7 Deadly Session Sins
Tweetby Rich Tozzoli
The ease and affordability of home recording technology has made it simple to produce music at your own pace, on your own terms, and on your own turf. But it has also left many players clueless when it comes time to move beyond the demo stage and enter a professional studio. If you are booking time in a pro facility soon, the guys behind the glass will thank you to mind these 7 Deadly Session Sins, each of which is nearly guaranteed to drive a recording engineer absolutely batty.
1. Arriving unprepared.
Unless you are Keith Richards and have an inexhaustible budget, coming unprepared is simply inexcusable (and often quite costly). Have your parts rehearsed ahead of time and know what results you want to achieve. Practicing the parts you intend to lay down is a simple but effective way to make sure the session flows smoothly. Before the session, think about the intented outcome: What exactly do you want to get done, and in what time frame? Have you done all you can do in advance to ensure the goals will be achieved?
2. Hanging your headphones on the mic stand.
Ouch. I can’t even count the small but meaningful pains I’ve had to deal with when clients hang their cans on the music stand or mic stand and then knock them off seconds later. Those 3- and 4-foot drops take their toll, and a busted pair of headphones can literally grind a session to a halt — and represent a significant replacement cost to the studio or engineer. When you’re between takes or a break, place the headphones on a table or even around the base of the mic stand on the floor. They are safer that way.
3. Halting the session to rethink your approach.
Engineers hate sitting behind the board while you rewrite on the spot — unless, of course, you’re paying them time-and-a-half for overtime. Try to record your practice (even on a handheld voice recorder or iPhone) to make sure you like what you hear before heading to the studio. You can then play that rough cut for the engineer to help him/her understand what you’re going for. More importantly, it helps you hear the parts and make any changes ahead of time.
4. A poorly packed gig bag.
Don’t leave for the session without spare strings, picks and batteries. Neither should you expect the studio to have capos or guitar straps or even a spare tuner. Even when your guitar is strung with fresh strings, bing extras of the exact gauge and brand you use. String-searching is a session killer, in terms of both time and vibe. Also, have plenty of your most-used picks on hand, and if you use pedals make sure they have new batteries. Don’t skimp on those 9 volts! Hit the music store the day before the session and stock up.
5. Pulling your cable out without warning.
It seems like common sense from where the engineer sits, but but I’ve had preamp channels blown because of this. When recording DI or with an amp, always check with the engineer before pulling your cable out. Just ask, “Is it cool to pull my cable yet”? He or she will then have time to mute the board/preamp, and then you’re good to go.
6. Keeping the lyrics and/or song map a secret.
Take the time to print out extra lyric sheets if you’re cutting vocals, and provide notes to show the song form to the engineer and other musicians. If you can put the chords and timings above each section (verse/chorus/bridge), that helps as well. This way the engineer can follow along easily and mark up a copy with any necessary production notes. It also makes the punch in/overdub process go much smoother since anyone can simply call out, “Take it from the 2nd half of verse 3” and everyone will be in the same place. When I’m tracking a vocalist, I remind them to the point of annoyance to remember those extra lyric sheets! It’s always worth it when the session rolls along smoothly and they’re psyched to hear that playback.
7. Inviting the entourage.
Do not bring friends/girlfriends/boyfriends/fans into a session. It’s a total vibe-changer. From experience I can say without a doubt those takes usually have to be re-recorded later. There’s a lack of focus, worsened by a show-off factor, that happens when non-band members are in the studio. They also tend to bug the engineer by talking and moving around. If anything, call them to come hear the final playback after you’ve finished tracking. It’s just as cool and allows you to focus on nothing other than putting down a great performance.
Rich Tozzoli is an accomplished engineer, mixer, producer and composer. He has worked with artists such as Ace Frehley, Al DiMeola and David Bowie, among many more, and is the author of Surround Sound Mixing for ProTools. Rich is also a lifelong guitarist and composer. His work can be heard regularly on FoxNFL, HBO, and Discovery Channel.
3 Questions: Richie Kotzen
Tweetby Charlie Doom
Richie Kotzen initially found fame at the age of 21 in the hard rock band, Poison. Kotzen's creative and technical command of almost every musical genre from rock, jazz, blues, fusion and pop to soul has led many to tout him as one of the best players in the world. Kotzen is also a prolific and gifted singer/songwriter, having recorded over 20 solo albums and collaborating on over 30 other studio albums crossing all musical styles.
