Music Tech Podcast

Go to MusicTechPodcast.com for full show notes and transcripts.

Jad discusses his major in Music Industry at UCLA and his interest in audio engineering. He talks about his connection to Bruce Tambling and the Foothill Music Technology program, as well as his role as a production manager for the student record label. Jad also mentions his upcoming recording session and his file management and backup methods. He advises aspiring students to be proactive in seeking opportunities in the industry.

Nick Bernstein discusses his connection to Foothill College and his current role as a Technical Director for film and concert shows. He explains how he got involved in the industry, his responsibilities in overseeing audio, video, and lighting departments, and his work as a mix engineer. He also mentions his verification through EngineEars and the gigs he has obtained through the platform. Overall, Nick shares insights into his career and the various projects he has been involved in.

Thomas Freedman, a student at UCLA, shares his connection with the Foothill College program and how he met Bruce through Cookie Marenco, a producer and engineer. Thomas is also now a student at Foothill working on a Pro Tools certification. Bruce emphasizes the importance of follow-up and mentions how Thomas reached out to him. They discuss their collaboration with Vanity on a song and their plans to record live drums and mix/master the track.

Tyler discusses his workflow and experiences as an audio engineer. He talks about setting up his studio, using analog summing, capturing unique sounds during recording sessions, and the potential for receiving production credits. He also mentions his monitoring environment and the possibility of upgrading his speakers. Overall, Tyler emphasizes the importance of being open to trying new things and accommodating unique requests from producers.

• UCLA - Music Industry Major
• Pro Tools
• Blue Rocket Stage 1 Microphone
• Langevin VTL CR3A
• MXL Genesis Cardioid Tube Condenser Microphone
• Cherry Pop Records - UCLA Student Record Label
  • Cherry Pop Records Splash Page
• UCLA Clubs and Organizations
• Box Storage
• Nebo Note-taking

• Nick Bernstein
• Tesla
• West Hollywood
• John Williams
• Disney
• Pixar
• Encanto
• Fort Worth, Texas
• Star Wars
• Exchange LA
• Academy LA
• QLab
• Click Tracks
• Derek Ali - MixedByAli
• EngineEars
• Craigslist
• Insomniac
• Ableton Live
• Pro Tools
• Analog Obsession

• Cookie Marenco
• Vanity
• Suspect Studios
• Terry Carlton
• JetBlue
• FedEx
• Bruno Mars
• Taylor Swift
• NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants)
• Stevie Wonder
• Madonna
• Sting
• Mix With The Masters

• Fountain Valley
• Dolby Atmos
• Saigon Grand Center

• GarageBand
• Santa Barbara
• Pasadena Pro Musica
• Bruce Swedien
• Make Mine Music
• The Bruce Swedien Recording Method (Book)
• Foothill College
• San Francisco State University
• Phil Collins
• SSL Console
• Quincy Jones
• Blumlein Pair Technique
• OWC Thunderbolt Dock
• Stream Deck
• Softube Console 1 Channel MkIII Control Surface
• Crane Song HEDD Quantum AD/DA Converter
• Mac Pro “Trash Can”
• Google Sheets
• Microsoft Excel
• FL Studio
• Native Instruments
• Punch Recording
• Brian Lee White
• Expressive E Osmose Keyboard
• SSL Sigma δelta 32-channel Console
• Rupert Neve 5057 Orbit 16-channel Mixer
• Sonos

Go to MusicTechPodcast.com for full show notes and transcripts.

In this podcast, Denis, a former student of Foothill College, discusses his journey in the music technology program. He highlights the importance of networking and hands-on experience in the field. Denis also shares his experiences working with Cookie Marenco at OTR Studios and his time at the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in Emeryville. He emphasizes the importance of being proactive, polite, and providing value when networking. Denis also shares his strategy for staying consistent and productive in his work. He concludes by expressing his appreciation for the facilities, community, and opportunities provided by Foothill College.

• Foothill College
• Shure SM7B Microphone
• Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones
• Stratocaster Guitar
• Green Screen
• UAD Arrow
• Pro Tools
• LA-2A Gray Version
• Pultec
• Torrent
• DJ Controllers
• SoundCloud

Go to MusicTechPodcast.com for full show notes and transcripts.

