Hey Hey!
I'm very excited about this month's meeting. Jim McGranahan will host us at Clava Studio/4 Deuces Recording, a custom built and designed 1,300 sq. ft. professional recording facility. Clava was designed by Brian Deck and built in 1999 by recording engineers seeking maximum sound quality, isolation and flexibility. I was just there earlier today, and let me tell you it's something to see. It's built-out very well, equipped very well (in audio gear AND instruments), and it's also very comfortable. Oh yes, and very affordable. Check this place out if you're ever in need of a great room to track or looking to take advantage of some of their very nice and well cared for vintage analog gear. There's also a lot to see in terms of great, common sense alternatives to off the shelf acoustic treatments. The way it's set up, you can see some of the construction techniques in action. Check out their website at www.4deucesrecording.com.
In addition to this must-see studio, we'll have a bit of a presentation by Scott Helmke regarding his experiences with DIY mics. If you're a Tape Op devotee, you might be familiar with his "Alice" mic, which he designed, built and offers commercially and in kit form. Check out his website at www.scotthelmke.com.
As usual, we'll gather around 7:30 and there will be food and drinks, so don't come too late!
It's in view of U.S. Cellular Field, at the northeast corner of 33rd. St. and Wells. The door faces the intersection at an angle (like the tavern it once was). The Sox are away on the 31st, so ignore the parking restriction signs. There's plenty of safe street parking close by. Public transportation is via the Red Line to the 35th St./Sox Park stop. Walk two blocks north on Wentworth (ballpark side of the highway) to 33rd St., turn left and walk one block to Wells. The phone number is 312-225-8440 if you need to call.
- KJH
Recap/Appreciation File:
Big thanks to our VP, Michael Kolar, owner of SoundScape Studios for hosting us at his new two-room facility located at 2010 S. Wabash Ave in Chicago. In the middle of settling in to his new digs he opened his doors to us. Both rooms are Pro Tools based and provide studio services to both the record label, BuckWild Records, and outside clients. After a traditional EARS dinner, which included shrimp that was enjoyed by all, he gave a talk on non-traditional methods of earning income in the ever-changing world of studio ownership. Here's a summary of part of the discussion. - KJH
With both Virgin Megastore & Tower Records out of business it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the record buying public is changing drastically. Anytime I go into a record store I always find it puzzling, where are the records? It seems that DVD’s, digital music players, T-Shirts and other items are given the prime real estate while actual CDs are put in the most remote part of the store. At the same time, more and more of my clients are thinking outside the box on their projects, with some very interesting ideas coming to the table.
Live concert DVDs are one of the industry’s biggest growth sectors. Many stores now offer as many music DVDs as they do CDs. Concert DVDs, behind-the-scenes movies, and music video compilation discs are huge sellers now. Soundscape was contracted to record all three days of Riot Fest, the nations largest 3-day punk rock event. There were 28 bands, all recorded multi track @ 24bit, 48kHz, in surround sound, synced with 11 HD cameras to document the entire event. Many of the sets are culminating in their own DVD concert movies in addition to the Riot Fest 2006 DVD. Naked Raygun, The Blue Meanies, & The Misfits are all in production currently at Soundscape. Many of my clients also elect to utilize my fledgling video service to document the album-making process. Most of my clients have a daily Vlog with footage of the record-making process to document on MySpace or Youtube. All of the labels I do work for love the idea as well. It basically costs the labels nothing to do a live DVD. They choose one night out of the tour that is sold out, hire a film & sound crew a couple of weeks in advance to scope out the venue & make the necessary preparations and in one night they have recorded & filmed the entire DVD, all the costs of which are covered by the profits of the one show. No more renting a studio for 2 weeks, putting the act up in a hotel & feeding them, or any of the other headaches associated with putting together a regular album. Once everything has been captured, you just need to mix to video.
Ring tones have been another huge growth vehicle for the music industry. While iTunes only sells its music for 99 cents, ring tones, which feature only up to 10 seconds of music, are selling anywhere from $2.00 to $4.50 per tone. Once the ring tone is purchased, many consumers elect to buy the whole song as well from the various digital music suppliers. I have several clients who've come up with songs just for the ring tone market and some artists have been put on the map & gotten lucrative record deals based on how well the ring tone did.
iPhone, Video iPods, video screens in most every new car and the integration of the home computer into the living room have made for the most dramatic change in the landscape of the music consumer since the introduction of the Hi-Fi. People want to have all their senses tickled, not just one at a time. Embracing a visual element to audio, in my humble opinion, is the future of the audio industry. I also think that this change might be just what the stagnant music industry needs. It has caused a lot of artists to go back to their roots of being good on stage before being good in the studio with Pro Tools, Auto Tune & Reason. With CD sales down 110 million units from this time last year, and concert DVDs experiencing a 3000% growth according to Billboard magazine, this is a trend I predict will be here for a long time.
