 and 2008, Josh received nominations from the International Dance Music Association (IDMA) for best remixer. In 2011, he engineered a remix of "Orpheus" (Quiet Carnival), by Sergio Mendes, that was nominated for a Grammy. In addition to being a contributing composer for California-based music library, 21 South, Josh spends his time working on several original projects: 2 Saol, Room 111, Kosca. Thank you to Roger Nichols for the introduction. Josh has been a guest on the show before on episode RSR054 talked about his musical background and has even joined me to teach mixing clinics both online and in person. Today we will talk about what's new in the studio and dive into some mixing and production advice for the home studio. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/517olcWOIkF35TH0a80Phy?si=5564920a89774694 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/394

Nicholas Valdez graduated with full time Web Development Cohort 60. After playing drums in Nashville for 6 years and working in the hospitality industry, I found myself with spare time during the pandemic and decided to explore my interest in programming. The interest sparked while working in DAW's such as Live, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools for sessions, during live performances, and as a hobby in producing my own music. What began as a way to pass the time quickly turned into a passion for understanding the ways in which technology shapes the world around us.

Great sound is an important factor in booking voice over work. In this episode, Anne is joined by audio engineer & musician Gillian Pelkonen to discuss the basics of audio for voice. Sound engineers listen for clean, crisp vocal sound. This is the kind of sound that helps you book more jobs, and it's the kind of sound that makes you stand out from the crowd. In order to get great voice over work, it's important that you have great sound. But what exactly is “great sound”? Is it the same as “high-quality audio”? The best way to solve audio issues is to address them before recording. Incorrect recording levels, too much room tone & improper mic technique are common audio issues. Feeling lost & overwhelmed with your sound? Anne & Gillian tell you all you need to know...   Transcript   It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.   Anne: Hey everyone. Welcome to the VO BOSS podcast. I'm your host Anne Ganguzza, and I am excited to bring a very special guest to the show today, Gillian Pelkonen. Gillian is an audio engineer, musician and creative freelancer living and working in upstate New York, which is where I am from. Woohoo.   Gillian: Woo.   Anne: Uh, Gillian received her masters in audio arts from Syracuse University and has been working in audio engineering ever since. Gillian, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited to talk to you.   Gillian: Anne, thank you so much for having me. It is so exciting to be on the show. Obviously I've listened to it a lot in the past few years, so --   Anne: Well, thank you. Thank you   Gillian: -- definitely trippy to be on this side of it. But yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited to chat about audio.   Anne: Yeah, so I'm excited number one because you are from like practically my hometown. My family's still up there and I also love female engineers because that's kind of where I started as well. When I graduated from college, I went to school for engineering, not audio engineering, but engineering. And so I have uh, a soft spot in my heart for female engineers. So tell the BOSSes how you got started and what got you interested in audio engineering.   Gillian: Well, we are few and far between, unfortunately. I am a musician as well. I don't really say that, it's a weird word for me to say, but I've been playing guitar and singing and writing songs for as long as I could talk. It's been my outlet for everything. And I was working on a lot of my music in college and at recording studios on campus, and I couldn't find women to work with. I did have one female audio engineer that I worked with and that was the best experience I had, and I found her a bit later in the experience. But up until then I just didn't understand. And obviously gender is a construct. It's not really about that. But I found that I worked really well with women and people who were good listeners and who felt like they were as passionate about what I was trying to create as I was. And eventually I found that nobody was, so I just wanted to go learn it myself and just know how to do it and make music, and that's what got me into audio and now kind of in the voiceover AI sphere 'cause they're super connected.   Anne: Fantastic. So now you also sing as well?   Gillian: Yes. Yeah.   Anne: Oh wow. You are multifaceted. I love it. So let's talk a little bit about audio because for people just entering into the industry, it is I think one of the most scariest things because a lot of people are not necessarily technically adept at creating or editing audio. And so it really becomes a thing to enter in the voiceover industry. It's like, like not only do they have to learn how to perform and be authentic and real, and now all of a sudden they've gotta figure out, well, how am I going to prepare this audio to send to my client? And that just becomes a whole different thing, especially with technology.   And I've always said that to be successful in this industry, not only is it great to have that creative artistic talent in your performance, but you do have to be adept at technology because you're going to have to be able to handle that audio, edit that audio, deliver that audio to your client. And if that is not something that you're comfortable with, you need to actually get comfortable with it. So what would you say is the most important thing for people starting out in terms of their audio?   Gillian: That is a big question.   Anne: Yeah, I know, with probably an hour's worth of answers, I'm sure.   Gillian: Many hours worth of answers. I think for people starting out, the best thing you can do is, I hate to say work with a professional, but that might be a starting point just to understand what you might need because the hard part is not the audio. Everyone makes it like that's the daunting task because it's not what you're comfortable with, but I know that the acting is really difficult and the mic is just the thing that picks that up. And so if you're gonna go to a coach to work with your acting and develop that, why would you not go to an audio professional to get the right mic for you to get the right setup and get started with that? Because with audio, obviously the editing and that's a learning curve and process, which you will get comfortable with, the more you work on it, same way you get better at auditioning. But getting started with a professional will stop all those stumbles that you might find along the way with just trying to figure it out yourself. Because it's not complicated. But there's definitely a lot of ways to get lost on the path if you're not with the proper information.   Anne: Yeah. And I think too, the thing for me when I started it was all about the room, the studio. And I think you don't know what you don't know. And that's why I love that you said, you know, why wouldn't you work with a professional? Because we go to coaches for performance? Why wouldn't you go to an audio professional to get help with your studio? And I think that's fantastic advice. And it's something that I ended up doing because for me it was, oh my gosh, I have to say it was so frustrating. I remember at one point I didn't have it, and I sent some audio to a client, and they're like, Anne, it sounds like you're talking into a tube. And I was mortified, and I was like, oh my gosh, maybe I shouldn't be in this industry. And I was so frustrated, I remember like physically crying, and I don't like to admit that, but I was so frustrated.   And at the time it was hard to know because I started so long ago, the internet wasn't quite a thing where we were in community groups yet. And so I didn't even know how to reach out or who to reach out to. So I think it's wonderful now that there are lots of people that we can reach out to. And I, for one, when I have a new student, I always recommend that they talk to an audio engineer to get their environment set first, and then it becomes like, oh my, my gosh. Well, what mic? And I think you're probably gonna tell us that the environment might be a little more important than that. So let's talk about what's important in a good environment for us to record in?   Gillian: Well, there's so many things to say, and just going back one second, there is no shame in crying over figuring out audio issues.   Anne: Thank you. I feel better.   Gillian: I have to say that I have at some point because they're very frustrating. It's so easy to get your wires crossed, and I'm sure we'll have longer conversations about this, but it's definitely very frustrating 'cause your voice is coming out of your mouth. Like it's like I hear it, I hear it. Why is it not in my computer? So the frustration is real, I understand that. And the reason that I do say higher professionals is because so much of your valuable time will be wasted troubleshooting these things that someone like me or any of the other pros doing this will be able to diagnose and fix in a couple seconds.   Anne: Yeah. You have the ear. You have the ear for it, which I think most people starting out in voiceover, if you don't even know the industry, how can you expect to have an ear for it?   Gillian: Exactly. And it's funny, when I was in school, I felt that there was not a lot of sound representation. I was initially in school for TV and film. And one of the first sound classes I took, the professor on the syllabus said, sound is 50% of a picture and nobody cares about it. Like picture being a movie, and for voiceover it's a hundred percent. So it's even more essential to have it, you know, that's your introduction to a client. And like you were saying, if your audio comes in not sounding right, you don't sound as professional. Doesn't matter how your read is. So that's something.   Anne: And especially since the pandemic, right? Because we can't go to professional studios anymore. So it's more important than ever that our home studios are set up properly. And even just like, again, starting out, you don't really know. And I will say that there's a ton of information on the internet. But again, there's a ton of information on the internet. So how do newcomers to the industry discern what's the good information and what's not good information? Because I certainly didn't go to school for audio engineering and I know that that's an entire field, obviously. So again, so for our environment then, what's important, what's important for us to set that up?   Gillian: Well, I think the most important thing is, within a voice, something that I listen for is crisp, clean, natural sound. I want it to sound like we're sitting together talking, but maybe a little bit better, because you know, with all the equipment you have the ability to boost some frequencies in your voice. We're basically, with audio, we're trying to mimic what our ear hears, but there's this whole other, I'm not going to get into it, but there's something called psychoacoustics, which is how panning works and stereo. And it's basically using the computer and things we can do with audio and stereo field to trick your ear into hearing things that are not exactly as they are. So we're using plugins, EQ, all of those things to make you sound your best. But some issues that I see happen a lot is, you know, incorrect recording levels, too much room tone, too much stuff going on in your environment, improper mic placement, just not speaking into the right part of the mic or having it placed the wrong way. And then there's just textural issues of needing plug-ins or other things to manipulate your voice to get it sounding its best.   Anne: Got it. So in terms of recording levels, right, I'm still thinking about the room and, and you said things are happening -- is there such a thing -- some students have mentioned this to me -- as being soundproof so that, oh gosh, I live next to an airport or the landscapers out there -- is there a way that you can create a studio that is soundproof that you won't hear those things?   