The Next Episodes.....

Hey, remember how I said at the end of episode 11 that I'd need some time before the next episodes came out?  Well, it's been almost a month now, and I'm still working on a few things, but I wanted to update everyone on what's going on.

First of all, I've decided that the next episode will be my first in a series on recording Acoustic Guitar.  I've been writing notes and brainstorming this one for a while, and it's time to take it off the back burner and do it.

Second of all, the following episode may be about reversing and some of the cool effects you can make with it (reverbs, textures, ect.)

Third, the mic shootouts are coming due, and I need to get the mics back to the manufacturers, so I'll be working on that.

Finally, I'll be starting a series of episodes explaining how I recorded and mixed "Preachin To The Choir (Cause They're Gettin Outta Line)" from Siddius.  This should include an interview with the band about the recording process as part of the first episode, followed by episodes that break down each individual aspect of the mixing process for this song (the bass drum, guitars, vocals, ect.).  I'd talk about one thing per episode so I can really go in depth on it.  You'll be SICK of the song by the time it's over.

Oh yeah, Siddius is giving the multi-track files for the song for you to mix, and I'll release them during the episode where I interview them.

After that, it's all up in the air.  I may sprinkle a guest segment in there somewhere to fill some time if need be, so feel free to make a segment and send it in to me.

Oh yeah, no word on where yet, or if / when it'll happen, but I may be relocating in the future.  The show may be put off for a bit while I get that taken care of, but I'll let you know if that happens.  Maybe I'll find another host to take over until I get things finished.....who knows.  It's a thought.  Then again, it's ALL just a thought right now.

Hang in there guys, and keep it metal.  For those of you who celebrate it, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

Metal By Numbers. 1..2..3!

This is fucking awesome. I know it has nothing to do with the show, but still!

The Final Mix!

Ok, here's an mp3 player loaded with the final mix of Preachin To The Choir from Siddius, as well as the four rough mixes I'd made before the final mix was done. The fourth rough hasn't been posted here yet, so this is your first time hearing it.

I know it's getting redundant, but some of you are asking for me to do an episode on the mixing process, so I figure this will be interesting to those who want that, as they can hear how the mix evolved from it's original state to what it currently is.

Enjoy, and keep it metal!

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Coupla live Siddius clips added to the youtube channel!

CHECK OUT SIDDIUS ON MYSPACE!

Since I'm about to do a series of shows using the song I recorded for Siddius, I figured I'd post these vids of them that I found on youtube. I also put them on The Metal Shop's Youtube Channel! I did this for two reasons. First is to help promote the band (not that they won't already get a bunch of free promotion from me and the show, but hey), and two because I thought they were cool clips.

The first one is of them playing at a local all ages venue / youth center called Rhino's. I don't know the name of the song, but it's a pretty good quality live clip. I'm guessing they were recording the board line-out feed or something to get the audio, but I tried that once with this band at this venue and it didn't sound this good. So who knows. It's odd to me because it's a better quality recording (in my opinion) than the ones they had on their myspace before I recorded them last month. I think they should've posted that one if they had the audio from it! Anyway..........Keep an eye on the bassists' right hand. His fingers are something to watch. They remind me of a taranchula pouncing it's prey! It's fucking awesome!

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Anyway, the second video looks like it came from a cell phone or something. But I posted it because it (coincidentally) features about 30 seconds of the song we recorded! The audio sucks, and so does the video capture, but you can hear it's the same song!

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Anyway, these guys were great to work with. They are very talented for being a bunch of high school kids. I've got my final mix of the song ready to go, and I'll be posting it here soon. In the mean time, head over to my freelance profile to hear it and other work that I've done.

Hoping I can have the band on the show soon when I feature their song. That'll be fun if I can get that all worked out.

Keep it metal!

If I'm reading this correctly..........

This is the first time I've calculated my subscribers since I moved to the new server.  If this is correct, I should now have..........

7424 SUBSCRIBERS!

You all kick ass!

The evolution of a mix....Siddius Part 3.

Using some of the tips I learned while doing research on drum mixing for a future episode, I was able to dramatically improve the overall sound of the mix of "Preachin". Here's a player with all 3 of my rough mixes in it, from most recent to the fist one.

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.


I'm very happy with the mix. All that I have left to do really is to do some track clean-ups (getting rid of amp hum, pitch correcting flub ups, fixing the false start at the beginning, things like that) and the song is done in my opinion. I may add a few things later, but I think this mix is pretty brutal so far.

