Hey Sergey!

Welcome to the boards and welcome to the states. (It's a shame you had to wind up in LA though - my thoughts are with you... :? --Just kidding Ben and Zilla! kinda...)

If you've got Schoeps and Samplitude - you're most of the way there.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Jeremy

First off, I've only been coming to RO for a few weeks and am quite impressed with the knowledge and experience here.

I spent much of my childhood tearing things apart and blowing things up. (literally). My parents used to freak when they woud find my latest toy in pieces within a week or two after giving it to me. I just had to know what made it tick. As a kid I was also very much into music and "mixing" it on my little home stereo system. I discovered how reverb worked by playing two identical records on two different turn tables at the same time slighly out of sync. What a revelation that was to me.

I didn't become a musician until I was 17 so I played "catch up" on guitar for many years. I was always a fast learner so I was able to play with musicians much better than me most of the time. The main difference was I had to practice 3 times as long as everyone else just to keep up. I played in many local/regional cover and original bands all through the 80's and 90's, up and down the east coast from Keywest to Delaware.

In the late 80's I decided to try my hand at mixing to supplement my "starving musician" income. I heard someone saying "we have a gig friday and no sound man". I spoke up and said I could do it. (had never touch a real board). I showed up early, shaking like a leaf. The guy who owned the PA handed me a bunch of insert cables and said "here, you're the soundman right, patch these into the drums and vocals". There I am staring at the insert cables with funny symbols telling me which is the send and return but I didn't know which symbol meant what. After about 5 minutes of racking my brain, I carefully worded my sentence to keep me from being exposed. "The company I usually work with doesn't use this type of insert cable. Which is the send and which is the return?" The PA owner replied. "Beats the $hit out of me, try it one way and if it don't pass signal, reverse it". What a relief!

I soon purchased all of the standard fare books at the time and read them all cover to cover.... SRH by Yamaha, the MHA by Everest, Recording Techniques and many others, learned all the math and taught myself all I could. It paid my bills for many years. I was very lucky in that respect since I had no formal college education.

Anyway, I was nervous for a long time but kept picking up gig after gig and had a few regular house gigs where I worked 7 nights a week I cut my teeth on mixing all types of instrumentation. I mixed thousands of shows over the years to come as well as continuing to play around town.

During all this time I gained experience in a few different areas. I was lucky enough to work with an old Russian fellow who taught me how to wind voice coils by hand and build transducers etc., I also ran music stores and about a hundred other things. Too many to bore you with here, but it gave me lots of experience that I still use & value deeply today... I really wish I had access to a place like RO back then, such an invaluable resource that used to be non-existent.

I'm now a computer programmer by trade but still do a little mixing, mastering, engineering and playing when I can. Most of what I do now is DAW based. I've been knocking off the dust lately and doing somethings again. It has been an interesting ride so far and I hope to keep going as long as I can.

Best Regards-

Karbo

Having visited this forum for several months now and made an exponential increase in my knowledge of recording as a result, I thought I would join the fray.

I am a former double bass player who realized in college that I would never make a go of it as a professional musician. Fortunately, while studying music I was simultaneously taking courses in business, computers and writing. For the past 20 years, I have combined my passion for music and the other performing arts with my business skills, serving as a manager in non-profit arts organizations. Currently, I am an executive in a professional orchestra based at Carnegie Hall. Recording classical music on weekends and in the evenings is my busman's holiday.

While in high school and college, I developed an interest in the technology of recording and sound reinforcement. This led to some occasional work recording recitals and jazz band concerts. Fast forward 15 years, and the orchestra where I worked needed some archival recordings of chamber music concerts for grant applications. I volunteered and have steadily been acquiring the equipment and (hopefully) the expertise to do a proper job of it. It's been an amazing learning process since on the business end of the microphones have been some of the finest classical musicians in the world. What a luxury! To date, I have had no commercial releases but some of my work has made it on to Performance Today and other radio programs.

Now, I have no ambitions to do this for a living since I've got a heck of a day job that takes all my time anyway. Also, as an orchestra executive, I have been fortunate to work with absolutely the best producers and engineers in the business -- for labels such as Sony, Decca, EMI, Nonesuch, Harmonia Mundi, BMG, Arabesque, etc. -- and have nothing but admiration and awe for their talent. (Mostly... there are some surprisingly big name classical music producers whose reputations exceed their skills.) What the good ones do is take all that million-dollar equipment and make it disappear in service to music.

One other thing: living in an apartment in Manhattan, all my gear has to be portable enough to go with me on the subway. I never get a new piece of equipment without considering its size and weight and what will have to be jettisoned from my rig to make way.

Looking forward to learning!

-- James

Hi!

Rich here...

Originally from Bristol, England, now living permanently in Newfoundland, Canada.

I've been a trumpet player since 1979 and got into electronic music with an Atari ST, a bootleg copy of Cubase 2 and a cheap Roland sound module in 1993. In 1996 I attended one year of a two year BTEC course in Music Technology. It was useless, so I never finished it. But I did buy a PC and Cubase VST in 1996 and spent countless hours (usually around 6 per night) writing and recording. My job as an insurance clerk funded it, with the occasional trumpet playing gig with my rock/soul band.

Moved to Newfoundland in 1999 and started work as facilities manager at the School of Music at Memorial University (it's a classical school, with a tiny bit of jazz added). It included some very basic and old recording equipment.

This year saw the completion of a $1.8million building extension, and a new job for me as music technology specialist.

We're still getting the control room fitted out, for audio and video work, as well as controlling video conference sessions and web casting. It is not yet acoustically treated or tested yet.

Initially, the facility will be used to help students and faculty get professional quality recordings in house, and for music lessons across the internet, with high quality, industry standard video conferencing equipment.

The faculty is involved in data collection for gesture analysis of musicians, and is committed to outreach programs through video conferencing over a variety of network types.

We are just learning...

I haven't played classical trumpet since 1984 and I've never been "hired" to perform classical. I do have regular gigs with a big band and an instrumental funk band, and also take other freelance gigs when I can in jazz, funk and pop genres. I also play the occasional stage show when I can.

Rich

Wow, what a find. Some how i managed to over look this site when it got shoved in my faveroits a few months ago but my god! here i am at last and perhaps in the nick of time :)
Im Retaw, 20, male. Sydney, Australia at the moment but l plan to travel when im 21. I work as a free lance violinist doing small time gigs like weddings and functions and restaurants and what not. I finished high school... thats about it lol. Im setting up a small home studio which i hope to be able to make some $ out of. I play jazz, classical, celtic and pretty much any style i get paid to but its a jack of all trades master of none situation at the moment with no real focus on any particular style. Anyway, its 3am... time I considered bed. Im stoked to have found this site and cant wait to really get into things.

