Master

I have to apologize.... my OCD behavior has really kicked in with my getting back into the music production world. Almost ten years ago I stopped playing gigs and with that my studio became neglected. At the time ADAT was still a good way to go and I still have my three decks. I also have a collection of real to real recorders in 1/4", 1/2" and 2" formats. Over the years I have sold off most of my processing gear, console, mic's and the like, including my highly coveted Eventide vocal processor.

As my friends on the RTP blog already know, we have an annual music "festival" every year on the Wheeler Ranch to entertain our house bound mother. We call it WheelStock. Over the last four years we have put together a very nice back line at the ranch. A big shout out goes to our friend Tim Fankhouser (Dark Hollow Studio's Medford OR.) for bringing down some monitor gear. and just leaving it there. He contributed some mic's and stands too. Steve donated one of his drum kits, we have two bass rigs and two guitar amps. A full PA system rounds it all out. All in all a decent setup for any one who wants to come jam. When we hold WheelStock, most musicians only have to bring their instruments.

A little over a year ago my long time bud Todd (Bass Guitar) was in a band that needed a drummer. In stepped my brother Steve who is VERY good behind the kit. I met Cliff the songwriter/guitarist and started producing Half-n-Half during rehearsal sessions.

One thing led to another and I found a inexpensive DAW (digital recording hardware/software) that would run well on my Macbook Pro. Mix Pad turned out to be a decent bit of software and was less than a hundred bucks. The limitations came in the form of only being able to record two tracks at a time to my Mac's native sound card. Every mic had to be pre-mixed and bussed down to left and right. We would lay down over dubs for guitar and vocals and hoped for the best in the mix. NOT the optimal setup by any stretch of the imagination. Good news is that today, compared to ten years ago, high quality recording microphones have come down considerably in price.

So began my slow return to audio engineering.

Fast forward to the last trip down to see mom. I had to replace some horn drivers and one 15" speaker in our PA mains. At the music store they had the Presonus 1818VSL on sale.... I could not resist. I did some sessions with Half-n-Half and found Studio One 2 to be very intuitive and easy to use. I could not resist bringing the unit back home with me. My computer workstation is quickly becoming my mastering suite. With the addition of the Mackie MR8/MK2's I can focus on the clarity that is today's digital music production world. My time for sleep has diminished and I am soaking up all I can on recording with this DAW.

My Mix and Master station is gradually coming together. Small changes from my Beer and Black Mackie post but still coming together. All the gear I had used in the past is pretty much sitting right here in front of me. Using one small rack mount unit and my 16 Gig, Quad Core, Windows-7 Pro machine, I can emulate my "old" gear. Gear that takes up most of the space in a large room. I am still trying to wrap my head around this complete and total awesomeness.

Again, I apologize for my lack of posting of late. One cannot build a successful blog without regular posts. I promise to do better.

PsychoManifesto