More Tips for Studio One Users

William Edstrom Jr. is the author of Studio One for Engineers and Producers.  Here are some video tutorial excerpts from the DVD.  For more tips on Studio One, check out this post about Larry the O’s series, Power Tools for Studio One 2.  

RECORDING TO LAYERS

Setting Tempo of Imported Audio Tutorial

Comping Example

Audio Bend Examples

Find more great tutorials for DAWS software and other music-related skills on our MusicPro Guides YouTube channel!

Studio One for Engineers and Producers

Studio One for Engineers and Producers is specifically designed to help engineers and producers who are already comfortable using another DAW software platform make the transition to Studio One. Text, illustrations, and video examples (on the accompanying DVD-ROM) demonstrate the creative, practical, and technical benefits provided by PreSonus in this modern, well-developed, flexible, and user-friendly application. All instruction is presented in straightforward and simple language that gets right to the point, taking into consideration the need for amateurs, home studio owners, and commercial professionals to get up to speed very quickly.

This Quick Pro Guide starts by relating Studio One’s layout and functionality to other common DAWs, to identify the most important similarities and differences. It then follows the creative process through the normal progression of a modern recording/production, to help the reader get to work as soon as possible. This new cross-platform (Mac/PC) DAW is built from the ground up for speed, efficiency, and power; Studio One for Engineers and Producers is the perfect tool to shorten the pathway from installation to inspiration!

How Straight No Chaser Changed The Game

Guest Blogger: Deke Sharon is the co-author (with Dylan Bell) of A Cappella Arranging. The following is an excerpt from his blog on Casa.org. Please pay them a visit for more a cappella news and discussions from Deke, who has produced music for the a cappella sensation Straight No Chaser.

They’re the funny Christmas song guys, right?

Yup. And they just sold out a 6,500 seat venue in Connecticut.

When you’re looking at the a cappella landscape over the past decade, no group has changed the game more than Straight No Chaser.

Yes, they were incredibly lucky when Atlantic Records called, but for 99 out of 100 groups, the story ends there. A cute footnote for a few thirtysomethings that had a viral video from a concert that happened decade before.

But it didn’t, because Straight No Chaser is group like no other, re-writing vocal music history year after year. What have they shown the world?

Ten Is Enough (and not too many)

Name a band with 10 people. I can’t. Maybe when you add up background singers and the like, but that’s not the band, that’s the road show. SNC is ten guys, always ten guys. Rock bands are 4 people, and theatrical shows are 30 people. You just don’t see 10 people on stage, and that kind of curiosity can be a deal breaker for promoters. They’re a cappella already… and they also chose a format that’s not done. And yet they made it work. Not only the number of guys was a risk, but…

Thirty Is Not Too Old To Start

Maroon 5 didn’t have their first hit until they were about to throw in the towel, but they don’t act or dress like they’re 30, and they’d been performing for years, building a fan base and learning the ropes. Straight No Chaser’s formula is not kids running around on stage like a band, it’s more like the Rat Pack: classy gentlemen in suits singing songs you love and making you laugh between songs. Sit out your 20s, then start your career in popular music in your 30s? Not done. Impossible. Until now.

To read read Deke’s next 4 reasons, visit this blog post on Casa.org!

The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.

The Producer’s First Meeting

Guest Blogger: Bobby Owsinski is the author of The Music Producer’s Handbook, one of guides in his Handbook series along with The Touring Musician’s Handbook and The Studio Musician’s Handbook.  Below is an excerpt from his music production blog, The Big Picture.

Almost everyone knows the main phases of an album project (preproduction, tracking, overdubs, mixing, mastering), but the fact of the matter is that there’s one more phase that actually begins the process – the meeting.

That’s where the producer meets with the artist for the first time and they both decide if they like each other, can work together, and most importantly, be creative together. Of course, there may be other meetings before this decision is finally made, but the first one is critical for both the producer and the artist.

The problem is that any times the artist or band doesn’t know exactly what to do or expect (especially one without much experience), so that leaves it up to the producer to guide things. Here are some questions to ask to determine if you’re a good fit with the artist.

