I can now officially call it "The Award Winning METAL SHOP PODCAST"!!!

Here's my speech.

In honor of recieving this award.............................fuck this. Speeches aren't metal! HAPPY 2008 and KEEP IT METAL!

Thanks to Big Al from PSN for helping me out on episode 12.

While I don't actually own ribbon mics, nor do I know anyone close to me with a pair that I could try, Big Al from The Project Studio Network was kind enough to send me audio files of an acoustic guitar recorded with two different ribbon mics for episode 12 of The Metal Shop Podcast. The samples he sent can be heard in episode #94 of The Project Studio Network, and you can stream that online at projectstudionetwork.com.

I'm nearing completion of the segment, which means the episode should be out relatively soon. Sit tight, and keep it metal!

More new vids on the youtube channel!

I'm in the middle of production on the Acoustic Guitar episode, and I've found a few video's on recording acoustic guitar that I've added to the channel. Check them out. The playlist includes a music video of The Foo Fighters performing "Times Like These" acoustically in the studio. Although I'm sure that the micing set-up for the studio shots were staged just for the video (I could be wrong, but I doubt it), it still shows how one could mic a guitarist and vocalist at once.

Keep tuned in, Episode 12 is on the way. Keep it metal!

Working on new episodes. We're back up and running!

I'm in the process of getting the materials together for episode 12, which will focus on recording acoustic guitar. If all goes well, it'll be out in a few days. But I've got a lot on my plate over the next few days, so it may take longer.

Here's what I've got planned for the next few episodes.

Acoustic 101
Reverse Effects
Review of Lamb Of God's Sacrament, producer edition
Mic Shootout
Interview with Siddius about the recording of "Preaching To The Choir"
Several episodes dedicated to the recording and mixing process for "Preaching To The Choir".

With any luck, this will take me through episode 20.

I've also been sent show ideas from a couple of listeners. Herman wants me to do an episode focusing on compression. This may be a good time to throw in a free plug in show, as I've got several free compressors I use. And Kris from One Over Eight is thinking about sending a segment comparing a real Mesa to a modeled Mesa, pointing out the pro's and cons of both. He also wants to submit one of his bands songs and maybe come on the show to talk about how it was recorded.

I've also been talking to a few people, such as Mary Magdalan (based in LA) who just released an album and may come on to talk about the recording process, and Chris Mara may come back on to talk about how to find work as a producer. And I'm thinking of expanding on the guitar doubling segment, but focusing on clean tones this time.

So I've got some great ideas floating around, I just need to get off my ass and do them. Keep an eye out for episode 12 coming soon. Thank for your patience everyone. Sorry to keep you so long between episodes. Hope you all have a kick ass new year, and keep it metal!

I'm one of Lamb Of God's Newest Producers!

Any of you who didn't catch my earlier blog entry (I think back in October) about Lamb Of God releasing the multi-track files to their album "Sacrament", I'll give a quick re-cap. They've released the files, and you can mix the songs yourself. You can add stuff, take stuff away, ect. It's pretty cool.


Well, I got it for Christmas. I've toyed with it for about 30 seconds, and here's my first reaction.

For only $14.95, it's worth it, but it has it's limitations.

The drums are already processed for you, and are on a single stereo file. The other instruments are likewise. They fit all the audio files in mp3 format on an audio CD.

Now, I know you may be thinking "YUCK! MP3'S THAT ARE ALREADY MIXED?", and I agree, but think about this. Like I said, it's only $14.95. What do you expect, every single snare drum hit on it's own wav file track unprocessed? After all, it's packaged with the album, so you're not just buying the multi-track files.

Also, consider this. If they were to include all the individual tracks in wav format, they'd need to put it on several data dvd's. I for one have not put a dvd drive on my pc that I got refurbished over the summer, so if this had been the case, I'd have been screwed. Also, making it full of data dvd's would've skyrocketed the price. This way, the average joe who has Audacity or Garageband can get their hands on the files and start working on their mixing skills.

So was it what I expected? No. Do I still think it's well worth it? Hell yeah. Go out and buy it, as I feel it's a great tool to help hone your mixing skills.

Anyway, look for a short review of it in a future episode.

NEW BLOG!

Ok, the blog you're seeing here is different from the myspace blog. But this is the new blog for the show. I'm in the process of moving all the other blog entries over from the myspace blog to here, so sit tight.

Anyway, if you're seeing this, then you've been to the newly designed website at themetalshop.info. Email me at metalshoppodcast@yahoo.com with any thoughts on the new layout.

Most importantly...............

NEW EPISODES COMING SOON!

Adobe Audition 3 - Using the 30 day free trial.....ME LIKEE!

Ok, I'm using the free 30 day trial of adobe audition 3.  Figured that since it was out now, I'd give it a shot.

I like.

I want.

I'm glad the upgrade is only a hundred bucks.

I haven't delved too deeply yet, but the coolest thing I've found in my three minutes of use is that in the two track editor, you can boost the gain of a selection just by selecting what you want, then adjusting a knob that appears at the top of the screen.  Makes Normalization pointless, and this is a lot quicker!

Here's a screen shot of what I'm talking about.

And another cool feature that I'm dying to try is that Audition 3 supports virtual instruments.  1.5, which I use on the show, does not.  So you can imagine my dismay at the fact that even if I wanted to, I couldn't use something like EZ Drummer!  Well, version 3 supports those things, and I'm going to try a free virtual drumming package that was talked about recently on PSN.  I'll keep you posted.

Still Alive!

I'm not going into podfade, so don't worry. Getting some personal things taken care of, as I said in the last episode, and hopefully it shouldn't be long before I can get back in the saddle and bring another episode to you. Sit tight.

Empire Extreme

I wanna thank the kick ass people over at EmpireExtreme.com for supporting The Metal Shop, and posting our logo and link on their site!

Empire Extreme is a metal focused Magazine based in Pittsburgh, and I'd suggest checking it out!

Keep it metal!