Charlie Doom sat down with Richie and had just enough time to ask him 3 crucial questions:
1. Do you feel you're still improving as a player? How do you push yourself creatively?
I think there should always be a feeling of moving forward -- a feeling of learning something new. I suppose you could define this as improving, but I look at it more like adding a new word to your vocabulary or, better still, a new experience or emotion. The idea of music is to be creative and to be truly creative you need to move into the unknown. Doing the same thing over and over again with a different spin is not creativity -- that’s not growing.
Creativity is something that comes through you, it is the unexpected. You can’t force it. What you learn over many years is how to identify this inspiration and when it arrives, knowing what to do with it. That is the real key: the inspiration will come from being free and clear. Identifying creative inspiration and knowing what to do with it is what most people do not grasp.
2. What's your creative process like? Can you give us an overview of how you develop an idea in your head into a produced song?
I can’t give a specific platform idea, but I can say that songs come from the most unexpected places. Often times I dream music. I have heard melodies when I’m asleep and then remembered when I woke up that I was dreaming some really inspired piece of work. The trouble had been that because I did not force myself to wake up I would never write the music. Later on I realized I must sleep with a recording device by the bed so now when this happens I force myself to wake up and document the idea.
Other songs are not nearly as abstract in their incarnation. Some are simply born from a bass line or a lyrical idea. There are 2 songs on the Peace Sign CD that I wrote on the bass guitar; one is 'We're All Famous' and the other is 'Your Entertainer'.
At the end of the day the production is decided by the song and how I hear it in my head. I typically hear music in a completed form when I'm in the studio so most of the process is bringing that point of view to life. Then of course there are the moments where I go in the studio and have no clue what I'm going to come out with! I just keep messing around and then suddenly there is something, suddenly there is a song.
I suppose the short answer is there is no one process. Every song is a different animal.
3. What's the best career advice you've ever gotten or would give?
Many years ago, Ozzy* gave me some good advice. It was just him and I talking about the music business (this was early 90's) and Ozzy was making a point about how much lip service there is in the music business. He said, “if on the one hand a company is telling you everything they are going to do with you (basically empty promises) and on the other hand a company is guarantying nothing and are hard to get on the phone, but hand you a large some of money….”
He told me, “Always take the money.”
Which later on, Ozzy’s advice proved to be right. The only deals with companies I've ever made that really worked in my favor were the ones that offered significant advances. It is the only tangible commitment they can make to you in the beginning. Most of the time if someone is talking big that’s all they’re doing – talking. If someone says, “Well, we want you to be involved, but we have a limited budget…” start looking for the door!
*Yes, he 's talking about that Ozzy. And furthermore, Richie's response to question #3 is perhaps one of the most honest insights on the music business you'll ever find. Unless you're doing work for a non-profit humanitarian organization, I suggest you heed Kotzen's advice when conducting business. Don't be a fool.
Guitar News from NAMM
TweetLast week we offered a sneak peak from the floor at NAMM, the mammoth trade show of the musical-instrument business. (That’s when we revealed the inside word on Gibson — a you-gotta-be-kidding story that is still not being reported.) Now that everyone’s back home, we asked industry vet HP Newquist, Executive Director of the National Guitar Museum, to tell the Punch-In what caught his attention at the four-day show.
Despite the economy, the mood was upbeat at NAMM. There really was nothing too radical by way of product introductions; manufacturers are sticking to the tried and true, and taking few risks this year, which is probably a smart move. That said, NAMM is as much an experience as it is a product showcase, so here are the experiential takeaways from Anaheim, CA this past week.
Green Diamonds
Blue is the new red. Every amp manufacturer worth its salt has replaced the glowing orange/red of tubes and the red on/off gem lights with glowing blue lights that resemble the inside of a New York afterhours goth club. (Diamond Amplification is bucking the trend with green lights on its 2008 Phantom head — maybe for the holidays?)
If you have a 4-string bass, you're missing a string. Every custom bass builder, and most of the majors, all sported 5-strings and shuffled the 4-strings off to a little corner of the booth where they wouldn't be noticed. This did not stop Stu Hamm from rocking the hell out of his 4-string at Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar Night.
If you like the furniture in your grandparents' house, you're going to love the amp styles coming your way. From brown and tan vinyl to brass hardware, retro-style amps are in, looking like amps that were made before amps were actually made (this even includes Marshall and Randall). The only thing missing is the matching avocado-green refrigerator.
Weasel Trap
Do you really need a capo that sits high enough off the fretboard to activate string harmonics? Well, you've got one now thanks to Weasel Trap. And believe it or not, this little thingby is rather cool.