Taw

Welcome aboard, retaw! Hope you'll find a lot to discuss and share here....we're a good bunch, and you'll find you're not the only one coming from "down under."
8-)

Useless trivia dept: Did you also know that Won Ton (as in the soup) is "Not Now", backwards? :twisted:

Useless trivia dept: Did you also know that Won Ton (as in the soup) is "Not Now", backwards?

Or retaw is water backwards? (No offense, just playing with the name)

Yeah Retaw is water backwards. My mum has a real thing for water lol. I have a brother called Reyne and a sister called River... theres some sort of "R" theme goin on too it seams.

Hi all,

My name is Luke and are from a small country town N/E Victoria
Australia.

My intrest is blues/folk. I perform in a duo or as a solo act.
We cover a lot of different styles of roots based acoustic music.

I enjoy the challenge of recording our music on a very small buget
with out all the bells & whistles.
I think a lot of recording buffs can and do get lost in the fog of tech
talk,can't wait to use the latest new prouduct.The music seems to be something to be manipulated they just can't understand that the music i play does not need "effects" etc.
So I think i can do better for my music than some flash studio with all the latest and greatest stuff often with some guy that loves heavy rock never heard of Mississippi John Hurt and the like yet says i love the blues man i can record you guys.And from my experience it will be awfull over produced crap.

So i visit the site in the hope of finding others of like mind to learn
about recording the way i want to.
If i can record CD's at home and sell them at gigs i'm happy.

Cheers Luke

Hi My name is Kjetil Laukholm.
I just relocated to Malmö, Sweden/Copenhagen, Denmark.
I am a double bassist with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and I have a recently started a classical recording business, CK Recording, which I run together with my wife who is a trained clarinettist formerly of the Richmond Symphony.

I started out recording a lot of recitals while in school, and soon found myself assisting on full orchestra sessions ending up with a few CD releases before I got to my Masters. When I got my first Orchestral job in Northern Sweden, there was less work to be had as the city is small, but I ended up recording for ORTF (french TV). After the ORTF job I decided to make some serious investments if and when I got a job in a more central location.

I am thrilled to see the number of people on the forum who trained and were successful as orchestral musicians.

Kjetil

Hi everybody.
My name is Pedrito López, and I am from Caracas, Venezuela.

I am a professional musician (pianist/orchestrator/musical producer) from 30 years now, classically trained pianist, but one of my loves in music is Jazz. I have played with such greats as Paquito D'Rivera (even recorded and toured with him) and Dizzy Gillespie, and with the best jazz ensembles down here.

I am also a well stablished orchestrator, working here with Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, among many other symphony orchestras in this country.

As pianist, I have made a lot of studio work as a session musician (piano & keyboards)since the era of 8 tracks (!!!), and simultaneuosly I've always had a great interest in acoustics and sound engineering, studying a lot by myself , and also learning "hands on" in countless recording sessions. These studies have helped me in many situations, not only at studio work but also in sound reinforcing at concerts or gigs.

From 4 years now, I have my own personal studio, built on Protools Le 6.4 (Windows), that have permitted me to interchange sessions with professional studios, improving my work and artistic flow.

Hello all;

Time to tell my story I suppose.

I live and work in the great city of Cincinnati, Ohio. I have been here for just over three years and manage the Corbett Studio. My formal title is “Audio Recording & Mastering Engineer, Producer” of the Corbett Studio and Cincinnati Public Radio. The Corbett Studio is an audio recording and production facility owned by Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, which owns/operates WGUC-FM (all classical) and now WVXU-FM (NPR programming and jazz). WGUC-FM is a very successful classical public radio station, a rare find these days. The Corbett Studio is run as an independent business, available for hire, for both studio and location recording. As the only full time engineer and manager of the Corbett Studio, the studio and I am somewhat synonymous, working on a variety of material and music genres, primarily focusing on classical, jazz, folk and other forms of acoustic music. We produce music in stereo and surround, with a variety of services including mastering and restoration available. Between the studio and I, I am honored and humbled to work with fabulous musicians and ensembles, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, and many more. I get to utilize some of the finest microphone collections available (which I am constantly expanding) along with some really fabulous equipment including Millennia Media & True System Mic Pres, Genex ADCs and Sequoia. Also, I have the pleasure of having one of the finest pianos in the entire Midwest (a Steinway Artist Series – Concert “D” recently mentioned by several talented/high profile artists, as likely the best piano between NYC, Chicago and Nashville).

My history is as follows…
I grew up as a musician with a family fond of classical, jazz, country, pop and other music genres. Most of the music my family and I listened too was acoustic music – hence the influence that has on my career today. I studied oboe and voice, started around the age of 11 if I am not mistaken (I am now 32, 33 in October). As a teenager, I also took up xylophone and became a solo artist for various marching band competitions (and won – woohoo!). I also studied piano, just enough to pass out of piano studies in college. As a young kid, I started fiddling with reel-to-reel decks, vinyl and Timex Sinclair computers triggering the first MIDI sounds. During high school, when the DX7 was popular, I became a sound engineer for their vocal group called “Roadshow” that performed vocal tunes similar to that of Manhattan Transfer. That is when my audio career started to take flight. Music was in my blood.

For college, I attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University. I received a degree in Audio Recording after 5 years of study, along with two minors in voice and oboe. That is where I really got a lot of recording chops of classical and acoustic music. During that time, I started as an intern then as a production engineer for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC for their now late division called “Radio Smithsonian.” I worked on various productions including “Folkmasters” and “Jazz Smithsonian.” There I got to work with a variety of talented artists; everyone from Yo-yo Ma, Little Jimmy Dickens, Guitar Johnson and many others.

I graduated from CIM in ’95, and went to work for a studio called “Soundstage 1” in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I didn’t like it there much (was homesick at the time), so I only lasted there for about 8 months. But I learned a lot about making it on my own in those 8 months. That in turn had me seek out contract work. Did some work in Atlanta for a production facility down there and in turn with the ’96 Olympics. However, I wasn’t quite finding my niche, and still wanted to fulfill my dream, to work with a major orchestra and on major orchestral recording projects. So, I continue contract work, working on a few projects with Telarc International, starting as just a tech., then eventually as a tape op and co-engineer. Shortly there after, I started taking some supplemental education with Landmark Education (something I highly encourage for all). They taught me communication skills and other abilities that really had my career and life take off. Almost within months after taking one of their primary course, I became the first audio recording engineer for the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami Beach, Florida (that job is now available every few years through their fellowship program). It was fabulous working with Michael Tilson Thomas and great artists. I also recorded the symphonies of Miami, Sarasota, Naples and Tampa while in Florida. Probably the best part of my career there was being able to recording the New World Symphony in the great halls in London, Amsterdam and Vienna, all in Surround.