Gillian: Yes. I think that it's going to be wildly out of a regular person's budget because like when you go into a recording studio, the way that they do that is they have floating floors, and basically you build a room inside of a room, and there's a bunch of ways to do it. But when you're in an isolation booth, you know there's the building and then there's the studio which is within it. So there's gonna be acoustic paneling and other things in there that help with the reflections of the sound. But realistically you'd need to build something. But that's not the only way to get really good isolated sound. You can do DIY things. I mean people go into closets to record for a reason. They're really good. I mean, I don't know if it's sustainable, you know; you need a booth if you're gonna be doing it full-time or something. But that tiny confined space that stops any reflections of sound, which would make echoes in the background, the padding of clothing that would kind of dampen everything, and that just makes it really clear for the mic to be picking up your voice.   Anne: Got it. So then if you've got a decent environment, right, that doesn't have a lot of hard surfaces and you've got the absorption so that you're not getting echo or reflection back, what then is the next thing that we wanna look at in terms of getting great sound from our studios?   Gillian: Well, I think a really important thing is recording level. I think making sure that you're coming in at the right volume, and it's kind of like, you know, Goldilocks situation. You don't wanna be too loud, you don't wanna be too quiet, you wanna kind of be just right. And a way that I gauge this, I don't really like giving numbers as like, if you are at this number, you're perfect. You're at the, you know, that's really hard. I want everyone to learn to trust your ears. But there are a few ways to measure it. So within your DAW, there's usually gonna be like a colorful meter that's going. And when you're checking that out, I like to say to be three quarters of the way up. So you don't wanna be lower than half, you don't wanna be towards the top. And I know I work primarily in Pro Tools. I know most people don't and most voice actors shouldn't. There's no need. But it's really green at the three quarters away mark, and then it starts to go orange and red and you never wanna be in the red. That audio will become unusable. But that's how I like to look at it. And I think it's simple enough for someone to look at within their DAW and see.   Anne: Now you mentioned something that, and I don't wanna get too off track 'cause I got a couple other questions I'd love for you to answer, but you mentioned that Pro Tools wasn't necessarily something that a voice actor needed. And I remember, oh gosh, back in the day, Pro Tools Lite used to come with the audio interface and so I started using Pro Tools Lite, and it was a bear. to learn. And I think that was also another thing that scared me in terms of how am I gonna be able to succeed in this industry if I cannot figure out how to use this audio editor? So if I can just kind of divert just for a minute, tell us what kind of an audio editor or your DAW, right, it's also known as a DAW, is good for today's voice talent when they first start out?   Gillian: Yeah. So DAW is, I just throw the terms around 'cause sometimes I forget like this is my language, but it's a digital audio workstation. So that's really anything you're gonna be working in. I use Pro Tools because it's a great multi-track recorder. A lot of times when I'm working in music, we usually sit around 50 to 100 tracks going on. Maybe not at at one time eventually, but you know when you're doing voiceover you have one, it's a mono recording for the most part. So I know a lot of people use Twisted Wave. I've used Twisted Wave. I think that it's great.   Anne: I love Twisted Wave.   Gillan: I know people use Audition. Audition is great. I think that really, especially starting out, you don't need anything more than Twisted Wave. I think it's affordable, I think it's great. I spend most of my time in Pro Tools. I dabble in Logic and Audition and even Audition is a little bit complicated. I can imagine being overwhelmed by it for the functionality. I don't know if it's necessary really, but I don't wanna knock it. I know people love it. Anne: Shh. Don't tell anybody, but I totally agree with you. And the reason why is because I think I started with Pro Tools Lite and I was like, oh my God, this is too much. I don't think I need it. And I think to reiterate what you're saying, we are voice actors. Unless we're producers or audio engineers, we don't need multi-tracks. I mean unless I'm putting sound effects or music under, I don't need that capacity.   Gillian: Which you can do in Twisted Wave.   Anne: And Twisted Wave for me is so simple in terms of, it's like Audacity on crack, I always say that , because Audacity is free. You get what you pay for and it's wonderful and I think a lot of people do that. But I think if you have a Mac, Twisted Wave is the way to go. What about a PC though for your DAW? What do you think? I mean 'causeTwisted Wave doesn't run natively on PC. They have an online version if I remember correctly. Or they're coming out with, I think.   Gillian: They do have an online version and from what I know they are working on it for PC. I have not had a PC since the early 2000s, my first computer. So really, I don't know, I think maybe trying the web browser version for that would work. And you know, I'd have to get a better answer for that 'cause honestly I live in the Mac universe. That's where I work.   Anne: Well, and if we wanted to get into arguments with people that listen to this about which is better Mac or PC for audio editing, I will say my own personal story is when I started outta college, I worked on systems that were Unix based. And so I was a Unix girl, and then Windows kind of came up the ranks. And when I was working in education we started using Windows servers, and so I became a PC girl. And then ultimately when I started to go into voiceover part-time and then full-time of course, I bought a really kicked up version of a Dell laptop with the most memory and everything that I thought was gonna be my computer for audio. And my audio didn't work; it wasn't compatible. And I was so upset 'cause I spent a lot of money upgrading the RAM and upgrading the space and doing everything to have a really great computer. And it didn't work.   And so for many years people said Mac, it just works for audio and creative endeavors. And I just said, well let me try it and I'll tell you what, I haven't looked back. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it. BOSSes out there, I'm not saying that one's better than the other. However, my personal experience is that the Mac just, things just work audio wise. You hook up any particular microphone or audio interface, boom. It recognizes it. I've not had issues.   Gillian: Yeah. I mean, I lived my entire life in the Mac ecosystem. Like that's how I organize my life. Obviously I've had friends and people I know -- my boyfriend has a PC, I don't know how to work it. . I mean I'm learning, but it's just, yeah. Apples and oranges, literally it is. But I think that there's a way to do it if you have a pc, don't go out and buy a Mac because we said we like them. There's a way to to work around it. But realistically, even going back to the Audition versus Twisted Wave, it's all about the interface. And really as a voice actor, from my understanding and as I work as an engineer, speed is so important. And so if you're gonna simplify your DAW for you to be able to work in it faster, like it's basically up to you where you're the most comfortable. So that's really the moral of the story.   Anne: That's a great point. It's a great point because, guys, unless you're outsourcing people to do your audio editing, you do spend a considerable amount of time, once you've recorded something, editing that. For me, I think I started off it was like a 1:5 ratio where if I did an hours worth of recording, it would take me five hours to edit it, and then as you get better -- you know, I'm about at a one to three ratio. I can't get any quicker than that. But if you're going to be spending a, a majority of your time editing, and again, like I said, unless you're outsourcing, I mean you might as well be comfortable and really consider the speed of which you can work and things that can help you to be more efficient. Let's talk a little bit about -- I see in the forums there's always, what's your noise floor? And so what's the importance of having a low noise floor?   Gillian: So noise floor is basically the sound that your gear makes because if you think about it, voice goes into a microphone, goes through an XLR cable or maybe directly into the computer, through the interface, back into the computer. That process makes a little bit of electronic noise.   Anne: And so I didn't know that actually.   Gillian: The term noise floor describes that noise. And usually they're related to room tone because, the sound around you, those are just things that end up needing to be taken out and they're kind of like white noisy or they're not, you know, the sound of a door slamming, but they are noise that end up on your audio file. So it's really important to make sure that your gain is set properly on your interface because if my gain is really quiet and I do a recording, and I need it to be loud enough to listen to, then you're gonna be stuck boosting your clip gain. And then the noise floor, everything, like all the sound that your electronics make, are gonna be super loud and proportion to the recorded sound. So that's where it all gets related. Same with room tone. Like if there's too much going on in your room, and it's picking that up more than your voice, then there's gonna be a lot more of it to take out, if that makes sense.   Anne: And I can always tell like a beginner, because they don't have their levels set. And so what'll happen is they'll set their gain like really low and then they can play their recording and they won't hear any noise. But yet when you, let's say, normalize it or you bring the the levels up, then all of a sudden it's like got some sort of shh sound and, and then that's when people are like, well no, I didn't normalize it because it makes this noise. And I'm like, well that's the stuff that you have to get rid of. So how do you get rid of the noise? I mean, what's the effective way of getting rid of that?   Gillian: Well, there's two ways to get rid of noise. There's before, you know, fixing the problems before you hit record, which is the best way to do it. And then there's post-production stuff that you can do later. And I've had people come to me with audio issues, and sometimes they are unfixable. We are not magicians. There are some things that are just, if you record so quiet and your noise floor is so loud, there's no way to take that off and have your voice not sound distorted or wrong. So the best way is isolate yourself, make sure you're in a good environment, make sure you sound okay in your booth, your DIY booth, and make sure that your gain is set properly so you're not set up for failure later. And then in post-production, there are plug-ins that you can use to kind of remove those frequencies.   So if you're getting rid of room tone, something that I use is Spectral DeNoise by Izotope RX. I think I have 8 or 9, I'm not sure what number they're up to, but really the one that I have is great. And that just you take a little, it takes like a little audio picture of the room tone and then goes throughout the audio file and just removes that frequency and tone, which is great. That's incredible. The only thing you need to have with that is a little bit of room tone noise with no speaking before or after the clips so that you know, the generator can grab it. But that's my favorite thing to use. And it works really well for slight room tone or little wind in the background if you're outside, whatever it might be. But that's like the pro plugin.   