Nashville Recording Studios
Posted: April 23, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Angello Sound Studio, Mocking Bird Hill Studios, nashville recording studios, RFM nashville studio, Shadow Lane Studios, Tom Angello nashville Leave a comment
You Can Be On The Next Nashville Trax Session!
It may seem strange for a studio owner to recommend other Nashville Recording Studios but the deeper I get into my relationship with Jesus the more I realize that when He walked the earth, among other things, he was trying to tell us that in many regards our way of thinking is wrong. We sometimes believe we’re thinking logically when we’re not, because we leave God out of the equation. Let me rephrase: Sometimes we’re thinking logically just not God-logically, and therefore we’re doomed to failure.
It was typical of Jesus to not do things or say things according to man’s logic. Presented with an “A or B?” answer to a question Jesus, as usual, went to weirdness: “You can have that coin,” He said, “I made the fish.” I’m paraphrasing here, but basically, that was what he answered when asked a question about paying taxes.
“Lose your life and you will find it.”
“Drink, for this is my blood.”
The King of Kings, the only king with absolute ultimate power was also the only one to never take physical territory, to never occupyland. Instead, He established His kingdom in hearts and minds, The Good News, the gospel, was a concept revealed to just a handful, a tiny ripple in the fabric of history that has become a mighty wave and changed the world like no other concept ever conceived. Today, over 2,000 years after that little band of His direct followers last walked the earth, the concept and kingdom only expands.
A King who washed the feet of His subjects. Really? Yes, really.
The religious leaders of the day repeatedly tried to trap Jesus on some big issue or other. If they presented Him with a reductio ad absurdum argument, he’d counter with dilemma syllogism, confounding the religious leaders attempts to outwit the greatest thinker that ever walked the planet.
In business, our little mind tells us to destroy our competition. But “Jesus thinking” using our bigger mind, reveals that work doesn’t come from hurting others or minimizing other’s efforts, but rather, reveals that He is the source of blessings. Follow His example, do things as He might, counter-intuitively even, and for you, He might just decide to do something outside the bounds of man logic, outside the bounds of physics.. perhaps satisfy multitudes with just a few loaves of bread?
Or maybe give you work in abundance when your actions would logically suggest a different outcome.
Of the many Nashville Recording Studios, these are some of the unsung heroes. These are studios that I’ve used and can recommend:
Shadow Lane Studios Owned by engineer Phillip Wolfe. Phil is a truly nice man and a most excellent tracking and mixing engineer.
RFM Ron has been a good friend for years now, a great engineer, and usually has the chili cooking.
Palm Tree Dreams: There’s no link here because the studio is no longer in business but it used to be down on 17th Ave. South on Music Row, housed in Chet Atkins’ old studio. the Engineer/owner Ronny Palmer absolutely deserves a mention. I recorded there prior to building my own studio and I don’t think Ronny ever received, or does receive, credit for just how good of a tracking and mixing engineer he is.
Mocking Bird Hill Studios Steve is an excellent musician and engineer and we worked together on several projects. I can’t find his studio link and it may be that he’s no longer involved in music to the degree he once was but I believe he still has the studio and he’s worth mentioning regardless.
Angello Sound Studio. This one is out on the fringes in Hermitage, TN but worth the ride because Tom is a great guy and excellent guitar player who also believes in passing it along. He went out of his way to help me out once when my gear was down and I needed a place to record and hopefully with this I’ll send it on back around.
Other great studios I heartily recommend around Nashville area include:
Dark Horse Recording Studio is located south of Nashville in Franklin, TN
Nashville Demo Singer .com
Posted: April 22, 2013 Filed under: Studio Services | Tags: Nashville Demo Singer, Nashville Demo Singer.com Leave a comment
A Nashville Demo Singer Can Make The Difference!
Looking for a Nashville Demo Singer? Have you tried the fantastic singers we have available? We have a wide variety of male and female vocalists available through our service for songwriters Play It Again Demos as well as Nashville Trax.
Lead vocal, lead and harmony, background vocals are all available.