I was with the New World Symphony for about 2 years. While there, I took some courses at the Univ. of Miami in Coral Gables. I also flew around a bit, recording some small symphony work in the mountains of Colorado and also a hit Broadway type CD in San Francisco. Then, in ’98, I landed a job in Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona and KUAT Communications Group. I was their audio recording engineer and production specialist. I was there for 4.5 years, about to get tenure, before moving to Cincinnati. There, my expertise in digital audio processing, system integration and audio codecs really grew, to the point that I am now a specialist in audio processing and system setup for radio stations. My most recent accomplishment in that arena is improving WGUC-FM on-air audio quality here in Cincinnati. KUAT-FM in Tucson, AZ is also some of my work, but I have no idea if it still is setup correctly. I’ll say gaining an understanding of the differences between audio processing for regular CD/DVD applications vs. broadcast applications really has helped in my mastering and production abilities.

During all this time, I was able to see how the DAW has really changed audio. Moving from editing on reel-to-reel and all analog operations, then using the DAT to DAT editors, then the first Dyaxis editor, then Sonic Solutions, to SADiE and now using Sequoia has been wonderful. Knowing audio’s heritage is vital in my minds eye.

In August of 2002, I moved here and bought property in Cincinnati. Since then, I have produced several projects that have been released on a variety of labels. Also, my early work in surround with the New World Symphony (as well as at the Olympics and other projects in the mid-90’s) has paid off. I am now one of the few recording engineers on the NRSC (National Radio Standards Committee in DC) that is working to establish a surround broadcast standard for digital radio. I record all performances now of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in surround (24/88.2). I wish you folks could hear how fabulous Music Hall in Cincinnati sounds with a live audio in discrete surround sound, it is wonderful.

Well, that is my small book, hope is was a nice read. The only things I’ll add, is my hobby. I am an avid west coast swing dancer and now am competing as in the World Swing Council’s intermediate division. Keeps me healthy. Alex

Welcome aboard (officially) Alex; good to read your story, too!

I'm all ears over what you're doing with broadcast standards for digital radio 5.1 surround. I hope to find out more from you as we continue to make posts and share information, I do a LOT of 5.1 work as well.

Again, great to read all about you.

Hi all,

This thread started back in January and still goes on, so it may still be ok for me to add myself.

My name is Oded Ben-Ami, 37. Born in Israel. Learned accordion from age 5 to 14. Took one year jazz organ and then 4 years pipe organ. Vocational high school in electronics and computers.

At 16 I bought my first synthesizer (Roland JX-8P) and began writing some songs.
At 18 came to NJ for one year, studying music theory and pipe organ at Westminster Choir College and music composition at Princeton Univ.
Returned to israel to complete my B.Mus. in music theory and composition at Rubin's academy of music and dance in Jerusalem.

While in Rubin's I composed music for choreography to the folks at the dance department. I was using a Mac Classic, MOTU Performer 3.6, E-Mu Proteus/1 and a Yamaha cassette 4 tracker. Needless to say it was 95% MIDI.

Between 1990-1997 I composed music for choreography, the Israeli television news channel, children choir, theater and a few others. Again, most of this stuff was MIDI (or live performance). Those of you who are curious to hear stuff, you are welcome to my website (http://www.odedbenami.com) and it's all there.

In 1999 I moved the NYC. 2001-2004 started working as an organist and choir director in a Jewish temple in Long Island. 2004 we moved to upstate NY and I now work as a choir director and organist in a United Methodist church. My biggest production at the church so far was the Easter production. For that I took an pre written piece for 2 part choir and piano and orchestrated it to facilitate the addition of a pipe organ, electric bass, hand chimes, carillon (bell tower) tingsha (finger cymbals), B flat trumpet and a double french horn.
I recorded the last rehearsal with an AT822 into a non professional Sony MD.
If you wish to listen you can go to our church's web site
( http://troyconference.org/page.asp?s=5&c=613&site=ScotiaUMC ) and click the mp3 link.
The entire production is made by non professional musicians.

During the last three years I composed music for both the temple and the church (music in my web site) I have been trying to penetrate the market of music for worship. I did make some sales and got some very positive feedback, but it was all too little.

Then, a year ago, right after relocating to Schenectady, I had a calling to write songs that talk to people and go out and sing it to them, wherever they are and as few of them as there are.
This marks an entirely new chapter in my life. I am currently doing the following: write songs, take professional voice lessons, research studio gear, research marketing tactics, and building a brand new web site. For me, the studio is an instrument to bring my music to the people. I plan to play piano and sing during my live performances, but I have ideas that cannot be performed live, and I want to bring those sounds to my audience.

It's great to be a part of RO and even better to find so many musicians in here. There even seems to be a choir director / organist subgroup inside RO.

Peace to all.

OJG

HI,

I'm a New York based composer... BA in liberal arts, studied with a bunch of composers, studied ethnomusicology...have done about 30 low budget film scores over the past five years, using MIDI orchestrations and electro-acoustic music. Before that I lived in Malaga, Spain for 10 years and was (besides teaching music and English ) composing for classical ensembles (violin/piano, flute/piano, sax quartet, string orchestra, symphony orchestra, oboe/clarinet/bassoon, santur/flamenco guitar/flamenco voice) and helping to organise concerts for them. It was much easier for me to get my instrumental music performed in Spain and other countries than in the US (impossible on any practical level). However, New York is a mecca for low budget film production. I have little experience with pro recording equipment (which is why I'm so interested in this excellent forum) but have delved deeply into audio computer / MIDI / sound editing / post production technology. In
terms of contemporary music, I'm more drawn to modernist and expressionistic as opposed to minimalist, neo christian and conceptual trends. - CRAIG

Well, a lot of grey hair I lost till I discovered this thread :oops:
Not that I'm a proud owner of the CV which will make you change your job to trusty bridge builders in Kenya, but still thought that would be fair to introduse myself a bit since every of you have done it (by the way - nice idea Ben!)

