Shownotes are up on the site!

As the title says! Took me like 20 minutes, but Godaddy.com finally let me in! lol!

It's not Godaddy's fault. i use internet explorer as my FTP service, and sometimes it won't let me through right away. This is the longest I've ever had to wait for it though. May look into another FTP service. Eh well, this one is FREEEEEEEEEEE!

Episode 18 is out! But..........

I'm having trouble logging into my web server to update the web site with the show notes. The episode is now online, and should be heading for your pod catchers, but it may take me a few to get the show notes online. Be patient, and check back. Oh, and Turn it up to 10 and enjoy!

LESS THAN A MONTH UNTIL THE 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE SHOW!

You know, I'm working on episode 18 now, and over nearly a year that makes an average of about an episode every 3 weeks. Wow, considering that I at one time didn't get to a new show for two months, that makes me feel good! lol!


I made this widget at MyFlashFetish.com.


But who's counting?!

1:10:00 isn't that long..........

Ok, so it's another biggie, but I'm giving it the final listen through now to make sure there's nothing else that needs to be cut before down sampling and uploading. Shouldn't be too long. If I don't get it up today, it'll be ready to post within the next 48 hours.

Another long one?

Ok, so the segment alone from episode 18 is clocking in at about 48:00. It's not as long as the last episode, but still one of my longer episodes. I'm going to work on getting the rest of the episode thrown together for you, and it should be out in the next few days!

Episode 18 on the way.

I've got the segment for episode 18 mixed down, just editing out some mistakes from it then I'll be ready to put it in with the whole episode. Shouldn't be too long on this episode, so sit tight!

Ok, that's it. The new playlist is being made!

I asked Neil-O-Mac what he thought of the Fucking Brutal playlist, and he sent me this vid to add to it. That confirmed it! The new playlist will be called "Fucking Brutal" and will feature the stupidest of the stupid metal youtube vids that never should've been made!

For example.....

Fucking Brutal! New playlist idea?

Ok, so Dave Jackson had the best of the worst podcast, and youtube has a hell of a lot of horrible videos that never should've seen the light of day. The number of these videos that relate to metal in some way is astronomical!

I propose a new playlist on the youtube channel that features some of these atrocities! For example.....



Any thoughts? Leave comments please!

New Youtube Channel Video

For those of you who are considering buying the ZOOM H4, Neil-O-Mac did a review of it last year and posted it on youtube! The video has been added to the playlists for Gear and Studio In A Box.

Potential episode topics!

On the 6th of March, I posted a line-up of the upcoming episodes. I wanted to stick to that, but I didn't. Let's take a look at how it's going to be changing, and keep in mind that this could change at any time. I won't mention specifically when I plan to release the following episodes, but these are the ideas I have at the moment and am attempting to tackle soon.

Mic shootouts / 4 episodes
Chris Mara's return to the show
Episode 1 of Siddius Sessions + BR1600CD review
Drum micing techniques
Drum mixing techniques
Bass recording techniques
Guitar micing techniques
Vocal recording 102
Mixing an entire song
Mixing an entire album
Midrange and shaping your guitar tone
Combo amp vs 1/2 stack: differences and similarities
Free plug ins
The loudness factor: volume and your tone
Placing stompboxes in the right order for your sound
Stompboxes vs. multi-effects units
Gain - how much is too much
Interviews with producers and bands about current recordings
Funky effects and how to get them

And of course there's a whole slew of potential topics listed on themetalshop.info! Stay tuned!

Episode 18 and part of episode 19 are voice tracked!

Yes, that's right. Episode 18 - 21 will feature a special guest host, and the host and I just finished voice tracking episode 18 and most of episode 19. We couldn't finish episode 19 because we want to wait for some emails to roll in as well as trivia guesses. When episode 18 is out, we'll be waiting a few days before finishing episode 19 to allow for these to come in. When they've come in, we'll be working on the rest of 19, as well as most of 20. Then we'll follow suit for episode 21. Should hopefully roll out rather quickly, but we'll see.

The topic of episodes 18-21 will be comparing 10 microphones on various applications. Episode 18 will be comparing the mics on a distorted guitar amp. 19 will be on the same amp, same mics, but comparing them using a clean sound. 20 and 21 will be comparing them on an acoustic guitar and comparing them on vocal ability.

Mic's being compared are listed below.

Audio Technica:
- AT 2020
- ATM 650

Sennheiser:
- E 609
- E 906
- E 835
- E 935

Shure:
- KSM 27
- SM 7B
- SM 57
- SM 58

And the special guest host is.................
...
...
...
...
...
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...Oh come on you can wait!!!!!

Back from Denver, getting the ball rolling.

Ok, I've been back from Denver for about 3 days now. I'm working on getting things done for more episodes, including getting the huge mic shootout taken care of and planning other episodes. I'm still hoping to get to the list that I made a few months ago of upcoming show topics, but cooler topics keep coming up! lol!