What are some of your favorite records? Why?

What are your biggest influences? Why?

What recordings do you like the sound of?

What kind of sound are you looking for?

To read the rest of Bobby O’s questions, visit his blog!

The Music Producer’s Handbook

The Music Producer’s Handbook (another book in Bobby Owsinski’s successful Handbook series) describes in detail the duties and responsibilities of a music producer. In his thoughtful, down-to-earth, and savvy style, Bobby O. brings his wealth of experience to bear in answering the questions faced by all budding music producers: How do I become a producer? How do I get the best out of the musicians or vocalist? How do I get a great mix? How much money can I make? Covering the entire range of producer concerns, from organizing each phase of the production to mastering the final mix, The Music Producer’s Handbook takes a sometimes intimidating and mystifying process and breaks it down to an entertaining tutorial that will fatten the toolkits of professionals as well as novices. As with all the books in the Handbook series, a third of the book is dedicated to exclusive interviews with name producers who share their techniques and stories with the reader. An accompanying DVD takes the viewer through each phase of the production process.

 

 

 

More Tips for Pro Tools 10 Users

Glenn Lorbecki is the author of Power Tools for Pro Tools 10, and 2 books in Hal Leonard’s Quick Pro Guide series, Tracking Instruments and Vocals with Pro Tools and Mixing and Mastering with Pro Tools. Below are excerpts from the DVD that comes with Power Tools for Pro Tools 10.

SETTING UP A ROUGH MIX

More video tips for Pro Tools 10:
Using Direct Plug-ins
Recording and Playback
Automation

See also: Tips for Pro Tools Users from Tracking Instruments and Vocals with Pro Tools

Find more great tutorials for DAWS software and other music-related skills on ourMusicPro Guides YouTube channel!

Power Tools for Pro Tools 10 provides a detailed look inside one of Avid’s most exciting Pro Tools releases yet. Instructor, certified Pro Tools trainer, and award-winning producer/engineer Glenn Lorbecki will walk you through the best ways to get the most of out of Pro Tools 10. See and experience the new features incorporated in this powerful software offering, all the way from the new ways it handles data, memory, and gain functions to some seemingly small updates that make a huge difference in your productivity. This focused and comprehensive guide provides excellent instruction in the newest Pro Tools 10 features; at the same time, it establishes a foundation of technical and creative protocol that will help beginning and intermediate users – as well as seasoned professionals – establish the most expedient work flow while recording, processing, and mixing the highest quality audio.

Happy National Barbershop Quartet Day!

Celebrating National Barbershop Quartet Day, here is a recent blog post from one of our a cappella experts…

Guest Blogger: Deke Sharon is the co-author (with Dylan Bell) of A Cappella Arranging. The following is an excerpt from his blog on Casa.org. Please pay them a visit for more a cappella news and discussions from Deke.

BOSS: A Little Bit Of Magic

It doesn’t make sense, at least on paper.

A cappella is at its best when precise, when clean and rich; an impressive, well balanced array of sounds akin to popular music with instruments.

Why then would I get up on stage and perform music I haven’t rehearsed? Music I perhaps don’t even know?

Well, it all started a decade ago in a town called Bremerhaven in Northern Germany. The House Jacks were performing for a packed club (“Pumpwerk,” a former waterworks of some kind), at which we were told a couple hundred of the attendees were all from the same company.

Northern Germans speak English better than most Americans (!), so we conduct our entire show in English, joking with the crowd between songs, and I recall the banter that night was particularly cheeky, probably due to the audiences obvious inebriation. Garth, our tenor at the time, stepped forward and said “our next song will be” and someone from the audience yelled “Great Balls of Fire!”

Ha. No.

“It will be…” and the song requests kept coming. Couldn’t finish the sentence. So, when someone yelled out “James Brown I Feel Good” we said “Fine!”, playing along with the joke.

And you know what? It was pretty good. So we took another request. And another. And the audience went WILD.

To read keep reading this article, visit this blog post on Casa.org!

The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.