In this episode of the Music Tech podcast, host Bruce Tambling interviews singer-songwriter Ande Estrella about her experiences with the Foothill College Music Tech Program. Estrella shares her journey from being a theater major at the Boston Conservatory School to becoming a songwriter. She discusses the challenges she faced in the industry-focused curriculum at Berkeley and her decision to switch to music production. Estrella also talks about her songwriting process, her experiences working with producers, and her goals for the future. She emphasizes the importance of networking and staying true to oneself as an artist. The episode also features guest artist Cassidy Ray, who shares her experiences as a self-taught artist and producer.

Ande talks to us about her goals as an artist, and some of the things she loves about the Foothill Music Technology program. We also had a short Q&A session at the end with students to get advice from her perspective as a successful musician.

Ande did a recording session at Bruce Tambling's studio back in Feb 2021. She was living in Sunnyvale, California, at the time, and then she went away to school at Berkeley School of Music in Boston in the Spring of 2021. We were happy and surprised to see that she is now enrolled in the Foothill College Music Technology program. Ande is also a successful artist with a number of music productions that have been released on Spotify and various social media channels. She is at once a mentor and a "student." (as we are all perpetual students!)

In this episode, Ande talks about her experience at Berklee School of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, her goals as an artist, and some of the things she loves about the Foothill Music Technology Program. We also had a short Q&A session at the end with students to get advice from her perspective as a successful musician.

Ande was accepted into the Boston Conservatory as a Theater Major after starting in musical theater and a high school band. She then decided to transition to songwriting, which required another few auditions, and she then realized several things about her unique path as an artist.

After some time, Ande pivoted to the Music Technology Program at Foothill College, praising it and stating that it serves her need as an artist and expressing her desire to gather the knowledge she needs to become the sole producer of her work.

Podcast host Cassidy asks Ande about her time in the high school band, and how her experience has translated over time to where she is as a musician now. Ande stated that the biggest carryover is the amount of time performing and the confidence she gained over time. Ande talked about her desire for a band of her own, now that she is an independent artist, and not working within the confines of the school's requirements.

Ande discussed a bit about her current goals in the Music Tech Program and that is she wants to build her knowledge in a structured and guided way. Her advice to students looking to get the most out of the program is to really put themselves out there, and mentioned that networking and exposure to new people and ideas will further improve their skills.

Ande recaps her process from songwriting to music release, what it's like to work with producers, and audio engineers, and her entire songwriting process. At this point, we moved into the Q&A session with our participants.

• Article regarding "Mireya" single
• Apple Music
• Youtube Distribution
• First Official Music Video
• Ande's TikTok

1. Berklee School of Music
2. Boston Conservatory at Berklee
3. Women's Audio Mission
4. Cookie Marenco
5. Neumann TLM-103
   • Neumann TLM-103 - $1,195.00
6. Randy Emata
   • Randy Emata All Music

San Francisco Bay Area Musician Bruce Kaphan has been professionally involved in the Music Scene since the mid-70's. His skills and talents have made their mark on hundreds of projects, and thousands of performances given around the world.

In this podcast Bruce Kaphan shares his insights in basic mixing concepts.

Check out articles by Bruce Kaphan at RecordingMag.com

Podcast Notes

Avid M-Box
Analog to Digital Converters
Fletcher Munson Curve
Michael Blackmer - Studio designer
Dynaudio BM 5A Speakers
Alesis M1 Active USB Speakers
Audio Technica ATHM50 Headphones
Beyerdynamic DT 880 PRO Headphones
Glyn Johns - Approach to miking drums with 3 mics
WaveRider - AutomaticMixing.com

Frequencies

Lower mids add up quickly in a mix
Lower Mids = 125 - 325 Hz
Mid Mids = 175 - 500 Hz
High Mids = 2500 - 4500 H.
Hi Shelf starts at 3k or 6k or 8k

Favorite Plugins

Sonnox Oxford - Favorite EQ Plug-in
Waves L1 - Limiter
Waves L2 - Limiter

Mix Preparation

1. Infinity– there is no magic formula or recipe other than pulling together every shred of your knowledge and creativity on a per project basis
2. When mixing for a client, the entire production must be predicated on their needs, both artistic and financial
3. Mix preparation begins before the computer is turned on– begin at the end– determine the goal of the project and work backwards from there. Generally speaking, more tracks means more time spent mixing. If you don’t have a sizeable budget, then think minimally in terms of track count, recording methodologies, number of Pro Tools sessions, etc.
4. Fastest path– treat it like a live sound event– one single session. Depending on budget, either turn in to individual sessions after the whole board is set up (or not).
5. Faster path– use compression to replace in depth leveling