Anne: So then there's the DAW, right? And that is really based on what you're comfortable with. And depending on your platform, you can have various DAWs. We've already established that we like Twisted Wave. You use Pro Tools because of course you're an audio engineer and, and then that makes sense. You need to have that functionality. Now we've added into the mix something called Izotope to help remove certain noises. And so is that typically what most voice actors will have to buy, Izotope? Will it work within their DAW or is that when it becomes complicated?   Gillian: It's a whole thing. We could do a whole episode about plug-ins and all of that. But for the simple answer is that Izotope, they have a bunch of plug-ins, all voice related. The two that I use the most -- I have the whole suite because, you know, I work with voices all the time, and realistically you can meet with an audio engineer like me and I would say, hey, you probably need this and you need this. You don't need to buy all of them. But I use spectral de-noise the most that gets rid of the noise. And then there's also mouth de-click, which gets rid of all the little clicky -- those noises. I use that often, but I use that for music, for everything for my singing voice. I hate hearing those, um, myself. So those are the two that I use. But you can get any variation. I haven't used them within Twisted Wave just because I haven't, but I think that you can, because --   Anne: I have.   Gillian: Oh. Yes, you can integrate them into DAWs. I've used them in Pro Tools, I've used them in Logic, I've used them in Audition, and Izotope as well has its own little audio editor. So you can import a file, render it with the effect, and then import it into your DAW if you like to work that way.   Anne: So then let's talk about, okay, if you're new to the industry and you're kind of overwhelmed with all of this, you are available. Like an audio engineer can be available to help you with all of those choices. Right? You can help in terms of, let's say, somebody doesn't know what to do to make their sound better in their booth. So they can consult with you, maybe send you a sound file, and you can evaluate and then offer suggestions on how they might be able to improve their sound, right, and get rid of some of the noise. And so that also includes, right, what microphone should I get? I mean that's the other thing, right? So we've talked about how important the environment is. We've talked about DAWs and how we can do things after, you know, we record to get rid of noise. Now, how important is a microphone in terms of the quality of your sound?   Gillian: I think having a good quality microphone is very important. I personally don't think that there is a, a voiceover microphone. I think that, I know a lot of people use 416s. Those are tricky in a lot of ways. I think any large diaphragm condenser mic works really well because it's very sensitive and it picks up your voice. I have on my website a list of gear recommendations at three different price points, low to high that I recommend. But really more important than having the most expensive mic is knowing how to use that mic. And so that has to do with placement, understanding --   Anne: What do you mean by placement?   Gillian: So for mic placement, it's really about where you're positioning yourself with the mic, and knowing a mic is circular, you gotta make sure that you're singing or talking into the right part of it.   Anne: That's what I was just gonna say. Yeah. I remember once I had purchased my TLM 103 and I had it installed backwards, and so I was not speaking into the right part of the mic and I couldn't figure out why it didn't sound awesome like everybody else. And literally I had just put it upside down in my mount and then didn't realize that I was speaking into the back of it. And so that is a very important thing. Again, that's something that you can help as well with talent. So I don't want, BOSSes, if you're just new to this, I don't want you to feel overwhelmed because an audio engineer can do amazing things from remote. They don't have to be in your studio. They can really help you to set up a great environment. They can help you with selection or I guess I would say recommendations on a mic that might be good for your voice, right? Also placement, right? And where you should be speaking into that mic. And also maybe with your editing or creating what I like to call -- I have a stack that is basically something that I apply to all of my audio after I record. And that takes out the highs, the lows, does a little bit of compression. Let's talk a little bit about stacks and how they can help in the editing process.   Gillian: Can we go back to microphones for one second?   Anne: Oh yes, I'm sorry. Yeah.   Gillian: No, it's okay. Just, it's so hysterical that you say that about the microphone because --   Anne: Being backwards?   Gillian: I mean it's hard to know. It's hard to know. And something when I was in school that I was taught very early on and I never forget, and it -- I was in school, you know, for music recording, but they're all the same. So my professor would always say sing to the bling. And that means basically when you have a microphone, wherever the logo is, that's where you should be facing. A lot of people, you know, make the mistake of going, oh, I want my Telefunken logo facing out. You would think maybe that's the way it goes. And that's how it ends up backwards. But really, and it doesn't work a 100% of the time 'cause there are a few mics that the capsule doesn't work that way. But most of the time if you see a logo, talk towards that logo. And another thing for just very simple, little explanation for voice actors, if you have an option to pick a polar pattern on your mic, which will come in the instructions, it'll be on the front. You wanna do cardioid, 'cause kind of what you were talking about. Your TLM 103 was set in cardioid and you were facing the back. So all the sound was being rejected, but I know some mics come set in omni, which will increase your room noise because that means that everything around the mic is getting picked up instead of sense, just your voice. So if there's an option for cardioid, just pick cardioid. We can talk about it later, but just pick it.   Anne: Fantastic. So then let's talk again about how we can make our editing a little bit easier on us by using what -- I call them stacks. I don't know if you call them something different, but these are processes that can be applied to your audio to help take out noises. And I would say when I first got my stack, it saved me like 50% of my editing time. Otherwise I kept going in and out of my waves and removing noise, and it just was so tedious.   Gillian: Yeah. So stacks, whatever you wanna call them, it's really just a plug-in sequence, and it's stuff that every time you open it up, you have these settings, and they will save you time. And I think that everyone should have a light one that's just, you know, fixing up a few things, and then obviously the audition one because you send an audition, you wanna sound like the final job that should be a bit more processed. But that usually comes with EQ, compression, and all of those things. You know, if, if your mouth clicks are very present with your mic or with your voice, that would be on there, which would help with removing all those noises, and yeah, those things, having them set ahead of time, those can be issues that people have with audio that are just taken care of right away. But I do think that if you feel comfortable doing them yourself and you think that you can EQ yourself, then good luck, go at it . But I do think that maybe, you know, working with someone who can help you would be helpful.   Anne: I agree. I agree. And, and I will say that just because again, I did not go to school for audio engineering, so I always highly recommend working with a professional. What is it like to work with you in terms of -- let's say, a student wanted to hire you to help them with their sound. What do you do? How do you assess that?   Gillian: So my current offering that I have, which is kind of just starting point and sort of a pipeline into us working together further is I offer an audio assessment. Because there are a lot of people that are selling and selling and selling, and sometimes they sell things that people don't really need. So the audio assessment is sort of a checkpoint. We meet, it's not together, but this is, you know, our interaction. I have some pre-written copy that you'll get. You send me an audio sample, I listen, and I either say, hey, you know, you're really set, you're great, you actually don't need anything. You sound like a pro. Or hey, here are a few things that I would fix, and I address all the things that we talked about today. You know, I think that maybe your mic placement is a little bit off. I think that maybe your gain, you know , all the things I'm hearing. I would EQ it this way. I think maybe a little compression would help your voice. Just the things that I'm hearing to kind of get an engineer's ear on what you're sending to clients and how you sound. And from there we can go on and potentially, you know, build a stack together, and I'm working on building out some courses for people to learn a bit more. But that's what I have kind of right now going.   Anne: Fantastic. So now did you say is there a cost associated with the audio assessment or?   Gillian: Yes.   Anne: Okay. Yes. Okay. So BOSSes, I do believe that we have a special offering from Gillian.   Gillian: We do, we do.   Anne: Yeah. For her to assess your audio. Tell us about that.   Gillian: So for BOSSes and everyone getting involved for the next month or so, I'm gonna be running, you know, $20 off my audio assessments. For the early bird BOSSes, we are going to, for the first five people to get on my site and purchase an audio assessment using the promo code BOSSTOP5, you'll get a free audio assessment. I will kind of go over it, and Anne and I will actually be going over them on our next episode together. So you know, proceed with caution. If you don't wanna be on the show, don't do it. But the first five people will get a free audio assessment and anonymous we will go through and just kind of talk about the issues so that you can hear what I would do, what I'm hearing, just to have it as a further explanation for educational purposes, and for anyone who's not in the first five $20 off for that.   Anne: Well fantastic. I love, love, love that because first of all, as you know, I am all about education, and so I love that we're gonna actually do this stuff in our next episodes. So yeah, bosses, the first five to purchase an audio assessment using the word BOSS Top 5, BOSSTOP5 are going to get a free audio assessment, and we're gonna be on the show. So you're gonna hear Gillian live, assessing your audio, making the suggestions, and we're gonna just be learning as we go. And I love that. So Gillian, thank you so much for that. I think that's a wonderful offer, and thanks so much for being on the show. I feel like we just --   Gillian: Just scratched surface, I know.   Anne: Yes. We have so much more to come, and so BOSSes, I'm proud to announce that Gillian and I are gonna be getting together for more episodes so that we can have an entire audio themed series. And so I'm really excited. Gillian, thank you so much for today's episode and for the BOSS top five, guys, we're gonna be sending out an email. It's also gonna be on our show notes page, so make sure that you check out our VO BOSS show notes page for that offer. And wow, Gillian, thanks so much.   Gillian: Thank you so much for having me, and everybody who's listening, if you have audio questions, get in contact, reach out via Instagram, whatever you do to get a hold of BOSS Queen, Ms. Anne, and let her know 'cause we will cover everything that you wanna know. And I'm just really excited to also, you know, educate people and teach them what they need to know, what they should be hiring people for, and just get everybody sounding their best.   Anne: Okay. And that website is?   Gillian: For me, it's gillwitheg.com. Gill with the G.com. It'll, I'll be linked in the show notes. And same with social media, that's, that's where I am everywhere.   Anne: Fantastic. All right, guys, I'd like to give a great big shout-out to our sponsor, ipDTL. You too can network and connect like BOSSes. Find out more at ipdtl.com. You guys, have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye.   Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voBOSS.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.