8 Contemporary A Cappella Coaching Tools

Guest Blogger: Deke Sharon is the co-author (with Dylan Bell) of A Cappella Arranging. The following is an excerpt from his blog on Casa.org. Please pay them a visit for more a cappella news and discussions from Deke.

I looked at the clinician list for BOSS 2013 and thought “Holy moly! There are dozens if not hundreds of contemporary a cappella coaches now!” So encouraging, so exciting!

Alas, there’s literally no training program for coaches, no formal pedagogy. I assume they’re all just sharing the lessons they’ve learned as singers and directors, as I do.

To that end, I’d like to share with them, and with you, a few of the hard-leaned lessons and perspectives I’ve assimilated over 20+ years of working with groups. No need for me to mention the obvious musical techniques (tuning a chord, blending vowels, etc), as that’s easy to find. Instead, I offer a few thoughts to help round out a coaches approach, technique and toolkit:

The Big Picture

Music is communication, and as each piece of music has a particular message and mood, the myriad decisions there are to make around a particular song and arrangement should all point to the song’s central emotional focus. This is easy to conceptualize, but I find it alarming how often directors lose sight of this fact. Why did you choose this move? Why are you singing this chord in this way? “Because it looks/sounds good” or “because I like it” are not acceptable answers, especially in light  of a young director’s desire for perfection above (more on this later).

If I’m working with a group and I feel nothing when they’ve sung the song for me, my very first act is to make sure the group both understands the song’s meaning and has a clear emotional goal for the song. If it’s not clear, we discuss the lyrics, and I invite the singers to discuss their own related experiences and feelings. At the end of such a discussion, it’s very helpful to summarize in a few words, like “big crazy circus” or “gentle melancholy stream.” The specific words will be a trigger, something the director can mention when playing the pitch, just before starting the song, to help the group focus it’s emotional delivery.

Show AND Tell

There’s an oft-spoken adage in writing – “show, don’t tell” – that definitely carries an important message: use words to create a feeling rather than simply state what a character feels. Expanding this idea into coaching, I urge you not only to explain to your group how they should feel, but to reflect that feeling in your own tone of voice, your own gestures, your own mood. Create the moment yourself as you’re urging your singers to find it. In essence, you’re called upon to act while you direct, just as you’re asking your singers to do the same when they sing. Wave your arms and jump around, slump your shoulders and speak more quietly… whatever it takes. Change the mood in the room to reflect the song, and help your singers find the moment.

To read Deke’s next 6 tools, visit this blog post on Casa.org!

The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.

The 2013 A Cappella Job Outlook

Guest Blogger: Deke Sharon is the co-author (with Dylan Bell) of A Cappella Arranging. The following is an excerpt from his blog on Casa.org. Please pay them a visit for more a cappella news and discussions from Deke.

From time to time, I’ll get an email along the lines of “Help! I graduate soon (or am going to college soon), and I want more than anything to make a career of a cappella! How can I do it?”

For those fine folks who are signing on the dotted line before reading the fine print, here’s an overview of the career options in a cappella in 2013:

1. Music Educator

2. Recording and Editing

3. Performing

4. Audio Engineer

5. Jack of All Trades

6. Design Your Own Career

To read Deke’s full description of each of these job possibilities, visit this blog post on Casa.org!

The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.

The Quick Vocal Performance Guide

Guest Blogger: Bobby Owsinski is the author of How to Make Your Band Sound Great and The Music Producer’s Handbook. Below is an excerpt from his blog The Big Picture.

The voice is just as much of an instrument as any other instrument in the band. Like other instruments, it needs regular maintenance to stay in its best shape. Here are a few tricks compiled from How To Make Your Band Sound Great and The Music Producer’s Handbook to not only get the best vocal performances, but to stay away from a sore throat as well.

1. Remember the 3 P’s – Pitch, Passion, Pocket. You need all three for a great vocal.

2. You’ve got to hear yourself at the correct level to stay in tune. Unless you have a lot of experience, you’ll most likely sing sharp if you’re not loud enough, and flat if you hear too much of yourself.

