The post Music City Declares War On Home Studios? with Lij Shaw, Björgvin Benediktsson, and Chris Graham – RSR118 appeared first on Recording Studio Rockstars.

My guest today is Chris Graham, a mastering engineer, who works from his own mastering studio, Chris Graham Mastering, in Columbus OH.

Chris came across my radar one day when I was looking for Youtube video about a new plugin, and before the video started an ad popped up. Of course I’m used to seeing ads about cars, or plugins, or whatever trendy item Google thinks I should know about. But this one was unexpected. It was a normal looking guy talking to me about the frustrations of trying to master my own record, how he understood, and how he could help.

Even walking starts with a mistake - Chris Graham

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So out of curiosity I clicked through and landed on his website Chris Graham Mastering. I was so impressed with how he had laid everything out, and how he presented his before and after player for mixing, and mastering examples that I decided to send him an email and introduce myself.

The producers are the ones that know how to get along with people and capture that magic moment. - Chris Graham

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Chris and I talked on the phone I knew right away that he was someone you needed to meet, Rockstars! Chris has figured out how to build a thriving mixing and mastering business that really over delivers by offering coaching, mentoring, and video tutorials to help his clients get the best mixes possible before the mastering process. And he does all this from the heartland of Ohio, not from NYC, LA, or Nashville.

No one wants to listen to perfect music. no one cares that you spent 10,000 hours editing your drums. If theres not a magic grab you buy the seat of your pants make you want to cry when you listen to the song.

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He has built a smart, effective marketing, and business strategy that allows him to help as many people as possible using the internet to connect with his clients. I am really excited to dig deep into mixing and mastering, and find out what makes an effective marketing strategy for you Rockstars.

Ill never forget when strangers started hiring me for the first time. It was bonkers. - Chris Graham

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If you listen to the great recordings throughout history they're dirty and imperfect. - Chris Graham

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Check out ChrisGrahamMastering.com

Chris designed his own custom audio player to show before and after examples of his work. Something we might take for granted today, but he was actually the first guy on the web to do this!

Chris Graham Mastering

Press the play button below to listen to the podcast episode:

And keep reading below for more videos and cool photos from the road...

Chris Graham Welcome video on Youtube. Click through and check it out!

Trying to impress people with your work can cause you to be a bad engineer. - Chris Graham

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The secret to a successful studio business is to under promise and over deliver. - Chris Graham

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I alway prioritize my day. One get healthy. Two prioritize. And three, do the number one thing. - Chris Graham

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Here are the great books we talked about to inspire you in your business!

The goal for any mastering engineer is to be a telepath and read someone's mind. Give them that master back, and have someone say "Oh my gosh thats perfect!" - Chris Graham

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Don't let your schooling get in the way of your education - Mark Twain via Chris Graham

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Integrity is the ability to eat reality for breakfast without getting sick. - Dr Henry Cloud via Chris Graham

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The best advice I got was that I could do this for a living. - Chris Graham

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You can't build a business on swindling people in 2016. If you do, everyone will know! - Chris Graham

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The post RSR072 – Chris Graham – How To Grow An Online Mastering Studio Business appeared first on Recording Studio Rockstars.

Chris King is a songwriter, music and film producer, and award winning author. He also happens to be the singer in my St Louis bands, Enormous Richard, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Three Fried Men.

Chris has produced or co-produced musical adaptations of the poetry of Gertrude Stein, Pulitzer laureate Paul Muldoon, Missouri Poet Laureate David Clewell, Australian poet laureate Les Murray and Connecticut Poet Laureate Leo Connellan. He directed two feature silent films for Poetry Scores "Blind Cat Black," which scores the Turkish poet Ece Ayhan, and "Go South for Animal Index," which scores the Salt Lake City / St. Louis poet Stefene Russell.

He co-produced "No Dark in America" by legendary jump blues musician Rosco Gordon (Dualtone, 2002). He served as executive producer on St. Louis raconteur Fred Friction's "Murder Balladeer" and on "Just Piping" by All-Ireland piper Michael Cooney, and he produced "Memory Music" by Merchant Marine songster Pops Farrar, the father of Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo / Son Volt).

And he has done all this while working daily as the managing editor of The St. Louis American, the largest weekly newspaper in Missouri.