Don't miss out on the next #womenintech podcast episode, get notified by signing up here http://womenintechshow.com.Be featured in the Women in Tech Community by creating your profile here http://womenintechvip.com/“Tulika Biswas of Avid, The Power of Persistence”        #womenintech Show is a WeAreTech.fm production.To support the Women in Tech podcast go to https://www.patreon.com/womenintechTo be featured on the podcast go to http://womenintechshow.com/featureGuest Host,Felice LaZaehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/felicelazae/Guest,Tulika Biswashttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tulika-biswas-pmp-csm-sa-lpm-63b24492/Listener Spotlight,Ulviyya Jafarli https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulviyya-jafarli-924453156/In LA? Here's some awesome resources for you to become immersed in the LA Tech scene -For a calendar of all LA Startup events go to, http://WeAreLATech.comGet Podcast Listeners, http://getpodcastlisteners.com/Resources Mentioned:Avid, https://www.avid.comPro Tools, https://www.avid.com/pro-toolsPride and Prejudice, https://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Jane-Austen/dp/1503290565The Phoenix Project, https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592Smartless, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smartless/id1521578868Serial, https://serialpodcast.orgTechcrunch, https://techcrunch.comMIT Tech Review, https://www.technologyreview.comHBR, https://hbr.orgOffice Ladies, https://officeladies.comCredits:Produced and Hosted by Espree Devora, http://espreedevora.comStory Produced, Edited and Mastered by Cory Jennings, https://www.coryjennings.com/Production and Voiceover by Adam Carroll, http://www.ariacreative.ca/Team support by Janice GeronimoMusic by Jay Huffman, https://soundcloud.com/jayhuffmanShort Title: Tulika Biswas