3. Avoid alcohol, dairy products, tea, coffee and cola before recording or a gig. All will make it more difficult to sing by either drying your throat or increasing your phlegm production.

4. Choose the best key for the song. Better to change the key than hurt yourself or sound bad trying to sing something that you’re not capable of.

Keep reading this post on Bobby O’s blog, The Big Picture.

How to Make Your Band Sound Great

This book explores every aspect of playing with other musicians, including the equipment, hardware, and software used in today’s increasingly complex technological world, and the principles of sound every musician needs to know to work at the level of a professional band.

.

The Music Producer’s Handbook

The Music Producer’s Handbook (another book in Bobby Owsinski’s successful Handbook series) describes in detail the duties and responsibilities of a music producer. In his thoughtful, down-to-earth, and savvy style, Bobby O. brings his wealth of experience to bear in answering the questions faced by all budding music producers: How do I become a producer? How do I get the best out of the musicians or vocalist? How do I get a great mix? How much money can I make?

Tips on Desktop Mastering

Steve Turnidge is the author of Desktop Mastering. Below are his tips on desktop mastering. Some of these videos are excerpts from the DVD-ROM that comes with the book.

 

DVD-ROM TOUR

Desktop Mastering videos from Steve Turnidge
“Special Place“

“Within You“

“Lay Your Plan on Me“

“Fill the Ocean“

“Data Cascade“

Tour of Desktop Mastering

Find more great pro audio tutorials on our MusicPro Guides YouTube channel!

Desktop Mastering is a conceptual guide, intertwining a broad range of knowledge regarding audio engineering principles and practical applications for those wishing to enhance their own as well as their clients’ work. In addition to providing a step-by-step in-depth survey of a successful mastering plug-in chain, Desktop Mastering covers real-world practical applications, the fundamentals of audio and electronics. Also included is a personal guide to the business of mastering, leveraging emerging social networks for positive personal and business results.

A Cappella Arranging: How the Book Came to Be

Guest Blogger: Dylan Bell is the co-author of A Cappella Arranging with Deke Sharon. This is the beginning of his post on his blog. Please visit casa.org for his full post.

A couple of years ago, I had the bright (or possibly crazy) idea to write a book on a cappella arranging. To my knowledge, there wasn’t yet a complete, “definitive work” on the subject. (Anna Callahan wrote a great book a number of years ago, but it was written primarily for collegiate a cappella ensembles, and was written when collegiate aca was in its infancy.) So, before putting pen to paper, I put a call out to the a cappella community. Essentially, I asked:

“Is there an ‘a cappella arranger’s Bible’ already out there? If not, how come none of the masters have written one?”

I couldn’t help myself, and added the following:

“[Mr. Sharon, I’m looking in your direction]”.

Well, it elicited plenty of responses out there, all saying the same things: “No, there isn’t a book like that. Yes, please write it. And I’ll be the first to buy it”.

Good sign so far. Then Deke chimed in:

“Are you serious about this? I’ve been planning to write a book for years. What would you say about joining forces?”

Keep reading this post on Dylan’s blog.

A Cappella Arranging is a book in Hal Leonard’s MusicPro Guides series. Visit MusicPro Guides’ website and YouTube page. Also visit A Cappella Arranging‘s page at acappellaarranging.com. 

The world loves to sing. From barbershop groups to madrigal choirs to vocal rock bands, there are tens of thousands of vocal groups in America. The success of mainstream television programs such as Glee and The Sing-Off not only demonstrates the rising popularity of vocal music; it reflects how current trends inspire others to join in. In addition, through various online and on-the-ground vocal music societies, the “a cappella market” is well defined and well connected. Like singing itself, a cappella is a global phenomenon.

At the heart of every vocal group is the music it performs. This often means writing its own arrangements of popular or traditional songs. This book is the long-awaited definitive work on the subject, wide ranging both in its scope and in its target audience – which spans beginners, music students, and community groups to professional and semi-professional performers, vocal/instrumental songwriters, composers, and producers – providing genre-specific insight on a cappella writing.

The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.