My name is Marcin Lasia. I was born in Warsaw/Poland in 1973. My mother had a free day ones and because she didn't find any better thing to do she brought me to the music school, where somebody else made me a violin player. Happily I was (am???) skilled enough to not finish as a viola player - ooops i did it again :twisted: Now after moving to Belgium in 1994 where I'm settled with my lovely girlfriend Basia I'm happy like crazy to play in some reknown baroque ensembles on a beautiful baroque violin from 1713 and thanks to this job I'm maby even more happy to have chances to record some of the concerts I do with them and to record almost everything while playing whith not renown ensebles at all!!! Well, they are always happy to have a recording for free - well - almost for free;) - maby I shouldn't say that :roll:

My setup:

Micros:
2xMicrotech Gefell M270 - omni capsules
2xRode Nt5 - cardio

Mackie1202 Vlz pro

Notebook Fujitsu Siemens

Presonus Firebox

Monitors:
Event Tr6

Hail to all having fun with this great hobby!!!!

Strad (y)

Hello!

Name is Josh, originally from the Twin Cities in Minnesota, now living in Las Vegas with my fiancee' and our dogs. 28 years old. Paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 1998 which thankfully left me with no problems in my hands and arms and head. I've been playing guitar and piano since I was about 10. No professional music background, except in my blood. A Passion for music goes back through my family tree as far as we can see.

I'm just here to learn, to soak up any and all bits of knowledge on the art of recording, in general.

I'm a guitarist mainly, both acoustic/electric and have a small group of guys trying to get something going in a musical way. I searched out these forums to expand my (very very) limited knowledge of Adobe Audition. I'm in the process of setting up a fairly small home recording studio, and have just been reading and reading through post after post when I come across an issue I have problems with.

This is my first post, and the first day I joined, but I have been a fairly regular "guest" reader for quite some time. Figured it was time to jump on board, now that I am getting into more of the technical aspects of home recording.

thanks to everyone here for imparting their knowledge to "newbies" like me. See you around the boards.

-Josh/13

I'm a little ashamed to post here. My name's hue. Hailing from Vancouver BC, Canada. I'm just a hobbyist tho I've spent some time in a pro studio. I've been playing guitar for over 20years and have been in bands since I was 13.

All that being said, I'm generally a hack in all ways musically, technically and economically. My only claim that might hold some ground is that I'm a computer geek and have had, through trial and error, some considerable experience trouble shooting with recording software. Mainly Cubase. Yes boring.

Just hoping some of the base knowledge will get drilled into my brain by perusing these forums.

I'm mainly here to observe. Just pretend I'm not here.

Hello all,

I have known this site for a while and from time to time was reading the very interesting discussions.

I finally registered now because I am planning to do location recording of (mainly acoustical) music beside my main job. My main profession is working for a company with a large music archive and most of the time I do restoration, remastering and archiving of classical music.

I have been working as marine biologist before, so in spite of some audio knowledge I gained during my SAE education and my work in the audio field for the last 4 years there are some big gaps in my technical understanding which maybe can be partly filled in such an interesting forum as this one.

I have been studying music before my biological education but quit the Music High School before I had finished (clarinet was my main instrument).

So, now I want to dive deeper into the field of recording acoustic music. I have collected some equipment by the time and although I know that there exists a lot better stuff out there I have to start somewhere and probably all of you know how expensive the real good things are. I plan to do my recordings with a laptop using Wavelab 5.

Further equipment I currently have:

Soundcraft Spirit M12 mixer
Edirol FA-101 firewire interface
TASCAM DA-20 DAT recorder
Drawmer DL221 limiter/compressor
2 Microtech Gefell MV692 with cardiod capsules (newly repaired by Microtech Gefell)
2 AKG SE300B with CK92 omni capsules
Matched pair Oktava MK-101 (Large Condenser)
Matched pair Oktava MK-012 (Small Condenser)
Oktava MK-319 (Large Condenser)
Sennheiser MD441
Sennheiser MD421

That's it basically and some hardware stuff.

Any comments on my eqipment are most welcome!

That's it for now, more questions I will post in an extra thread.

Best,

Lutz

My Name is Teddy Ray Bullard, and I am currently living in Heidelberg, Germany. Stationed with the US Army here.

I began my love of music at age 12 when my grandfather , who was the frontman for a Southern Gospel group in NC (where I am from)decided he would capitalize on my unusually low voice and recruit me as the "Token Bass" in his group, The Glory Bound quartet.. After a concert one evening at a church in Gaffney, SC, a music minister that was sitting in the congregation came up to me and said that "he would love to have me in his Choir"(his church was a "Big" Baptist church in Tabor City, NC and the choir there sang Handel, Poulenc, and Verdi, instead of Gaither , Carter Family, and Stanley Brothers. :) )so..thus began my love affair with classical music. I graduated from Choir peon to Choir soloist, to eventually climbing up the ranks of All County, ALl region, and All State Choir in high school, To eventually singing with professional madrigal groups, oratorio groups, Opera Choirs......By this point I knew that God really blessed me with a rare voice and that I should pursue it as means to support myself and Glorify him. So I began looking for other singing opportunities, and also did Voice Overs on the side. I had a remarkable voice teacher who really brought the best out of me and really believed in my gift...During this time I also did professional Summer Stock theatre, and kept doing the Southern Gospel gig too(my roots!)...well...

Eventually my travels with singing and hanging out with theatre folks, and other musicians helped bring me to some pretty dark habits. I got wrapped up in drinking and drugs and promiscuity with women,,...I turned my back on the Church, and really spun out of control for 5 years or so...went to several rehab centers, detoxes.....One Christmas morning I realized as I was in withdrawals from a pill addiction that I picked up along the way,,,that I needed to get back on the right track and find some focus. The very next week I was on a plane to Fort Benning, GA for bootcamp and the US Army Infantry school(my chosen career in the Army!:) )

One day during basic training , a drill seargent announced that those of us that had chosen Hawaii as our first assignment would have to choose somewhere else because Hawaii was too crowded with recruits(wonder why??) ... I was given the option of either 1.)Texas 2.) Germany...Of course I chose Germany (logical choice)...Well, upon arriving to my duty station there and within the first week of inprocessing...I was told that upon completion of inprocessing, that I would be deploying to Norway for a Training Exercise..then going straight to Afghanistan....Ok...Well, spent 13 months in Afghan...came back, had 2 months down time,,...then off to Iraq for the War!!!Afghan wasnt so bad but Iraq was the Most godforsaken horrible place I have ever seen..I saw my friends die around me and had to take lives...Something that is really hard to rationalize, no matter why or how you do it...One day in particular as my Platoon Seargent(a really good friend of mine) and I were in a convoy to pick up chow and some other supplies for the brigade...The Convoy came under Mortar fire, we all dismounted and took up positions behind the vehicles. Well, I was about 50 feet away from my friend and watched in horror as he took a direct hit from an RPG shot and literally disentigrated like a ripe watermelon....that image shook me to the core of my foundation..and as I was at the makeshift funeral service for him back at the camp...I decided I would never EVER do that again...