Don't be afraid to grab the guitar when engineering! Warren talked about choosing the right mic for your studio, why modern mics sound so clean, giving back to the community, the future of the clicktrack, TEC award, the Beatles, and session players. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Warren Huart an English record producer, musician, composer and recording engineer based in Los Angeles, California who is most associated as a music producer and/or engineer in the recording industry as a multi-platinum producer for The Fray, Daniel Powter, Marc Broussard, Trevor Hall, Korn, Better Than Ezra, James Blunt, Matisyahu, Ace Frehley, Aerosmith and Howie Day.  His film and television credits include Inglourious Basterds, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, MTV's The Hills, Lost, Scrubs, and Grey's Anatomy. Huart is the owner of Spitfire Studio in Los Angeles, California, and runs a DIY YouTube Channel called "Produce Like a Pro" with over 670,000 subscribers worldwide. Warren is also an audio educator, and he won the 2019 NAMM TEC Awards for Audio Education Technology for his Produce Like a Pro website. He has been a guest on the show on episode RSR064 talking about his background and recording tips like finding the best snare drum for rock and roll. I even had a chance to stop by his home studio in Laurel Canyon for a studio tour video in 2017. And today we will keep talking about whats new in the studio and mixing.  THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27MmoOqPucfNBIu3qRoTMQ?si=c01a0c2561154e5b If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/393