- Michael Kolar
(editor's note: Watch for a future article or just ask Michael sometime about the things he learned when moving his studio.)
The Annual EARS BBQ
In August we're planning our annual BBQ. It should be on our usual last Tuesday of the month, August 28th. We do not, as yet, have a location set, so of course we're quite open to offers or suggestions. Stay tuned for info on what promises to be a great time.
- KJH
September at Chicago Mastering Service
September's meeting is already lined up for Chicago Mastering Service on the last Tuesday, September 25th. Bob Weston and Jason Ward are excited to show off their new facility, their Shea Ako custom-built mastering transfer console, and especially their Neumann VMS70 lathe. You want old school? You got it.
- KJH
Suggestions Welcome!
There are endless good reasons to band together here as EARS. It can be whatever we want it to be.
If you have any ideas for the EARdrum, our website, or future meetings, please email me. We have a lot of great meetings lining up for the rest of the year, some good website plans, and a lot of good fresh energy and hopes for a more vibrant, participatory EARS, so of course we're very interested in your input on everything EARS. Please. :)
- KJH
Dues!
Thanks to all who support EARS through paying their dues. Just as a reminder, they're due yearly at the October meeting, but that doesn't stop us from catching up mid year as a show of support and in order to take advantage of the occasional members-only benefits. Dues checks can be made out to EARS and can be sent to the following address:
Engineering and Recording Society of Chicago
C/O Eric Roth, Treasurer
PO Box 98
Highland Park, IL 60035-0098
A word from our treasurer, Eric
Thanks very much to all the well wishers! My surgery was successful. I'll still need to follow through with some treatments but it should in no way hinder me from my appointed duties.
- Eric Roth
A (few) word(s) from the Prez...
So how, you might ask, do I come up with these meetings? Well, often, of course, we get requests or suggestions or even our arms twisted in that unique Chicago style. This month it came about in a most interesting way... Browsing the Tape Op forums I checked in the "Hookups" forum (Regional activities, job openings, studio searches, local beer nights) to find that one of the moderators had posted that he was going to be in Chicago (for The Police, actually) and wanted to see if anyone wanted to connect for a drink. I saw the potential for meeting some new colleagues and seeing if any of these people hiding behind anonymous user names happened to be people I already knew. On July 5th about 10 or 12 of us met and enjoyed a few hours of discussion and laughter only true musicians and audio geeks could. It was a great time and the general consensus was that we should do it again. Of course I invited everyone to check out EARS. Jim McGranahan was the first one I met there (thanks again for the beer), and I had already looked up his studio online. We talked a bit more about it, and afterwards I contacted him to see if he'd be interested in hosting. I stopped by his studio, and we talked through the logistics. At that same Tape Op Chicago Beer Night I met Scott Helmke, who literally brought along his latest prototype mic and (before I got there, actually) used a portable rig to let people listen to it on headphones. As I held his mic in my hands, I could almost see my future. Building DIY preamps has gotten quickly under my skin and it's not too far of a leap to imagine taking on a mic project next.
I've mentioned my Seventh Circle Audio preamp kits in the last couple of EARdrums and I've noticed that it's gotten a bit of attention. Many have asked me about my progress. Well, I've got a pair of API 312 equivalents, a pair of Millennia-Media HV-3 equivalents and a John Hardy Jensen Twin Servo completed and sounding wonderful. One more of the John Hardys to go and then I'll take on the Neve 1272s. When I'm finished, I'm going to have to strum up a good representative of each of the originals to stage a shootout at a future meeting.
If you're familiar with Steven M. Massey's Pro Tools plugins, which are quite fantastic, amazingly affordable, and have one of the best trial arrangements out there, you'll want to check out Massey Tools v0.2.1 beta. This includes an experimental new tool called "Slacker" which performs automatic backups of your session's audio files via a plug-in, a "High-Resolution Meter" plug-in and an entirely new concept he's calling the "Listen" plug-in, which is basically the opposite of a meter plug-in. You've gotta try it to fully understand how effective it can be.
If you've got some time on your hands and could use some great straight talk about our business, along with some serious laughs, check out this thread on The 2+2 Forums, where Chicago's own Steve Albini is answering any and all questions related to recording, poker (his real true love?) and even "The Clapper".
Well, that's about it for this month. I'm working on an idea for an article entitled, "Analog is Dead, Long Live Analog!" and of course I've got my SCA preamps to finish. Oh, there's one more thing I wanted to mention... But wait... What's this? The mail's here? The new Tape Op!? Ok... gotta go. See you at Clava!
- KJH
Thanks,
Kerry J Haps, your devoted Pres.