Mixing begins before the first track is recorded! My preferred pre-mix setup method includes

• Organize the tracks such that you won’t have to waste time looking for anything. For pop music I choose to organize mine from top to bottom: drums, percussion, bass, chordal instruments, melody instruments, solos, lead vocals, backing vocals.
• Grouping: usually created at the time of tracking or overdubbing. Nonetheless, by mix time, group and/or sub-group instruments that are inherently of a group.
• Subgroup audio tracks as desired for either a “sub-master” (for a variety of conveniences including the ability to have both automated and manual level control on the same tracks, easier level/trim control) or to facilitate being able to easily and resource economically set up sends for spatial or dynamic effects to grouped sounds
• Create (sends and) returns for spatial processing
• Create a master fader

When all tracks have been recorded and all editing completed

• “cleaning”: manually scour each and every track for extraneous noise– use head and tail fades, and crossfades to eliminate the possibility of clicking
  check phase alignment! It has a profound effect on the way sounds fit together. Be especially careful with multiple signals which combine to form one sound, i.e., drum tracks, or a bass DI in combination with a mic’d amp.
• If your system offers it, engage delay compensation!
• If you’ve been responsible for recording the tracks, you should already have a good working mix in process. If you haven’t been responsible for tracking/editing, then ??? Using just faders and whatever processing has already been built to get a good rough mix
• Start messing with pan- figure out how the sounds balance from left to right
• The “Bump” theory– start taking care of problem sounds by whatever means necessary– usually EQ and either limiting or compression or both
• In some cases, manually mute tom tracks around tom hits
• If time allows, optimize the sound of each track using EQ. Due to budget, this is a luxury on some projects. It’s a meditational process that gives me time to get to know each track intimately. My feeling regarding EQ is that this is the time to optimize each track, most especially to reduce lower mid cloudiness both within the individual track, but ultimately to enhance overall clarity in the mix. Generally, EQ begins with scooping out lower mids, then mid mids, then sculpting bass either additive or subtractive, then the same with upper mids and then adding “air” with a high shelf if necessary. As the mix progresses, each EQ may be subject to change as the overall sound of the mix suggests.
• LEVELLING! Using volume automation both to get a good “read” on focal images such as vocals, and to create the relationships among the sounds
• Processing- compression, reverbs, delays, special effects, feedback loops, whatever

Final checklist: before final bounce, be sure

1. No red lights unless you specifically want them!
2. Engage delay compensation!
3. Depending on my client, I sometimes apply mastering or mock-mastering compression and/or limiting to the master bus for presenting mixes. If the project is going to be mastered by a separate engineer, before the final bounce, I disengage at least the L2
4. Mind your master level! It should be as loud as possible without overflow, unless you like the sound of overflow.

Recording from the class meeting on Friday, February 3rd 2023. Joining the meeting was Tyler Page and Nick Bernstein, as well as a few students.

Tyler Page works as a recording engineer and A&R down in Los Angeles and provides some insight into his start at Foothill College, his journey within the music industry, and some of the lessons he's learned along the way.

Nick Bernstein also lives in Los Angeles and works in various positions in the audio industry (producer, mix engineer, audio editor, technical director, etc). He and Tyler share and compare stories, insights, and experiences and answer questions from students about their approach to working with clients and making a living in the music industry.

Music Tech Pod Cast Website

#011 MTEC Class Meetup with Tyler Page and Nick Bernstein - Episode Page

Brought to you by the Foothill College Music Technology Program

Hosted by Bruce Tambling and Ryan Bowan

Click here for complete show notes: https://www.musictechpodcast.com/011-mtec-class-meetup-with-tyler-page-and-nick-bernstein/

Tyler talks about speakers, headphones, studio acoustics and reflects on his time as a student at Foothill College. 

First Zoom meeting for 2022 academic year! Students introduced themselves and Andrew Seidel shared awesome information about mixing for live concerts and also studio mastering techniques.

Nick Bernstein talks about his academic career, which includes several undergraduate and graduate degrees, and then relocating back to Southern California to pursue a career in the field of Music Technology.

Bruce Tambling speaks with colleagues and mentors about how to improve the Foothill MTEC Class. The group also discussed the necessary skills, a student should have to thrive when applying to internships or full-time positions in the music technology industry.