Arizona's Conservatory of Recording Arts  (CRAS)
ATC Speakers, Grammy Award-winning projects and more...

 
The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences - or "CRAS" as it is more affectionately known - is a top-tier technical school dedicated to placing its well-trained students in entry-level positions in the music, game audio, live sound, broadcast, and post-production industries. Unlike most similar programs, CRAS obligates its students to obtain internships in order to graduate, and it has a excellent record of helping students obtain their first paying gig. Part of its success, which has resulted in literally hundreds of CRAS grads working on literally hundreds of Grammy Award-winning projects, is exposing students to high-end professional tools. Thus, when CRAS recently expanded its facilities with the addition of control rooms F and G, it put ATC SCM25A Pro reference monitors - among the industry's most-trusted tools - in both.  "Our rooms reflect reality in the industry," said Tony Nunes, music production instructor and manufacture liaison at CRAS. Nunes, together with Mike Jones, director of education, travels to trade shows, recording studios, and post-production facilities around the country to keep CRAS's facilities and instruction in perfect synchrony with the latest (and enduring) industry standards. "We sculpt our technology and instruction to remain always at the current standards in the industry," he continued. "Two years ago at AES in New York City, we visited a lot of the big studios in town, like Stadium Red and Electric Ladyland, and talked with our grads who worked there. A consistent theme that studio managers/staff stressed was the persistent requests they received for ATC monitors; so persistent, in fact, that most studios invested in their own ATCs." CRAS's ATC SCM25A Pros join Pro Tools HDX rigs with Apogee converters, [soundBlade HD] rigs with Mytek converters, and SSL AWS 948 combined console and control surfaces.

"The ATCs are certainly the most transparent monitors we have at CRAS," said Nunes. "Students don't get to studios F and G until they are a little ways into the program. By that time, they can really appreciate the details that the ATCs reveal. For example, when we're tracking in those control rooms, students will notice the smallest details, like fret buzz on the bass. One time we had a vocalist who was struggling with an allergy and sinus problem. After he rested and had some tea, he came back and all the students could really hear the physicality of the difference. One student said it was like he could see the vocal cords in the ATCs. They're a really great tool."

Because students use the ATC SCM25A Pros later in the program, they get an opportunity to scrutinize their earlier projects. "They know so much more six months later, and now they've got these great monitors that reveal so much; it can often be a painful experience," said Nunes. "But we bravely turn it into a learning experience. We find and analyze the mistakes, and then students may remix their projects. Every time, they come back happy with the results. Because the new mixes pass the test on the ATCs, they translate everywhere else, like students' cars, apartments and computers."

Although CRAS is explicit in stating that it does not teach students to be mastering engineers per se - which necessarily requires skills that can only be acquired through years of experience - it most definitely teaches its students about the mastering process and about the technical details that mastering engineers will expect of their work. There again, the ATC SCM25A Pros, which are mastering-grade reference monitors, benefit CRAS students.

 

For the latest info on ATCs  contact  Brad Lunde at TransAudio Group 702-365-5155    

Some ATC Owners: George Massenburg, Bruce Swedien, Rafa Sardina, 

Ed Cherney, Tom Petty, Lenny Kravitz, T Bone Burnett, Ryan Tedder, John Rodd, Niko Bolas, Glen Ballard, Dennis Sands, Shawn Murphy, and Alan Myerson, to name a few.   

Plug Me In
Drumatom2 and more from PlugIn Alliance

 

For some projects you might want more bleed than others to preserve the vibe so being able to adjust bleed in context is quite helpful. Drumatom, the world's first microphone leakage suppression tool for multichannel drum recordings, just got a MAJOR upgrade! The drumatom2 ($299)  application provides faster analysis (25-50% faster depending on CPU power), algorithm improvements and an improved workflow. The drumatom player supports all major formats (AAX, AU, VST).
"Drumatom is incredible! My days of using triggers to get rid of the Hi Hat and crashes are over. It's natural dynamics all the way," says
James  "Lerock"Loughrey (photo above) whose list of credits include: Skindred, Lionel Richie, Manic Street Preachers, Page and Plant, Björk, Def Leppard, Dave Gahan.