And again, I'll be detailing what I do to the mix in future episodes.

Keep it metal!

An article picturing a good kick drum EQ Curve.

I was doing some research on drum mixing tips, and I found this article that showed a picture of a good eq kick drum curve.  I tried it on the kick in the siddius song, and it's helped.  I'll post samples later.

Here's the link.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov03/articles/logicnotes.htm

And click on the picture on the right that shows the eq curve.  Try it.

Another Siddius Rough Mix.

I've been working on the mix for Siddius's "Preachin". Here's an mp3 player so you can hear what I've done so far. I've also included the old rough mix for you to compare it too. There's still a lot of editing I need to do to the audio tracks themselves in the mean time, so sit tight.

I'm thinking that I'll be going through this entire song step by step in future episodes..

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

The DEN Timeslot Update!

Don't forget that The Metal Shop Podcast is being played on The Doogz Entertainment Network, which has been the sponsor of the last few episodes of The Metal Shop.  I'll be on every Monday at 7:00 p.m. eastern, which translates into 4:00 p.m. pacific for those of you who are bad at math.  lol.

Check out the programming schedule here to find out what other shows are on, and what times you can hear them.  If there's not a show scheduled, it's likely just automated random music playing.  Keep in mind that The DEN still has open timeslots and is looking for talented DJ's who are interested in hosting their own show.  So if you're interested, log on to doogz.net to apply!

Keep it Metal!

New Vids On The Youtube Channel!

I had to replace a few of the vids that had been taken down, specifically the ones with Lars Ulrich and Angela Gossow using the SM7B.  But while there, I found a few interesting Metallica video's of them recording St. Anger, and one of Kirk talking about the recoding of the new album.  Enjoy.

Random But Funny

My first real band Day 9 (RIP 1999-2002) really was an experience in amateurism.  We played badly, we performed badly, and we even took bad photos to promote ourselves.  We didn't know any better, and it was a memorable experience.

A few years ago, I found this website called Rock And Roll Confidential that has a section called the hall of douchebags.  Basically, they go through a bunch of real band promo shots and make fun of them.

I found a hidden gem!  One of our old promo shots is in the hall of douchebags!  When I originally found this, I laughed my ass off!

Here's the link.  And please, look at the other shots while you're there!  It's a pretty funny site, and you may even find yourself there!

http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com/hall/hall_detail.php?dd_keyid=187

P.S.- I'm the douchebag on the left with black hair wearing the tool shirt.  lol!

Debating Ideas.

I'm debating ideas for episode 12.  I'm leaning heavily toward drum mixing, focusing specifically on the kick drum first and saving the others for another episode, finishing off with the kit as a whole.  Or I could do the acoustic segment I've been keeping on the back burner for some time now.  Or I could do a gear review.  Or, I could talk about the mixing process using the siddius song for an example.  Or...well, the possibilities are wide.

Any ideas?

Lamb Of God Has A New Producer.....YOU!

[Copied from http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=84193]

Grammy-nominated metal band LAMB OF GOD will release the "deluxe producer edition" of its latest album, "Sacrament" (with bonus CD) on December 4, 2007.

LAMB OF GOD is breaking down the smoke and mirrors and allowing fans and professionals alike the revolutionary opportunity to produce and/or remix the entire "Sacrament" audio CD. All of the studio audio tracks (guitar, vocals, drums and bass) from the entire "Sacrament" album have been isolated, separated and prepared for use by music fans everywhere in ANY Mac or PC, so it is very user-friendly.

Remix the album any way you want to hear it. More bass? Your call. Less drums? Your call. Dub remix? Your call. New vocals? Good luck!

Track and add your own effects, vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and anything else you can imagine! Isolate tracks to help learn or to play/sing along. Create your own new unique songs or loops by cutting apart, rearranging or mixing up tracks or even entire songs. The possibilities are endless and the tools are now in your hands.

Let your inner-producer shine! Share your LAMB OF GOD creations online and check out the creative adventures of other new producers. You are the beginning of a revolution in music as we know it.

To hear samples of the release, go to www.lambofgod.tv.

- OR just push play! -

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Episode 11 - Rick Shriver Interview Pt. 3!