Spent 14 months there and came back to Germany. One day as I was sitting in the Dentists office, I saw an ad on AFN(Armed Forces Network) that said that the US Army, Europe Soldiers Chorus was looking for a bass vocalist....DING!! I went there right after work that day, sang for them, and have been stationed with them ever since...In the time here I have rediscovered my love for music, my voice, and also have picked up a real passion for location classical recording and a real interest in mastering as well. I get out of the Army in about 7 months, and hope that some location recording outfit will hire me. :) (so if you are reading and want to hire a dedicated VET with a music degree and who works hard and loves music...pm me :P ) Ive been adding gear gradually to my setup and managed to pick up a job recording in the main cathedral here in Heidelberg, as well as doing Kantor Duties at another Church in town.
I also managed to marry a gal from that same clinic where I saw the add, and she has been an enormous blessing on my life. We are expecting our first child in June!!:) So if you are out there and love the USA, own a location recording business and want to hire a vet...

I have Schoeps CMC6, MK2S,MK4
AKG C426B,
Neumann U87s
Microtech Gefell M930s
Mytek Converters
DAV BG1, and just ordered a millennia HV-3C
wendt x4 mixer
and a sound devices HD recorder.

Im glad to have found this place.Real wealth of info, as is 3d audio.com

God Bless, glad to be on board. Hire me! :D

greetings!

my name is jai shankar iyer, i am in chennai, india, and i turn 30 in a few days. I go by the name of 'audiothings' on some other forums.

my first instrument was the harmonium (age 4). I played drums, guitars, keyboards and bass with my school and college bands. Am completely self taught... still wrestling with "every good boy does fine" and "good boys do fine always". Graduated in statistics in' 97, the same year that i saw the first three studios of my life... and with every one of the studios i stepped into, i knew i was going to spend my life making music...

i had decieded (in my final year of college) to go to OIART to study sound, but i met my (current) musical partner and we decided we'd be musicians and have our own studio, and learn on the job.

So, for almost ten years now, we've been running this little place, doing jingles and corporate work, and the occasional song for a film... Its a small, tight operation, and we are glad to make ends meet in a very hostile musical environment.

About 3 years ago came a point in my career when i completely lost interest in making music to satisfy clients...sick and tired of samples and beatboxes, cheesy ads and repetitive concepts and pretentious advertising clients (now my partner handles most of that and i focus on the AE aspect...) At the same time i became fascinated with the prospect of recording indian acoustic music in a way that it could compete with the finest recordings out there (kavi alexander of waterlily acoustics is a major inspiration).

I managed to get myself a deal recording carnatic music concerts to multitrack (hd24), then bringing them back to my studio for editing and mixing... have recorded 40+ concerts... all close mic'd rather unnatural sounding albums, but still among the finest recordings of live carnatic music (i just try to make sure everything is heard...lots of filters and some noise reduction... and i DON'T do +10dB eq@12K). This is not because i'm damn good at what i do (i'm not and i know it), but because of the pathetic nature of the classical music business in South India... almost all the record companies have pulled their shutters down, and the few recordings that are being made are of the lowest possible quality.

so i've saved up a little money (to buy gear) and found a few nice rooms (not recording studios) where i can record acoustic music... I'm trying to learn as much as i can before making investments towards a small record label setup to record the traditional acoustic music of india...

SO... once again...warm greetings to all my prospective gurus and friends...

Jai Shankar Iyer.

I'm Jeff Jordan.

I, like many of you, am a classically trained instrumentalist (trumpet). I started my college career with an interest in electrical engineering, but decided that I just was having absolutely no fun solving physics and calculus problems all day. I changed my major to music education, with no desire to teach band.

I found a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder in the closet of the local community college and immediately wanted to explore. After moving to a "real" university, one that didn't and still doesn't have a music industry program, I discovered a basic audio techniques class in the catalogue. I basically fell in love with recording audio. I felt it to be the perfect marriage between my love for music and my fasicination with science.

After exhausting all coursework in audio (all 2 courses) I interned in the university studio. Upon graduation, I went to work for a local company that did location recording of wind ensembles, choirs, orchestras and also marching band video shoots.

During that time, I was saving pennies to buy my own gear. After 10 years, I quit working for that company, moved back to my home town and started my own location recording business. My full time job, however, is as a technology coordinator for an elementary school. Eventually, I'd like to have enough clients to make location classical recording my full time occupation.

What a great thread. I'd never seen this one before. It was a treat getting to know more about you all who I see post here regularly.

I'm 24 years old. I started playing drums when I was 12, guitar when I was 13, and other instruments less signficantly after that. At age 14, I bought a Yamaha MT4X 4-track cassette recorder to demo songs for bands I played in--I usually insisted on writing and arranging all our parts, which provoked a cursory understanding and proficiency with piano, bass, tenor sax, trumpet, and trombone--AND/or to spend all my free time recording Silverchair covers. Because I grew up in a small (pop: 2,500) town, and without the Internet, I was mostly self-taught at live sound and recording engineering until after high school. This has been both bane and boon to me as I reach professional maturity.

I graduated from Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio when I was 20, and I'll have my BA from Missouri State University at the end of '08. I haven't done anything topically significant at this point in my life, but I am harboring knowledge, amassing gear, and honing skills that will hopefully bring me to that point some day.

Hello!

I know some of you folks (by name) from Gearslutz. I'm relatively new here, and it's nice to see familiar names!

About me? Well, at this point in my (recording) life I have small, local area and local artist only mobile recording "shop". I'm a small, small fish and plan to stay that way. That doesn't mean I'm not going to advance my skills or do mediocre work. I love music and this craft way to much to do that. My outfit can be viewed at prettygoodrecordings.com

My day job is as a commercial helicopter pilot for an air ambulance company here on the Central Coast of California.