You can reach Chris King at: Brodog@hotmail.com

Check out David Greenberger - The Duplex Planet​

"Poetry Scores comes out of a hunger to put other words to music that are deeper than mine." @ChrisKingSTL @MeganGohil @Nick_Barbieri

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Press the play button below to listen to the podcast episode:

And keep reading below for more videos and cool photos from the road...

Chris gives us a personal tour of The Skuntry Museum!

"To be over committed is to be uncommitted. If you always say yes, just always say no." @ChrisKingSTL @MeganGohil @Nick_Barbieri

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Photos from Hoobellatoo travels:

Enormous Richard

Chris King and Nymah Kumah in front of the church where we recorded.

Lij Shaw and Nymah Kumah

Road Food - Crab Shack in Maine.

BAND VIDEOS:

"I always had more gigs than practices." @ChrisKingSTL @MeganGohil @Nick_Barbieri

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"As a front man. One of my signatures was always to have a long mic cord and get off the stage out into the audience." @ChrisKingSTL @MeganGohil @Nick_Barbieri

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Rosco Gordon

Rosco Gordon, Chris King, and Lij Shaw.

Chris, and Nymah by Walden Pond.

POET VIDEOS

"He was right, and she was right." - Leo Connellan via @ChrisKingSTL @MeganGohil @Nick_Barbieri

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Leo Connellan at Curbstone Press.

Writing Skuntry tunes by the water with John Minkoff and Matt Fuller.

The original selfie stick!

PRODUCTION WORK:

Rosco Gordon

Fred Friction

Michael Cooney

AND OF COURSE A GREAT RECIPE:

Nymah Kumah taught us this recipe for Jolof Rice the African precursor to Jambolaya on our first field recording expedition. http://confluencecity.blogspot.com/2008/08/recipe-for-african-precursor-to.html

Jolof Rice

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RSR070 – Roger Moutenot – Producing Yo La Tengo & Paula Cole

The post RSR070 – Roger Moutenot – Producing Yo La Tengo & Paula Cole appeared first on Recording Studio Rockstars.

RSR069 – Matt Mahaffey – The Band sElf & Composing Music For Cartoons

My guest today is Matt Mahaffey, probably the most talented multi instrumental song writer, composer, and producer I know. Matt formed his own successful rock band, sElf and then cofounded Spongebath records an imprint of Zoo records. From 1995 on sElf and Spongebath became a shining beacon of hope for indi bands in middle TN wanting to shake the stereotype of country music.

After a decade in Nashville Matt moved to LA to be closer to his next label Dreamworks where he developed his production career continuing to write and record for his own band. He has a long list of artists in the studio including: Pink, Beck, Liz Phair, Tenacious D, Lupe Fiasco, Phantom Planet, Beyoncé, Butch Walker, Hellogoodbye, Forever the Sickest Kids, Miranda Cosgrove, The White Tie Affair, Keith Urban, The Sounds, L.E.O. and Smash Mouth. And recently Matt just played on Beck’s Grammy winning Album of the Year 2015, Morning Phase.

Matt has also created music for many filmmakers including Ivan Reitman, Michael Mann, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Andrew Adamson, and Hans Zimmer. And he also wrote music for Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek 4. And contributed music for the cartoons Ni Hao Kai-Lan and Sanjay and Craig. And other TV credits include: CSI Miami, DanceLife, Entourage, MTV, E! Entertainment, Weeds, and 60 Minutes.

He has even spoken at TEDx Nashville, and notably created the famous jingle for Expedia.com, and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live as the Muppet character “Animal” in a drum off with Blink 182 drummer, Travis Baker.

• Matt’s studio Fresh Imperial Studio in Franklin TN.
• Rehearsing in his parents basement and recording his first multi tracks with a dual cassette deck.
• Shooting signs in WV and a pop up coffeeshop concert with Beck Hansen.
• Jeff Turzo and the Overstayer Master and Servant. Using 808 in a rock band.
• Composing for cartoons and film & producing bands in the studio.
• Lots of other cool stuff! Including a the plugin Lethal for creating EDM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U4xhf9fuYg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVBwb8dmOGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn49IDcTpFE

Leave a comment at the bottom of the post and let us know what you think, and thanks for being a Rockstar!

The post RSR069 – Matt Mahaffey – The Band sElf & Composing Music For Cartoons appeared first on Recording Studio Rockstars.