Perhaps the biggest news however, is the release of the new companion drumatom player plugin, which allows you to adjust the bleed reduction from inside your DA W! The new player plugin imports .dls files, which have been created by the drumatom2 application's analysis process, so you can control the bleed of each track, as well as the overall bleed, while listening to the rest of your mix! We're told this has been the #1 request of drumatom users...read more at Plugin Alliance here  

 

Mad Decent is the name of the Los Angeles-based record label spearheaded by Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo, the 3x Grammy-nominated producer and world renowned DJ. As an influential label that has been home to artists like Major Lazer, Baauer, Rusko, Dillon Francis, RiFF RAFF, Crookers, Bonde Do Role and the whole Jeffree's crew. MD aims to bring new genres and cultures to light in the ever diversifying music community. Aside from the music released, MD is also known for its annual Block Parties, a series of outdoor dance party/concerts in select cities across the United States and Canada.
Leo Mellace (Serenity West Recording) talked to PlugIn Alliance regarding the studio's current project with MD's latest Trap virtuoso, Unlike Pluto.
LA based producer Unlike Pluto's remix of Diplo's "Revolution" has collectively been played over 4 million times on Soundcloud and even got the producer officially signed to the label. UP's debut release is a collaboration with Jamaican native KickRaux titled "Palace". The song starts off with an infectious vocal sample accompanied by a smooth melody that dives straight into a outrageous drop that's like a sonic suicide, the only kind we recommend. 

The roster of elite engineers and producers joining the PlugIn Alliance network is growing rapidly. GRAMMY Award winning mixing engineer, Craig Bauer, Khaliq Glover (Michael Jackson, Prince, Justin Timberlake) and Rafa Sardina  (Calle 13, Placido Domingo, Lady Gaga) among them. Watch the PlugIn Alliance interview at After Hours Studio...here     

 

 

Oklahoma's The Music Group   

Celebrating 10th Anniversary with Installation of Two Neve Consoles 

 

In 2005, two successful Oklahoma studios, West 2nd Recording and Hamilton House Studio D merged to form what is now The Music Group.  The new 3-studio recording facility was constructed from the ground up and designed by George Newburn of Studio 440 in Hollywood, California.  This month Vintage King installed two Neve Genesys and Neve Genesys Black consoles for their tenth anniversary at their newly remodeled facility in Edmond, Oklahoma where projects range from independent and major label albums, advertising and film soundtracks work. "Neve has always been a trusted brand and Ryan McGuire at Vintage King basically guided us through the options and after looking around it was natural for us to narrow it down to those particular desks," says studio co-owner LG Hamilton. "We picked the large format Neve Genesys for our A studio, a perfect fit because it's geared toward large scale tracking and mixing," explained producer/engineer and studio co-owner Chris Freels who grew up on 2-inch tape and large format desks.   Music Group's studio B has the Neve Genesys Black, which is the ProTools overdub studio with a signal path geared more towards DAW projects.

 

 ATC SCM20PSL Passive 2 Way Monitors in studio G, Brooklyn where Puss N Boots perform "Don't Know What It Means 

1973 WINS RESOLUTION AWARD  

Ivor Drawmer, veteran designer and manufacturer of boutique high-end audio processors, has earned a 2014 Resolution Award for the new Drawmer 1973 three-band stereo FET compressor. The Drawmer 1973 benefits from Ivor's deep, thirty-plus years of experience building best-in-class signal processors and is unique in its combination of three critical attributes: its controls are remarkably easy to use, its price is low, and its sound is, of course, beautifully musical. "The Drawmer 1973 multiband compressor is the kind of tool that mix and mastering engineers will find so useful they'll wonder how they ever got by without it," said Brad Lunde, president of TransAudio Group, Drawmer's U.S. distributor.  