History? Frustrated no-talent musician! I played drums in high school (not well), and try to play cello now (really not well). I attended college at Oswego State in New York, where I majored in technical theatre. I always had a thirst for recorded and reproduced sound, and in college I nurtured that, while realizing at the same time that I'd never be a musician. My path to knowledge and experience included a foray into live sound in the mid Seventies. I toured with several name rock bands and Broadway shows back then. After that, I took a right turn into aviation, becoming a pilot and spending the next 31 years in that field. However, my love for the "tech side of music" never faded and I stayed firmly in touch with it. In 2000, I was given an opportunity, small though it was, to become the "archival recordist" for a community choir, and well, that seed grew! Of course, I had no real experience in location recording, and the steep learning curve challenged me to investigate technique, gear, music, and my own abilites. All have improved, drastically, over the past eight years, although there is room still for (much) more improvement. Getting on forums like this one and Gearslutz has been invaluable to me in my quest for that improvement. I can't tell you all enough how much I've learned from the two groups.

Okay, I promise I won't be as wordy in following posts, nor will I post nonsensically as I have done at GS!

Thanks! ~~~~ Mark S.

Hello all,

My name is Loren, and I'm a small location recording guy in Philadelphia. I went to Peabody Conservatory for Bassoon Performance and Recording Engineering, then did a Masters in Bassoon perf. and pedagogy at the U of Iowa. While at Iowa I started recording student recitals, and ended up post graduation playing in the waterloo-cedar falls Symphony and recording recitals to make a living.

after a bit I decided to move east in search of bigger ponds for bassoon and recording, and ended up in philly! I've worked for an archival/location engineer doing live concerts at the curtis institute, and archival transfers of obsolete media. In feburary I moved on from that job, and am now working freelance in the philly/jersey/deleware areas, and practicing my bassoon again!

Equipment:
2 AKG 414B XLS
2 SE 2As
Mackie Onyx 1220
Samplitude v.9.1

its been fun reading your posts, and perhaps soon I'll stop lurking and start writing!

Hey Loren -

Welcome!

Just out of curiosity, when were you at Peabody? I studied with Peter Landgren back in 02-04. Also, I've got lots of friends (and some clients) who went there. What a great school!

Cheers-

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy!

I was at Peabody from 98-03. I was mostly doing engineering classes at Hopkins, so I wasn't around school much in 02-03 except for my recital.

Indeed a fantastic place!

Loren

Hi, I am Sandy Noyes, and have no real background in this at all. I was first interested in recording as a sophomore in HS when I borrowed a friends mono tape recorder. Fast forward fifty years and I would up with a SONY MD Atrac recorder and a SONY stereo mic, then, last year a SONY Hi-MD which was soon replaced by an SD 722 and some more serious microphones. I currently record any and all acoustic music in the Astoria, Oregon, area. And I do it gleefully. I have been experimenting with mic arrays and have gone through ORTF, NOS, DIN, DINa, the Williams arrays for cards and omnis. I currently am experimenting/learning with MS techique and am going to soon be trying double MS with a Schoeps Mk4 pair and an Mk8 and the applicable Schoeps software decoder.

My background is varied but I worked as a systems-analyst for Pac@Bell and retired from there. My education is a couple of degrees of US History which is one degree short of insanity.

Music has been a passion as long as I can remember. I grew up with the Met on the radio on Saturday and Fats Waller records. I attended Met performances at the old Met, jazz all over NYC and am currently catching all the live music I can.

I am glad to have found a board of serious recordists and some old, familiar friends, too.

Cheers

Hi everybody.
I'm new here and this is my first post.
Glad to find this place.
So, my name is David Khositashvili
I'm from Georgia, Tbilisi (Eastern Europe)
I am a musican (guitarist)
And trying to learn recording.
Mostly recording choirs, acoustic (nylon) guitar.
I hope I'll fing a lot of usefull stuff here.

Hi everybody,
Name: Pablo Rubio
Country: Chile
Age: 27
Profession: Currently studying Music & Sound at UNIACC
(Excuse my english)

I play some acoustic guitar & piano. Now that I have finally had the chance to study in the university am forming as a professional bass player and composer.
I used to work as a CISCO network technician for a company that's called Sonda & Telmex. After some really depressing years working and studying data transmission & computer science I began to make music to some 3D shorts a friend of mine was doing. The results were unexpected for my friend & me. Somehow the short without the music was like 50% of the emotion (as UncleBob would say). So, we founded Alto Contraste Studio (2006), not knowing too much about how to run a company. We settled on this old warehouse with our Pc's, 3DSMax & Reason 2.5.
Now 2 years later, we have finally started earning real money, and couldn't possibly be happier!

I have recorded my brother's jazz sextet very rudimentarily, but now I got some sweet equipment and am studying to get the most of MS stereo recording.

Cheers!

Hello everybody!

I'm David Khositashvili
Work for Georgian (Eastern Europe) classical radio station [="www.radiomuza.ge"]"Muza"[/]="www.radiomuza.ge"]"Muza"[/] as a technical manager and sound engineer
I use to record classical music.
Besides that I am a musician, play guitar with my own band [[url=http://="www.myspace.com/stu…"]"Stumari"[/]="www.myspace.com/stu…"]"Stumari"[/]

Glad to meet a lot of interesting people here :)

Hello Friend,
I am micheal
i have a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.newrelea…"]new music releases[/]="http://www.newrelea…"]new music releases[/] site
i am always listen music from this site link.
When I was young my grand parents belonged to different parties, to this day (they're deceased) i don't know which was Republican and which was Democrat. My aunts and uncle don't know either.

I love Recording.org! I discovered it while I was recovering from lifesaving brain surgery five years ago. No joke. One of my mutual electronic technical friends, John Klett sent me a link to what I thought was his site. I noticed a plethora of questions about professional audio that had both good & bad information flying around. So I decided to start contributing. I caught a lot of flak at first since I am a bit of a smartass when it comes to audio. My background? My background, yeah, well, here goes:

Born to Eugene Altschuler who had a BA in music from the Eastman school of music in Rochester New York. An early Fulbright scholarship recipient. He was a violinist concertmaster for numerous major American orchestras the last one which was the Cleveland Orchestra. He also owned an advertising agency with his father and played string tracks for Motown along with producing radio and TV commercials. He used to take me down to the radio/TV stations & recording studios when I was just a kid. So I had made up my mind to be in this broadcasting/recording business since I was seven.

My mother is Marilyn Cotlow. A former Metropolitan Opera star for a short while in the late 1940s and best known for her role as " Lucy" in Gian Carlo Menotti's " THE TELEPHONE". Registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest running in print operatic recording produced in 1948. Along with my father she was an early recipient of a Fulbright scholarship in both toured Europe in the early 1950s. She gave up her singing career to have me in 1955 and began teaching her incredible vocal technique that she acquired from her teacher Hans Clemens. She still teaches today at age 86 in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. If you are interested in studying with her, please contact me. No pop singers. No screamers. Only people serious about operatic brilliance. No, I don't sing except in the shower and to help out rock and rollers who can't sing their own harmony backups.