RSR068 – Pat Sansone – Recording with The Autumn Defense & Wilco

My guest today is my good friend Pat Sansone, a prolific, and talented multi instrumentalist, songwriter, and Grammy nominated producer.  Pat’s early bands included playing guitar with Beagle Voyage and Stretch Armstrong, a rock band influenced by Black Sabbath and the Butthole Surfers, and then his own power pop band Birdy. In 1999, Pat formed The Autumn Defense, in New Orleans, with his friend John Stirratt of Wilco.

They went on to record four full-length albums: The Green Hour in 2000, Which I helped record at Alex The Great in Nashville, and then Engine in Chicago, and then Circles in 2003, which I recorded right here at The Toy Box Studio when it was in my house, with cables running all over the place. In fact it was Pat who aptly named my studio The Toy Box Studio after recording here while surrounded by my collection of toy instruments. The Autumn Defense then went on to make their self-titled album The Autumn Defense in 2006, and Once Around in 2010.

While living in both Nashville and New York, Pat working as a producer and studio musician. He contributed to albums by Joseph Arthur, Andrew Bird, Josh Rouse, Mavis Staples, Swan Dive, Jenifer Jackson, Ryan Adams, The Clientele, and others.

In 2004 Pat joined Wilco following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach. And now Pat plays guitar, keyboard, maracas, and several other instruments, as well as singing backup vocals with Wilco. He was also involved in the writing and recording of Wilco’s albums: Sky Blue Sky, Wilco, and co producing The Whole Love in 2011.

Pat has also created a book of photography called 100 Polaroids, a collection of polaroid photographs taken with an SX70 camera, from his travels with Wilco and The Autumn Defense. And he has worked with many great musicians and artists along the way including: Dawes, Jamie Lidell, Phil Selway of Radiohead, The Future Monarchs with Josh Shapera, Elizabeth Cook, Garrison Starr, Richard Julian, and Will Kimbrough.

• Pat’s musical beginnings in Meridian MS.
• Peavey headquarters.
• Recording Heartbreaker with Ryan Adams.
• Recording at the Wilco loft, at Easley Studio, and with Josh Shapera at the Mixin Administration.
• How to record fantastic drums on your record.
• Recording Wilco acoustic guitars with an iPhone.
• Why Freddie Mercuries sound great in the mix.
• Working with Richard Dodd
• Recording Hammond B3, Leslie, piano, and Wurly.
• Why Jeff Tweedy prefers recording his vocals with an Shure SM7.

This is the great video showing you how a Shure SM57 sounds on electric guitar in 7 different mic positions!

Here is Brand New Song from Americanitis by Will Kimbrough and co produced by Lij Shaw using the iPod mic for vocal and acoustic guitar.

Jeff Tweedy Sukierae with more demo guitars recorded on iPhone that became part of the record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvc6EFUx9Xo&index=1&list=PLxpRNq5SCAvJvS6-nqJjbCmaibbUgKdHJ

Here is Jack Ashford from the Funk Brothers of Motown showing us how Tamborine is really done right!

Tack Piano

Autumn Defense performing at East Side Manor, a beautiful studio in East Nashville.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h72IUSsXq1w

Leave a comment at the bottom of the post and let us know what you think, and thanks for being a Rockstar!

The post RSR068 – Pat Sansone – Recording with The Autumn Defense & Wilco appeared first on Recording Studio Rockstars.

RSR059 – Mike Radovsky – Music Composition, Licensing, & Drums

My guest today is Mike Radovsky a drummer, producer, and composer for music licensing in film and tv. Mike has played with many great artists including: Phil Madeira, Michelle Wagner, and Tanya Tucker.

Mike has been creating cool library music ranging in style from surf rock to heavy guitar blues and has lots to teach us about the world of music licensing. His credits include placements in music libraries like Sonoton APM, Groove Addicts, Smartsound, and Peer Publishing.

He has written music for major car commercials like Ford, Jeep, and Lexus, and has had many placements on ABC/ CBS/ FOX/ HBO and SHOWTIME. Mike has even created music placed in one of the best shows ever made for tv “Breaking Bad.”

Cool stuff we talked about:

Here is a shot of Mikes awesome Gretsch kit with the cymbals up high in the air. We talked about getting separation between the drum shells and the cymbals this way:

This is some of Mike’s compositional work on Soundcloud:

And here is some of his playing on records:

Magneto is the plugin that Mike referenced on the podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcZbzfEj6ZM

Mike’s band Bedlam ~ Magic Carpet Ride (Reservoir Dogs Soundtrack 1991)

Much thanks to Sean De Leon & Mitchell Murray for editing assistance!

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