 

    

The Distortion of Sound
A Short film by Harman Kardon 

The documentary contends that a generation of music lovers are being raised on low-grade sonic sludge like iPods and ear buds.  Watch it here 

Snoop Dogg at SXSW 

43-year-old rapper Snoop Dogg delivered a keynote at South by Southwest last week and filled the oversized ballroom at the Austin Convention Center to capacity - even at 10:30 in the morning!  Hypnotic Brass Band "opened," then manager Ted Chung engaged Snoop in an informal back-and-forth about his L.A. beginnings, favorite collaborations and recent ventures. Willie Nelson was featured prominently. Snoop also revealed that he and Menace II Society director Allen Hughes are working on a new show for HBO. The series will be set in 1980s Los Angeles and show Reaganomics' effect
on the area. His new album Bush, produced by Pharrell Williams, is due May 12.
Stevie Wonder and Charlie Wilson are among the featured featured guests slated to appear on the album.

Snoop Dogg and Pharrell have teamed up for a collaborative album, according to Snoop."It's a great record me and Pharrell

 did from top to bottom," Snoop Dogg says in an interview with MTV's Nadeska Alexis. "It feels good and I'm happy to be back in the studio working with one of my favorite producers and homeboys."

Snoop says the album is set to be a departure from the material the duo has done in the past. "Snoop's album is better than mine," Pharrell said in an interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106's Big Boy's Neighborhood. "It's Snoop Dogg. Snoop and Pharrell have collaborated on several hits, including "Beautiful." The first single Peaches N Cream hit this week.  

Photo: Daniel Boczarski, Getty Images

"It's a ride in through the funkosphere," he said. After the keynote, Snoop made his way to the Red Room, an underground wine speakeasy near the convention center, to host a party for Catch The Throne: The Mixtape Vol 2 for HBO's Game of Thrones series. He DJ'd playing songs from artists as diverse as 50 Cent and Journey, sitting on the Game of Thrones throne and taking smartphone photos with attendees

Wrecking Crew In A Theater Near You!  

The story of the MI legends Roberts and Tedesco will live on forever through the film, which also features historical footage of the school in its early stages. For more information on the film, please visit The Wrecking Crew's website www.wreckingcrewfilm.com, and check it out in a theater near you.

Grammy Wants Your Vote For A Music Educator 

Application deadline March 31, 2015 

The GRAMMY Foundation and The Recording Academy are recognizing great music teachers with the Music Educator Award. Nominate your favorite music teacher at  www.grammymusicteacher.com   Consider our pick: Dr Janet Harms

For over thirty years, Janet Harms has forged a distinguished and enviable musical career. Gifted as a conductor, organist and teacher, this university professor was blessed with childhood musical support and encouragement. Dr. Harm's professional training received vital momentum with a scholarship to the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York at the age of 13. Earning advanced degrees from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and a doctorate from New York's Columbia University, she accepted teaching posts at Nyack College, NY (1972-1981), and Azusa Pacific University (1982-1986) and the University of Redlands (1993-1997) in California. She is currently a Lecturer at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Professor of Organ at Azusa Pacific University and Biola University (La Mirada).

In 1995 she founded the Windsong Southland Chorale, a community chorus centered in Ontario, California. Drawing from an astonishinly large area of southern California, the 75 voice Chorale has performed locally from San Diego to San Luis Obispo and has twice traveled to New York for performances at Carnegie Hall.

As a concert organist, Dr. Harms has presented over 80 recitals in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and France. Another European concert tour is planned for the summer of 2002. Specific performance locations will be posted under Music Calendar on this site.   

Blurred Lines Or A Gaye Break?

