Thursday, July 27, 2006

Old Time Hammer and Anne Loo Mix

When Steve Christensen and I started planning the Old Time Hammer mix sessions, we were pretty sure that they would go quick and be very high quality. The mixes were tweakier than we thought because each little change in EQ and balance really affected the sound. We found that making the final mixes better than the roughs was tricky, but really worth the effort. Most of the fun was having Elise, Colin, and Jordan back in the studio with us. The mixes are now done, and mastering is a couple of weeks away. When mastered, I'm going to post on the Soundboard. It will be worth the wait.




The day after we closed out OTH's mixes, we welcomed Anne Loo and Eric Jarvis into our lair to start three days of mixing Anne's first 3 songs of what has recently turned into a full length project. Anne, Eric, husband Brad, and I are simply having too much fun while at the same time producing some MIGHTY recordings of some EXCELLENT songs.

The mixing went just as swimmingly, as the OTH sides (I've always wanted to use that word: swimmingly). We were in the groove. Actually, Steve had spent the entire week previous to this mixing, so his game was on! (It's how he rolls,...).

Anne and Eric kept Steve and I in stitches...



From time to time, we would come into the control room to find Eric in a mixing K-Hole, but he always snapped right out of it in time to render some sort of (cogent) opinion about the song.



We were feeling so sure of ourselves that we let Grammy-winner, Dave McNair come by and hang with us. He was on vacay with his family but decided that the SugarHill/Anne Loo love hang was where it was at.

McNair/Jarvis:



Me fawning at McNair....

Actually, I'm just pissed that he didn't bring Starbucks for the whole crew.... we see how you roll, Dave... (jk... you're welcome, Starbucks or no!!!!)

Tonight, I'm mixing Christine Wu all by myself, and Studio A seems creepy with no clients/co-producers y' mixers.

Update: The Anne Loo Stage One project was mastered today by Allen Corneau (....if you had just brought those latte's, Dave...) and it sounds really good. Each of the three songs are in very different genres, but Allen made it all sound sweet, big, bold, defined, and not too polite. Lovely.

The rest of the update is that working with Eric has been a dream. We get along almost too well, and he fits in with the SugarHill gang like he has been here all along. I'm going to be working with Eric a lot. It's so great to find new people to be a part of the team. Woot!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Geoff Emerick, NAMM

I just got back from working in Austin at a Recording Academy event. We invited Texas Audio Engineers and Producers to a conversation with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. The event was heald at the Austin City Limits studio, and Sarah Sharp performed before the Geoff.

I got the opportunity to join Geoff at a NARAS dinner the night before. It was really thrilling to hang with the guy that recorded 'Revolver', Sgt. Pepper's, half of the 'White Album' and all of 'Abbey Road'. Geoff was promoting his new book about recording the Beatles, which was co-written by Howard Massey.

l-r: Howard, Geoff, and moi:

While I was there, I met and hung with Maggie Walters, 'Radio Mike' Petrozelli, and Sarah. The NAMM SHOW was going on at the Austin Convention Center. I used to be the buyer for Rockin' Robin Guitars and Music back in the mid eighties, so I had not been to anything like this in a long time. It was a real blast from the past. I saw some of the same guys that I knew from then selling their stuff,.. quite a time travel experience.

Radio Mike and I:





Heba Kadry, John Griffin, Leigh Crain, and Steve Christensen all came up from SugarHill. It was really nice having my crew there to see such a historic figure.

Finally, the coolest thing I saw at the NAMM show, was also the smallest. It is a modified guitar pick called The Jelly Fish. It has steel tines instead of a rounded end, and sounds incredible. I walked up on a demo and was wondering what pedal they were using to make the acoustic guitar sound like a sitar. VERY COOL!

Monday, July 03, 2006

My Inspiration



I'm at a Fourth of July Family Reunion (captials intended) at Lake Conroe, Tx with my extended family. With me is my Uncle Tom (Dr. Tom Murry II) from North Little Rock, Arkansas. Uncle Tom is a dentist, a KILLER fisherman, and a wonderful patriarch of our family, but most of all, he is a marvelous musician. Uncle Tom still plays cornet and trumpet, and it was his love of jazz that he shared with me at an early age that inspired to me to follow my own musical muse.

Uncle Tom was the first adult that spoke of music in terms that seemed very familiar to me. If I am doing any of this stuff right today, most of the credit for that goes to my Uncle Tom.





Thanks, Uncle Tom.