We are starting up some new classes at Firedog.  Building on our strong foundation of Audio recording and Pro Tools classes we have designed new workshop style classes for individuals on the go.  The workshops will be 3-4 hours in length and jam packed with exciting tips and techniques about creating and recording music.

 

 

We recently had a visit from some students and teachers from Colonia High School.  Linda Rockmaker, a teacher from the school was planning  to bring her students to a recording studio to talk about the ins and outs of how the recording process works and to get some secrets from the pros.  When I spoke to Linda back in the fall, I was more than happy to help out.

 

The first stop on the journey was to the local TV station NJ-12, where the kids got to enjoy a tour of the facilities and from what they told me, a bit of fun with the "green screen"!  Afterwords, they paid us a visit and learned some basics about the studio and how we record.  I showcased a song called "Dreamer" that we wrote and recorded with Sydney Taylor telling the students all about microphones and multi-tracking. We also shed some light on backing tracks and how live singers perform with all of the music and background vocals when there's no band present.

 

As a nice surprise for the kids, I also had Brother Terry and his son Franky from "Unknown Souldier" in the studio.  Everyone watched as we recorded an acoustic version of "A Better World" from their new CD.

 

Before you knew it, the class trip was over and everyone had to go back to school but not before we gave them some "swag" from the studio including guitar picks, stickers, cd's, and mp3's of the songs we showcased during their visit.

 

When I got back to the studio a couple days later, there was a big poster-board "Thank you" card from the class and it just made my day to know these kids had a great time.

If you or someone you know is interested in a studio tour and presentation, please contact us.

 

TD

I've been using Izotope products for a number of years now, starting with their "ultimate lo-fi weapon" Vinyl which users can add authentic "vinyl" simulation and the powerhouse mastering suite Ozone which we use as our main mastering software in the studio.  So when I saw that  they had restoration product I decided to give it a go.

 

RX is a complete audio restoration package that has a number of modules.

 

 

Each of the options allows the user to isolate and remove unwanted artifacts from the audio.  The interface is very intuitive and the spectral display alone is worth the bucks.
It can be used as a stand alone application utilizing all of the modules at once or as an RTAS plug in in Pro Tools where you bring up one module at a time.

The software is great for fixing up live performances, removing coughs or crowd noise, cleaning up that acoustic guitar track by taking out the string slides or fret noise, and giving those old cassette and vinyl recordings a new shot at being listenable.  The ability to isolate specific frequencies is quite a feat and very helpful when trying to find that annoying buzzing sound.

I used it on an old 78 rpm record and it did a great job cleaning up the hiss, removing scratches and clicks, and other unwanted artifacts.  There was quite a bit of high frequency noise but I was able to isolate and attenuate a majority of it leaving the actual recording intact in the lower frequencies.  There is other restoration software available but iZotope hits a home run again in my book.   So, if you are in the need of audio repair, give us a buzz and we'll introduce your audio to "RX".

For more information go to their website.

 
TD