My dad had a small radio production studio installed for his advertising agency, by the chief engineer from CKLW, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I had this incredible Western Electric 23C radio console from 1943. An old Magnacord Mono recorder and a Akai stereo machine. Not to mention the Rec-O-Kut & Bogen turntables along with this really cool cart machine from Viking. Yup and my microphones were Electro-voice 636 Slimaire's, which I still have. The microphone that is. So that's what I used between the ages of 9 & 14. By the time I was in sixth grade, I was the Captain of the AV team. It was at that time of my life when one of my student helpers dropped one of the 16mm Bell & Howell movie projectors down the stairs. So I simply walked out of class and began repairing this contraption out in the hallway. My teacher came out and was horrified by all parts. Well, I fixed the superficial damage and reassembled the beast. You see, I wanted to be a broadcaster/recording engineer but at 12, your opportunities are quite limited. So I had to wait until I was a Novice Ham operator at 14 when I got my first professional gig as the chief audio operator for the Miss Detroit Pageant (I had an in as one of my mother's voice students was in the competition). It was the same year that Pamela Eldridge, who was from Detroit Michigan was Miss America 1970. I had to edit her dance music on my 3 piece Presto recorder. When the other girls heard my edits they wanted their musical numbers edited also. Perfect musical edits. Razor blades, splicing tape & lots of talent. But that wasn't half the thrill. We were in the small Masonic Auditorium, then there was the large Masonic Auditorium which was connected to the small auditorium. I had originally wanted to be a drummer/percussionist but my parents wouldn't allow that kind of noise in the house. So I became a trumpeter then French horn (completely different embouchure). But that passion for drums wouldn't cease and next door in the large Masonic Auditorium was Petula Clark & Buddy Rich & his big band. So after our rehearsal was over, I just walked next door into the stage right wings just as Buddy went into his solo finale 20 minute drum solo. I suddenly realized that there was no one else in the stage right wing other than myself? I thought to myself " uh oh, maybe he has a rider in his contract that there will be no distractions during his solo from the wings??" At about that time he finished, waved at the audience, lit a cigarette and started trucking very briskly off towards stage right wing. I was frightened. I started backing up trying to avoid one of my heroes. It was at that moment that he lunged at me! Oh no! He grabbed at my right hand briskly shaking it furiously asking me how I liked his show? And then almost as fast, he was gone and I had shaken the hand of one of the world's greatest drummers, Buddy Rich, oh yeah, baby!

Ham radio didn't interest me much, it was a single note of two different time values. That ain't music. So, at 15 I decided to get my third class FCC radiotelephone license to become a real commercial broadcaster. It took me all of one week to acquire. I went on the air the following week. Now being a disc jockey on an FM public educational radio station at 15 was fun. But I wanted to work for a professional commercial rock 'n roll station. As I was producing my own "blow them away demo tapes", I was also talking to a high school friend about building that recording studio we used to talk about in high school. I had worked for numerous Baltimore radio stations when I received a call from my friend Philip one night, who told me his dad had signed a lease on a great big new warehouse just blocks from where I lived. So he asked me to design the studio. It was okay since I was ready and had already worked at the largest and now-defunct Flight Three Recordings Inc. in Baltimore when I was 17. It was there that I got thrown into a gospel session in the music studio control room C, with their 24 track MCI & API 24 input console. They had never allowed me in that control room before. I was simply a young production & duplication engineer. Nothing like trial by fire I always say. But I'll tell you, that MCI JH-10-24 and that API desk scared the crap out of me. Especially since I had just been introduced to both the pastor and the control room. And you still have to instill confidence in your client. So it was "no problem". The session went off without a hitch. I just had to figure out what everything did as I did it in 10 minutes or less. LOL! So, for my friend Philip, I decided to build up from scratch a new recording console. We couldn't afford the API nor the Sphere, forget about any Neve. I relied on Op Amp Labs of Santa Monica California, custom designed 4009 IC op-amp chip & associated modules. But this was a completely custom-built desk with my own gain staging which was different from what was recommended. Mine was quite a bit better as this manufacturer had a reputation for lousy overload problems. Not with my desk. So that was the first Official control room. That's not to mention the other home based control rooms I had built up to that time. This is before we called them project studios as there weren't any.

Well that control room took me on to my greatest achievements. I was only there about 1 1/2 years before I landed a job as a maintenance engineer at the now defunct Media Sound in NYC. It was their that I got to be in on many sessions since I was the technical tweak it/fix it, guy. I had to tweak up the 24 track recorders for every session. Maintain consoles. Custom design & build headphone systems. And occasionally do some music engineering for some aspiring managers that wanted to become producers. They found that the maintenance engineers couldn't record their way out of paper bags and the really good staff engineers like Michael DeLugg, Bob Clearmountain, Michael Barbiaro, Harvey Goldstein and others just weren't interested or offered enough money. Well those managers found that I could not only fix and/or design things, I was a damn fine recording engineer, the only maintenance engineer who could. Of course. I already knew that. But getting mugged at 1:30 AM on the subway in NYC change my mind about making my mark in NYC. So I moved to Fort Lauderdale to work for an international advertising agency that was the founder of syndicated advertising as we know it today. It was there that I produced thousands of voiceover commercials along with a considerable amount of top rated jingle musics. They had jingles that had been produced by Lucas McFaul and Associates of NYC, Don Merrier of Chicago. I told the agency I can produce the equivalent national quality in our little MCI JH 110-8A & Yamaha PM 1000 control room. The fools! They believed me! So, I just had to make it happen and I did. Those jingles got me a job interview with Sir George Martin through David Lucas in NYC. George offered me a job as a maintenance engineer at Air Montserrat. Like a fool, a young fool in love, making good money at NBC-TV, I TURNED HIM DOWN. He looked surprised and told me if I change my mind I should call him. I changed my mind the following week which was over 25 years ago. I still haven't called as I don't want to do maintenance work strictly. And I knew every British kid dreamed about working for Sir George Martin before he was even a Sir which is when I met him. So it was just George.