Professor Rick Shriver


This is episode 11 of The Metal Shop Podcast! In this episode, I talk with Professor Rick Shriver about the meshing of multi-media with traditional media, as well as the advances in the media program at Ohio University's Zanesville Campus. Rick Shriver is my former professor at Ohio University's Zanesville branch campus, and is the head of the Electronic Media Department.

LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA
The trivia question for this episode asked; "What instrument made the warbly sci-fi sound effect at the end of Monster Magnet's Space Lord single?"

The correct answer is an instrument called The Theremin. Congrats to Mike Hickey for having the right answer. Mike wins a copy of my solo album "Orphan".

Here's a video clip demonstrating the Theremin, for those unfamiliar.



THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA
This week's question comes to us courtesy of Neil O Mac from Neil-O-Mac's Music Attack! Neil asks "During the song Rocket Queen from Guns N Roses, there's the sound of two people fornicating near the end of the song. How did those sounds get recorded?

Enjoy the show? If you like it, write me at metalshoppodcast@yahoo.com, or check me out on myspace at myspace.com/metalshoppodcast. Don't forget to check out the Youtube channel at youtube.com/metalshoppodcast! And you can now keep up with my daily behind the scenes activities by reading the Metal Shop Myspace Blog at blog.myspace.com/metalshoppodcast! And finally, you can discuss all things Metal(shop) over at the Metal Shop Forum, which is over at metalshoppodcast.myfastforum.org/!

[All music in this episode was original music that I, Brandon S. Hire, had a hand in writing and recording. The music bed at the beginning and end of the show was created specifically for this podcast, while the music bed at the beginning and end of the Rick Shriver Interview is a song called Dirty, and was recorded by me at OU's multi-track lab in 2003-2004!]

Episode 11 should be up in the next 24 hours.

Episode 11 is ready to go, I just have yet to upload it to the podcast server.  So sit tight, as I've got to go to my day job.  After that, I'll see if I can work on getting the episode on the web for you.

Also, after it comes out, I've got to take care of a few personal commitments before I can work on episode 12.  So it may take me a few weeks to get the next one out to you, but sit tight.

Keep it metal!

Just a rough mix of Siddius for you to hear what we did.

This is relatively unmixed. I've got a lot of editing to do to the tracks as well. There are a few spots of bad timing and sour notes, ect. But I wanted those elements in there so I can fix them and tell you how.

Keep in mind, this is a very very very very very rough mix. I haven't edited out anything, including when the vocalist yells "PENIS" during a part with no vocal line. I wanted to highlight the difference between the rough raw tracks version and the finished product.

I'll be using the tracks from the session as examples in upcoming episodes, including on how to process drums and bass and vocals.

Here's the song we recorded. It's called "Preaching To The Choir".


free player from mysplayer.com

Oh yeah. It was recorded in the bassists parents bedroom while the parents were away. It was done at about 10:30 at night, and the cops were called after the drum tracks were recorded. lol. We cut the noise for a few, then cut the rest of it at low volumes. So when the drummer yells "They called the cops" at the end, that was genuine! lol.

We have a trivia winner!

Mike Hickey has guessed the right answer to the trivia question, which means he'll be getting a copy of my solo album Orphan!  Congrats Mike.  I'll announce what the answer was in the next episode.

Of course, now this means I have to re-record the end of the next episode.  Damn, I was sooooo close to having it done!  lol.

Keep it metal!

The Shure SM58 - The world's toughest mic?

The newest addition to The Metal Shop Youtube Channel!

Siddius Recording Session Update.

I haven't had a chance to mix the Siddius song yet.  One hold up was how long it took for me to import the files to my PC from the BOSS BR-1600CD.  You had to wait for it to convert the track to a wav file, then import it to your computer, then move on to the next track.  That's right.  ONE TRACK AT A TIME!  That's one of the things I really didn't like about this unit, but you'll hear that eventually when I review it later on down the line.

Anyway, I finally sat here for three hours while dumping each of the tracks from the BR-1600CD onto the computer, and I will begin editing them for mixing soon.

Here's the cool part.  Siddius is willing to give the tracks to you guys too so you can mix the song yourselves!  Caleb, the drummer, said he thinks it's a cool idea, and can't wait to hear your mixes!

So, I'll get them ready as soon as I can get to it, and when they are ready you'll see them on the web site!

On a side, but related, note:
Someone should make a website that allows bands to upload their multi-track files so people like you can download them and mix them for practice!  I think it would be sweet!