In this week's podcast Julian is joined by Mike Thorne and Paul Maunder. Three Pro Tools users, they discuss potential new features they would like to see in a future version of Pro Tools.Finds Of The WeekMike - Massenburg Design Works MDWDRC2Paul - Synology 8 Bay NASJulian - The massive waves at his local beach this morning!

For anyone over 18 and who has any interest or especially if you love music, here is our first episode with an Explicit tag and not for the kiddies, but it just flowed naturally that we are releasing it as is (We are running it live).  If there are kids in the car with you, you may want to listen to this episode later.   In a long overdue Way Off Our Topic (WOOT) episode, we are joined by a special guest Christian James Hand who has a tremendous way to break down music into its component tracks (also called Stems) during his shows to demonstrate the individual components that are combined into the finished song.  Our description does not do justice to his amazing style and presentation that he puts together.  If you are even the slightest bit interested in music or ever were, we would hope that you would listen to one of his live shows on Instagram or to one of the podcasts he has and allow Christian to give you one of the greatest gifts that we know of.  Christian's "The Session" breakdowns give you the ability to hear a song for the first time all over again!   We hope you enjoy the episode!   Best regards,   Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast   and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team   Highlights from the episode include: 1)  A short bit about touring with PM Dawn Peter Gabriel, The Grave Diggers and RZA and an acapella rendition of "Jam On It" by Newcleus on stage in front of tens of thousands live and broadcast over Swedish radio 2)  Business tips, including do not buy a company blimp 3)  Working on music videos including "Hey Ya" by the Outkast and several Def Leppard videos as well as Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn's "Dodgeball: An Underdog Story" movie. 4)  An upcoming podcast where he breaks down music with the cooperation of and with Universal Music 5)  Benny cannot seem to count to six, lol. 6)  Another special guest appearance by his Funko Pop "Odd Job" 7)  How music is made and how it has progressed to where it is now 8)  How Christian approaches music and how the song creation process in incorporated into his live song breakdown shows. 9)  The incredible opportunity Christian has when being able to unpainting a painting when he dissects the song to its original moments and components and stories. 10)  How sometimes the simplest songs are often some of the most complex tapestries to weave. 11)  Incredible music recording history and stories 12)  How digital processing, Pro Tools, and over-processing has impacted modern music and removed much of the humanity of current recordings. 13)  What is groove and what is pocket? 14)  The Gadd-Weckl-Colaiuta Drum Showdown is found at: https://youtu.be/K7h6hOs_ySw 15)  Some of the fantastic songs to breakdown that came to mind during our discussion and are well worth listening to again, for the first time, especially for the songs that have almost become musical "wall paper" or have faded into the status of background music. 16)  Christian's rock band member breakdown is hilarious, every single time. 17)  I think Christian nearly broke Vicki when he discussed his inability to listen to music while "occupied" 18)  Some highlighted drum tracks, bass tracks, and guitar tracks that came to mind and are some of the cannot miss episodes. 19)  His thoughts on concerts in general and the Counting Crows performing Mr. Jones in specific. 20)   What Christian feels are the root masterpieces for rock music after the Beatles catalogue.   You can hear Christian James Hand break down songs at a variety of places online including:   At "The Sessions On Air" on Instagram at 11 AM Pacific or 2 PM Eastern on Instagram @thesessiononair   Podcasts such as: The Session Heide and Frank Show weekly on Mondays   And try to catch him at a live show once they are able to resume.  Details will be provided on his website at:  https://thesessiononair.com/   Audioslave's Cochise music video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDMvN45sjo4 and yes, it is mind blowing!   Budget music systems suggestions:   Sony MDR-7506 headphones at ~$90 Better:  Audeze headphones at around $400 use Christian's discount code PS Audio Sprout system ~$600 Rega Planar 2 turntable for ~$200 Sumiko Needle Polk Audio  or Klipsch or JBL Speakers of your choice (don't need powered set Total system around $1,000 max  