I sort of fell off the face of the recording industry world when I went to work for NBC in 1981. I didn't leave until 1999 when I ended up at another Virginia Commonwealth public TV station. That job lasted until just before 9-11-01. Now while our economic and financial situation has been in the news the past couple of years, I experienced a huge downfall in remotes after that date. Of course, technology has contributed to the downfall. Not too many folks need a 26,000 pound truck to schlep their flyweight recording equipment they purchased at the corner Guitar Center anymore. And while I used to schlep all of the equipment indoors as most folks do, I liked the large professional Recording Trucks such as Kooster McCallister's Record Plant Truck (that before they went from their old Ford to VOLVO, I was asked to combine forces with me and my Mercedes. My truck was almost built and I turned him down. DUH, bad one) And David Hewitt's Remote Recording Services. I remember when both of those trucks were at my friends place called "API" having their consoles installed. But wait, there's more to that story. David was building the new "Silver Truck" and had the API installed. He later changed his mind and installed a Neve, he then sold the API to Kooster, who then removed the Trident 80C.

Many of us here have been around the block numerous times. Some of us are renowned and some of us aren't. I don't live on royalties like many of my associates do, so I'm not renowned although I am infamous. I haven't quite had the same opportunities although I have had similar but different opportunities. I believe in homeschooling since I schooled myself mostly at home. I also had a wonderful mentor for over 10 years. And another for almost as long, both studio owners. 20 years now I have been running my own Remote Truck which ain't that much different from Kooster's API equipped truck. Except that I have a Neve that was custom-built for NBC TV in 1974 installed in 1978 and all discrete. No, it doesn't have 1073, 1081 or anything like that. It has the 3115 which are similar to the 33115. The biggest difference between those is the color scheme and IC chips instead of transistors. I like the older transistor versions better. It's just a nuance difference but a difference I happen to like. And as George Massenburg has been known to create some incredible recordings & equipment of his own, he has utilized & tracked on, mixed on, old Neves. And even though I don't have any GML equipment, I have all the API & Neve stuff I like. What I need to find is some better, more classic style rock 'n roll to record somewhere else other than the Balto/DC area. The height of mediocrity is here. Come and get it! And what mature or knowledgeable musicians haven't heard about how or what kind of equipment all of their most loved rock 'n roll hits were recorded & produced on? Everybody will tell you they love ProTools but not everybody will tell you they love Digidesign microphone preamps. Which are the most mediocre sounding of anything out there. So mediocre that its proprietary. Of course, Black Lion Audio has modified many Digidesign microphone preamps without the help of schematics from Digidesign. All professional equipment should be supplied with schematics. If it's not supplied with semantics? It ain't professional! And so I generally choose not to purchase any equipment that does not have schematics except, of course, Digidesign/Avid.

Of course there is more to me than meets the eye but I think this is currently enough blather from me.

Oh? And some of you may have noticed that I sign off signing my name as "Mx. Remy Ann David". The "Mx." Is neither Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss nor anything that has to do with gender. I'm a "Mixer" and I think it's a fitting moniker. Maybe some of you other folks might like to use that as well? I think it really introduces us as effectively as "Dr.". I'm a Dr. of sound which has nothing to do with a Bachelors, Masters nor PhD. Those are just folks that think you have to have a college degree to be able to hear properly. For those folks that want to design and build stuff that might be more applicable. But I did need a college degree for that either. My mother didn't have a college degree either to become a Metropolitan Opera star or a Fulbright scholar recipient. Sometimes it just takes talent and/or intelligence which is becoming more rare as everything in our world is becoming more homogenized. TV station audio consoles are being designed to be operated by anybody. No talent or skill necessary. I don't believe in that. I believe in people with talent and skill. Currently there are no MIDI violins that can play as well as my father could on a 200+ year old wooden box. So don't believe everything you hear in school kids 'cause it ain't all true. As you can tell, I don't have a degree in English either, neither hither and slew rate.

RAD 55 and still alive
Mx. Remy Ann David

Thanks for the remote forum... again! (or have I lost my mind?)

I thought the Remote Forum was lost when we transitioned to the new platform...

Well, somehow or another, I've managed to avoid this thread...

I've been head down for the last... oh... I dunno'... maybe 7 or 8 years? I've been busy verifying I've completely lost my mind, doing this thing called "Build A Studio, Watch Your Wallet Go Empty and Go Insane In the Process!"

I documented the whole thing [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]here[/]="http://recording.or…"]here[/] at RO, so it's all there for everyone to watch me slowly loose my mind... ok... so maybe it wasn't such a slow process.

When I came across this thread earlier today, I started reading the profiles of the folks who posted. In many ways, I'm not really qualified to post to the thread... but I was encouraged when I read a few of the profiles in courage.

Like Remy, I discovered RO while in recovery, and have pretty much been here ever since.

My roots are actually as a drummer. (and you thought it was just the studio build that damaged my brain?)

Having pretty much written off being a professional drummer in college, I figured I might end up as an old geezer with a drum kit in my basement, just bangin' it out for fun.

Then, one fine July afternoon, I was struck by lightning.

It definitely changed every aspect of life as I had previously known it. My motor skills, long term memory, short term memory and general cognitive abilities were pretty much shot to hell in an instant.

After a lot of encouragement from my wife, I started playing a little bit of music with a local band who invited me to sit in one night.

That night ended up as a 5 year run as a band.

During my tenure, we played primarily for charities, but we started getting requests to play Shrine Club dances, private parties and the like. Well, we needed a demo.

I rented a DAT and a coupla' mic's... that recording was horrible.

I bought a 4 track... better, but we really weren't a recording band... we were a live show band. So, multitracking was really difficult.

So, I sold the 4 track and got an ADAT. Much better... but it could be better... So, I snagged another ADAT. WOOT! 16 tracks... LOTS better!

After a coupla' inquiries to record other bands, I snagged two more ADAT's... then a coupla' more mic's... then some more compressors, gates, console, monitors, etc...

I had to face facts....

I was hooked.....

I had GAS.

A couple of folks encouraged me to setup a full remote rig and well, after a coupla' years of doing location recording, I was asked to track The Castaways 50th Reunion concert. In the meantime, the band had pretty much run it's course, so here I was working with quite a few churches recording Southern Gospel and doing small-ish remote sessions for local bands.

As technology progressed, a lot of clients wanted to come in for OD's and mixing.

There was only one minor detail. I didn't have a studio for clients to come to. I was strictly a mobile recording operation.

After talking to a couple of studios about sending them mix/OD clients, I was failing to get those clients to call me for the remote recordings.

It seems that these studios who were so generous in wanting to get the raw tracks from me to mix, were actually more interested in stealing my clients.

That being the case, I was actually forced to build a studio to bring my clients to, for OD's and mixing... and build one I did.

We've made it through the 1st year, and the doors are still open, so I think I'll just keep running the studio until the money runs out!