Martin had one of its D-100 deluxe dreadnoughts featuring more inlay than Madonna’s bedroom. Asking price is a mere $109,999 — and for a brief moment, when the showroom lights were hitting the pearl just right, we could actually believe it was worth it.
Agent Orange
Over 80 Orange amp cabinets formed the walls to an immense booth, creating more cool orange-osity than you've experienced since your first glass of Tang.
Orianthi wowed the attendees with a show in the Convention Center lobby. The lobby, which is wide but not very deep, is incredibly ill-suited to concerts, as there’s no room for a front-of-house board. Thus, the coolest part, other than seeing a young woman who can Vai-shred effortlessly, was watching the sound tech mix the show live while moving through the crowd with a wireless tablet running Studio Manager.
Brown's Guitar Factory showed off its ongoing efforts to popularize the "Fretted/Less" guitar, which has no frets above the 12th fret and allows players to play "fretless." Weird concept, but it does look cool.
Pyramids of Power
3rd Power displayed its triangle-shaped cabinets, which form a pyramid when stacked together. Looks cool -- but we’d hate to be the guy who has to load those suckers in the truck.
Daily Kindling: Goodbye Gibson?
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The Winter NAMM show is in full swing as we write. In case you don't know already, NAMM is the semi-annual trade show of the National Association of Music Merchants; or, as we musicians think of it, the biggest candy store you'll ever see. On the convention floor in Anaheim, CA, hundreds of manufacturers show off their product lines and new gear, and dealers place orders for the instruments you'll be drooling over in their store windows. Wildly talented players demonstrate the new wares, famed endorsers perform live, and industry big-wigs rub elbows. For the musical-instrument community, NAMM is ground zero.
And that's why it's a shocker that Gibson does not have a visible presence at NAMM for the first time anyone can remember. The only public display from the venerable guitar institution is a shared space in the Monster Cable booth, where Gibson is showing a few signature models and the questionable Dusk Tiger guitar. We reported on The Punch-In last autumn that Gibson might be on the selling block. Now insiders at the show are murmuring that Gibson could shutter its windows by this summer.
If you think Gibson guitars are expensive off the rack, just wait till every one becomes a collector's item.
We'll have more news from the floor, and TrueFire will have exclusive footage from the live events our crew is producing at NAMM, including All-Star Guitar Night. Meantime, here's a small handful of new products that have caught our eye.
Thanks to industry vet HP Newquist for an inside word from the show floor.
Fireside Chat: Seymour Duncan
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While the name Seymour Duncan might be synonymous with high quality pick ups and stompboxes, few know that before he was winding magnets and soldering wires, Seymour was a prodigious guitarist – packing clubs and rolling the rock back when the electric guitar was just coming of age. It was out of necessity that Seymour began tinkering with his tone; searching for new and better ways to make his guitar "sound good." After all, that’s what we all want to do – sound good - and thanks to Seymour Duncan sounding good has never been easier. This month’s featured Fireside Chat is an attempt to separate the man from the legend…ladies and gentlemen, we give you Seymour Duncan.
1. First off, if you weren't a musician, what would you be and why?
Well, I like to think of myself primarily as a musician. But to most of the folks who recognize my name, I’m a pickup builder. So maybe the answer is that I’d still be a pickup builder. However, I don’t think I’d be where I am today as a pickup builder if I wasn’t a musician. So it’s kind of hard to answer. What did Nigel Tufnel say? “I’d be a haberdasher or maybe work in a chapeau shop.” Truthfully though, I’d be a Cultural Anthropologist studying flint knapping techniques of ancient peoples. For real.
2. Honestly, how many hours a day do you practice?
When I was a kid, I spent all my time practicing. Nowadays, I’m so busy making pickups and touring that I don’t have nearly enough time to practice. Usually when I have a Seymour Duncan Band gig coming up I’ll rehearse with the band and practice my parts a bit. I do listen to a lot of guitar melodies and a lot of the practicing actually happens in my head. The truth is, sometimes I play more creatively when I haven’t picked up the guitar for a week, though I’m always complaining that I have no calluses. Once as a gag, Evan Skopp gave me a bag of broken glass that I was supposed to use to toughen up my fingertips!
3. What are you listening to lately?
I get lots of CDs across my desk and I do my best to listen to all of them. There are so many great players out there. And I love listening to the young guys and girls just coming up.