There's beauty in Blumlein! Wessel talked about the power of mixing quickly, trusting your gut before your ears, why you need great low end in monitoring, how to record double bass, the future of immersive sound and mixing to multiple busses. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Wessel Oltheten a mixing and mastering engineer in the Netherlands, who has been on the podcast on episode RSR152 to talk about his mixing studio and philosophies. He is also a published author of the book Mixing With Impact on Focal press and teaches at  Utrecht University of the Arts.  Wessel is very prolific and in 2021 was able to work on no less than 862 tracks. His discography sounds really great working with very cool bands like Dewolff, Pocket Knife Army, Black Oak, and many others. Whether it's art rock, electronic music, or singers up close and personal Wessel has the ability to make it sound great with his thoughtful mixing and mastering. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3PGHmH0a3WZ2hpyJmllFmE?si=d073c4d854e74a2c If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/392

Can't have Too Much Joy in the studio? William talked about best practices for producing and recording vocals and guitars over the internet, mixing in Pro Tools like a console, Slate Raven, Stream Deck, Sound Flow, drums and his mix bus template. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is William Wittman, a Grammy Award-winning independent Producer/Engineer/Musician/Songwriter based in New York. He began his career as a musician and moved from there into work as a studio engineer and producer. He held the position of Chief Engineer at several major recording studios. As Producer and Engineer, his credits include the multi–platinum debuts from Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, the Hooters, and The Outfield.  His success as an independent producer led to several years as an A&R Vice President and Staff Producer at two major record labels (Sony/Columbia and BMG/RCA). As a musician, he has appeared on nationally televised shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, the Rosie O'Donnell Show, CBS Late Late Show, Ellen Degeneres, the NBC Christmas Tree Lighting Special, and New Year's Eve in Times Square.  He has also played and sung with many of the artists he has recorded and is a member of alternative rock band Too Much Joy (Giant/Discovery/Sire Records). He now plays bass guitar in the Cyndi Lauper Band, recording and touring internationally, and also serves as the Musical Director. He is also a regular participant in the production expert website and podcast. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63fvu1Juph6WrDYMQUUH1H?si=76bea9c9ea9645ac If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/391

In this podcast I talk to music producer, composer, & multi-DAW fluent Craftmaster Productions about music + life. CMP is a producer/ composer who has been born and raised in Miami, Florida, a diverse city whose influences can be found throughout his music. CMP is self-taught and well versed in Pro Tools, FL Studio, Studio One, and a host of other DAW's. His site CMPkits.com currently employs 6 sample markers aside from himself. CMP Courses & Sounds: COURSES: https://www.producercourses.com/a/2147529658/Ex4oUFRp | Sounds: https://www.cmpkits.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicandlifepod/support

"Sonically good without the sonic soul is crap!" Michael talked about why it's the emotional stuff, not the technical stuff that makes a great mix, how to understand multi-bus mix compression, why plugins are fun, and mixing in Atmos on headphones. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Michael Brauer a Grammy-winning New York mix engineer. His many credits include "Best Pop Vocal Album" for John Mayer's Continuum, "Best Alternative Album" for Coldplay's Parachutes, and also "Best Rock Album" for Coldplay's "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends". Other artists include The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Jeff Buckley, David Byrne, Paul McCartney, Ben Folds, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright. He also invented the technique known as 'Brauerizing', in which mixes are routed through multiple compressors and busses to create a blended sound. And he is a co-founder of Mix With The Masters which has been running for over a decade.  Michael has been a guest on the show previously to talk about his background in music and mixing so please chack out that episode at RSR300. And at that time he had relocated outside the heart of the city in NY to settle into his home studio for mixing. He also completed his journey of migrating his mix template over from a hybrid setup to a full “in the box” method with the help of his engineer Fernando Reyes. Michael created a fantastic course on Puremix.net called Brauerize ITB to teach his mixing setup so you can recreate the whole thing in your home studio if you choose.  So I am excited to have Michael joining us to talk about his philosophy of mixing and the migration over to mixing “in the box”. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/01JiSbrOjLxJeeRDlhtnPL?si=5d281e765c8f4fb0 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/390

In this episode the guys discuss what 2 DAW's combined would make a super DAW. Would logic and pro tools together create a monster DAW that weve never seen? Would FL Studio and Pro Tools together take over the entire music world? WOuld Ableton and FL Studio create a beat making DAW that would be insane? Let find out.Please subscribe to our YouTube and rate our podcast it helps us alot! https://linktr.ee/myaudionerdshttps://www.helpmedevvon.comFollow Ushttps://www.instagram.com/helpmedevvonFollow The CastDevvon Terrellhttps://instagram.com/helpmedevvonLJhttps://instagram.com/iamlevensjeanCourtney Taylorhttps://instagram.com/officialcourtney#podcast #mixing #producers

Who wants 20 drum mics? Danny talked about how to mix drums with samples, why a bass amp is best, mixing in Atmos, the Tascam cassette eight-track, how to use compression, and why you should put a single Coles 4038 over the drummer's right shoulder. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Danny Reisch a multi-instrumentalist writer, producer, engineer, and studio owner. Originally from Texas, Danny built an incredibly successful recording studio called Good Danny's, where he began to establish himself as a world class producer and engineer. Since then, Danny has moved to LA to pursue more opportunities, including film and TV mixing. Recently, Danny has just finished mixing for the Local Natives EP, as well as LP's for Bayonne and Barns Courtney. In the film scene, Danny has just wrapped score mixing for Disneys "Peter Pan" and Wendy, as well as AMC's new show "Interview With The Vampire" Thanks to Kelle Musgrave Glanzbergh at Linear Management for the introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3HrLShPaKANwile89DlNop?si=18236d5932314fcd If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/389

In This Episode 288 We Have Special Guest Recording Artist "LaDre” Who Tells Us How He Became A Music Artist, Songwriter, Producer, Engineer, and how to make it your passion/purpose/living! Follow & Support “LaDre" Instagram/Youtube @ladre2uFollow & Support Me @ Venmo- @Ariel-Castillo-4 PayPal- Paypal.me/arielent TIKTOK- @Arielent.com Ariel Castillo Soundcloud Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/arielentpod/ Website- Arielent.com