Homage VS infringement  

Intellectual property cases have become common place in today's music landscape.
Take Sam Smith's "Stay With Me," which owes a songwriting debt to Tom Petty's
"I Won't Back Down."
Michael Bolton had to pay $5.4 million for using elements of the Isley Brothers' "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" in his own song titled "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" in 1994.
This month, on March 10 the jury awarded Marvin Gaye's children nearly $7.4 million after determining Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up" to create "Blurred Lines," their 2013 hit song (7.3 million copies sold in the U.S. alone).
Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music. Although Gaye's sheet music lacked many elements of the final version of "Got to Give it Up," an expert testifying for Gaye's family claimed that there were at least eight (8) distinct elements (chords and notes) from "Got to Give it Up" contained in the song "Blurred Lines."  Attorney Howard King insisted his clients  did not copy Gaye's hit "Got to Give It Up," but merely let an artist and vibe inspire them. As far as we know a vibe or style cannot be copyrighted. "I must've been channeling that feeling, that late-'70s feeling," said Williams who maintained he was paying homage to sound of an era.  

Money Talks. An accounting statement during the trial, according to The Hollywood Reporter, revealed that there were $16,675,690 in profits for Blurred Lines.  According to testimony, $5,658,214 went to Thicke, $5,153,457

 was given to Williams and $704,774 to T.I. Record companies (Interscope, UMG Distribution and Star Trak) took home the rest, with an executive at Universal Music testifying that overhead costs on the creation of Blurred Lines accounted for $6.9 million. Williams also earned $4.3 million in publishing from

the song and $860,000 for being its producer. The amounts were revealed since the Gayes were seeking a portion of those profits as well as some of Thicke's touring revenue.

Image Walks:  Nobody likes Robin Thicke, and the jury probably didn't like him, either.  Thicke testified he wasn't present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.  Sound familiar?! Then there were the 2013 media interviews in which Thicke and Pharrell openly acknowledged "Got to Give It Up" as a source of inspiration. How many artists have been inspired by others before? 

This gives attorneys and song researchers a bigger role every time a new song is created for major distribution. Freedom of expression comes at a cost. And protecting that freedom may have gotten blurrier this month.  The jury may get the groove or rhythm, but do they appreciate differences in melody, chord changes, similarities in lyric? Well, you be the judge! 

Williams issued a statement via his spokeswoman Amanda Silverman. "While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward...Pharrell created Blurred Lines from his heart, mind and soul and the song was not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision, considering our options and you will hear more from us soon about this matter," reads the statement.   Williams, 41, also signed a document stating he didn't use any other artists' work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised.

The verdict which may face years of appeals, will likely make the labels more conservative when releasing new material with major artists.  What happened to being influenced by one's music? Blurred lines or a Gaye break?  

Any musician can tell you that structurally and rhythmically, the songs are quite similar. However, the lyrics and top-line melodies -- the notes sung in a lead vocal or played on a lead instrument -- are not the same, and those traditionally have been the two elements of a song protected under copyright law.  It's an old music-industry truism that you can't copyright a rhythm. (If you could, Bo Diddley would have died a billionaire.) And while "Got to Give It Up" is an undeniably great song, it's about 90 percent rhythm. It doesn't even have a chorus.
According to many legal experts and musicologists, even though it skates dangerously close to the line, "Blurred Lines" is more homage than infringement. With this case, the Bob Marley estate can sue pretty much every reggae artist of the past 30 years.  Now every time we ask a musician the stock question about who their influences are from now on, the smart ones will zip their lips and cite their right to an attorney.  Have a feeling there's more to come!

Besides their pure analog signal paths, Bettermaker units have a full digital recall with 399 cells for your own presets, which you can recall with one touch.

You can save your settings in the internal memory of the EQ's as well as in your D.A.W....AND... in your project with your AUTOMATION. More info here  at Trans Audio Group. 