Our singer will sing your song, we’ll edit the track(s0 to make it fully professional then export the track as a .wav file and send it to you. The track can be dry with no additional processing. But if you like we do have over 350 plug ins that can be employed to process and polish up the vocals and make them sound great for your project. Exciters, chorusing, echo, reverb, pitch correction, tube warmth vocal processors, compressors, vocal riders….the list is long but usually only 3 to 6 plugs are needed on a track.
Studio Gear : The Roland R-8 Drum Machine
Posted: April 13, 2013 Filed under: Studio Equipment | Tags: Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-880, Roland R-8 Leave a comment
The Roland R-8’s best feature is 8 separate outputs.
Although dated, the Roland R-8 is a great drum machine. The sounds are accurate, crisp and clear actual recordings of live drum hits. It can be programmed in real time by tapping the pads while listening to a click track generated in the machine or it can programmed step-by-step.
We have a real drum kit in the studio as well as various software and keyboard generated options for drum sounds so this relic rarely gets used, live drums are vastly better than programmed, but there are situations where it comes in handy. Often if an idea comes up and no drummer is handy, I’ll lay a drum track to catch a groove while tracking other instruments then, if the tracks are tight enough, replace it with live drums at the next session.
If you ever need to do that, or want to start out with a session quality drum track just click here to access our studio drummer and samples of his work. He’ll deliver better tracks than any machine will, guaranteed.
Other situations arise where a client specifically requests a drum machine, where a client can’t afford to pay a drummer or where the music demands one. One demo we did started with a drum machine intro then morphed into live drums as verse 1 began, just for something cool and different to add to the project.
By far the best feature, and the reason I prefer the R-8 over newer models, is the 8 separate outputs numbered 1-6 and stereo left/stereo right. Once you have a good pattern going or a complete song ready in mono mode, you can then assign the drums to the outputs. That means kick drum can go to output #1 and end up on its own track in Pro Tools. Ditto up to 7 more drums or cymbals.
Newer machines like the Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-880 have only stereo outputs so you either have to do stereo and be stuck with the drum mix as-is, drive it via midi and do several passes to get individual tracks on each drum, or record everything on a stereo track and slice/dice the parts to other tracks, tedious!- b.e.
Happy Easter Weekend!
Posted: March 29, 2013 Filed under: Christian | Tags: easter, he reigns newsboys, nashville trax, playitagain demos Leave a comment
From the children of The Lord of Lords and King of Kings @ PIA Demos and Nashville Trax, Happy Easter!
Yes, He Reigns:
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.. Isaiah 25:8
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” Mark 16:1-8
What’s The Difference Between A Demo Recording and a Master Recording?
Posted: March 29, 2013 Filed under: Song Demo Tip | Tags: demo, limited release, master, recording Leave a comment
As far as music quality sometimes nothing, sometimes a lot. In general a lot more time is spent on a master from pre-production through tracking, through mixing and then it’s mastered, a step not usually taken on demos.
The big difference is rights in regards to selling the project for profit, which reflects on how many $ are shelled out for the recording. The songwriter(s) fully own the rights to the melody and lyric but the right to sell the recording depends on what the songwriter(s) pays for. If the musicians on the recording are paid demo rate then the songwriters can give away all the demonstration copies (on CD or MP3 usually) they like, but they can’t legally sell it. Demos usually cost in the hundreds.
Paying for a master recording (usually costing in the thousands of $) gives you the right to sell CD copies or downloads. It’s important to be sure the singer (if you don’t sing the song yourself) understands that’s the intent.
Two fairly recent developments passed by the musicians union:
1. A limited release master, cheaper than master rate, allows you to sell up to 10,000 CDs or downloads
2. You can upgrade from demo to master by paying the difference. In the old days a demo was forever a demo. I believe this upgrade became inevitable as demo quality and complexity improved and many demos sounded nearly as good as masters.- b.e.
Drew Baldridge signs with Nashville Publishing Company
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: Music Industry News | Tags: drew baldrige signs, illionois, patoka, song publishing, this music, warner/chappell Leave a comment
Singer/songwriter Drew Baldridge based in Patoka, Illinois, has signed a co-publishing contract with This Music (partners with Warner/Chappell) partially due to the strength of his performances at venues in Southern Illionois. We’ve seen it again and again. A lot of signings happen due to building a fan base locally, often through social media. Bloom where you’re planted.
Who Cares What The Deputy Thinks? Will A One Man Band Do?