Nashville tuning for rock guitars? Dave talked about shooting out vocal mics, recording overheads from the drummer's perspective, mixing the Jayhawks for Rick Rubin, starting at Oceanway Studios, click tracks, perfect hand claps, and mixing in Atmos. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Dave Schiffman a Grammy winner and Multi–Platinum selling producer, mixer, and engineer came up the ranks as Rick Rubin's engineer. Together they produced monster hits such as Red Hot Chili Peppers' ‘Californication', System Of A Down's ‘Toxicity', which reached # 1 on Billboard, certified double platinum, and earned multiple awards and nominations. They also produced ‘Hypnotize' which once again hit Billboard #1 and led the band to be the first-ever rock outfit to have two #1 LPs in one year. Dave's production and mixes have topped the charts recently with The Strumbellas Hope from which the single ‘Spirits' hit #1 on the Billboard Alternative charts, took home the Juno Award for Single of the Year (2016), received an iHeart Radio's Best New Artist nomination, and won Much Music's Best Alternative Video. Dave produced Pup's 2019 ‘Morbid Stuff' which debuted #1 on multiple Billboard charts including Rock, Heatseekers, Alternative, and Independent Albums – it also landed at #14 on Billboard top 200 charts. The album went on to be shortlisted for the prestigious Canadian Juno Award for Album of The Year. Dave has also worked on Smashing Pumpkins' latest album CYR, The Killers' critically acclaimed LP Imploding The Mirage, Grammy Award-winning album Father Of The Bride by Vampire Weekend, and Haim's Days Are Gone, which reached #2 on both the Billboard top Rock and Alternative charts. Thank you to Kelle Musgrave Glanzbergh at Linear Management for the introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7gBF1ct53LHrBT61cUu7Tj?si=1c6f2672c18a4368 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/388

**The stream had a rocky connection so the audio overlaps awkwardly so it seems like we're interrupting each other. Sorry... I hope it's not too annoying. -Matt** Matt and Jon talk about credits, Ableton vs Pro Tools, translating mixes, and the temperament of great record makers. Streamed live on Instagram @matthewrad on January 17, 2023___________________________________Jon Castelli is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated mix engineer. He is also an excellent chef.https://www.instagram.com/mixedbyjoncastelli Matt Rad is a multi-platinum songwriter, producer, and mix engineer with billions of streams across multiple genres. He loves talking about creativity and record making. https://www.instagram.com/matthewrad ___________________________________ Read AND search the show notes!https://www.livewithmattrad.com/episodesJoin the Discord! https://discord.com/invite/qqFA8Zj53B Hit us up! LiveWithMattRad@gmail.com

"Does it go to eleven?" Paul talked about why level matching sucks for a real studio session, Recreating classic doubler and flanger plugins, designing immersive analog consoles, and why you should mix in 7.4.1. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Paul Wolff. In his own words - “In 1972, I was hanging out at a local TV shop, a guy comes in with a Strat with "no sound". The shop owner had no clue, I pulled the jack out and fixed it, the guitar player said "from now on, your name will be FIX…". That was the beginning of my course on the road to the studio to designing. Both parents were in Big Bands during the 40's, and later my Father was a civil engineer and my mother was a custom jeweler. A club in Washington DC called the Bayou, I did FOH for such bands as Foreigner, Dire Straits, Pat Benatar, etc. I was the FOH for many showcase bands attempting to get signed. In June of 1985, I was offered API at a very low price because the current owners wanted to trim the assets so sell the whole company. I purchased the company and opened in a 20X30 foot office, and received a phone call from a guy named Shelly Yakus, looking for API 560 equalizers. Shelly was my first customer and has remained a good friend since. We were a company that grew without any kind of credit line, as we were self funded. Later I sold API and In 2005 I started Tonelux and then in 2012 started FIX Audio Designs, LLC, to make consoles again…. The current product line includes a Stereo input module, a 5.1 input module and an Immersive input module with Object Sends. I am currently the only company in the world making analog Immersive consoles. The console can be fitted with any op-amp/transformer combination to get any console tone you desire. The Stereo input module allows you to choose 3 different tones, and each of the 3 mix busses can have any op amp transformer. The stereo module also has a DAW monitor loop, much like an inline console. I have also designed products like the Tony Shepperd/A-Designs MIX Factory, The Sunset Sound Tutti Mic Pre, A Lindell input module with EQ and a compressor, Analog Alien EPI universal pedal interface, the Slate VMS1 Mic Pre, the Slate Control monitor system, The new Slate Audio Monitor system, and was involved in the new Slate Audio VSX headphone system.” THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0U3xwZZqeCHTo8pckGLoXF?si=ba14d6aa77f4485a If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/387

How big and fat is your snare? Jon talked about getting great drums sounds, ribbon vs condenser overhead mics, miking guitar amps, shopping bands to labels, calibrating the console for mixing from Pro Tools, and getting the kick and bass phase right. Get access to FREE mixing mini-course: https://MixMasterBundle.com My guest today is Jon Fintel a producer/engineer in Columbus, Ohio and owner of Relay Recording studio. Way Yes, The Worn Flints, Snarls, Girl Fox, and Mark Lomax are just a few of the artists that have worked with Jon at Relay. Jon has been a guest on the show on episode RSR199 to share his backstory and talk about recording at Relay Recording Studio. Today we will talk about what's new at the studio and dive into more recording and mixing tips for your studio. Thanks again to Jason Knox for making our original introduction. THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! https://UltimateMixingMasterclass.com https://www.solidstatelogic.com https://www.Spectra1964.com https://MacSales.com/rockstars https://iZotope.com/Rockstars use code ROCK10 to get 10% off any individual plugin https://jzmic.com use code ROCKSTAR to get 40% off the Vintage series mics https://www.adam-audio.com https://RecordingStudioRockstars.com/Academy Use code ROCKSTAR to get 10% off https://www.thetoyboxstudio.com/ Listen to this guest's discography on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1X5k4ZL4o9T9DzDdNug5Bt?si=c15d8632340444d0 If you love the podcast, then please leave a review: https://RSRockstars.com/Review CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE SHOW NOTES AT: https://RSRockstars.com/386