In all seriousness, there are some that have been on the backburner so long that I need to get to work on them, and I will be doing that soon.

Anyway, a few updates. The Mic Shootout episode that I have planned looks like it will likely be roughly 3-4 episodes. I don't want to burn you all out after all, and there are lots of audio examples of each mic. I'll be having a special guest on the show for those episodes too.

I just spoke with Chris Mara who wants to return to the show to talk about his new studio called "Welcome To 1979". It's an entirely analog studio in the Nashville area that looks like it's straight from the 70's! That interview may be taking place next week sometime.

And Storm King (Scott Massie's current band) has wrapped up recording sessions and posted 4 songs on myspace. If you liked the music of BOTTOMFEEDER in episode 17, Storm King will melt your face off! I'm trying to see if Scott will return in the near future to discuss the recording of these songs, so we'll see.

Check out Storm King here!

That's about all I can think of for the moment. Still working on Day Nine mixes when I get free time, which I haven't had much of because of the Denver trip. Also, it appears I'll be cutting some demos for a local solo artist over the next week. So my plate is full of stuff, but I should be able to get more episodes to you soon.

Keep it metal!

Me, keeping it Metal at Red Rocks outside of Denver!

Website Update!

Just redid the YouTube page on http://www.themetalshop.info to make it more graphically appealing! Go check it out! And as always, feel free to send me vids for the channel!

New addition to the youtube channel!

This one was sent to me on myspace by my friend and bandmate Josh! It's going in the OFF THE WALL section!

ED's Furry Fucking Guide To Metal!!!!

Episode 17 is ready to go, but..........

Ok, I was going to edit down parts of the Scott Massie interview since it would up making the episode just shy of 90 minutes and the file size just shy of 100 mb. Instead, other priorities came and I ran out of time. I'm leaving on a plane to Denver in 3 hours and I'll be gone for 5 days. So I've uploaded the entire episode to the server, and have to continue getting ready for the flight. The episode will be posted from my hotel room in Denver over the next coupla days. Hang in there.

Rock on.

Next episode is a doosey!

Ok, episode #17 will clock in at 1:24:02 as it stands right now! Whew! Bear with me folks. The episode is all edited together, but since it's so long and I'm rather tired at this point tonight, I'm holding off until I've had some sleep and can re-listen to it more critically before I post it.

Won't be long.

New on the OFF THE WALL playlist!

Change of plans for Episode 17

Recently I interviewed Scott Massie, former frontman for the now defunct Pittsburgh band BOTTOMFEEDER. Scott is now the frontman for another Pittsburgh band called Storm King. The reason he was interviewed is because even though BOTTOMFEEDER is no more, the album "In The Name Of Love And Science" is an amazing album on both an artistic level and a production level. It's not as polished as a Bob Rock album (ok, maybe a little smoother than St. Anger....but you get the point), but instead it has a raw eclectic feel to it that is just indescribable and unlike anything you'll hear on the radio. And no, that's not in a bad way. I hate those people who think that just because it's not mainstream it has to be good even if it's crap. That's not the case with this band. It's not a mainstream sound, but it's anything but crap.

If you can't tell, I like the album! lol!

Anyway, I asked him to come on the show to discuss the making of the album. This album features some interesting tricks that aren't that common, such as dual drum sets, using a different guitar/amp/mic on each layer of each song, purposefully clipping the end of a song to heighten the intensity of the song, and mixing it all with electronic elements and beautiful orchestration.

Ok, if I still smoked pot (clean for a decade now), then this would be one of those I'd listen to in a dark room with headphones and just trip out! It's a very interesting album.

Anyway, now that I'm done praising the album, the reason I've bumped this one up to the front of the schedule of episodes is that Storm King has a gig this month that Scott wanted to promote in the interview, and I told him I'd get that out before the gig. So if you're in the Pittsburgh area, go check it out! It's coming up on the 25th at The Smiling Moose.

I'm planning a trip out of town next week, and I hope to have this episode out before that trip takes place. Keep your fingers crossed, and an eye on your pod catchers!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - 40 years ago today.

(In case you're wondering why this is posted in this blog of all blogs, it's because I feel a social responsibility to remember this man and his accomplishments. We must honor him and what he's done for society. Besides, there's a fun fact about U2 in here that may make a good trivia question!)

Taken away from the world 40 years ago today.



Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis on April 4th, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. It was truly a sad day for our country, and truly a sad day for the world. Without this man, we would not have a Barack Obama, an Oprah Winfrey, or so many others who had the door opened to their futures by this great man.

Rest In Peace.



Actually, I have yet to read about this anniversary on the web or in the news. I saw todays date, which reminded me of the U2 song called "Pride In The Name Of Love", which was written about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

There's a verse of the song that goes:

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

Check it out.



Dr. King, thank you for all of your struggles, all of your commitments, all of your strength that you've passed down to others, and for all the seeds you've left behind for us. Rest in Peace.