RIP Clark Terry
December 14, 1920 - February 21, 2015

The world has lost one of the greatest trumpeters to ever grace the planet. You can read the story of one of the most recorded and beloved jazz trumpeters of all time in his autobiography.  Terry, born in 1920, takes us from his impoverished childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, where jazz could be heard everywhere, to the smoke-filled small clubs and carnivals across the Jim Crow South where he got his start, and on to worldwide acclaim. In his book, Terry introduces scores of legendary greats-Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, and Dianne Reeves, among many others. Terry also reveals much about his own personal life, his experiences with racism, how he helped break the color barrier in 1960 when he joined the Tonight Show band on NBC, and why-at ninety he received students from around the world.  "One of the most humbling moments in my life," says Q who also credits Terry as his first teacher, idol, brother. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Gwen and family.  You may leave your message for the family here

The Next Generation Jazz Festival officially starts with the annual Opening Night Concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 27, at the Monterey Conference Center's Serra Ballroom. This year the concert, entitled Remembering Clark Terry: A Swingin' Celebration will be dedicated to the memory of the legendary trumpeter and jazz educator Clark Terry, who performed at Monterey Jazz Festival at least 19 times from 1965-1999. Gold Circle tickets are available for $50 each and may be purchased here

 

RIP Orrin Keepnews
March 2, 1923 - March 1, 2015
Legendary jazz producer and record executive, Orrin Keepnews passed away one day short of his 92nd birthday on..... He was a creative force behind some of the greatest jazz recordings ever produced including such seminal albums as Bill Evans' Waltz for Debby and Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music and Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Chet Baker's Chet Baker in New York, Sonny Rollins' Freedom Suite, Wes Montgomery's Boss Guitar, and Clark Terry's In Orbit. Riverside Records: Launched on a shoestring budget in 1953 by traditional jazz enthusiasts Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews in order to reissue classic jazz and blues recordings from the 1920s by King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and others, Riverside Records turned out to be one of the premier purveyors of modern jazz. With Keepnews producing the sessions (and writing the liner notes), Riverside soon brought such giants as Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, and Wes Montgomery to the forefront of American music. The New York-based company, which also recorded albums by Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, Art Blakey, Mongo Santamaria, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Heath, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Byrd, and the Staple Singers, among many others, folded in 1964, a year after Grauer's death. The Riverside catalog (including the Jazzland and Battle subsidiaries) was acquired by Fantasy, Inc. in 1972. Watch Orrin Keepnews discuss the 60th Anniversary of Riverside here

OD Hunte    

Born in Trinidad, current Londoner, OD Hunte is a

Steve Sykes  

Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Steve started his career as session guitarist and member of various bands with such greats at Stanley Clarke and John Oates (Hall & Oates fame), to name a few. Steve'd recording and mixing credits include:  Enrique Iglesias, Al Jarreau and the Grammy nominated album "Modern Art" by The Rippingtons. In recent years Sykes enjoys working with new indie rock artists such as The Burned and Sons Of The Addicted, which have taken him back to his rock roots.   

Elliot Scheiner  

Elliot has 25 Grammy nominations and 8 Grammy wins with his lastest coming this past 8 February 2015 for Beyonce's eponymous album for Best Surround Sound Album.  Additionally, Elliot has an Emmy, 3 TEC Awards as well as membership in the TEC Hall of Fame alongside George Lucas. 

He co-produced and mixed Ben Folds most recent release

Renew!
The spring or vernal equinox is the day of the year when light and dark are balanced. True or not, it's said that on this day you can balance an egg (universal symbol of rebirth) on its end.
Here's 7 easy steps to renewal.  

De-clutter (workspace, mind, emotion), assess your health, explore your creativity, plant a tree, plan a reunion, simplify, slow down. Hopefully, these seven rituals for renewal will set you on course for a year  that is not only fulfilling and meaningful---but fully filled with your own unique self-expression.    

 Happy Spring!

Until next month, express yourself.  Music lives and moves.