Posted: March 19, 2013 Filed under: Samples of Our Work | Tags: hire a one man band demo, Who Cares What The Deputy Thinks? Bill Watson Leave a comment
Bill Watson can reduce the budget on your project by providing multiple instruments for a lower total rate.
If you can’t afford an “all session player” recording perhaps a one man band recording will work?
So here’s a sample that can best be described as total strangeness, lol, but it does demonstrate my abilities fairly well.
One-man-band style, our producer wrote it, played the guitars and other instruments, plus sang the vocals (if you want to call it singing) through a harmonizer, produced, arranged & mixed.
He programmed the drum track on the Roland R-8 machine.
That bizarre melody thing happening through the intro, repeated just after on guitar, that sounds like it must be a synthesized kazoo part or something? Nope, vocal through a vocal effects processor.
Weirdness.
That spacey, wild electric lead guitar? If you think it might work on your song, just reference this post and ask.
So, would a one-man-band type of demo do for your needs?
Pricing on one-man-band projects is somewhat less than for a full band of pro session players and, depending on your goal for the project, may suit your needs.
Please note that one-man-band skills are limited to drum programming, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (acoustic or electric) and keyboard sounds like strings, choirs, B3 patch, assorted pad sounds, and such.
For piano a real piano guy may need to be hired. For vocals a pro singer may need to be hired. Some pop and rap is better with a drum program and/or drum loops but for most styles a real drummer does make a difference.
Who Cares What The Deputy Thinks is © 2024, Bill Watson. For demonstration purposes only. Any other use is a violation of U.S. and International copyright law.
If a one man band demo will work for you Shoot us an e-mail at nashtrax@bellsouth.net with your rough mp3 version attached and request a quote today!
Sara Evans Song Pitch Opportunity
Posted: March 16, 2013 Filed under: Song Pitch Opportunity | Tags: mark bright, power ballad, producer seeking songs, sara evans, sony Leave a commentProducer Mark Bright is seeking material of any tempo for Sara Evans (Sony). Many producers only want mid and uptempo but this may be a good opportunity for a ballad or a power ballad. No deadline at this point. If you’re interested in having a demo made for this pitch opportunity please send in your rough to Play It Again Demos.
Country Music Sales Up in 2012 Christian/Gospel Results Mixed
Posted: March 13, 2013 Filed under: Music Industry News | Tags: 2012 christian music download sales statistics, 2012 christian music sales, 2012 country download statistics, 2012 country music sales Leave a comment
Country Engineers: Expect Plenty of Work in 2013
https://twitter.com/Jerrysaidit/status/376780810273058816
https://twitter.com/kailaleftcoast/status/378058603749330944
Green Hills Signs Songwriter Danika Portz
Posted: March 12, 2013 Filed under: Music Industry News | Tags: danika portz, green hills music group, hunter hayes, rascal flatts Leave a commentDanika Portz has signed a publishing and career development deal with Green Hills Music Group. Established in 2007, Green Hills is located in the Nashville area and has had songs recorded by Rascal Flatts, George Strait, Hunter Hayes and others. Danika hails from Remsen Iowa.
Former PIAD singer Krista Marie Taking The Farm to Australia
Posted: March 11, 2013 Filed under: Music Industry News | Tags: alabama band, broken bow, krista marie, nashville star, nashville trax, play it again demos, randy owen, the farm Leave a comment
Former Play It Again Demo’s singer Krista Marie who joined The Farm (on Warner Brothers) a few months ago will be performing with them at a gig in Australia Sunday, March 17th.
Krista sang on many Play It Again Demos over a period of several years as well as singing lead vocals on the swing tune “Borrowed Time” for the John Smith Nashville Trax project.
Her first break came when she landed a job on Nashville Star as a personal assistant to Alabama‘s Randy Owen, who was on Broken Bow at the time, the same label Krista later signed with.
Unfortunately almost all artist signings include clauses preventing singers from using their voice to make money for anything except furthering their aspirations with the label. So after becoming a Broken Bow artist Krista could no longer work for us. But we love to hear about our former singer’s career building efforts and wish her all the luck possible.
The Farm’s current single is called, “Be Grateful.”
A Songwriting & Recording Blog 