4. How would you describe the music business today?
Obviously, self-recording and self-distributing has changed everything. The record companies need to find a way to adapt or it’s all over for them. Sometimes I think of the record labels as dinosaurs munching on their grass and leaves and seeing a mushroom cloud in the distance after the meteor hit and the dust is just starting to obscure the sun. But they don’t know what that mushroom cloud is or what’s about to happen, so they just continue eating their grass and leaves not realizing they’re about to go extinct.
5. Stranded on a desert island, which guitar would you take?
It would have to be my Tele-Gib. It’s the twin of the guitar I made for Jeff that he used on Blow By Blow’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers.” It has the second JB and Jazz Model pickups I ever made – Jeff’s guitar has the first. I’ve played that guitar more than any other over the last few years. It’s also been played by Ted Nugent, Peter Frampton, Nokie Edwards, Todd Money, and Jeff. Just this year I retired it from live gigs, but it’s definitely my desert island axe. Oh wait, I should’ve asked, does this desert island have 120 volts AC electricity?
6. Should world leaders learn how to play guitar? Why?
Sure. And not just guitar. Any musical instrument. Especially if you play in a band. Playing in a band teaches you how to work together, how to enhance others’ efforts, how not to hog the spotlight, how not to step on other people’s lines, and if you’re all grooving together, you can create wonderful magic that moves the people listening and puts a smile on your face. Imagine if geopolitics worked that way.
7. Let's talk about what's going on with you right now, your latest release, and what’s next?
I’ve been recording more this year than in the last five years combined. I have a Pro Tools rig and I’m working with a producer named Doug Scott. We’re doing mostly original tunes. Musician’s Friend is in post-production on a documentary about the Seymour Duncan company and I’m providing the score. Stay tuned for that. Vernon Neilly makes a guest appearance. Questions submitted to TrueFire via Facebook, Twitter, and our Forum.
Questions submitted to TrueFire via Facebook, Twitter, and our Forum.
8. What would you recommend to those interested in trying to build their own pickups? – Squall
Nowadays is the easiest time to get into pickup-making. With the Internet, there’s tons of information on how to get started and how to build a winding machine. And there are companies like Guitar Jones that sell everything you need. It’s very easy to buy the cheap Asian-made parts, wind up a few pickups in your garage, and lo and behold, you’re an instant boutique pickup winder. But it doesn’t mean the pickup is going to sound good. If you want to build your own pickups, you need to understand how the components and manufacturing techniques affect the sound. A lot of that comes with experience. And a lot of comes from actually manufacturing the parts and components rather than buying cheap versions off the shelf. Go ahead and read all the stuff you can on the Internet. Most of it is accurate. But there’s no substitute for experience. Learn from your mistakes. Document everything. Be open to honest criticism. And have fun!
9. What is the most important thing to get a pickup to sound its best? - jimiclaptoncarl
Getting the coil right. That involves using the right coil geometry, the right type and gauge of magnet wire, the right number of turns with the correct traverse, wax potting it properly, and hooking it up right. And, unfortunately, a lot of the off-the-shelf parts aren’t dimensionally correct. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and pay for your own tooling.
10. Are there any plans to bring back the Convertible amps? - Hutch82
That was a great amplifier. Very much ahead of its time. It was kind of an analog pre-modeling amp. Unfortunately, there are no plans to reissue it at this time.
11. What do you see for the future of guitar pickups i.e. actives, materials, technologies? - rjbasque
We’ve done a lot lately with actives like my Blackouts. I have a new pickup called P-Rails which is pretty unique. Same with the Triple Shot mounting ring that allows stealth switching. We have some pretty well thought-out ideas about where pickup technology is going in the future and my engineers and designers are moving in that direction. I’m not going to say publically what that is. But I can say, stay tuned. There will be lots of exciting new and innovative products coming out of the Seymour Duncan company. And some products based on old technologies, like some new additions to my Antiquity line and replacements for odd size pickups.
12. And finally, any words of wisdom for your fans and fellow pickers?
First of all, listen to everything. If you’re a jazz player, listen to metal. If you’re a metal player, listen to the blues. If you’re a blues player, listen to jazz. Everything you listen to has a lesson in it if you’re open to it. Listen to other instruments besides guitar. If you want to know one of my favorite musicians, check out Davy Spillane. You’ll be surprised. Second, find your tone. Even if it means trying different pickups to get it. Third, even if you’re not already in a band, jam with your friends. Playing in an ensemble is a great way to get better. And most importantly, have fun. Remember, it’s called “playing” guitar, not “suffering” guitar.
To learn more about Seymour Duncan visit him online at www.seymourduncan.com and check out this exclusive video interview with long-time friend, and CEO of Boosweet Records, Vernon Neilly.
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